INNOVATION: a second-place win!
I am so very chuffed to be able to finally announce that my 300 word flash fiction piece, “Dragonslayer”, placed second in the 2020 annual flash fic contest from Queer Sci Fi. The fact that it is included in an anthology with some of my personal idols has me vibrating on a molecular level.
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IN-NO-VA-TION (Noun)
1) A new idea, method, or device.
2) The introduction of something new.
3) The application of better solutions to meet unarticulated needs.
Three definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell. Here are 120 of our favorites.
Innovation features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.
Series Blurb:
Every year Queer Sci Fi holds a flash fiction contest that solicits stories from writers around the world, and publishes the best stories as an annual anthology.
Non-Exclusive Excerpt:
“The fields are overgrown, have been for years with all the Bios underground. The wind kisses the grass in serpentine patterns long forgotten, patterns the Bios couldn’t imagine anymore. My mechanical hand stores the seed envelope in the mechanical pocket in my androgynous torso. In these suits, there is no gender. Gender is, always has been, in the mind. And I am finally, unequivocally, female.” —Seed, by Val Muller
“No one in the village knew what the Change would bring. They never saw it happen. They only knew what they had been promised: the Change would bestow three gifts.” —A New Way, by Rory Ni Coileain
“The girl kissed her, hard. Then backed away, grinning, teasing, drawing her to the end of the hallway and a flight of stairs leading downward. She took two steps and gazed back up at Lilian, one hand outstretched. Her brilliant red lipstick wasn’t even smudged. Her skin glowed in the harsh white torchlight.” —The Thing With the Bats, by Mary Francis
“Interspecies sex is outlawed on the Freespec Interplanetary Space Station. Politicians call it a safety measure. But I’ve been in the Medical Corps for half my lifecycle, and I call it criminally negligent prudery. Leaders would rather let innocents die needlessly—punctured by sperm darts and dissolved in sacks of voltaic pleasure mucus—than give them the knowledge to express their feelings safely.” — Are My Underwater Sperm Darts Normal?, Brenna Harvey
“The bell’s brassy gong echoes through the flat; the walls blush crimson. See, see! He’s at my door. The live feed shows him sniff his armpit; cup his breath. He wants to impress, but I’m impressed already. His lips softly part; he brushes them with stubby fingers, as he waits. Ugly fingers. Ugly hands. Scrawny neck. Milky eyes. But those lips, see, they’re perfect, just perfect. Plump n’ pale, a slither of my future.” —Just perfect, by Redfern Jon Barrett
“Lekke looked down over the valley, First People’s home for as long as any tales or dreams could tell. Now only Spirit Dreamer Manoot, neither he nor she but both, and Lekke, elder healer, were left. Lifetimes of Long-legs’ raids had driven First People to their deaths—or, some few, to the Way. If there truly was a Way.” —Going Back,” by Sacchi Green
“Savinna limped into her lover’s workshop, her hip still sore from tangling with the marabbecca which had knocked her into its well before she managed to kill it. Such was the life of a monster hunter. Not at all surprised to see Larissa hunched over her bench, hard at work tinkering with something, Savinna ghosted her hand over Larissa’s back.” —Those Who Hunt Monsters, by Jana Denardo
“The baby cried as Freya lowered the bartering bucket into the wishing well. Many had come to the tree-shrouded clearing to make exchanges—a bushel of azure apples for a sword, a woven blanket for a day of rain. The well had been the final creation of a thousand-year-old inventor. But dead wizards often don’t anticipate how their gifts birth consequences.” —The Bartering Bucket, by Diane Callahan
Giveaway:
Queer Sci Fi is giving away your choice of a $20 Amazon gift card OR a print copy of four of the other five flash fiction books in the series – Flight, Renewal, Impact, and Migration (US only unless you are willing to pay the shipping outside the US) with this tour. Enter via Rafflecopter:
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Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d47138/?
Buy Links:
Publisher: https://www.otherworldsink.com/book/innovation/
Amazon eBook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D2M9NXX/
Amazon Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DSR7H1M/
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1523783080
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/innovation-24
Author Bio:
120 authors contributed stories for this volume:
Adrik KempAlex SilverAlex StargazerAllan Dyen-ShapiroAndi DeaconAndrea SpeedAndrew VaillencourtAva KellyBarbara Johnson-HaddadBarbara KrasnoffBeáta FülöpBenoit LafortuneBlaine D. ArdenBob MilneBrenna HarveyBrooke K. BellC.L. McCartneyCassidy FrazeeChet GottfriedChloe SpencerChris BannorChristine WrightChristopher KoehlerClare LondonD.J. ClarkeD.M. RaschDavid GerroldDevon WidmerDiane CallahanE. L. HarrisonE. RomeisE.D.E. BellE.M. HamillEdie MontreuxElaine BurnesEloreen MoonEmilia AgrafojoEmma Johnson-RivardEric WarrenEvelyn BenvieGareth WorthingtonGinger StreuselHoward V. HendrixJ. NeedhamJ. Zachary PikeJ.S. GarnerJade BlackJames Alan GardnerJamie LackeyJana DenardoJasie GaleJeff JacobsonJennie L. MorrisJet LupinJon MillerJonathan FesmireJoshua IanJulian MaxwellK. KittsK.L. TownsendK.S. MarsdenKA MastersKatelyn CameronKellie DohertyKevin Andrew MurphyKevin KlehrKim FieldingKitt HarrisKoji A. DaeL.S. ReinholtL.V. LloydLC TreeheartLee JordanLee SoeburnLou SylvreM. X. KellyMaria ZoccolaMary E. LowdMary FrancisMary KunaMatt DoyleMere RainMilo OwenMinerva CerridwenNaomi TajedlerNathan Alling LongNathaniel TaffNicole DennisNina Kiriki HoffmanNoah K. SturdevantPatricia ScottPaul UeblerR. E. CarrR.L. MerrillRaine NormanRay LidstoneRE AndeenRedfern Jon BarrettRory EgglestonRory Ni CoileainRosalie WesselS S LongSara TestarossaSean Ian O’MeidhirShannon BradyShannon YseultSkip J. HanfordStephen B. PearlStephen J. WolfSteve CarrStone FranksStuart ConoverSusan JamesSydney BlackburnT. T. ThomasT.W. CoxTom JollyVal MullerWarren RochelleWilliam Tate
