Today marks my sixth straight appearance over at Every Day Fiction — how time flies when you’re writing flash! As a sort of half-year round-up I’ve put together this list of my stories, each with a little summary. Check them out!
So far I’ve published sci-fi, fantasy, and horror flash, in styles both straightforward and surreal. I’ve got a vague and dreamlike piece with an unreliable narrator, a nasty punchy-paced dark satire, a pseudo-Vancian fable . . . in short no two of my EDF stories are really the same, and that’s one of the great things about Every Day Fiction. In addition to the attention my stories get there, and all the great writers and readers that frequent EDF, it’s the pure pleasure of playing with voice and concept that makes this such a great market to publish on and be seen at. And it’s because the editors know what they are doing, and what flash fiction is all about, that the site works as well as it does and contains so many different voices, styles, and themes.
Here are my fist six stories to be published at EDF. If you’ve got the time, consider giving them the old eyeball treatment, and if you’re feeling particularly ecstatic or rapturous or disappointed or paradoxically-yet-strongly ambivalent about any of these stories then go ahead and leave a comment over on EDF and let me know what you think.
The Unbelievable Non-Adventures of Gasbert and Zephyr — My most surreal piece. No, it has nothing to do with Michael Chabon, but something to do with pulp. The setting may or may not be a ‘trans-dimensional prison’ but the theme is certainly about imprisonment — about being stuck on ideas, images of yourself, or being wedded to the company you keep. Plus, there’s just so much we don’t actively remember about our selves at any given moment, but it only takes a stray thought — or a hand through a smoking jacket — to bring us into contact with a past we hardly know and barely remember.
Cloudcutter — Interesting reactions to this story. Many who don’t like science fiction appreciated the lyricism of the language, though some who were not familiar with sci-fi tropes had some trouble discerning what was going on. Charlie is a bit of an unreliable narrator in that he isn’t going to dwell on the obvious parts of his life for the benefit of an audience — just as you wouldn’t go out of your way to describe the face you see in the mirror every day as human. The story is about dreams, really, about how our identity is in large part determined by what we long for. Possibly my favorite story on this list.
Gandolo of the Watchful Eye — Shamelessly adapted from a Chinese folktale. Like any story with a twist ending, it’s about playing a slight-of-hand trick with all the story elements so the ending is both inevitable and unexpected. I think I did OK with that, though there are a few things I would change. A definite Vancian influence to some of the names and colorful absurdities.
Junkyard Rats — I have a thing for junkyards — two of my EDF stories are set in junkyards (Cloudcutter is the other one) and quite a few other shorts I’ve written also have a scrapheap locale. I also like rats. Man-rats are nice, too. Lycanthropy is a time-honored story element that has been done so many ways it’s hard to come up with something new, so I intended this fun little story to make the reader’s recognition of standard horror tropes lead them in an unexpected direction.
Priority Won — I wrote this in a white-hot frenzy. I may have been mad about something at the time, or perhaps just depressed at the state of things. Call it near future dystopia — the near future being a week from today. It’s about apathy, ignorance, and the forces that are changing our world that are just so much damn bigger than any one of us. I tried to be merciless with the protagonist, and hate to admit I’m more like him than I should be. But I’m not alone in that. I think it’s my best flash.
An Imperfect Swordsmen — My EDF debut, from a story I had been turning around in my mind for a while, ultimate origin unknown. Inspired by a half-remembered idea in Japanese Zen aesthetics, the notion of leaving a deliberate flaw in a piece of art to reflect the principal of the imperfection of all things. Just filter that through the idea of a duel between swordsmen, and you have ‘An Imperfect Swordsmen.’
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Congratulations on six, Bill. I enjoyed each of them.
Thanks KC.
Brilliant! Your work is great.
Ah, come on now, don’t say things like that, Zachatree – it goes straight to Bill’s head, and then he’s not worth a half-cent as a writer for at least a week.
Just kidding. Billy’s an awesome tale teller.
I like the post, Bill. Congrats on all that exposure.
Thank you Zach.
And you’re correct Jason; that’s why us writers have editors that will ensure we receive our requisite quota of abuse and rejection, thus ensuring we remain on an even keel.
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