So in the next two weeks I'll be at the Writer's Digest Annual Conference in New York City, hanging out with the likes of Harlan Coben and Hugh Howey ... or, at least, seeing them from a distance. The dates are August 1 - 3, at the Roosevelt Hotel. I'm on two panels — Expanding Your Brand with Co-Writers, with my Refuge co-authors Jeremy Robinson and Kane Gilmour, as well as Sean Ellis, and Getting Real about Self-Publishing, with Jeremy and Kane, as well as Judith Gille and Ember Reichgott Junge. You can see the rest of the schedule here. AND, if you haven't signed up yet, you can use this (case sensitive!) discount code for $50.00 off the Basic Conference or Pitch Slam/Basic Conference Package: WDSPEAKER. Hope to see some of you there!
Writer's Digest Annual Conference
What does Harlan Coben, Hugh Howey, and I have in common? We'll be at the Writer's Digest Annual Conference this summer in New York City (though, admittedly, many more people will be attending to see those two dudes ... okay, basically everyone will be attending to see those two dudes). The dates are August 1 - 3, at the Roosevelt Hotel. I'm on two panels — Expanding Your Brand with Co-Writers, with my Refuge co-authors Jeremy Robinson and Kane Gilmour, as well as Sean Ellis, and Getting Real about Self-Publishing, with Jeremy and Kane, as well as Judith Gille and Ember Reichgott Junge. You can see the rest of the schedule here. Hope to see some of you there!
Wart
My flash fiction piece "Wart" is up today at Vol. 1 Brooklyn. This is the first flash fiction piece I've written in a long time, so it's nice dabbling in the genre again. A big thanks to Tobias Carroll and everyone else at Vol. 1 Brooklyn for giving it a place to be read.
Me In Google Play
Not too long ago Google contacted me about making my ebooks available in Google Play. And now several of them are. Mostly just my novels right now, but eventually I'll get the short stories and novellas up at some point. Anyway, if you use Google Play, or know someone who does, help spread the word!
New Hint Fiction Contest
It's been almost five years since my essay "Hint Fiction: When Flash Fiction Becomes Just Too Flashy" was first published at Flash Fiction Chronicles. Since then Hint Fiction has really taken on a life of its own. Besides the anthology published by W. W. Norton four years ago, there's been an art show, a film contest, and even recently an anthology of Sri Lankan Hint Fiction. There have been three contests in the past -- judged by Stewart O'Nan, James Frey, and Joyce Carol Oates -- and this year I thought it was time to host another contest. What is Hint Fiction? It's a story of 25 words or fewer that suggests a larger, more complex story. Think of Hemingway's apocryphal six-word story: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." It doesn't have a title, but those six words convey a punch. Not only that, they stand on their own. They're not the first line of a story, or a random sentence plucked from a longer story.
The reason I didn't host a contest the past two years is because the stories submitted in 2011 seemed rather ... formulaic. After all, there is only so much that can be done with a 25 word limit. Having said that, I have a faith that more can be done with the genre, that writers can think outside the box, so that's why I'm doing another contest.
This year's judge is the one and only Benjamin Percy. He is the author of two novels, Red Moon and The Wilding, as well as two books of stories, Refresh, Refresh and The Language of Elk. His honors include an NEA fellowship, the Whiting Writers' Award, the Plimpton Prize, a Pushcart Prize, and inclusion in Best American Short Stories and Best American Comics. His story "Impact" appeared in the Hint Fiction anthology.
The submission period will be from April 1 to April 30 at this website. You can submit up to two Hint Fiction stories (subscribers to my newsletter can submit up to three, those lucky sons of guns). After April 30th, a top 20 will be chosen and will be published online, where readers can vote for their favorites à la American Idol. Then from there a top 10 will be narrowed down, which will be sent to Benjamin Percy (please note that I hold veto power, so if a story I feel strongly about in the top 20 doesn't make the top 10, I may include it anyway).
The prizes are as follows:
- 1st place $100, 2nd place $50, 3rd place $25.
- All winners and runners up will receive signed copies of the Hint Fiction anthology, as well as signed copies of my very short fiction collection Phantom Energy.
- Perera-Hussein Publishing House has generously donated copies of their Sri Lankan Hint Fiction anthology Short & Sweet to the winners and runners up as well.
- Finally, the 1st place winner will also have his or her Hint Fiction story animated by Dustin Grella, who has animated a few Hint Fiction stories in the past (here and here and here).
There is no entry fee.
Still not sure what Hint Fiction is? It's strongly recommended you check out the anthology, which is still available in paperback. Also, Norton has kindly lowered the price of the ebook for a limited time, so you can purchase it for just $2.99 on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes.
So check back here April 1st. In the meantime, have fun!