I’m going to be the guest editor at SmokeLong Quarterly next
week (4/10 ~ 4/16), which means that I’ll be reviewing all the flash fiction that’s
submitted during the week and selecting my favorite for publication and an
author interview.
The online journal SmokeLong Quarterly (http://www.smokelong.com/) is one of the
premiere publications for flash, which they define as up to 1000 words. Because
I’ll be reading blind, even if you know me, you’re free to submit your work.
(Or you can submit your work any old time, of course…it doesn’t have to be for
ME! Plus, the editors review all the work, so it’s possible your story may not
catch my eye, but that it’s exactly what someone else is intrigued by.)
And, I always like to promote a journal that allows FEE-FREE submissions.
Here are some thoughts the editors offer in the submission
guidelines, which really end up being a pretty good primer on what makes good flash
fiction:
The SLQ aesthetic remains an ever-changing, ever-elusive set of principles, but it most likely has to do with these kinds of things:
- language that surprises
- narratives that strive toward something other than a final punch line or twist
- pieces that add up to something, oftentimes (but not necessarily always) meaning or emotional resonance
- honest work that feels as if it has far more purpose than a writer wanting to write a story
We have a special place in our hearts, more often than not, for narratives we haven’t seen before. For the more familiar stories—such as relationship break-ups, bar scenarios, terminal illnesses—we tend to need something original and urgent in the writer’s presentation.
Here’s where to go:
~For more information: http://www.smokelong.com/
~To submit: https://smokelong.submittable.com/Submit
~To read some of my personal favorites
from Smokelong:
“Txaj: A Prayer” by Jeanne Jones ~ http://www.smokelong.com/txaj-a-prayer/
“Straight Lines” by Ryan Werner ~ http://www.smokelong.com/straight-lines/
“Gram Pouts with Duck Lips” by
Allison Pinkerton ~ http://www.smokelong.com/grams-pouts-with-duck-lips/
