A few weeks ago I received some copies of Every Day Fiction’s second annual year’s best anthology, and I’ve been reading a story or two here and there. I’m not done yet, but so far the anthology has proven to be as enjoyable and rewarding as its predecessor. Containing 100 flash fiction stories from EDF’s second year of operations, the book contains such a myriad of voices, styles, techniques, and types of stories that you will never find yourself reading the same thing twice. It’s a  perfect ’slow read’ anthology, the sort of thing you can dip into one little piece at a time for months.

I’m pleased to say that two of my stories, Davy’s Toy Box and The Goon Eternal, were selected for inclusion in the anthology — and, as a matter of fact, The Goon Eternal actually closes out the book. That’s a fantastic honor for a story in any anthology, and even moreso in such a fine collection as the EDF folks have assembled. Hats off to Jordan, Camille, Steven, and the rest of the EDF crew for their continuing success with such a groundbreaking publication — here’s hoping they’ll have many more ‘years best’ anthologies in their future.

So, you’re feeling a bit down. Maybe things aren’t going the way you’d have imagined for yourself when, as a wee child, you had visions of your success as a star of stage and screen, or as an international playboy and jetsetter, celebrity look-a-like, ruthless cybernetic mankiller, or affable variety show host with secret knowledge of the end times. Such are the disappointments of modern life. But hey, it could be worse, you could see the signs that your whole being exists as part of an endless loop of bit parts in somebody else’s drama. You could even get the notion that you’re fictional.

Over at EDF today I’ve got a quickie that poses just that, The Goon Eternal. So put on your good shoes and third best suit — and stick a Raymond Chandler novel in the left pocket and a Philip K. Dick one in the right — and go check it out. Oh, and vote. Unless of course you didn’t like it, then don’t vote — you don’t have to lie for me. Although, you know, if you wanted to that would bring us a whole lot closer and I’d start telling people what wonderful friends you and I are.

Having been out of the loop for a while, I completely missed Every Day Fiction’s new Flash Fiction blog until recently, but it’s been a pleasure to catch up on the entries over there. Flash Fiction Chronicles, edited by EDF regular Gay Degani, is exactly what it appears to be: a blog focused completely on the art and phenomenon of flash fiction.

Start with Gay’s own post ‘Flash by Defintion‘ on what flash is, and isn’t, by way of introduction. From there you might want to check out the posts from the EDF team that originally appeared in The Best of EDF; Jordan, Camille, and Steven each sharing their own perspective on Flash Fiction and on the fantastic first year of EDF’s existence. But there is a lot more, posts from EDF regulars like K.C. Ball, Oonah V. Joslin, and Sarah Hilary (among others) ranging from story analyses and nitty-gritty dissections of the craft of writing flash, to personal anecdotes and words of inspiration. I think the blog is off to a great start, with something there for anyone interested in writing flash, whether they’ve never done it before or already have a dozen stories under their belt.

The first thing I have for you today is my story Davy’s Toy Box, which is Every Day Fiction’s story of the day. You should read it, for not only is it enjoyable in story-terms, but I have it on good authority that reading Davy’s Toy Box is good for your overall cardio-vascular health. So, if you’ve been skipping the gym lately, I think my story can help.

Heading in the direction of Blog Gate today you may notice the way is littered with an odd assortment of paper products — playing cards, matchbook covers, old receipts and envelopes and sticky-notes. That’s because I’m expounding on the overlooked phenomenon of bookmarks, how they accumulate, how they disappear, and how some of them rise to become sentimental favorites and others — well, others are just bits of paper.

Get more than one of these unfinished books together — I have a shelf for this — and you’ll see a different pictures. Depending on what you use as a bookmark, of course, your unfinished collection with all its sprouting bookmark-ends may resemble a thicket of trees, or a perhaps a flotilla of sailing vessels jostling in harbor. But what I see are protuberant, taunting tongues — a grand razzberry emanating from each volume, salvoed in contempt of my lack of perseverance.

Oh, and how about the circle of Hell reserved for book offenders?

And, given that so many of the world’s small, flat objects function adequately as bookmarks, I’m always confounded by dogears. Marginalia I can understand, though it is not my practice, as it can create a second and sometimes interesting dialogue between book and reader(s), but dogears are pure defacement. I suspect there is a circle of hell populated by turners of book corners — perhaps they busy themselves getting the crease out of a zillion pages while their fellow offenders, book store employees, spend their eons of torment trying to scrape the price label sticky gum off of a trillion dust jackets. It’s a pleasant thought.

Click here for Davy’s Toy Box

And click here for ‘On Bookmarks’

Every Day Fiction’s first anthology is now available for purchase in both hardcover and paperback — just in time to make a nice gift. It contains 100 flash fiction stories published over the last year at EDF, and I have two stories in there; Junkyard Rats, and Priority Won. To have a look at the Table of Contents and see the many talented authors involved in the project, check out my first post about the anthology.

More from EDF:

The Best of Every Day Fiction 2008 brings together one hundred flash fiction pieces selected from Every Day Fiction’s first year of publication. These stories cross boundaries of genre and geography, with tastes of science fiction, humour, romance, fantasy, horror, and surrealism alongside the more traditional literary pieces, from authors writing in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, India, Israel, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Click here to purchase a copy of The Best of Everyday Fiction 2008

Congratulations to Jordan Lapp, Camille Gooderham Campbell, and all the EDF staff, as well as all the authors, for a fine finish to a great first year.

The folks at Every Day Fiction have collected 100 of their favorite stories for inclusion in a Year’s Best Anthology covering EDF’s first year of operation. There are a lot of great stories here I remember from when they first popped into my inbox, and I’m pleased to say two of my pieces, ‘Priority Won’ and ‘Junkyard Rats,’ made the cut for inclusion.

Here are the stories and their authors, presented in the order of original publication:

SCIENTISTS by Andrew LeBlanc
LOLITA’S LYNCH MOB by Sarah Hilary
ROOTLESS by Peter Tupper
THE MUD ROOM by K.A. Patterson
THE SURRENDER by Heidi Ruby Miller
THE LESSON by Avis Hickman-Gibb
BETWEEN THE ‘SHEETS’ by Christopher Kastensmidt
KITTY by Amy Silver
DIRTY LAUNDRY by Andrew LeBlanc
TAKE FIVE by Jeanne Holtzman
SECURITY QUESTION by Ramon Rozas III
CONSCIOUS DECISION by Oonah V Joslin
FILIAL TIES by Rumjhum Biswas
TELL’S CHOICE by Steve Goble
BRIMSTONE AND LIARS by Stephanie Scarborough
FOR CABBAGES AND ALE by Robert J Santa
XIIN by Mark Harding
BAD LUCK by K.C. Shaw
THE JOURNEY by Deven D Atkinson
STORM’S RISING by Suanne Warr
GO AWAY by Tania Hershman
SOCKS AND BANSHEES by Jens Rushing
I TAKE IT BACK by John Ritchie
RONNIE ANGEL by Jeanne Holtzman
CATHERINE by Joseph Riippi
GARDEN PESTS by Ellie Tupper
MONOCHROME by Steve Goble
HOW MY SISTER LOST THE GAME by K.C. Shaw
PETER AND SID by Rena Sherwood
THE FACTS AS I KNOW THEM by Sarah Hilary
ONE QUESTION by Gay Degani
IDENTITY THEFT by Andy Bolt
RESOLUTION by Oonah V Joslin
BARE by Lily Thomas
LONG AND SHORT by Jeff Alan
THE GORDIAN STONE by James Enge
TEARS IN A BOX by DJ Barber
SYNERGY by Oonah V Joslin
HAVEN by Kevin Shamel
SONG OF THE EXTRA-POINT KICKER by Patrick Parr
MRS. WILSON’S BREAK by Avis Hickman-Gibb
WE ARE LUXEMBOURG by Richard Rippon
EPIPHANY SALE by KJ Kabza
SILVER SHELLS by Michael D. Turner
A SHINY NEW ANDREW by P.A. Matthews
MARIE’S LAST GRASP by Ijasan Adelehin
INVINCIBLE by Steve Goble
REMEMBER? by Erin M. Kinch
LEVEL CAP by D.A. Heiserman
UNCLE LESTER HAD A HAMMER by Nicholas Ozment
OUTSIDE by Stephanie Clauson
THE WEALD MAIDEN’S WILL by Nicholas Ian Hawkins
THE BREACH by Gay Degani
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS by Patrick Parr
THE OBJECTIV-EYE by Matthew Strada
SOMEONE ELSE’S SLIP by Sarah Hilary
THE MILK MAN’S OFFER by Katie Rose
WING MENDING by Dave Macpherson
ONLY HIS NAME by Michael Ehart
THE APRIL FOOL by Matthew Strada
SHOW ME BRAVE by Kevin Shamel
WITHOUT NAPIER by Michael Ehart
LEONIDAS AND THE T-BIRD by Sarah Black
THE PHILOSOPHER IN THE DARK by Scott M. Sandridge
YARDIE GIRL by Celeste Goschen
A FUNGAL FRIEND by Lee Beavington
THE SNIPER’S SON by Jill Barth
THE HERON by Oonah V Joslin
THE HERO AND THE HORROR by Kevin Shamel
THE BEACH COTTAGE by Angela Carlton
THE BURNING BLACK by Greta Igl
PRIORITY WON by Bill Ward
AFTERSHOCKS by Alexander Burns
ONE BRIGHT MOMENT by Joel Willans
MUG’S GAME by Sarah Hilary
CAVEDWELLER 2.0 by Greg Likins
SPRING MELT by Gay Degani
THE HEIST by Ann Wilkes
DESERT ISLAND SOLITAIRE, OR, A GOOD CIGAR IS A SMOKE by Nick Logan
JUNKYARD RATS by Bill Ward
THE SALUTE OF THE OLD AND CROTCHETY by Madeline Mora-Summonte
LARRY LEGEND by Jason Stout
VIRTUOSO by Gustavo Bondoni
TO SAVE THE DISCO by Kevin Shamel
IF WE WERE BRIAR ROSES by Brian Dolton
THE CHUPACABRA IN LOVE by A.C. Wise
FORBIDDEN PLANET by Dave Macpherson
SPARKERS by Peter Tupper
THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND BOYS… by Nicholas Ozment
HELLISH PARADISE by Frank Roger
THE SOUCOUYANT by Megan Arkenberg
AFTER, LIFE by Jeff Parish
BOX OF BALLOONS by Robin Vandenberg Herrnfeld
CROSSING BRIDGES by Sarah Black
EXODUS by Megan Arkenberg
WITH LOVE FOREVER YOURS by Alex Moisi
ODD PORK by Nick Logan
HAIR OF THE DOG by K.C. Ball
MY CORONA by Jason Stout
GREEN by Dave Macpherson

You can keep up-to-date with the project over on the EDF forums.

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.’