Flash Fiction

Original FictionWrite a comment

So I’m posting my first piece of flash fiction.  What is flash fiction?  It’s a very short piece of fiction, usually less than 1000 words that still contains the basics of a story.  This is a piece I wrote awhile ago, inspired by a prompt in a writing magazine.   I’ll post any flash fiction pieces as blog posts but I’ll also provide links under the Short Story/Flash Fiction tab.  Thanks for reading!

The King’s Farewell

He’d put his affairs in order, given his power away to his many sons. Of course, if they were willing to pay the price they could visit him, but he doubted they would.  His time above was a source of shame to them.  The reason they had kept their children so distant from their own grandfather.

“Are you certain about this?” his servant Havla asked as he took the crown and the pearl plate armor from his king.

“You know that I am,” the old king replied.  “I am finally free.”

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Next Step

Getting It DoneWrite a comment

I’ve always been a bit of a DIY person when it comes to creative tasks – if I can find a way to do it myself I will.  But after a year and a half of letting my ready-to-publish manuscript sit on the digital shelf waiting for me to get around to formatting it, I’ve finally reached out to a formatting service to ask for their help.

It’s a little scary, but I think it will be worth it to get things moving.

Cento: Book Love

Creativity, Original PoetryWrite a comment

A cento is a literary form, especially a poem, that is made up entirely of quotations from other work.  Sort of the original mashup – here’s one of mine.

Book Love

There is no frigate like a book.
I love how books begin; those passages
Where the hills are twice as steep, and twice as rough,
And the yellow half-moon large and low:
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
And inspirations, that we deem our own,
Whiter than new snow on a raven’s back
Imagination gathers up.
With courage to endure.

– cento by Jenel Alan

(Credits:  “There is no frigate like a book” by Emily Dickinson, “Chapter One” by Mark Aiello, “The Man from Snowy River” by A.B. Paterson, “Meeting at Night” by Robert Browning, “Valentine” by Carol Ann Duff, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, “Imagination” by John Davidson, “The Old Stoic” by Emily Brontë)