Nancy Stohlman's Blog, page 69
December 28, 2015
Sculpting Flash Fiction starts Jan 4
NEW: SCULPTING FLASH FICTION
January 4-24
Editing is the most important part of the writing process. As serious writers, you know it’s through the editing process that we begin to refine and sculpt our messages. But just as writing flash fiction requires a different set of skills, so too does editing flash fiction.
In this workshop we will use the tools of ambiguity and implication; we will learn the different between chipping and chopping; we will learn how to shrink-wrap text, and most of all learn how to achieve the specific needs of flash fiction as I guide you and other participants to edit your real works in progress.
This will be a 3-week online workshop format class with limited availability. Each participant will have the opportunity to submit 1-2 stories per week.
I’ve been a freelance editor since 2004 as well as a co-founder and editor for the flash fiction press Fast Forward Press. I have edited four anthologies including Fast Forward: The Mix Tape, an book of flash fiction that was a finalist for a Colorado Book Award.
Tuition: $109 ($99 if registered by December 28)
Workshop runs January 4-24 (capped at 10 participants–just 2 spots left)
Contact me with questions at nancystohlman@gmail.com
Or fill out the form below
[contact-form]
December 17, 2015
Top 15 Books by Friends 2015
Just in time to celebrate Jólabókaflóð, the Icelandic Christmas Book Flood, I was forced to expand my annual Top 10 Books by Friends to the Top 15 Books by Friends List! This is a good problem to have.
Did you know: In Iceland new books are exchanged and read on Christmas Eve with a cup of hot chocolate? Did you know that Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country?
My Top 15 List is in no particular order and the books were only read by me in 2015, not necessarily published in 2015 (though this year most of them were).
TOP 15 BOOKS BY FRIENDS 2015
[image error]Slab by Selah Saterstrom
From my Amazon review: “Selah Saterstrom is a visionary and her latest book, Slab, takes us to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina where our narrator, Tiger, waits to be rescued from the concrete slab where a house might have once stood.”
*
[image error]Peek by Paul Beckman
From my Amazon review: “It’s as if Woody Allen and Charles Bukowski got your favorite uncle hammered all weekend and made him spill the family dirt in perfect, flash fiction sized bites.”
*
*
[image error]Dark Sunshine by Len Kuntz
From my Goodreads review: “Dark Sunshine is the perfect name for Len Kuntz’ haunting collection of flash fiction. Equal parts despair and hope, this combination creates a cocktail that will leave you heartsick and Kuntz is the kind of writer who knows how to break your heart gently.”
*
[image error]Flash Fiction International by eds James Thomas, Robert Shapard and Christopher Merrill
From my Boston Literary Magazine review: “The writers and stories included come from diverse corners of the globe, and the Table of Contents reads like a meeting of the United Nations”
*I will be joining James Thomas, Robert Shapard, Tom Hazuka and Lynn Mundell on an AWP Panel in 2016 entitled: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going: Five Editors Talk about the History and Future of Flash Fiction Anthologies. Friday April 1 at 3 pm. Join us!
*
[image error]Addicts and Basements by Robert Vaughan
The front yard screams at you.
And the car.
And the buttons on your shirt.
Leaving: Yes, I am leaving.
Still, you might have the chance to get there before me.
–from “Leaving”
*
[image error]What We Know So Far by Robert Scotellaro
From my Amazon review: “…writers such as Robert Scotellero learn to say more with less, no longer needing the extra foliage. His work takes the leap into true maturity, mastering the silences, zooming in on the subtle moment at hand and letting that one drop of water tell the story of the entire world.”
*
[image error]Grace Notes by Meg Tuite and David Tomaloff
From Unknown Press: “A stunning collaboration from Meg Tuite (prose), David Tomaloff (poetry), and Keith Higginbotham (collages), who’ve blended their work together in a powerful display that is all of these things: crushing, mind altering, odd in the ways that shine.”
*
[image error]Hamburgers and Berliners by Matt Potter
From my Amazon review: “Generously peppered with dry wit and historical tidbits, Hamburgers and Berliners is less a guidebook and more a window into both the loneliness and celebrations of following one’s heart.”
*
[image error]Together We Can Bury It by Kathy Fish
From my Goodreads review: “Her stories are elegant, atmospheric, nostalgic, but never trite or sentimental. She shows the irony of childhood as deftly as the confusion and difficult beauty of adulthood: loving, losing, longing, and breathing the daily poetry that is the ordinary, but always extraordinary, life.”
*
[image error]All Points Radiant by Brian Dickson
From my Amazon review: “A thumbprint, a pulse, a sunflower, a missing sock, Dickson is able to imply large meaning in small details; these moments acknowledge grief, certainly, but more importantly create a mosaic of a life. A beautiful eulogy in poetry, a poignant but radiant celebration of relationships passed but never forgotten.”
*
[image error]The Secret Games of Words by Karen Stefano
From my Amazon review: “The stories in Karen Stefano’s debut collection are vulnerable to the point of making me blush with recognition. Like reading someone’s emails, I, too, feel the madness and unraveling of her character(s) as I eavesdrop on her most raw and intimate thoughts. Like a voyeur, I can’t look away.”
*
[image error] I Saw A Zulu Woman Once by Jeffrey Spahr-Summers
Until Their Bellies Bulge and Shine by Jeffrey Spahr-Summers
Companion books of poems on living in Apartheid South Africa
*
[image error]Harrison by Nate Jordon
From Arcadia’s website: “Nestled in the heart of the Ozarks of north central Arkansas, Harrison is a small city that embodies an intriguing history within the state…Nate Jordon worked extensively with the genealogy department of the Boone County Library to bring Harrison’s early history to life.”
*
[image error]Two Truths and a Lie by Leah Rogin-Roper
Leah Rogin-Roper’s chapbook Two Truths and a Lie was the winner of Horseless Press’s Poetry and a Pint chapbook series in 2015 and was released in September.
*
[image error]A Very F**ked Up Christmas Tale by J.A. Kazimer
From my Amazon review: “Even while giving the heimlich to the Ghost of Villainous Presents, Kazimer does what she does best—swipes her finger through the too-perfect frosting of our childhood stories and redelivers them with just the right touch of raunch, humor and irony.”
*
[image error]Glassmusic by Rebecca Snow
From Conundrum Press’ website: “Glassmusic explores the sometimes devastating realities of loyalty and jealousy, with philosophy, music, and love serving as guides.”
Shortlisted for the International Rubery Award!
Were you counting?? I know that’s 16…sue me!
Happy Jólabókaflóð Everyone!
December 9, 2015
Women Who Flash Their Lit: An Interview
This is a teaser for the upcoming “Women Who Flash Their Lit” Forum hosted by Bartleby Snopes Press.
From left to right: Kathy Fish, Meg Tuite, Nancy Stohlman and Kona Morris.
December 6, 2015
Presenting at the 2016 AWP Conference
I’m honored to be presenting on the topic of flash fiction with Tom Hazuka, James Thomas, Lynn Mundell and Robert Shapard at the 2016 AWP Conference in Los Angeles!
LOS ANGELES
Friday, April 1
3:00-4:30 pm
Los Angeles Convention Center
2016 AWP Writers Conference
*
Panel Discussion F261. Where Are You Going, Where Have We Been?:
Five Editors Discuss the History and Future of Flash Fiction Anthologies.
(Tom Hazuka, James Thomas, Lynn Mundell, Nancy Stohlman, Robert Shapard)
Room 512, LA Convention Center, Meeting Room Level.
*
Since 1992, when the original Flash Fiction anthology gave the genre a name that caught on, flash fiction has grown steadily in stature and popularity. Numerous popular anthologies have followed. Five well-known editors of flash fiction anthologies—three who were there from the beginning, and two who will be shepherding the genre into the future—discuss the past, present, and future of flash fiction, especially in regard to its appearance in book form.
Find out more about the AWP Conference here
December 1, 2015
Congratulations FlashNanoers!
Congratulations! You made it through November! How many stories did you write that you wouldn’t have normally written?? That’s a win!!
Make sure to play again next year, and check out my Sculpting Flash Fiction class in January if you want to tackle and edit some of these stories!
November 30, 2015
FlashNano Day 30
FlashNano Day 30: Write a story set in the future
November 29, 2015
FlashNano Day 29
FlashNano Day 29: Write a story that takes place in the lobby
November 28, 2015
FlashNano Day 28
FlashNano Day 28: Write a story that consists of only one long sentence
November 27, 2015
*New! Sculpting Flash Fiction
SCULPTING FLASH FICTION
An online workshop January 4-24
Editing is the most important part of the writing process. As serious writers, you know it’s through the editing process that we begin to refine and sculpt our messages. But just as writing flash fiction requires a
different set of skills, so too does editing flash fiction. In this workshop we will use the tools of ambiguity and implication; we will learn the different between chipping and chopping; we will learn how to shrink-wrap your text, and most of all learn how to achieve the specific needs of flash fiction as I guide you and other participants to edit your real works in progress.
This will be a 3-week online workshop format class with limited availability. Each participant will have the opportunity to submit 1-2 stories per week.
Tuition: $109 ($99 if registered by December 28)
Workshop runs January 4-24
Contact me with questions or to register!
Ask A Flash Fiction Editor: Erasure
Ask a Flash Fiction Editor: Endings
Ask a Flash Fiction Editor: Why Literary Bondage is Good for Your Writing
I’ve been a freelance editor since 2004 as well as co-founder and editor for Fast Forward Press from 2007-2013. I have edited four anthologies including Fast Forward: The Mix Tape, a collection of flash fiction that was a finalist for a 2011 Colorado Book Award.
nancystohlman@gmail.com or fill out the form below
[contact-form]
FlashNano Day 27
FlashNano Day 27: Write as story with the theme “the day after”
