Published as an e-book this spring, this collection of 96 “Shorties”
“Micro fiction, flash fiction, Nano fiction, commuter fiction — whatever you want to call it — is an ideal format for today’s multitaskers,”
The origins of the hyper-short story genre can probably be credited to the late Steve Moss, founder, editor and publisher of New Times, an independent alternative weekly in San Obispo, California, who launched the Fifty Five Word contest in 1987 to find the world’s most amazing short stories written in “a measly 55 words,” no more, no less. When he launched the contest, he wasn’t convinced writers could pull it off.
As Moss said in his introduction to The World’s Shortest Stories (Running Press, 1998): “Admittedly, most stories sent to us that year weren’t very good but every now and then a tiny gem would shine up from the typewritten page, submitted by someone who truly understood the genre.” One of those “gems” selected for publication in Moss’s anthology was Doug’s story, “The Fool Who Invented Kissing,” the title of Doug’s first volume of “Shorties by Long.”
What began as a lark, a challenge to Doug’s competitive nature, became a passion. He continued to craft his growing collection of Shorties over the decades. His mastery of the genre is recognized in the textbook, Building Strong Writers in Middle School (Free Spirit Publishing, 2011), which features his story, “The Family Farm,” as a fine example of Nano fiction for students to emulate:.
The Family Farm
Five generations of Burkhardts lived and died here. Their tombstones overlook the pond.
Mary and I (the new owners) are renovating the kitchen when three translucent figures appear.
"Welcome and keep up the good work," they chorus, before floating through the solid, stone wall.
Startled, Mary grips my arm "And if we don't?" she gasps .
The Fool Who Invented Kissing is available from http://www.fictivepress.com, http://www.smashwords.com/
A former finance editor, book editor, TV producer, creative copywriter and marketer, Doug Long prefers to spend his “retirement”
Fictive Press is a new Canadian “indie” e-publisher. Review copies of The Fool Who Invented Kissing in PDF format are available on request at publish@fictivepress.com.
