Surprise! A New Flash Acceptance — No, Really

Funny story:  I sent a piece I was rather fond of to an anthology and after awhile, as sometimes happens, it came back.  The editor mentioned, however, that she was still open for flash and I happened to have another tale, not one of my favorites, but that would fit the theme.  It was one of those shorties, just 400 words, that I’d never really even marketed but why not?  So Saturday the answer came from Editor Terrie Relf:  Quite the flash piece!  It reminded me of an old TWILIGHT ZONE or TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE episode.  If you agree to this contract, please send an updated bio and mailing address.  So. . . .

Well, the initial call had looked like fun.  The anthology title:  IT CAME FROM HER PURSE.  And “Purse” is not limited to a bag one carries around.  It can be a wallet, a billfold, a coin purse, a sachet.  It can even refer to the prize for winning a horse race.  . . .  If you’re looking for inspiration, think Roger Corman and what he might have done with this.  If you saw the movie MY STEP-MOTHER IS AN ALIEN, remember the purse in that one, which carried a living computer shaped like a snake.  By these standards my tale may be almost conservative, but it is still only 400 words and even if the money’s not all that good, authors do get a copy.  So early Sunday, agreement went back along with the other items asked for.

Publication time, according to the contract, should be about the first of next year.  And the story’s title?  Subtitled “A Fable for Our Times,” it’s called “SUPRISE!”