Today I have a super special treat for you, not only is my guest the most amazing editor (award-winning in fact!) She's also a super fabulous author too! Annetta Ribken is celebrating the re-release of her anthology of flash fiction, Not Nice and Other Understatements, which is available now. So without further ado... here's Annetta!
I
want to thank Erin for allowing me to pontificate on the subject of flash
fiction in celebration of the re-release of my first collection of flash
fiction, Not Nice and Other Understatements. The first edition was published in 2010, but
I wanted to update the cover and polish the stories within one last time. I
also had material I wanted to include in the original publication but was
unable at the time. Patti Larsen, an award-winning author, consented to write a
new, updated introduction. I'm really happy with the new shiny.
A
couple of years ago an English teacher asked me, "What is flash
fiction?"
I've
decided to try and answer that question.
Thanks
again for having me, Erin! *MUAHS*
What The Hell Is Flash Fiction?
I'm asked this question a lot. Even though
flash fiction has been around since the dawn of time (think "Aesop's
Fables", for instance) most people don't really recognize flash.
It doesn't help that the definition changes
depending on the person to whom you speak. Some define flash as a complete
story under 3,000 words; this figure can drop all the way down to six words.
Think that's impossible? Think of this six word flash from Ernest Hemingway:
For
sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.
The thing about flash fiction is often it's
more about what you don't say as it is what you do say. For example, the
negative space in art can tell the viewer more than the space that's filled in.
Flash fiction encourages an interaction with the reader much different than in
longer fiction. More intimate, in many ways. The writer depends on the reader
to have the imagination, the courage, and the desire to look into the negative
space and see what the writer intends. The reader, on the other hand, depends
and trusts the writer to provide enough to do that while allowing the reader to
extrapolate on their own.
I cut my writing teeth on flash
fiction—it's how I started out. I love the challenge. There are strict
parameters, but you have the universe at your fingertips if you can just find
the way. It's like putting together a puzzle, trying to figure out what piece
goes where until you have a cohesive whole.
There is no room to hide. In writing flash
fiction, every single word counts. It has to serve a purpose or it has no place
in the story. You have to hone your story to a fine, cutting edge.
My first flash fiction collection, Not Nice
and Other Understatements, is comprised of forty-eight pieces of flash fiction
in various lengths. Some are what is known in certain flash circles as
"drabbles", or pieces of exactly 100 words in length. Some are
shorter than that—but always with STORY as the bottom line. A variety of genres
are represented, from fantasy to romance to horror to suspense to memoir. I
wrote the majority of them at the beginning of my writer's journey. It was therapeutic,
cathartic, and educational. I think every writer should take a turn or two at
crafting flash—it's the perfect training ground.
A professional editor of over
one hundred novels, Annetta Ribken has also been writing since a tender young
age, when letters were chiseled on stone tablets. A precocious student, Annetta
earned her Ph.D in the School of Hard Knocks, with honors, in the early Age of
Disco. She lives and works just outside of St. Louis with her evil feline
overlord, a rescued shelter cat named Athena. Sign up for her newsletter for
updates on the havoc she's wreaking.
Not
Nice and Other Understatements is now available onAmazon.com. Look for Still
Not Nice or the Strange Planet Inside My Head coming November 2014.
Want to find out more about Annetta Ribken?
Website: annettaribken.com
About Me: http://about.me/annettaribken
Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/Annetta.Ribken
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/netta
Twitter: @netta50
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/mznetta/
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