The Art of Writing Short Fiction

by Sarina Dorie

If a short story falls under a thousand words (1500 words in some markets), it is considered “flash fiction” or “micro fiction.” With a number of new markets out there publishing flash fiction; Penumbra, Daily Science Fiction, and Flash Fiction Online being a few among many, it is a plentiful market in which to submit. Because writing short, succinct stories is a skill I wanted to develop, there is a high demand for flash fiction, and it takes less time to write flash fiction than a long story (in theory) I decided I wanted to take a stab at it.

When Daily Science Fiction opened about two years ago, Wordos, my speculative fiction writing critique group in Eugene, Oregon decided we wanted to dissect flash fiction in order to hone our skills and see what makes a short, short story work. It isn’t surprising that because of our critiques and dissections, quite a few writers from our critique group went on to sell flash to Daily Science Fiction.

What we noticed about these stories is that they were tightly written, limited details, often had an interesting idea, a twist or punch line at the end, and were emotionally powerful or shocking or funny. The form of these stories were sometimes written as though someone was telling a story to a friend, might be in the form of a letter or letters in an epistolary fashion, were written like a fable, joke or essay or used some other unusual writing device to tell a story. Many of these stories weren’t even traditional stories in the sense that there was a character arc, plot or conflict. Still, there was something that happened in each “story” that made it catchy, edgy or worthwhile. These are just my observations, as well as some that I remember from members of Wordos.

My advice to someone genuinely interested in breaking into the flash fiction market is to read and analyze lots of flash fiction and decide what it is about each piece that made the editor choose it.

As a result of studying the market and trying to think in the “short” mindset, I wrote about twenty flash fiction stories in a few months. Some of them I submitted to my critique group and got feedback, some I later turned into slightly longer short stories, and some I left unfinished because there wasn’t enough there to create a story. I didn’t feel guilty about not finishing because they were so short and I considered them experiments.

Though I had been submitting stories to magazines for several years, it was my flash fiction stories that sold first. The first four pieces sold in 2011 were Zombie Psychology to Untied Shoelaces of the Mind, A Ghost’s Guide to Haunting Human’s which won the Whidbey Student Choice Award, Losing One’s Appetite to Daily Science Fiction and Worse than a Devil to Crossed Genres. From there I went on to sell slightly longer short stories as well as more flash. One of my favorite flash fiction pieces, Mr. Kick-Ass Werewolf President is in the July politics issue of Penumbra.

Sarina Dorie is a speculative fiction writer, artist and belly dance teacher who currently lives in Eugene, Oregon. She has been published
in a variety of magazines including Daily Science Fiction, Flagship, Allasso, Roar, New Myths, Untied Shoelaces of the Mind, Penumbra, and Crossed Genres.

Her fantasy novel, Silent Moon, won two second place and three third place awards from Romance Writers of America. Silent Moon is now available on Amazon and Smashwords.

To learn more about Sarina Dorie, please visit her website.

Build your arm party: How to make istant macrame bracelets

These trims were just too cute to seat in a box. They can be quickly transformed into summer macrame bracelets and make a nice arm party ( to stack your arms with bracelets see also this arm party  tutorial!).
All you have to do is

• choose any trim you like
• cut them the size of your wrist
• add a fastening
• and you've done

Speaking of fastenings you have more than one option. You can glue (or sew) a snap button on the trim or you can make a small decorative fastening with just a bead and thread. I'll show you how.

Date un'occhiata agli scaffali della merceria. Troverete tante trine di ogni tipo che possono essere trasformate velocemente in deliziozi braccialetti macramè. 

• misurate il vostro polso
• tagliate le trine della lunghezza giusta
• aggiungete una chiusura e il braccialetto è pronto.

Per chiudere i braccialetti basterà un bottone automatico cucito o incollato all'estremità della trina. Oggi vi farò vedere come realizzare velocemente una chiusura decorativa usando solo del filo e una perlina.

D'estate le braccia sono in primo piano quindi non dimenticate di vestirle con gli accessori. Più sono i braccialetti meglio è. Imparate a farne altri cliccando qui.

Create a few loops with thread - Fate passare il filo più volte nella trina

then make simple knots around those loops you'll create a button hole - Poi fate dei semplici nodi attorno al filo

on the other side insert a bead and knot the thread - Dall'altro lato inserite una perlina e annodate il filo

Insert the bead inside the loop and the fastening is done. - La perlina entra nell'asola e crea una semplice chiusura

White trims can be painted with acrylic colors - Divertitevi a tingere le trine bianche con i colori acrilici

here's how  fastenings look once finished. Nice and decorative. - Ecco come appaiono le chiusure allacciate

Contract Clauses that can Save Your Books and Money

by Lyn McConchie

I started writing professionally in 1990 and I was fortunate to have several old friends who were already writers. From them I gleaned information, and a number of stories about things they'd learned from painful experience. The above title deals with what I call “the remainder clauses.”

In my own country many writers still deal with publishers personally. And since, increasingly, small presses are a good market and agents often won't bother with selling to them or dealing with small press contracts, knowing this set of clauses can be very useful if you are doing so. Make sure they are included in any contract and that they also apply to any subsequent purchaser of your publisher too.

Your book can not be remaindered for a minimum of one year after date of publication.

Before your book can be remaindered, the publisher must contact you at least three months prior, and offer you all (or as many as you want) of the unsold copies of your book – at rock bottom remainder price, and via cheapest tracked form of freight.

If the publisher intends to dump copies, they must instead be offered to you free, and sent via cheapest form of tracked freight.

Why? On “1” because some publishers use remaindering as a tax device. Or another publisher may have taken over your publisher and decided that clearing the deck is a good start. It may be – for them. It isn't so good for you when you find out – months down the track – that three-quarters of your first edition was remaindered and that a) you get no royalties from those copies, and b) that the copies you wanted to buy under author's right are no longer available.

On “2,” that's right, with that clause you will know – well in advance, you can find out how many copies are involved and have time to get the cash together to buy them and pay freight.

And on “3,” some larger publishers working in print and finding that they have only 20-200 copies of your book left in their warehouse, and not planning to reprint, will strip and dump them. It costs them nothing extra to send those to you instead and you get copies of your
book to sell, gift, donate, or use as samples for other publishers.

I had those clauses in my first book's contract - a 2,000 copy edition. The book sold retail for $20. The imprint was taken over and 443 copies remaindered to me. I made about $3,000 in initial royalties. I sold the remaindered copies I purchased ($2 each) for an average of $14 including cost. During the next six years I made $5,000 profit on those copies before selling the rights to another small press – which continues to sell it (and five sequels with a sixth out next year) to this day. Use these clauses, it's worth it.

Lyn McConchie, author of Harpsong and Dreamsmoke, appears in the Penumbra August issue. To learn more about Lyn, please visit her website.

How to DIY a crochet bag without crocheting

pineapple bag from H&M pic via where did you get that

A crochet bag can be a playful accessory for summer and it's a perfect DIY project. The one above, in the shape of a pineapple is from  H&M and you can buy it or use it as an inspiration to create your very own crochet bag.   I've made several drawstring crochet bags during the years, in any color. You can use cotton, wool or rafia. You can use a thread with some gold lamè and make a evening bag or choose a shaded cotton thread and make a ombre bag. Don't worry basic crochet is easier than you might think! You can learn how to crochet on you tube or use this time saver instructions to make a crochet clutch in a matter of minutes (without crocheting) similar to the one below:

• buy two doilies (or steal them from your aunt living room)
• put them one onto another
• sew them together around the edges
• leave one side open or insert a zipper or sew a button
• and you've done!

Una borsetta di pizzo all'uncinetto è un accessorio divertente da indossare in estate ed è un perfetto progetto fai da te da ultimare rapidamente. La borsetta qui in alto a forma di ananas è prodotta da H&M. Potete comprarla o ispirarvi ad essa per creare la vostra borsetta all'uncinetto. Cosa rende speciale una borsetta fatta con le vostre mani? E' un pezzo unico. Otterrete risultati diversi ultizzando lana, cotone o rafia. Potete sceglierne il colore. Sceglierete un filato con del lamè dorato per realizzare una borsetta da sera oppure un filato melange per realizzare una borsetta sfumata. Se non siete già appassionate di uncinetto non temete, imparare è più facile di quello che sembra. Per cominciare imparate i punti base su you tube oppure se proprio non avete tempo potrete comunque realizzare una pochette all'uncinetto in pochi minuti seguendo le mie istruzioni

• acquistate due centrini (o sfilateli da sotto i soprammobili della zia)
• metteteli uno sull'altro
• cuciteli insieme lungo i bordi
• lasciate un lato aperto o cuciteci una zip o un bottone
• voilà! la pochette è pronta

example of round crochet bag pic via craftsy

Coming to You Live

by Gary K. Wolf

INT. DAILY SHOW SET - RETURN FROM COMMERCIAL BREAK

JON STEWART
Welcome back to The Daily Show. Our guest tonight has been called a gull, a dirty dog, a booby, a goose, a cootie, an old goat, a cat's paw, a horse's ass, a gibbering gibbon. He's actually a very funny bunny. Let's hear it for Roger Rabbit!

SFX: Audience applause.

Roger comes out. Trips, falls over his own ear. Gets up, grins sheepishly. Bends his ear back into shape. Sits down in guest chair across from Jon.

ROGER RABBIT
Hi, Jon. P-p-p-pleased to be here!

JON STEWART
Glad to have you. Tell me, Roger, what's the hardest thing about being a Toon?

ROGER RABBIT
Avoiding erasers. No, fading in sunlight. No, being bonked on the head by anvils and sledge hammers, and grand pianos. No, keeping a straight face at operas. No, falling in love and having your heart thump so hard you look like your chest is sprouting a valentine.
(Contemplates, scratches head with ear.)
Shucks, none of that's so bad.

JON STEWART
We've both been in the movies. In fact, some call my films as cartoonish as yours. Describe your worst experience in Hollywood.

ROGER RABBIT
That's easy. The time the Friars invited me to a celebrity roast. Their menu included rabbit stew, hasenpfeffer, rabbit dip, Welsh rabbit, rabbit McMuffin, and country fried rabbit, all you can eat. They seated me on the head table.

JON STEWART
You seem like such a down-to-Earth rabbit. Has stardom changed your life?

ROGER RABBIT
A little bit. I get to play baseball with the Simply Splendiferous Stellar Somebunnies. The March Hare, the White Rabbit, Peter Cottontail, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Thumper, Peter Rabbit, Bugs Bunny, Br'er Rabbit, the Playboy Rabbit, the Easter Bunny, and me. I'm third base. Thumper's the ball. That skinny scamp Bugs, he's the bat. Big old Peter Cottontail's the right field wall.

JON STEWART
You've been called a wild hare. Any truth to the persistent rumor that you're a wolf in sheep's clothing?

ROGER RABBIT
Baaa. How do those stories get started? Just because I like to go out in my backyard and howl at the moon wearing nothing but fuzzy wool ear muffs, and Jessica's with me dressed as Little Bo Peep. I mean, who doesn't from time to time?

JON STEWART
Here's something that's always bothered me. Bugs Bunny performs nude. Why do you wear pants?

ROGER RABBIT
They hold my suspenders down.

JON STEWART
You're the master of wacky, bizarre, almost surrealistic comedy. I gotta ask you. Where do you get your ideas?

ROGER RABBIT
Well, Jon, it's real easy. Just use your imagination!

JON STEWART
Roger Rabbit. Starring this July in a short story in the hot science fiction magazine Penumbra.
(show magazine cover)
Pick up a copy at your local download.
(pause)
Roger, thanks for coming.

ROGER RABBIT
It's been my p-p-p-p-p... It's been swell.

SFX: Thunderous audience applause.

FADE TO BLACK.

THE END

Gary K. Wolf’s novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? became a visual
reality in Disney/Spielberg’s $950 million blockbuster film Who Framed
Roger Rabbit. The film won four Academy Awards and the Hugo Award.

Two of Wolf’s science fiction novels, The Resurrectionist and
Killerbowl, are currently in development as major motion pictures.

Learn more about Gary Wolf on his website and on Space Vulture.

The stiff chain heart necklace DIY

Today I used chains to make jewelry and not as a way to join two pieces together. I wanted the chain to have the leading role and I wanted to use it as a moldable wire. The problem is that chain are flexible and they don't hold a shape. I wrapped a piece of silver wire around the chain links to make them stiff and then I molded it. Here's a new necklace that will make people look twice. How can a chain hang like that? Doesn't it look magical?

How to wear neon - 4 tips to style brights according to your personality

Neon is one of the funkiest spring summer trend. Bright colors are a statement on their own so it's important to style them properly. Don't worry no strict rules really exist, fashion is supposed to be fun just find the way to wear neon that better suits your personality (or the occasion). Are you an extrovert or a more poised one? There's a neon outfit for each of you.

Extrovert - Wear Neon all over
Your smile is your best accessory. You're full of friends and you're the life of the party. You need an outfit that matches your bubbly personality: wear neon all over. Dubious about what colors you should wear with neon? With this style you don't have to worry about that: it's neon head to toe. Neon dress with neon accessories.

from top left  zara lookbook-pic via streetstyleSFN - neon brogue - Valentino spring summer 2010

Poised  - Play down neon with neutrals
For you less is more. You're passionate about fashion and you want to wear the latest fashion trends while staying always classy. Powder tones make neon wearable even in formal/business occasions. It's the most chic way to start wearing neon colors.

left pic via pinterest - center via fashion squad - right via nobodyknowsmarc

Creative - Neon accessories
Details make an outfit really personal and you know that. You're got an eye for detail and you want to show it with your clothes. Focus on neon accessories. In this way neon colors will really pop and make a statement.

left pic via atlantic pacific - neon bracelet - Zanotti wedges

Daring - Color-block it
You're confident and you dress to impress. You're not afraid to try bold outfits to stand out of the crowd. In order to be a trend setter you must be the first to discover unexplored matches. Neon +Color block is for you. The rule is bold+bold colors, definitely a show stopper.

What about a touch of neon in your make up too? Go for fluo eyeliners and eyeshadow pencils. Brunettes will look terrific with yellow or orange while blondes will shine with green, purple and electric blue.

Now that you found out your style it's time to DIY our neon must have dear crafty people!
Here's some inspiration

clockwise: neon glow in the dark DIY necklace - neon DIY shoes - neon candy DIY bag - neon plastic DIY bracelet - lace neon DIY bag