minitales_nancyacavanaugh
Nancy A. Cavanaugh
14 Schult Street
Keene, NH 03431
603-357-5359
nancy@cavanaughcreations.com
September 7, 2010
Keene, NH—Author Nancy A. Cavanaugh, a Keene resident, announces the release of her self-published eBook, "Mini Tales: A Small Collection of Micro and Flash Fiction." The collection features 26 short stories ranging from general to speculative fiction.
Cavanaugh has been writing micro and flash fiction since 2006, when she first discovered the story forms. "Michael Kechula, whom the book is dedicated to, shared his latest micro fiction story on a mailing list for writer's I belonged to in 2006. We started talking about them then I tried my own hand at it with his guidance. I fell in love with them instantly," says Cavanaugh. Micro fiction is typically a story with up to 100 words, and flash fiction is typically under 1,000 words.
The sense of instant gratification is one of the biggest draws for Cavanaugh. "When I get the idea for a story it only takes a few minutes to write it then another 10 to 15 minutes to hone them. I love the ability to go from start to finish in under a half hour," she said. "The story form also allows me to explore stranger story ideas, like a man swimming in entrails to alien attempts to exterminate human life, and deal with topics relating to life and death.
"My story ideas generally come from the people around me. For example, I got the idea for "Crop Dusting" when I heard a plane fly overhead and "Santa Loses It All in Wall St. Crash:" came from a conversation held before a meeting at work about the economy. The idea for "Heavenly Entrails" popped into my head during a conversation I was having with someone in the game City of Heroes," continued Cavanaugh.
To date, Cavanaugh has had eight micro and flash fiction stories published in various ezines, and is waiting for a ninth story to appear in the ezine Flashshot. She is a former editor of Parent Express and Religion editor for the Keene Sentinel. In addition to micro and flash fiction, Cavanaugh writes books, crafts and short stories for children and novels for adults as well as parenting articles. Her web site was recently overhauled and features many samples of her writing, free photo eBooks, and a section for children including short stories, puzzles and activity sheets.
The eBook is available for the Kindle from Amazon.com and a PDF form is available directly from the author's web site at www.nancyacavanaugh.com. For more information, visit my web site or e-mail me at nancy@cavanaughcreations.com.
SAMPLE STORY:
Crop Dusting
By Nancy A. Cavanaugh
“She’s ready to go, Zharnth.”
“Thanks.”
Mitch helped the odd-shaped pilot climb into thecockpit, then went through the safety checks with him. The pilot pulled on an oxygen mask and headed down the runway.
Mitch watched as the crop duster opened its hatches and started spraying pesticide. He started to choke and his body stiffened. Paralysis had set in.
Zharnth looked over his shoulder and watched the airplane mechanic fall to the ground. He reached for his communicator.
“Mission Pest Control is underway. Earth should be clear for clean-up in a few hours.”
