From Beth’s Book Reviews:
“This novella is small but packs a definite punch. From the very beginning it draws you in and keeps you interested. It also resolves things quickly and cleanly by the last page so there are no loose ends to leave you wondering after you close the book.”
Thanks, Beth! Here are the other reviews of Aztec Midnight, and here’s a link to my publisher, The Novel Fox.
“When you go mountain climbing, the first thing you’re told is not to look at the peak, but to keep your eyes on the ground as you climb. You just keep climbing patiently one step at a time. If you keep looking at the top, you’ll get frustrated. I think writing is similar.” Akira Kurosawa
From Bewildering Stories:
Bewildering Stories ends the season — winter or summer, depending on your hemisphere — with the Review Editors’ selection of favorites from the third quarter of 2016. New readers will have easy access to the recent best of Bewildering Stories, and veteran readers will have a chance to catch up on anything they may have missed.
The Quarterly Reviews are not a contest, competition or poll. And there are no quotas: anything — from everything to nothing — may qualify in any genre. Rather, they answer a practical question: “If a friend asked you to recommend something outstanding from the past quarter of Bewildering Stories, what would you choose?”
I’m happy to announce the editors at Bewildering Stories included my piece “Whisper Listing” in their short list of best flash fiction stories.
The best fiction and writing blog posts from around the ‘net, all guaranteed to make you a literary heavyweight. Compiled by ernie.
C.S. Wilde – Free Scene Planer
John Hartness – Music to write by
Miguel Olmedo Morell – The Day I Filmed Tolkien’s Grandson
Fionn Grant – There Is No Original
Penstricken – A Fight Scene Worth Reading
Janice Hardy – Backstory: Finding the Right Balance
Alice Osborn – Why I Love Editing
Ernest Hemingway Seven Tips on How to Write Fiction
Sounds like a great idea to me!
There is nothing official about this, but at this blog, I am declaring that this whole year from September 6, 2016 to September 6, 2017 is International Reading Year! Care to join me and spread the word?
If you like this idea, please tell as many people as you can.
And thank you to various people in the blogging world for suggesting continuing National Read A Book day!
“A brilliant flash fiction can illuminate a world in a moment. It can tell an epic story in the space of a page. The compression necessary to a flash fiction piece means it takes on a greater urgency, a controlled burn that means every single word on that page is necessary, is living and breathing and is saying the thing that so desperately needs to be said. Every piece of kindling is cut and placed and perfect.” Amber Sparks
The best fiction and writing blog posts from around the ‘net, all guaranteed to make you a literary ninja. Compiled by yukio.
Joanne Jeffries and Julian Yanover – The 10 most Influential Poets in History
Jacqui Murray – 19 Ways to Describe People
Amber MV – The Aliveness of Places
Lowlife Magazine – The Private Detective – A Beginner’s Guide
Candace – Literary Dust (timely and well-written reviews)
John Hartness – The #1 Reason Your Book Gets Rejected
Ruth Harris – Create Memorable Characters: The Secret’s in the Details
Yukio Mishima – Sun and Steel
From the Charlotte Observer:
“It’s dead, Jim.”
The Winners: Mike Tuggle of Charlotte and Bill McLoughlin of Charlotte
Thanks for all your great entries. This is the first time in You Write the Caption history we’ve had a tie winner, but the judges couldn’t see anyway to avoid that this time. So congrats to great minds, Mike Tuggle and Bill McGloughlin.
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What can I say? Problem is, the winner is supposed to get the original cartoon. Who will it be? Looks to me like it’s Amok Time! Let the kal-if-fee for the prize begin!
A reader sent me this:
Congrats…….on your Cartoon Caption win! But I don’t get the “It’s Dead”! R—Sent from my iPhone
R—,
Hey, thanks!
If you aspire to becoming a certified Star Trek geek like me, you’ll have to learn the classic lines. In numerous scenes from the original series, a character would suffer some sort of unexpected calamity, and Kirk would shout, “What happened?” It was usually Dr. McCoy who’d examine the poor character and announce, “He’s dead, Jim!”
So in the Siers cartoon, Spock is informing Kirk of the fate of print journalism.
“There are two kinds of truth: the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The first of these is science, and the second is art. Neither is independent of the other or more important than the other. Without art science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber. Without science art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery. The truth of art keeps science from becoming inhuman, and the truth of science keeps art from becoming ridiculous.” – Raymond Chandler
“In transactions involving haunted real estate, the rule is not only caveat emptor but also caveat venditor.”
The looming presidential election is shaping up as a combination fiasco and tragedy of such staggering proportions, the only thing we can do is laugh. So in a desperate act of escapism, I wrote a satirical flash fiction piece entitled “Whisper Listing.” It’s featured in the latest issue of Bewildering Stories. Here’s hoping it provides a bit of comic relief to our ongoing political agony.
(In real estate, a “whisper listing” is a house for sale in a market restricted to a select group of potential buyers. Celebrities often use them to avoid publicity.)
* Be sure to check out Challenge 680 linked at the end of my story!
M.C. Tuggle, Writer 