I stumbled across something unexpected on Jim Harrington’s Six Questions For… blog.
Sherri Ellerman, flash fiction editor of Liquid Imagination, had some very nice things to say about my story, “Going Under,” and held it out as an example of what their submission guidelines mean by “surprise us with fresh ideas and language.”
Thanks Ms. Ellerman! Though you may be surprised (if you ever meet me) to find that I’m female. 😉
“Going Under,” my flash fiction piece mentioned in this previous post, is now available to read for free in the May 2014 issue of Liquid Imagination. You can find it here.
I love seeing how zines that illustrate fiction interpret my pieces. It’s an unusual opportunity to see how the thoughts and emotions I sought to communicate came through to an artist in another medium. I’ve linked to the illustration for “Going Under” below:
The picture combines the frayed corner of the place mat with some cut flowers in sunset colors — a lovely interpretation that takes the place mat and sunset images directly from the piece and adds a third element, the flowers. I really admired this impressionistic interpretation of a rather darkly themed piece.
I’m continuing on my novel reading binge but have added some short stories back into the mix. Since my last post, I’ve completed novels by Dellamonica (the second and final Astrid Lethewood), Ahmed, Sturgeon, Abbott and some literary novels. Amusingly, I read Jo Walton’s Among Others right after Hans Keilson’s Comedy in a Minor Key: A Novel — both books, which couldn’t be more different from each other, featured characters named Wim. What are the odds? I quite enjoyed Among Others and its continuing homage to science fiction and fantasy. I have a number of new books on my reading list as a result of reading Mori’s reviews in-novel.
I’m also almost through Ted Chiang’s collection Stories of Your Life and Others. I’ll be miserable when I’m finished, as I think that will mean I’ve read all of his stories currently available in print. He’s long been in my pantheon of favorites, a frequent inducer of the “I want to write stories like that” feeling.
I should have some news to report about the long awaited Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Issue 59 soon. I hope so, anyway. Meanwhile, enjoy “Going Under.”
I’ve just returned the contract for my flash fiction piece, “Going Under,” which will appear in Liquid Imagination at the end of this month.
It’s a strange little story that is hard to classify, though I think of it as dark fantasy or slipstream. Or perhaps absurdist horror. It was one of the first new stories I wrote after coming off my writing hiatus in 2012 and it took a while to get it right. I’m glad the folks at Liquid Imagination liked it and gave it a home. I hope you’ll like it, too.
I have several new flash pieces in the works. One is already making the rounds.
In other news, I’ve been on a reading tear of late. About a week ago, I had a sudden, powerful urge to dive into a novel rather than read short stories. I’ve been finishing one every two days or so (one a day on weekends) ever since. I’ve been enjoying Scalzi, Willis, Butcher and Dellamonica as well as a couple of literary novels I’d started but never got around to finishing.
I also read Osama by Lavie Tidhar and thought it was stunning. You know that feeling you get while reading, the one that says, I-want-to-write-something-like-this? That’s how I felt while reading Osama. Highly recommended for those who don’t mind their speculative element subtle and mysterious (which is often how I like it best), who appreciate language that is beautiful without being overly lyrical, who find genre mixes intriguing, and who like emotional impact with their fiction. Osama is atmospheric and full of mood, but its emotional impact goes far deeper than that — and it lasts.
J.J. Roth 