Aimée, Casket Girls “Flash Suite” Now Up for Reading

That is all five parts have been posted on Defenestrationism.Net, and can now be read from beginning to end as a single about 3300-word story. That is to say, in “normal” fashion, for those who’ve not been following it day by day.

The story: “Casket Suite” (cf. December 10, 2, November 24, 8) is one of seven finalists in a Flash Suite Contest, with “fan voting” (i.e., by you) open January 1 through 14, the result to be combined with the choices of four professional judges to determine a winner and runner up, to be announced January 17. And what is a Flash Suite? From the contest editors: A series of at least three flash fiction works that correlate, and build to something greater. Recurring characters, extended motifs, harmonious subject matters, and/or sustained narrative are such correlations — but we encourage innovation and new ideas.

Thus, “Casket Suite,” five mini-tales of Aimée and les filles à les caissettes, the “Casket Girls,” the vampiresses who’ve made New Orleans their home since their 1728 coming from France. The individual flash piece subtitles: “The Flavor of the Jest,” “A Surfeit of Poe.” “Reflections,” “Shades of Difference,” and “What’s In a Name?” All now are available in proper order for your reading pleasure, by pressing here — with details on voting among all the finalists, should that be your inclination, to be supplied as they become known. But for now just enjoy!

Then one final note: the picture, above, which has graced these several “Casket Suite” posts is of a French actress, Musidora, who starred in the 1915-16 movie serial Les Vampires. In the film the “Vampires” is only the name of a criminal gang, but, in that we writers imagine details about the characters we create, the portrait, in my mind, is one of Aimée.