Tara Lynn Masih's Blog, page 4

BSF 2017 Recommended for the Holidays

Thanks to Pittsburgh Magazine for putting The Best Small Fictions 2017
on its recommended list for the holidays!

http://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/Pit...

Best Small Fictions 2017 Launches!

It's finally here! Guest edited by Amy Hempel.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0998966711

My Flash Story Featured at Great Jones Street

For story lovers, there is a wonderful new site/app, Great Jones Street. I thank them for featuring my flash story, "The Mystery Spot," this month. You can read it here:

https://www.greatjonesstreet.press/th...

And while there, check out some of the other wonderful stories!

The Most Memorable Books I Read in 2016

Each year I like to give another nod to books that left the greatest lasting impression on me either intellectually or emotionally. It was hard to narrow it down this year, but for 2016:


These linked short stories took my breath away with their deep empathy, intelligence, creativity, and historical significance. One of the few books out there fictionalizing Poland and Ukraine during World War II. *UPDATE: This is a finalist for the Short Story Prize, under the paperback name of They Were Like Family to Me.*


One of the most powerful biographies I've ever read. I will never be the same after reading about Irena's selflessness and incredible sacrifice to save thousands of Jewish children in Poland from extermination.


I read this novel early in the year, yet it still hangs with me. One of Amazon's best books of the year, if you can stomach the violence, you will fall in love with the setting and narrator, a girl who comes of age in a futuristic natural environment that resembles the Yukon.

Sold as a novel, this is almost a linked story collection, but not quite. It doesn't ask much of you, the simplest of the 4 books, but I reveled in Brumett's unique prose style and deep insight into her many flawed but multi-faceted characters. This small press book should get more attention.

Why We Read

I loved this video that Grub St. Writers put together about why people read. It's a wonderful reminder to those of us who love books why the art of writing is so important to our culture as a whole and individually.

https://vimeo.com/189325776

Best Small Fictions 2016 Launches

It's finally here, 45 winners and 55 finalists from some of the best international journals and presses for prose poetry and flash fiction. Guest edited by the esteemed Stuart Dybek, it's a NewPages Editor's Pick.

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Small-Fic...

We also have a twitter handle @BestSmFictions and a Facebook page: Best Small Fictions. Follow us for announcements and guidelines for submitting in 2017.

Goodreads Giveaway for Best Small Fictions 2016!

Enter to win one of 5 print copies: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

"The Sin Eater" on Story366!

For those of you who love short stories, you should know about this blog, Story366. Respected writer, teacher, editor Michael Czyzniejewski is blogging about a short story every day this year. I'm delighted with his comments about my story "The Sin Eater":

"It’s pretty straight-up, respectful of the legend, but gorgeously rendered, the legend coming to life."

As writers, we all need these boosts now and then. Go to:

https://story366blog.wordpress.com/

New App for Fans of Frankenstein, Shelley, and Byron

A friend of mine's son and daughter-in-law started this cool new app, a must for fans of the above:

This year marks the 200th anniversary of The Year Without Summer, when Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and Mary Shelley (then Godwin) spent several months living as neighbors in the outskirts of Geneva on the shores of Lac Léman. Europe was in the midst of a volcanic winter, the summer was unusually cold and wet, and an Italian astronomer predicted that the world would end that July.

Against this backdrop of climate change and impending apocalypse, Lord Byron challenged his friends to a ghost story writing competition. A few nights later, Mary Shelley had a nightmare that became her inspiration for Frankenstein, a novel she immediately began to write.

Summer of Darkness iPhone/iPad app tells the story of this legendary summer in real-time — 200 years later. Using the writers’ diaries, letters, and literary works, the app reveals their summer as it unfolded, from their respective flights from England pursued by scandal (divorce and accusations of incest in the case of Lord Byron) and debtors (both Byron and the Shelleys) to their travels through the region, their affairs, their writing, and their eventual separation.

Events are matched to the day — to the hour when the information is available — and sent to the reader via notifications that open to source material by the writers. The app simulates the daily weather conditions from the summer of 1816 and plots the writers’ movements across a map of the region for a new kind of immersive reading experience.

http://summerofdarkness.com/

The Most Memorable Books of 2015

I want to stress once again that these may not be the best books I read in 2015. There were others. But these did something more--not only were they wonderful books, they clung to me, and will never leave me. So in an effort to shine more light on the fine work of some fellow authors, they are:

[Novel] This book by Diane Thomas, a basic newcomer, stunned me. One of the best pieces of writing that combines the natural and human world that I have ever read.

[Novel] I'm adding two novels to the list this year because I can't leave this one off. Daring, original, and should be on every historical fiction fan's list.

[Memoir] A classic. A lesson in learning how to focus on the small beauty that surrounds us daily. Everyone should read this little book. A great holiday gift idea.

[Short stories] It's hard for a collection of flash fiction to be memorable as a body of work because so many stories are contained within the covers. However, Becker's are so unique and complex and deep, many hang with you for a long, long time.

I'm pleased they are all women this year!