Flash Fiction Forty Five

Starting at 9am on Sunday 17th August I will be attempting to write forty five stories in one day. That’s three pieces of flash fiction an hour and approximately 13,500 words in fifteen hours- over twice the amount of words I wrote for the creative part of my dissertation!

This is all well and good, but dear reader I require your help. Like any writer I need inspiration, a muse, and I am picking you. I need titles for the stories, as bizarre and random as you desire (please, please make them random and bizarre!) Suggest as many as you’d like. I’m not sure how widespread this will become and I need to end up with at least forty five titles, so go crazy!

If being the inspiration for a creative type is not enough of an incentive to get involved (I can’t see why it wouldn’t be) then I should inform you I am also doing this for two charities: Teenage Cancer Trust and SANCCOB (The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds or as I see them as, Penguin Protectors!) You can find the links to both donation pages below. Any small amount will be gratefully received.

https://www.justgiving.com/Andy-Cashmore-Teenage-Cancer-Trust
https://www.justgiving.com/Andy-Cashmore-Penguin-Support

I hope you are able to join me on the day as I go through the strenuous and gruelling task of sitting down for a long period of time and typing away on my keyboard.

All stories will be posted here on the day: http://flashfictionfortyfive2014.blogspot.co.uk/

Thank you for your support!

FlashFlood

Today is almost as wonderful as Christmas because it is National Flash Fiction Day. I have already posted about this before, but quickly wanted to mention two things. First you can buy the National Flash Fiction Day Anthology in which I feature alongside a whole host of names and wonderful writing. The second is the FlashFlood blog that is up today. There will be over one hundred pieces of flash published throughout the day, so if you find yourself with a spare five minutes have a quick read. I will have a piece online on the blog sometime from 10-11pm.

I hope you all have a lovely Flash Fiction Day!

All the best,

Andy

National Flash Fiction Day

Many writers have a favoured form and these writers have some sort of ambition as to what they wish to achieve in this form. For some it is as simple as having a new fable to read to their children every month, while for others it is dreams of book deals.

Flash fiction is my current discipline. I love creating an emotionally invoking piece in hundreds of words that novel writers seek to create in tens of thousands of words. Before 2012, my desire was to get something published. Six Words magazine, sadly folded now, gave me my wish in their magazine and e-zine. The next step was to be able to pick up a hardcopy of a book and point to my name on a page, and in 2013 Flash Fiction World published me in Volume Four of their anthology.

So what was next for 2014? I had two ambitions I wanted to achieve: publish my own collection of work or get published in the National Flash Fiction Day Anthology 2014 after not being successful in 2013. The former is still a bit away. The latter I achieved.

Calum Kerr has done an incredible service to flash fiction. As the Director of National Flash Fiction Day, he is celebrating and promoting the form in ways that are increasing the number of readers and writers every year. These anthologies showcase talented writers who may otherwise fall under the radar due to a lack of exposure. It is with jubilation that I find myself in this year’s collection alongside veterans of the young form.

If you have an interest in flash fiction then I strongly recommend you take a little trip to their website: http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/index.html. Not only are they promoting their anthology, but there are numerous events over the course of this month to celebrate flash fiction, from workshops to slams. I hope you find something that peaks your interest.

All the best,

Andy