Who Cooked Up the Best Flash Fiction Entry?

burgers and dogsIt’s time to grill our readers to find out who they thought submitted the tastiest story in this week’s flash fiction challenge.

Remember, the winning entries will all be included in the next edition of the IU Flash Fiction Anthology.

Check out this week’s entries here. Make your decision, then use those share buttons at the bottom of the post to spread the word.

Voting polls close Thursday at 5 PM Pacific time.

Whose flash fiction story has the awesome sauce this week?

  • DW Davis (33%, 15 Votes)
  • Frank Lilly (17%, 8 Votes)
  • Yvonne Hertzberger (17%, 8 Votes)
  • Jon Jefferson (11%, 5 Votes)
  • Lois Nelsen Lewandowski (7%, 3 Votes)
  • Dick C Waters (4%, 2 Votes)
  • Mary Ellen Courtney (4%, 2 Votes)
  • John Kenny (4%, 2 Votes)
  • Melissa Bowersock (2%, 1 Votes)
  • Tena Carr (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Mark Morris (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Robert Middleton (0%, 0 Votes)
  • J.Y.Frimpong (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Morgan Winters (0%, 0 Votes)
  • JR Barker (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 46

Loading ... Loading ...

NOTE: Entrants whose submissions exceed the 250 word limit are eliminated from the poll. ONE VOTE PER PERSON, please. Duplicate votes will be deleted. The results displayed above are unofficial until verified by administration.

Write Like No One Is Reading

profile picGuest Post
by Julie Frayn

My fingers fly across the keyboard, dialog flows, characters evolve and grow minds of their own. Then they lead me somewhere a little …. um…. dirty.

A line of dewy sweat jumps from my brow. I dip my big toe in, but snatch it back. The water is too darned hot. I dive in again, my heart beats a little too fast. Type, type, type. Delete, delete, delete. Self-doubt overtakes my mind and embarrassment pinks my cheeks.

I think I need a shower.

Why are my characters doing this? Did I really just write that? Is that even a real body part? My hand flies to my mouth, agape at one sudden and horrific thought. Continue reading “Write Like No One Is Reading”

Why I Don’t Write Sequels or Series

stack-of-books
Image credit:
http://www.mycutegraphics.com/graphics/book/tall-stack-of-books.html

As an author, is there any better feeling that that of being on fire? I mean, of course, being inflamed with inspiration, with an idea, with a story. What’s better than that little *pop* as an idea flares to life, blue and orange and yellow, that little flicker that when shielded from the wind, when protected and encouraged begins to bite into the fuel of possibilities and grow, reaching ever upward, ever outward as the possibilities turn into inspired plot points and compelling characters? You know the feeling. But does it happen every time we sit down to write? Does it herald the beginning of every new project?

We wish. Continue reading “Why I Don’t Write Sequels or Series”

Are Indie Books Being Squeezed out of Book Promo Sites?

NoIndiesI was at dinner with a couple of friends recently and my buddy reached over and grabbed my wrist. He told me that his wife was using his credit card to pay for books on her Amazon account. She was buying books every day, and it was all my fault. After he released me, she leaned over and said she couldn’t leave the house in the morning without checking her daily emails from three different book promo sites. We laughed it off and he admitted that secretly he was glad because even though she was buying more books than she had when she was buying print books she was actually spending less money.

She’d found those book promotion sites from Facebook posts that I’d promoted. Now she purchases books almost every day and she’s very happy. She doesn’t care who publishes the book; she just wants to find a good read, and sites like Bookbub, Peoplereads, and The Fussy Librarian offer great books. It’s just that simple. I’m one of many who post links to these sites and others and it’s helped them build their lists of subscribers. Things are changing though. A colleague pointed out to me recently that a book promotion website that we’d utilized in the past, (not one of those listed above), posted in their guidelines that their main emphasis was now on promoting mainstream published books. And they said they intended to only promote a limited number of independently published books. That means the majority of books on their site are published traditionally. Continue reading “Are Indie Books Being Squeezed out of Book Promo Sites?”