What does it take to make a monster? The world is full of terrors: creatures that stalk and pounce and tear to pieces; perpetrators that prey on the weak and vulnerable; and all those other strange and unsettling things that lurk on the edge of our vision or whisper into our ears. Look back into […]
I don’t know that there’s ever been another year when I’ve been more excited about the coming of spring. As the northern hemisphere emerges from our cold, dark winter, many of us are also emerging from our cocoons of the past year’s isolation. We’re looking around at the world at all that’s changed and wondering […]
To: Past Me, March 1, 2020From: Future You, March 1, 2021 Dear Past Me, It’s me, Future You, writing from exactly one year further along the timeline. Sending you a message from beyond. Beyond what? Well, that’s what I want to tell you about. Brace yourself. 2020 is about to get weird. And scary. And […]
A few years ago, my son’s kindergarten teacher sent home a message about Valentine’s Day, celebrated here in the States each February 14. For their class party, each student could each bring a set number of cards or treats–one for each classmate. They could sign their own name, but they weren’t supposed to put a […]
Back in October, our editorial team took a technological leap forward: We held our first-ever staff Zoom meeting. Across five different time zones, with the help of computers and laptops and WiFi and Zoom, we were able to talk about some of our hopes and dreams for Flash Fiction Online and how best to continue […]
The first time I met Suzanne Vincent was, quite appropriately, at a library. I’d met with enough online friends and literary heroes to know that people aren’t always the same “IRL” as they present themselves online. So as I sat in that library cafe, nervously sipping my coffee and watching out the window for anyone […]
John F. Kennedy once said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” Here at Flash Fiction Online, we’re ready for change and looking to the future in a fundamental way. Effective 1 January 2021, I will be stepping down as […]
I started a new job a few weeks ago. I’m working as a personal assistant to a friend of mine who runs a handful of small online business ventures. One of her shops sells holiday-themed home decor. Being October, she’s just wrapping up her Hallowe’en sales. I’ve been prepping, packaging, labeling, and mailing bats. Lots […]
A Study in Contrasts — “Hoarders” and “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo” I became interested in Marie Kondo some time ago. I bought her book (which I never completely read), watched her television show, and have Kon-Mari-ed my house a couple of times in a desire to purge the excess of our lives from our […]
What is it about gritty stories with gritty characters? Characters who walk outside the norms of society, who eschew the rules and cut their own trails through life’s jungles, not afraid to get a little blood on their blue jeans for the sake of the story. They’re often physically dirty, covered with the gritty dust […]
