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From the Editors of Every Day Fiction.

The Best of Every Day Fiction TWO Anthology sales are going well, and we’re now looking for reviews! We love reader reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever else you buy books online, and we’re also very happy with blog love (or blog-literary-criticism). And if we’ve got any professional reviewers out there among our readers, well, we’d love for you to contact us.

For Readers:
We’ve got the usual great variety of styles and flavours for you this month, with fresh stories from names you’ll recognize, including Gay Degani and Kevin Shamel, along with a variety of new-to-EDF authors such as Christopher Floyd and Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen.
For St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th, we’re featuring the appropriately-titled “Patrick’s Day” by J.C. Towler.

And once you’ve had your daily dose of fiction, consider heading over to Every Day Poets for a dash of poetry in your life. Even if you’re not up to poetry every day, though, do take a look at February’s most-read poems: “Monday Morning Before the Garbage Truck Comes” by Linda Simoni-Wastila, “Lost & Found” by Stacy Post, and “The Emancipation of Sylvia Plath” by David Siegel Bernstein.

For Writers:
We’re still looking for stories suitable for spring and Easter — remember to fill in the “Targeted” field in the submission form so we don’t miss them!

Also, we’ve had another changeover in the slush reading department: Katheryn McLaughlin and Hillary Degani have moved on to other things, and we’re happy to welcome Martin Turton and Brenda Stokes to the team. Check out our staff page to learn more about Martin and Brenda. We’re always looking for more slush readers — it’s only a three-month commitment (extendable by mutual agreement, of course), no experience necessary. If you’re interested in reading slush for us, click here to learn more.

We’re also delighted to have K.C. Ball joining us as guest editor for the month of March. K.C. is an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. In addition to nine stories at Every Day Fiction, her work has appeared in various print and on-line publications, including Flash Fiction Online and Analog. Her story “Coward’s Steel” will appear in the Writers of the Future 26 anthology this August. K.C. is the editor of 10Flash Quarterly and blogs about writing at A Moving Line.

Have you been following our Flash Fiction Chronicles blog? Just in case you missed them, the most-read posts over the past month include “What is Flash Fiction?”: Imagine You Were Born To Answer It and “Who Cares?”: The Nuts & Bolts of Making Narrative Matter, both by Randall Brown, and also The Short Story According to Nik by Nik Perring.

March’s Table of Contents
Mar 1/Bruce Stirling/Stairway to Heaven
Mar 2/Jacky Taylor/Only at the End of the Road
Mar 3/R.F. Marazas/Long Night of the Witch
Mar 4/Kendra Cummings/HR Hell
Mar 5/James Bloomer/Build, Build, Build
Mar 6/Gaius Coffey/Terry and the Eye
Mar 7/Katherine Clements/Crane Fly
Mar 8/Tara Gilboy/Stages of Grief
Mar 9/K. V. Douglass/The Daughter
Mar 10/David Dalglish/All I Did Was Look
Mar 11/Matthew Wimmer/Take Stock of Your Life
Mar 12/Jenny Schwartz/Centauri Calling
Mar 13/David Rees-Thomas/The Hardest Walk
Mar 14/Timothy Miller/The Root
Mar 15/Christopher Floyd/Brewers Fan
Mar 16/Gay Degani/Soggy Sandy
Mar 17/J.C. Towler/Patrick’s Day
Mar 18/Michael Ehart/Matamoros Shuffle
Mar 19/Lindsey Duncan/Ostracized
Mar 20/Frank Roger/Back In Touch
Mar 21/Jerry Kraft/Games of Chance
Mar 22/Dan Purdue/Changeover Day
Mar 23/Kevin Shamel/What Name Do I Give Her?
Mar 24/Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen/Lollipop
Mar 25/Aaron Polson/Billy Boy
Mar 26/Nick Allen/Final Answers
Mar 27/Jennifer Campbell-Hicks/Ripples
Mar 28/Richmond Weems/Herschel Kriege, 65
Mar 29/Elina Michaels/Failure
Mar 30/Tyrean Martinson/Enough To Do
Mar 31/Christopher Allen/The Orangery

Updates! Updates! Updates!

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I keep forgetting to do my “routine” over here at Words in Place, like POSTING and reading from my blog roll. I used to do that most days, but lately I just can’t seem to find the time. Thought I’d take a moment to rectify that with some updates. A lot has been happening in 2010 and it’s only February.

Flash Fiction Chronicles

This is the Every Day Fiction blog which we launched last spring. If you’re reading this, you have to know about that. It’s growing and we’ve finally settled into a kind of routine: published posts from fiction writers around the net, either original or reprints, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

FFC’s String-of-10 Microfiction Contest
FFC’s String-of-10 Microfiction contest was initiated in August of 2009 with Sharon E. Trotter take the first place spot with her story The Haircut. String-of-10 TWO is running through this coming Sunday, February 14th. Entries should not be longer than 250 words and include 4 of the string of 10 prompt words. For guidelines, go to Flash Fiction Chronicles.
Guest judge is Joel Willans.

Dear Mother Call for Submissions

Writer/singer/friend Jo Nelson has a call out for submissions for a Mother’s Day Performance at Lyric Theater in Los Angeles. Check it out on her site: Call for Subs: Letters to Mothers

Excerpt: I realized there are many things I would like to say to my mother, and wonder what you might like to tell yours while she is able to hear your words, or even if you too, must send the message to the stars.

Now About Me
I have several projects going on. Most exciting for me is that I have self-published a book of eight short stories called Pomegranate Stories. Six of these have been previously published either on-line or in print, but two of them are new.

Last year and the year before I’d put together my stories to enter into chapbook contests. Doing this was exhilerating and after the contests were over, I decided I would put together my own tiny collection and a theme in my writing emerged, the relationship between mothers and daughters.
Pomegranate Stories is available at Amazon.com and at Lulu.com.
Lulu will give 15% off over Presidents’ Day Weekend. The coupon code is Washington.
Check out Pomegranate and see what you think.
By the way, many of you already have a copy of the collection, and I’m hoping some of you liked it well enough to visit Amazon and Lulu and give the stories a review and rating. I would really appreciate any help in this department.

Luckily my two stories published last year at Every Day Fiction are a part of the just-launched Best of Every Day Fiction Two anthology. “Stranger on the Porch” is drawn from the first chapter of my novel What Came Before (and yes, I am still working on it) and the second is “The London Eye” which you can either read or listen to as read by Michael Sherlock in his sexy Brit accent.

I also want to share that I have three short pieces coming out in March. “6 A.M.” at Emprise Review, “Complict” at Smokelong Quarterly, and “Soggy Sandy” at Every Day Fiction.

Every Day Fiction’s February Calendar

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February’s Table of Contents
Here are the stories to be published in the month of February by Every Day Fiction.
Authors: if you want please leave your blogsite or website address below in the comments section so readers will know who you are!

Feb 1 Damien Walters Grintalis Let Down Your Hair
Feb 2 Leslie A. Dow Regret
Feb 3 Stef Hall Dancing Snowflakes
Feb 4 Matt Cowens Dead Weight
Feb 5 Dale Ivan Smith Hassan’s News
Feb 6 Nikesh Murali The Photograph
Feb 7 Jens Rushing Le Danse Macabre
Feb 8 Douglas Pugh Augan Ismic
Feb 9 Krystyna Smallman The Small Print
Feb 10 KJ Kabza One-Sided
Feb 11 A.R. Williams Blossoms Weep, Spiders Fall
Feb 12 Katherine Lopez Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll
Feb 13 Evonne Gayle Love at the Mall
Feb 14 Madhumita Gupta Valentine Day
Feb 15 Bruce Stirling The Warning
Feb 16 Douglas Campbell The Destiny Of Archer Deft
Feb 17 Jeanne Holtzman Elvis Has Left the Chitlin Strut
Feb 18 Steve Kissing It’s Good To Be Here, Meredith
Feb 19 Frank Roger Beyond the Final Chapter
Feb 20 Mickey Mills The Accountant
Feb 21 R.F. Marazas Waiting For My Assassin
Feb 22 Thomas Canfield Pranksters
Feb 23 Stacy Post The Big Blue
Feb 24 Kate Sheeran Conversation with a Giant
Feb 25 Stephanie Kincaid She’s a Biter
Feb 26 Deborah Winter-Blood The Miracle of St. John
Feb 27 Mark Partin Souls
Feb 28 Walt Giersbach Last Year’s Icon

Pomegranate has made its way over to Amazon

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My collection of mother-daughter stories has made it over to Amazon. Here’s the link: Pomegranate. For those of you who already have a copy and like what you’ve read, I’d be thrilled if you could meander on over and give me a review.

For those of you who haven’t gotten a copy, and you are willing to share your address with me, I can send you a signed copy during the month of February for $12.oo, shipping on me. Just contact me at gaydegani@yahoo.com.

Best of Every Day Fiction Two Launched

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I’m pleased to announce that I have two stories, “The London Eye” and “Stranger on the Porch,” in this year’s The Best of Every Day Fiction TWO.

Here’s the official spiel:

Flash fiction is perfect for your coffee break, your commute, or whenever you have a few minutes for yourself. Crafted with gemlike precision, every flash fiction piece tells a complete story, never using more than a thousand words.
The Best of Every Day Fiction Two brings together one hundred flash fiction pieces selected from Every Day Fiction’s second year of publication.

Following the success of The Best of Every Day Fiction 2008, this volume brings you a hundred more bite-sized tastes of science fiction, humour, romance, fantasy, horror, and surrealism along with more traditional literary pieces, from authors all over the world. Whatever your fiction preferences might be, this book is sure to introduce you to some new favourite authors and perhaps expand your literary horizons.

Pages: 316Publisher: Every Day Publishing (January 15, 2010)Language: EnglishProduct Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inchesShipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
Now available directly from Every Day Publishing: CLICK HERE TO ORDER

I don’t have my copy yet so if you’re in it, please comment below!!!!

Resolution Road

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I’m heading into familiar territory in 2010.

I’ve travelled this blacktop many times before and run out of gas, gotten a few tickets for tail-gating, speeding, and driving myself into a ditch. But the good thing about traveling over paths I’ve already been down is that I’m beginning to notice so much more about the experience.

I’m picking up details and nuances and having epiphanies about the asphalt itself, where the bumps are, the sudden curves, the cracks, the narrowing lanes, and to prepare in enough time to take advantage of the upcoming divided highway. And too I seem able–because of my growing acquaintance with the road itself–to find time to look in all four directions.

The rearview mirror reveals where I’ve been, and I’m grateful for the miles covered. I begin to notice and appreciate the roadside vegetation, the swooping hawk in the sky, the deep scary woods with its never-seen-before dirt lane, and the distant mountains across the meadow glistening in the afternoon sun.

There is only one beginning to each new year, each new month, each new week, and each new day. One of my resolutions is to remain aware of those beginnings, to hold onto the freshness and energy that comes from waking up each morning and recommiting to my personal landscape: my family, my friends, and of course, my writing.

I’ve been practicing consistency and focus. Wait! Focus should be listed first, then consistency. Focus is the most important tool in embracing a dream, developing a talent, accomplishing what one sets out to accomplish. And though many believe that if one has a passion, focus shouldn’t be an issue, it often is.

Focus slips into the ditch as easily as a car with a distracted driver. My first two priorities, family and friends, constantly challenge my focus. They are hard to deny, but they are also my support group, my inspiration, and without them, what would be the point?

But balancing them with my writing isn’t always easy. They need me. They want me. And I feel compelled. But it is this very struggle between them and the work, that conflict, that gives me my “drive.”
Consistency is impossible without focus. There is no way I can stay on the highway if I’m not paying attention. At least somewhere in my brain, I must remain aware of other cars, smelly semis, and jack-asses in Lexi and F-150s. So focus first. Consistency second.

Climbing into that old beater, backing it out of the garage, and into the street every single day is essential…or at least five days a week like the normal folks. Sometimes my perception is the beater just isn’t going anywhere. The batteries dead, the engine won’t start, and I’ve run out of gas. Must’ve lost focus yesterday when I drove by that gas station when I should have stopped to fill up. Damn.
But it’s a new day so I call on the WRITER’S version of triple A–a good story by someone else, a prompt from Meg, a note to Sarah or Sharon, and get recharged, regassed, back on the road. And each experience gets me closer to my destination. Even the running out of gas. Oh that’s a story! What if me and my family are out for a Sunday drive and we run out of gas or have a flat tire? With my mother-in-law? What if an escaped convict descends on us? What might happen next?
I’m pretty sure Flannery O’Connor knew how to get back on the road and I can too because today is a new day, a new week… Well, you get the drift.

This post originally appeared at Flash Fiction Chronicles on January 4.

Writing with Syle Deadline February 5

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If any of you remember, I went to Banff in September of last year (yes, last year as in 2009!) and loved it.

It is a one-week program including class time with some of Canada’s best writers. The location is gorgeous, the food delicious, and there is plenty of free writing time. I loved the people there who were sincerely interested in my progress.

Here’s the note I received along with all previous participants that I am posting here for any of you who are interested.:

Hello you Stylistas!

Just a note to say that the deadline for the Spring session of Writing wth
Style is coming up on February 5th. You may be interested in applying, or you
may want to pass this on to your writer friends.

Here is the faculty for Spring Style:

Jan Zwicky–poetry
Mark Abley–creative nonfiction
Pauline Holdstock–historical fiction
Lee Gowan–first chapter novel

Here’s a hotlink for anyone who wants to know more: http://www.banffcentre.ca/programs/program.aspx?id=945.

Happy New Year, and happy writing!

Liz Philips

Director, Writing with Style

The Banff Centre

Spotted & Sought up at 10Flash

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My story “Spotted & Sought” is up at K. C. Ball’s 10Flash Quarterly this month. If you have time to stop by that would be terrific. Here’s a direct link: Spotted.

Other pieces featured this month include Jodi MacArthur’s “The Sower,” Megan Arkenburg’s “Fugitive 135711400,” DJ Barber’s “Wanderers Two,” and C. L. Holland’s “On the Penitent’s Road.”

Is it time for me to begin listing my new year’s resolutions? Probably, but I’m not up for it tonight. The Ducks lost, UCLA lost, bad times for the Pac 10, but mostly, me? I’m just tired. So I’ll start some of my new year tomorrow and Sunday, but the real beginning will be Monday morning. Back to the routine which I have to admit I like.

EDF’s January Calendar

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Happy New Year. I’m working on my resolutions, but in the meantime, I want to share Every Day Fiction’s lineup of stories for the month of January 2010.

January’s Table of Contents
Jan 1 Anthony Cowin Golden Sparks
Jan 2 A P Charman Truce
Jan 3 Michael D. Turner Djinni Beach
Jan 4 Debbie Cowens The Death Meter
Jan 5 Deborah Winter-Blood Fireword
Jan 6 Dominik J. Parisien Snowparent
Jan 7 Ramon Rozas III Micro-Transactions
Jan 8 Anna Sykora The Meatball of Fate
Jan 9 Paul Graham Fodder
Jan 10 J F Taylor Trophy
Jan 11 Gaius Coffey The Mortician and Mr Grimley
Jan 12 Harry Steven Lazerus The Man Who Executed Socrates
Jan 13 Fred Warren Half
Jan 14 Jay Faulkner The Way Not to Wish
Jan 15 Joy V. Smith Mooving Out
Jan 16 Oonah V Joslin Take v, t, & i (took, taken,-kable)
Jan 17 Ruth Schiffmann Do-si-do
Jan 18 Nathaniel Johnson The Basset and the Hare
Jan 19 G.P. Ching Replacement Parts
Jan 20 Miriam Hall Woken
Jan 21 Matthias R. Gollackner Nothing
Jan 22 Christie Isler The First Burial
Jan 23 Stephanie Scarborough An Undead Day at the Spa
Jan 24 Magen Toole The Mermaid of Warsaw
Jan 25 JB Smith Cleansings
Jan 26 JR Hume Differences
Jan 27 Guy Anthony De Marco Member of the Herd
Jan 28 Townsend Walker An Incident at Golden Gate Bridge
Jan 29 J.C. Towler Bad Smile
Jan 30 Kelly Swimmer The Warrior and the Stone
Jan 31 Mark Robinson Calls From Other Networks May Vary