Saturday, September 23rd - End times?

I'm borrowing this #Doomsday 'news' story  for one reason only - to shamelessly plug my Post-apocalyptic trilogy; The Judas Syndrome. 

      

I know you can appreciate that, because this blog will offer you an opportunity to read the books before this supposed end befalls us all.  All three books of the trilogy are available in kindle or paperback format and offer multiple thoughts on how to survive a devastating end with your friends, trapped in a house relatively far removed from the nuclear devastation which plunges the world into a new dark age.

Happy reading!

Books are an adventure! Short Stories offer more!

Where will your book take you?  Novels are great, but a collection of short stories can put you in danger, insane, in love, the far future, the past, exotic locals, behind the eight ball and everywhere in between within minutes. A multi-genre collection like Waning Metaphorically does just that.

A short or flash fiction story is designed to take you out of your head and into someone else's for a brief, yet intense trip into their lives. The short story covers every genre and topic, only condensed for a trip that is perfect for your break or commute. There is little commitment necessary, as a short is usually completed in one sitting. So take it with you, on your Kindle or in paperback. The perfect accessory for virtually any situation. Waiting room at the Doctor's office? That's a short story! Bus ride from point A to B? There's a short story! Train into work? There's a short story for that! Camping? Relaxing while the baby is down? Need an hour to yourself at the pub? An afternoon while the kids are away? Short story, short story, short story... you get my meaning.

So don't say you have no time to read when your friends are telling you about another novel they can't put down. Pick up a collection of shorts. Show them your sophisticated side. Hey, short stories won the Nobel last year... look who's reading now!

Pick up your short story collection today!

Author Ideas 101 - Flash Fiction and Short Story Compilations

Whether you've written a few novels, or have yet to complete your first, you likely have a slush pile of unfinished, barely started or merely outlined story ideas. I propose that these incomplete thoughts are worthy of further consideration, and if not in the form you originally proposed them to yourself, than perhaps as a piece of flash fiction or a short story?

If you're anything like me, you have scenes and dialogues - that in a moment of inspiration - you had to jot down. Sometimes these moments turn into minutes or even hours. You may not be working on a story that will be suitable for this flash of genius, but if the scene has a beginning, middle and ending, or can be expanded upon, you might just have yourself a tidy little short, or work of flash fiction.

I have been surfing through my own pile of start-ups and see merit in each of them. Some are honestly a paragraph - a witty piece of banter between two people - where others are stories which developed on their own with no clear end in site. Revisiting them, I have managed to find an end in some, expanding on others to complete a piece of flash fiction, or simply edited a short story I had written years before.

My point is that these stories caught in moments of inspiration weren't for nothing. Inspiration brings life to any thought, and when we write that thought down it becomes a story. So why wait for the right novel to include your unique dialogue and character piece? Do something with them now!

I'm currently working on a number of stories from my slush pile; even one which features characters from my trilogy. A look at life for those I didn't kill off. Just 4-5,000 words. But enough to tickle anyone's interest who'd read the trilogy and wondered about a fourth book.

This practice can also be helpful in moments of writer's block. Revisit a train of thought you never completed. You know you have them in that folder marked 'Unfinished' on your desktop. People love a story they can finish quickly on a trip into work or and afternoon in the sun. A compilation of these stories just makes sense.

www.mikepoeltl.com