Dragon on Noise Phactory

No new short-shorts, I'm sorry to say (the novel I'm working on has metastasized, while job, house, and family situations have all come to a rolling boil) but here's a little side project: a collaboration with a sound technician. We've recorded a half-dozen microfictions (OK, one of them is microfact) and he's in the process of adding sound effects.

There are 4 pieces up so far: "Chihuahua Racing," "Bears Think They Know Everything," "Love Potion," and "The Pain of Withdrawal." In the near future, look for "Postmodern Prometheus" and "Grow! Grow! Grow!"

Check out Noise Phactory for some aural pleasure.

Update

Just in case anyone wonders where I've been, I've been doing NaNoWriMo for the last 17 days. However, I hit 50k this morning (average daily word count: 3104) and should finish my abysmal novel tomorrow. It's good to get that stuff out of your system.

We encourage your participation in Six Sentences

Hey!
Check out Six Sentences and be in the book! Tell McEvily that Rion at RF sent ya. http://sixsentences.blogspot.com/2007/12/six-sentences-volume-1-book.html
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COLOSSAL NEWS IN THE WORLD OF PUBLISHING! The submission period for Six Sentences, Volume 1 – a literary tour de force scheduled to be published in February – is officially underway! If you’d like to be part of the action, just send your work to the 6S email address, and make sure the subject line of your email is 6SV1 SUBMISSION (or 6SV1 SUBMISSIONS if you're sending more than one – you may send up to three). Your work must be previously unpublished, and the same 6S Writer's Guidelines apply. The deadline for inclusion in the book is Monday, December 31st, 2007 (at midnight EST). So... when it comes to being published in the book... what will you say in six sentences?

PSA

***From the Management***

Greetings Flashers,

Thank you all for your avid participation. We want you to know, here in the management, that it is very difficult to choose a winner for each piece, so we don't stress too much about it. Please know that each and every effort is a little gem, a fragment of something unique, and that it is appreciated.

We get lots of hits from readers!

Keep writing! Remember, if we don't have a short bio from you, please send it to amyc@infotronics.com. Also, if you want to title your work, remember to include it in your piece or email it.

PSA: Housekeeping

Instructions

1. View picture.
2. Write a sudden fiction (on an open contest) as a comment, leaving a title if you like.

• Open contests have "open" in the tag section.
• Closed contests have accents around the titles ~Like This~, and the author is tagged (you can click a name and view all pieces from that author).

"Judging"

The Management chooses a winner, without much of a rubric or strategy. Other pieces are still linked from the # writer/s writing link, and we encourage you to repost your work on your own blog.

Link Us Up

Please publicize the site and favorite it (if you get into Technocrati, etc.). The more writers we have, the more we get to read, and the more fun! If you win, please contact The Management with a blog address (or email, if you like) and short bio!

Public Service Announcment

From the Management

Due to a surge of fantastic writing, we will not usually be commenting on individual works as they appear.

Please accept our grateful, envious, and sincere praise right now for all the work you will be doing in the weeks (months? years?) to come. The talent already here is impressive and humbling.

How can we possibly be qualified to choose a 'winner'? Anyhow, we shall try.

What is sudden fiction, anyway?

My collegiate mentor, postmodernist author Robert Kelly, taught a course at Bard College called Sudden Fiction. Ten years later, he may still teach it. The goal of the course was to produce fictions so short they were Sudden!

Sudden fiction is known by many names, including flash fiction, short-short fiction, and so on. However, defining this style (or defining these styles) is difficult. While there are really no hard-and-fast rules, here are the guidelines.

Sudden fiction is often:

-Short, usually under a page
-Boiled down to a sensuous reduction, like the metamorphosis from sap to maple syrup
-Unconventionally styled, a close cousin to poetry

From a philosophical standpoint, some authors see these gems as simply microscopic short stories, with a traditional plot and character development. Others get experimental. Regardless of its definition, sudden fiction makes a play to capture the imagination in a modern moment. It imposes an incredible constraint on authors to get to the point quickly, while using all our wiles to express something powerful in a short amount of physical space.

If you are interested, join me at Raincoat Flashers, whether you are an experienced author or (like me) just a weekend warrior. Not only is sudden fiction fun to write, it's fun to read!

What is a raincoat flasher?

A raincoat flasher is a participant in this blog contest. Our inspiration for the title is an experience we had as a child. We dressed up in our raincoat and little yellow rubber boots, and nothing else, and went to flash the neighbors. We must have seen it on t.v. Anyhow, this kind of little vignette can be easily worked into a sudden fiction.

Every few days we'll post a picture for inspiration. Then we'll accept sudden fiction entries. Post the entry as a comment to the picture. The winning entry is posted in this blog, along with a short bio of the author. If nobody enters a contest within a week, we'll post my own sudden fiction to accompany the picture.Then the world is free to comment on our work.

• Frequent entrants can earn the right to become regular contributors.
• Send us evocative pictures as you wish (no porn).
• Details to follow in the next few days!