It examines and subverts the tropes of mystery and crime storytelling in which the narrative always begins with the body of yet another murdered woman. They are mothers and daughters, teachers and students, lovers and wives, actresses and extras. They have been taken, but their stories still remain. This is how they set the plot in motion.

    

    Why not try some microfiction short stories instead? These bite-sized, slice-of-life short stories are crafted with only one hundred words, so they go by in a flash. Perfect for time-challenged fiction lovers, these humorous yet thought-provoking stories can be read when you’re waiting in line, riding the bus, or whenever you need a short mental break. Go on. Try some flash fiction. Grab your copy of 100 Tiny Tales today! 100 Tiny Tales: Short Stories Told in Exactly One Hundred Words is written by K. Kris Loomis, a native South Carolinian and the author of the novels, The Sinking of Bethany Ann Crane and The Murder of Leopold Beckenbauer, as well as the short story collection, The Monster In the Closet and Other Stories. Kris is also a nonfiction author who writes books about yoga, meditation, and the time she spent living in South America, including After Namaste: Off-the-Mat Musings of a Modern Yogini and Thirty Days in Quito: Two Gringos and a Three-Legged Cat Move to Ecuador. When Kris isn’t at her standing desk writing, she can be found playing chess, folding an origami crane, or practicing a Beethoven sonata on the piano. She lives in Rock Hill, South Carolina with her husband and two cats. You can connect with Kris at her website, www.kkrisloomis.com or her Amazon Author page, or find her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram @kkrisloomis.

    Told from various perspectives, this series of connected flashes finds words where so many cannot. The often indescribable is distilled in a way that is fresh and full of deep emotional understanding. This debut collection is both delicate and impactful, and the stories within are among the rare that will move any reader. —Santino Prinzi, author of There’s Something Macrocosmic About All of This Poignant, joyful, heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting. It touched my heart. —Sarah Hilary What gives the book its power is the writer’s commitment to the everyday. Without a hint of melodrama, Diane Simmons shows how ordinary life is altered, and made strange, by the death of a loved one. I was moved beyond words by this fine, modest, under-stated and perceptive book. —David Swann, author of The Privilege of Rain A brilliantly specific exploration of grief, rich in emotional detail. —Meg Pokrass, author of Alligators At Night I absolutely loved this collection and cared deeply for the characters and their journeys. It made me smile. It made me cry. It made me feel a lot of things. I am sure this accomplished, intelligent, absorbing read will resonate with a wide readership. —Emily Devane

    These stories will make you draw breath as you race through compelling accounts of the dark places people escape to and from.Through her masterful use of language, Barbara Byar skilfully invites the reader into imagined futures and regretful pasts – from war to childhood to road trips to relationships. Her pieces are visceral, sometimes brutal but sliced through with hope. These stories, and the characters in them, strike straight at the realist heart of the human experience and will linger long after reading.A must-read collection These stories stopped me in my tracks.—Gaynor Jones, Northern Writer of the Year These are searingly truthful fictions. Pitched at the border of poetry and prose, they catalogue lives lived at the edge, survivors facing the beauty and cruelty of the world. These fictions will take your breath away.—William Wall, author of Suzy Suzy and Grace’s Day Betrayal and brokenheartedness, sex and sadness, disaster and divorce – in Some Days Are Better Than Ours: A Collection of Tragedies, the wants and wounds of Byar’s characters are stark, startling, and unforgettable.—Meg Pillow, 2019 Wigleaf top 50 Barbara Byar writes flash like no one else; in each of these lucid and furious twenty-nine stories — some no longer than a single page — are wholly unforgettable glimpses into the lives of her individual characters.—Peter Jordan, author of Calls to Distant Places Some Days Are Better Than Ours delves into lives misshapen by abuse, exploring the dark side of the will and the flaring of lost souls. Byar’s language is gritty with rage, giving a lucid voice to the vulnerable, the marginalised, the roughshod, all fighting for what has been stolen and squandered, and looking for love between the cracks.—Catherine McNamara, author of The Cartography of Others Some Days Are Better Than Ours is an incredibly well-written and emotionally complex journey to the dark places of human experience. Clever, introspective and fearless, this collection will take you to places you never imagined before. A raw and relentless debut collection.—Anita Goveas, author of Families and Other Natural Disasters (forthcoming, Reflex Press) Barbara Byar’s Some Days Are Better Than Ours is a collection of flash fictions that dig deep into trauma, tapping into a well of strong emotions. You won’t be able to forget these hard-hitting stories very soon.—Sophie van Llewyn, author of Bottled Goods, longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019

    Martin’s writing evokes the literary DNA of those who have influenced her most, while in a style and voice that is uniquely her own.In these 38 tiny tales, everyday people do their best to manage the wounds life inflicts on all of us: A six-year-old beauty pageant contestant strives to please her demanding mother; a woman marries a 1985 Buick LeSabre; in a laundromat bored wives fall under the romantic spell of a lobster; a grown woman is still being fat-shamed by her deceased mother via a Ouija board; a widow carries her husband’s ashes around in Baggies.With pathos and humor, these and all of the characters in this collection will speak to the reader’s own wounded heart.

    Jenkins, Ruth Joffre, Yalie Kamara, Gene Kwak, Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint, Monterica Sade Neil, Dennis Norris II, Kristine Ong Muslim, Alvin Park, Madhvi Ramani, SJ Sindu, Maggie Su, Eshani Surya, Ursula Villarreal-Moura, Yun Wei, and C. Pam Zhang; essays by Allison Noelle Conner, Marcos Gonsalez, W. Todd Kaneko, and Alicita Rodriguez; plus an editors’ roundtable with Tara Campbell, Leland Cheuk, Tyrese Coleman, and Bix Gabriel!

    Reflections on our earliest beginnings and what is yet to come, with characters as diverse as a French speaking elephant and a cyborg warrior.Finding the right number of syllables for a Haiku, Tanka, Etheree or Cinquain focuses the mind; as does 99 word microfiction, bringing a different level of intensity to storytelling. You will find stories about the past, the present and the future told in 17 syllables to 2,000 words, all celebrating life.This book is also recognition of the value to a writer, of being part of a generous and inspiring blogging community, where writing challenges encourage us to explore new styles and genres.

    Zettie’s story is fluid and in motion, transcending geographies and time. She stops talking, at age seven, and starts to listen – to the worlds she finds in language and books, and to the people and places she encounters as she moves across continents. Her silence connects her to people, to nature and to the elemental world. Magical and beyond boundaries, this collection focuses on small fragments, taking Zettie, and the reader, inevitably to the place where human history began.'a loving homage to our beleaguered planet'–Catherine McNamara'a tour de force'–Christopher Allen'luminous'–Tracey Slaughter

    It is a book of moments, evoking the beauty and comfort that connection brings…and the pain when it is severed.'Whoever you are, whatever you like to read, you need these stories in your life.'–Tania Hershman, author of Some Of Us Glow More Than Others'These insightful and disarmingly honest stories shimmer with quirky brilliance.'–Meg Pokrass, author of Alligators At Night'K.M. Elkes writes like a fallen angel, making the ordinary divine…This is breath-taking flash fiction at its finest.'–Angela Readman, author of Something Like Breathing'Brings a Cheeveresque emotional punch to his stories…a masterclass in the heart-jolting satisfaction of great flash fiction.'–Nuala O'Connor, author of Joyride to Jupiter

     T.O.C. Andrew Lennon - Enter Night P. Mattern - The Fungus Among Us RJ Meldrum - Invasion RJ Meldrum - One Night Stand C.A. Verstraete - A Mother's Love Valerie Lioudis - Too Many Steve Stred - Click Steve Stred - Cursed D.E. McCluskey - Work Mark Matthews - A Vampire and Her Jar Full of Leeches Dennis Mombauer - The Rusted Island Theresa Jacobs - The Muse Michael D. Davis - June Bug Michael D. Davis - The Doctor's Hobbies Chad Lutzke - Nothing J.C. Michael - True Potential DS Ullery - Number Thirteen Scott Paul Hallam - The Crate Anthony Giordano - La Lamentación Kevin Cathy - The Tree Kevin Cathy - Narrative Kevin Cathy - Admitted Ellen A. Easton - Into the Woods Sheldon Woodbury - The Altar of Bones Sheldon Woodbury - Halloween Ride Sheldon Woodbury - The Midnight Circus P.J. Blakey-Novis - Stray Chris Hall - The Evacuation Larry Hinkle - Three Wishes J.C. Michael - The Dead that Lived Joe X. Young - Black Light Terry Miller - Dollface Evans Light - That'll Show Her C.S. Anderson - The Difference Alyson Faye - The Necklace RJ Roles - Tits to Die for RJ Roles - Passing the Torch RJ Roles - Delicious RJ Meldrum - The Apocalypse Will Be Televised Kerry E.B. Black - Blood and Ashes Ron Davis - Crimson and Clover Rhys Hughes - The Special Day Tristan Drue Rogers - Flightless John Boden - A Fleeting Thing John Boden - After Ryan Colley - Masks Ryan Colley - Operation Kerry E.B. Black - Flames Kerry E.B. Black - As He Was Toneye Eyenot - Sleep, My Darling David Owain Hughes - The Rich Get Richer Simon Cluett - Bait Toneye Eyenot - Dirt Nap John T. M. Herres - A Place I Know Ryan Woods - The Room Upstairs Howard Carlyle - Painting the Walls James Matthew Byers - A Penny’s Penance Andrew Lennon - Possessed Terry Miller - Death Rattles Dean M. King - Too Late Terry Miller - Dead Girl Speak Jason M. Light - Gun Control Justin M. Woodward - Gravemakers and Gunslingers Aron Beauregard - Hot Car Matthew Cash - My God Lives on the Mountain Top David Owain Hughes - Tribal Beard Hazel Lennon - Picnic Martin P. Fuller - Die, Die, Dead Howard Carlyle - The Tools of His Trade Duncan Thompson - A Bedtime Story Jim Goforth - Hack Stuart Conover - Be Careful What You Wish For S P Oldham - Noisy Neighbours Ron Davis - Machines of War Becky Narron - Mistaken Identity Chris Miller - The Thing Beyond the Veil Norbert Góra - Houston, I Have a Circus Here Leigha Desmond - The Call Patrick Winters - The Dolmen of Austburg Paul Wennersberg-Løvholen - The Dead Don’t Die Paul Wennersberg-Løvholen - 158 Days Later Andrew Lennon - Honey, I’m Home C.M. Saunders - Naughty Step Zoey Xolton - The Arena Theresa Derwin - Used Parts Martin Zeigler - Blackout Andrew Lennon - Dreams Robin Braid - Loch Robin Braid - Next Door Suzanne Fox - Sweet Dreams Essel Pratt - Somniphobia Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason - Wooden Suit Veronica Smith - Post HalloweenCindar Harrell - Sea Foam Blood Justin Hunter - Mine Michael Anthony Lee - The Lost Ones G. Allen Wilbanks - Webs Amber M. Simpson - Show Time Kevin J. Kennedy - Karma Monsters Kevin J. Kennedy - The Apocalypse Bar Eric J. Guignard - Three O’Clock a.m. Julian J. Guignard - Dog Lover Doom Josh Darling - The Sword Swallower Brandy Yassa - Happy Birthday

    Every month a new challenge is posted online, with authors submitting via email. The best submissions are then posted on Crystal Lake’s Patreon page, where patrons read daily entries and vote for the winner. What you’ll find in these Shallow Waters anthologies include the most popular of our finalists.Stay tuned for more volumes in this series, or find Crystal Lake Publishing on Patreon to enter or vote on future challenges.Volume one includes horror, thrillers, suspense, and stories of love lost, death, 2nd chances, the monsters within, and the beauty beneath it all.Introduction by Joe Mynhardt“Closure on a Bed of Nails” by Chad Lutzke“Fast Car” by Tracy Fahey“Tears of Buddy” by Patrick R. McDonough“Puzzle Pieces” by Armand Rosamilia“Pretty Like Butterflies” by Tim Waggoner“S1:E7” by Robert Ford“Pain is Your Teacher” by Michael Harris Cohen“Memory Lane” by Red Lagoe“The Silence of the Sirens” by Loren Rhoads“It’s Me Not You” by Jonathan Winn“Sisters of Loss” by Mark Allan Gunnells“Talisman” by Jezzy Wolfe“The Melting of Your Gods” by Mercedes M. Yardley“Charms” by Dino Parenti“Not Your Average Monster” by Kenneth W. Cain“Where the Children Run in Darkness” by Guy Medley“Tunnels” by Tom Over (winner)“The Truth about Dani” by Joe Mercer“Baby Savannah” by M.J. Sydney“Rats Scratched in the Linen Cupboard” by Dani Brown“Raining” by John Boden“The Death Experience” by L.A. Story In this volume… Taunted by a cactus, a man copes with grief after the loss of his wife.  Alondra DeCourval visits Franz Kafka’s grave to think about death. A lovestruck woman strives to connect with a man she’s convinced is The One.  The perfect funeral for a child—all according to a Mother’s well-crafted plan. The exception is one small, unexpected development no one could have ever prepared for. A short meditation on the haunting nature of love and loss, and the aftermath of both. Victor’s sanity has been threaded together by the memory of his daughter’s voice, until now, when her laughter falls silent. An adrenaline junkie believes he can take on the ultimate challenge—coming back from the dead. Sisters share everything. The good...and the bad. Sometimes being a hoarder is dangerous... In our ever-changing world, what we view as a monster is constantly evolving…but at what cost? Buddy's heart aches for his family’s arrival.  Bright colors may be beautiful, but sometimes they can be dangerous. Sometimes the darkness we harbor within is best left behind closed doors. Rats scratch in the children's ward.

    An eclectic collection of micro fictions, each exactly 50 words, from the masterful Bob Thurber.

    In each story, a woman or girl is literally confined or held captive, and we can only watch as they are transformed into objects of terror and desire, plotting their escape from their cultural cages.   Taken as a whole, this experimental speculative fiction invites parallels to social justice movements focused on sexuality and gender, as well as cautionary tales for our precarious political movement. Parkison and Guess offer no solutions to their characters’ captivity. Instead, they challenge their audience to read against the grain of conventional feminist dystopian narratives by inviting them inside the “Girl Zoo” itself.   Take a step inside the zoo and see for yourself. We dare you. Behind the bars, a world of wonder awaits.

    This collection contains five additional flash fiction stories exploring the connections that can hold people together or tear them apart. Like most families, the relationships in this uplifting collection consist of intricate elements. Sometimes things get messy, but it’s always beautiful. Read each story in about 5 minutes. The stories are perfect for readers who enjoy contemporary fiction/women's fiction novels as well as those who only have time for a quick read.

    Like most families, the relationships in this uplifting collection consist of intricate elements. Sometimes things get messy, but it’s always beautiful. Read each story in about 5 minutes and get Volume 2 of the collection for free using a link within the book. The stories are perfect for readers who enjoy contemporary fiction/women's fiction novels as well as those who only have time for a quick read. This collection is filled with relatable characters and endings that pull at your heartstrings, so don’t be surprised if you laugh or cry along the way.

    These short, elliptical works are varied and edgy, sorrowful and triumphant, provocative and visionary. The small fictions enclosed within this volume are always vibrant. They scintillate. They linger. With each story brief enough to savor at a stoplight or quick coffee break, the tales contained within 2019's The Best Small Fictions promise to leave a mark.

    Though she knows no more than that his village was called Baghmara, she is willing to visit every Baghmara in the country if she must.But when she meets a young Nepali woman, Putali, and her mother, Khusbhu – two women also struggling to build new lives for themselves – Avery becomes more embroiled in the chaotic energy of the living then the histories of the dead, Pursuing a connection far deeper than the one for which she’d been searching.Birds with Horse Hearts explores the entangled lives of three women as they navigate grief, freedom, and their own journeys to find people to call family and places to call home.

    Every month a new challenge is posted online, with authors submitting via email. The best submissions are then posted on Crystal Lake’s Patreon page, where patrons read daily entries and vote for the winner. What you’ll find in these Shallow Waters anthologies include the most popular of our finalists.Stay tuned for more volumes in this series, or find Crystal Lake Publishing on Patreon to enter or vote on future challenges.Volume two includes horror, thrillers, suspense, and stories of life after death, the supernatural, murder, and the beauty beneath it all.Introduction by Joe Mynhardt“Night Swimming” by Michael O’Brien“Hush Little Baby” by Matt Shaw“The Vessel” by Mark Allan Gunnells“The Southland” by Pedro Iniguez“Biter of Dust” by Austin James (winner)“Gently Used” by Jonah Buck“Ollie Visits Grandma” by Mark Cassell“The Water Tower Ghost” by Darryl Foster“Standing Tall” by Kenneth W. Cain“The Only Thing That Remains” by Jess Landry“(Almost) Joined at The Hip” by Dan Weatherer“Remy and the Elephant” by Linsey Knerl“She Fluttered” by Andrew Garvey“Just A Cup of Coffee” by Theresa Derwin“Malignant” by Steve Thompson & Kenneth W. Cain“Welcome to the Future” by Diana Grove“Makes Three” by Michael Harris Cohen & Mark Allan Gunnells (winner)“A Tea Party for the Dead” by Dani Brown & David Charlesworth“A Game of Hide and Seek” by Joe X Young“The Allotment” by Theresa Derwin“Hourglass” by Chad Lutzke & John Boden“The End of the War” by Joseph Mulak“Long Distance Cull” by Tony Logan & Red Lagoe“To Stop Further Slaughter” by Raymond Gates“Baited” by Chad A. Clark“Curtain Call” by Raven Dane (winner)In this volume… A man is visited by his wife the night before her funeral. A tale of brotherly love turns sour. What happens when the ghosts of our past refuse to forget? A man contemplates the sacrifice he must make to stop a killer. When popping in to see a grandparent, don't always expect biscuits and tea. She rose from the dead, but by cheating death she must gamble again with life. A grieving mother preserves the memory of her son in a very curious manner. During an interrogation in the sweltering summer heat, a Los Angeles detective struggles as he loses his grasp between reality and madness. A bizarre black mold problem leads to the most extreme of solutions. Dawn comes for the dead locked in a forgotten room inside the Neon Dream. An ancient soul finds himself and his people threatened by an ever-growing hostile race.

    Sometimes sad, surreal and sinister, they're also shot through with love and a deep understanding of humanity. In gorgeous, spare prose that paints a very vivid picture, Sandra Arnold gives voice to characters that are often unheard. From Daisy in Fireworks Night, willing to do whatever it takes to protect her little sister; to Hathor in The Girl With Green Hair who has her body in the world we live in and her mind in the one that not many people see; and Ruby in Don't Mess With Vikings who finds strength in a diagnosis of illness to stand up to bullies. With the stories in this collection, Sandra Arnold etches marks on your soul that will last. "Sandra Arnold's stories are small windows into another world, a world which is almost this world. She brings the readers in, page by page, enticing with dream-like language and insightful observation. Beguiling, strange, tender and chilling, these potent gems continue percolating in your mind long after the reading is done." -Meg Pokrass, author of Alligators At Night "Mastery of the short form is a delicate, nerve-wracking balancing act. Tilt one way and you fall into bathos, tilt the other and you plunge into artifice and contrivance. There is very little room to manoeuvre. Sandra Arnold, in this rich collection demonstrates just how it should be done. In story after brilliant story, she negotiates the tightrope surely, often with bravura, and all without the aid of a safety net." -James Norcliffe, author of Dark Days at the Oxygen Cafe "Sandra Arnold’s debut flash collection is simply beautiful. There’s an element of the mystery of humanity and the world that will fill readers with wonder. Each detail is unique and woven together in a universal tapestry, and Soul Etchings will leave readers craving more from Sandra Arnold." -Niles Reddick, author of Reading the Coffee Grounds and Other Stories "A wise and poetic sensibility currents through these stories in Soul Etchings. They are short, yet substantial — intimate and keen. Here are stories of place and of the heart." -Robert Scotellaro, author of What We Know So Far

    A dominatrix loses her dog. Officers count the terrible cost of human life in the wake of battle. A casting director comes face to face with his childhood bully. And why has a death sentence been issued for everyone named John Smith? These are but a few of the thrilling tales inside. We've gathered authors from around the world into this compendium of fast fiction fixes. Each of these one hundred and one super short stories can be read in only a few minutes, just enough time as you wait for your high speed transport to arrive and whisk you away to your next adrenaline packed adventure. This is FLASH FICTION ADDICTION, and there is no cure but to read more!