In This Issue 2/2008

Pro Prose and New Names

This is a great month. Just go read new stories.

Veteran Dave Hoing lets us see the “Souls of the Harvest.” We have two first-class first sales: “Apologies All Around” by Jeff Soesbe and “Masquerade at Well Country Camp” by Ann Pino. Our Classic Flash #3 is a science fiction story from 1962 — when communications were a little more primitive. And Bruce Holland Rogers discusses deadlines, genres, and the state of writing. Read more

Flash 2/2008, #1: Dave Hoing

Souls of the Harvest

You can’t harvest a crop without killing something. A combine ain’t particular, it cuts whatever’s in its path. There’s no malice in it, just a part of the season, like rain and heat. Food or nesting draws critters in, but come harvest the combine keeps rolling. Some run and live. Others don’t, and don’t. Read more: HTML PDF MP3

Flash 2/2008, #2: Jeff Soesbe

Apologies All Around

“Daddy!” Rachel shouted. “There’s a robot at the door.”

Winston Sinclair hoped it wasn’t one of those sales bots. They were danged near impossible to get rid of. He picked up Rachel and raised the viewport she had used. The robot was three feet tall, grey, squat, plain-looking.

“Robot, what do you want?” Read more: HTML PDF

Classic Flash #3: E. M. Clinton

Untechnological Employment

This story is from the November 1962 edition of Analog Science Fact - Science Fiction.

It was written at a time when communication required much more effort, and this story is, as a result, a little bit difficult to read. Be prepared. But it pulled me along, and I hope it does you as well. Enjoy! — Ed.
Read more: HTML PDF

Flash 2/2008, #3: Ann Pino

Masquerade at Well Country Camp

I lie on my cot, staring at the pine rafters. They treat us like children here, keeping us to a schedule, always requiring an afternoon nap.

A few cots over, Olive is coughing. Anyone would, with every window open and the dust blowing in. I wonder how much the doctors really know about our ailment. Dust makes us cough more, but still the windows must be kept open. Read more: HTML PDF

For Readers: Bruce Holland Rogers

An Interview with Bruce Holland Rogers

Bruce Holland Rogers is an award-winning fiction writer and teacher, best known for his short — sometimes extremely short — fiction. Among many other places, his stories were included in both the original 1992 Flash Fiction anthology that coined the term and its 2006 follow-up, Flash Fiction Forward. The Keyhole Opera, a collection of his short stories, won the 2006 World Fantasy Award for best collection. He also wrote Word Work: Surviving and Thriving As a Writer, and is on the faculty of the Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA program. His “Reconstruction Work” appeared in Flash Fiction Online’s inaugural issue.

Though he bases himself in Eugene, Oregon, we caught up with him in London, where he’s living until July, 2008. Read more: HTML