What happens when a fortune teller delivers bad news—does it change the course of one’s life? Johnna Stein offers up one scenario in her flash fiction entry,
The Winter Will Ask. We invite you to enjoy her story
here and return for a short interview with the author.
Like so many, Johnna longed to be a published writer. About five years ago, after returning to the USA after a ten-year stint in The Netherlands with her Dutch hubby and two teenagers, she decided it was time. Various articles and short stories have found their way into print and she’s very proud of her children’s story, “The Wooden Apple” recently published in the November 2012 issue of
Cricket Magazine. Johnna recently returned from a five-day Highlights novel in verse workshop where she hopes she found the secret to publishing her YA novel in verse.
WOW: Welcome Johnna! What was the inspiration for The Winter Will Ask?
Johnna: I woke up one morning thinking, “What if a wife went to a fortune teller and was lied to and was told her husband would die, when in fact it was the wife who would die?”
WOW: (Smile). Writers wake up with the oddest thoughts… Tell us a little about your writer’s journey; what was your first big sale and what did you learn from it? Johnna: My first non-fiction piece was returned with an editor’s request for me to shorten it by half, with no promises to publish. I considered this a victory since it wasn’t a flat-out rejection. I edited away, sent it back, and I sold “Heart in Africa” to GUIDE magazine. I’ve since sold three more to them. My favorite sale was “The Wooden Apple” which appeared in Cricket this past November.
WOW: In what ways does flash-fiction challenge your writing skills?Johnna: I must search for the absolute best word and sentence structure to convey the meaning. It teaches me to write tight and bright.
WOW: In what ways has expat living influenced your writing?Johnna: It’s taught me to see with different and new eyes. When I returned to the States after living in Holland for almost ten years, I had to learn to be American again.
WOW: I hear the potential for a memoir in there; have you ever considered writing about your experience?Johnna: I prefer fictionalizing my experiences. I've had a few non-fiction pieces published about my life, but I haven't really considered writing a memoir. I think I've found my sweet spot in YA.
WOW: What author has most inspired you and how?Johnna: John Greene has been the most recent inspiration. I love his voice and the way he’s able to recreate the teen aura.
WOW: Regarding your YA novel in progress—how does writing in verse benefit the story? What points should a writer consider before choosing this route?Johnna: My novel is about a very sensitive subject, sex trafficking. The poetry acts as a buffer between the reader and difficult subject matter. I believe you should only choose this form if you see it as the best way the story can be told and you have practiced writing poetry.
WOW: Do you have a website where readers can connect with you? Johnna: Not yet! Hopefully, I’ll be blogging soon, though!
WOW: We hope to see you back here soon--perhaps to celebrate your YA novel!Interview by Robyn Chausse
Today we welcome Renee Carter Hall, runner up in our Summer 2012 Flash Fiction Contest. Renee is a master of letting fun lead the way as evidenced by her prolific publishing credits, numerous anthromorphic characters, and whimsical artwork (I love the lounging dragon
picture on her website). Her contest submission,
Nativity, is a sweet story of a little girl who longs to belong to a flock—and gets her wish! Please take a moment to enjoy
Nativity by Renee Carter Hall and then return here for a short interview.
Renee Carter Hall works as a medical transcriptionist by day and as a writer, poet, and artist all the time, writing fantasy and science fiction for adults who never quite grew up. Her short fiction has appeared in a variety of publications over the years, including
Strange Horizons,
Black Static, and the anthology
Bewere the Night, and her first novel,
By Sword and Star, was published earlier this year by
Anthropomorphic Dreams Publishing. She lives in the mountains of West Virginia with her husband, their cat, and a ridiculous number of creative works-in-progress. Readers can find more about her and her work at her website,
www.reneecarterhall.com, and her short story sampler
Six Impossible Things is available free at
Smashwords and
Amazon.
WOW: How do your stories develop—is there a method to your madness?Renee: More madness than method, I think! Every story is slightly different, of course, but most of the time I just start with a situation or a character, jump in, and see what happens. Once I get characters talking, things usually start to develop pretty quickly. As you might guess from all that, I'm not much of an outliner, but longer works usually do need some minimal notes and brainstorming along the way to get to a finished draft.
WOW: What was your inspiration for Nativity?Renee: "Nativity" was one of those stories where the concept and characters showed up all at once, so I don't really remember a particular spark other than the holiday season. Elements of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and memories of my own school days probably influenced it, though.
WOW: Some writers get their ideas in the shower, others while driving--when do you get most of your ideas?Renee: Whenever and wherever, really. The one writing problem I've never had--probably the only writing problem I've never had--is a lack of story ideas.
WOW: That’s a great one not to have! I’ll bet you have some writing tips to share; what are your top three?Renee: Keep writing, keep reading, and keep learning. Do those three things, and it's impossible not to improve.
WOW: What are your writing goals for 2013?Renee: Finish the first draft of my second novel (working title The Second Life of Bartholomew T. Lion), and keep chasing the third pro-level short story sale that will qualify me for active
SFWA membership (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America).
WOW: Great goals! Keep us posted on Bartholomew T. Lion (love that name). Interview by Robyn Chausse
Today, Muffin fans, we welcome Cathy Turney, a runner up in the Summer 2012 Flash Fiction contest. If you haven't had the opportunity to read her humorous story, What I Do For Love, be sure to check it out. Then come back and get to know this author!
Cathy Turney has been a lifelong resident of the San Francisco Bay Area. She was in the first graduating class of the University of California at Santa Cruz where she majored in psychology because she thought she wanted to be a social worker. Her husband (referred to in her humorous stories as MyHusbandTheEngineer) says she is a social worker—that’s what being a real estate broker is all about!
Cathy has won several humor awards and her stories have been published in theSan Francisco Chronicle and Bay Woof Magazine. Recently she was invited to write a humor column for The Martinez News-Gazette and the Digital Concordian. In her column, entitled “A Little Bit Off,” she captures the humor in coping with technology and social media, her left/brain right brain marriage and her codependency on dogs.
Cathy encourages anyone with a story to tell to jot down notes, organize them, start writing and publish! With the amazing technology available today, she says, any writer can share his/her stories with the world.
WOW: Welcome to The Muffin, Cathy. Wow! What an adventurous story! Great stories always have some basis in real life. How did you come up with this list of ideas? It makes me curious: Did these things really happen? (smiles)
Cathy: Yes, all those things did happen! You may have sensed that I am NOT enamored of that car! Laughter is my defense. Fortunately, MyHusbandTheEngineer saw the humor in the story – especially when the national Austin Healey organization found it humorous, too, and ran it in their September “Healey Marque” magazine—which gave my writing relevance in my husband’s eyes J.
WOW: Isn’t that a great feeling! I know you write a real estate newsletter and it evolved into a book about your dogs. What was that process like?
Cathy: The deaf Dalmatian and monster poodle created such a funny dynamic, and I thought that including some humor in my real estate newsletter would make clients see me as more than a business person – kind of convey that I have a life, albeit in servitude to those two! Readers told me they really looked forward to getting the newsletter because they loved the dog stories! They encouraged me to compile them into a book, which became “Tales of a Codependent Pet Owner.”
WOW: Encouragement from fans is so important. It’s a testament to our writing. I also checkedyou’re your website; great content. What are some benefits you've discovered about blogging/writing daily?
Cathy: Oh, THANK YOU for your positive comment about my website!! I post regularly, and I post a “finished product” because I want my website/blog to be my “portfolio” of writing. I would love to be published in some major cities’ newspapers and/or national magazines, and feel that if I look consistent and as polished as possible, I’ll be building my odds. I’m not interested in the money – I’ll do it for free!! I just love creating laughter and sharing it (and getting feedback J).
WOW: I agree that it’s important to have a fantastic portfolio of polished work to pique the interest of potential customers. I’m wondering how you approach the writing process.
Cathy: Oooooh! Describe my writing process!!! I sure wish I could formulize it! Wouldn’t that make everything easier?! Here’s what I do, though: I take notes all the time. If something funny, absurd, annoying, anything that gets a reaction from me happens, I jot it down—especially the actual words that seem humorous. So often it’s not what actually happens, but how it’s related that’s funny. Eventually, I collect these notes from all over the house, my car, my purse, and categorize them. Then I try to create a story and keep going back to it to make it funnier and funnier. It’s really important, I’ve found, to leave the story alone at least overnight. And getting up from the desk and walking the dogs allows my mind to free associate. A double benefit! When I think it’s done (or done enough—does a writer ever feel his/her work is done?!), I send it to a wonderful lady who has a sense of humor and calls herself “The Grammar Guru!” She catches the boo-boos.
WOW: I need to learn to let the story sit overnight. I’m usually too eager to jump right in. Cathy, I’m wondering what advice you would offer writers who may be contemplating publishing.
Cathy: Here’s my advice to anyone contemplating publishing (and writing):
a. Start a blog. That makes you feel that you aren’t just writing into the ether. Actually, you are, but someone out there will read it which they won’t do if you just keep it on your desk. Remember, a book is just a sequence of stories strung together.
b. Join the local writers’ club. I joined the Mount Diablo branch of California Writers’ Club, and it gets me out among people with similar goals and I learn from their experiences. I’ve gleaned marvelous tips from just being there. And they have great, inspiring guest speakers from whom I’ve learned lots.
c. Try to write a little bit each day—preferably at least an hour. Make that commitment. It’s so easy to give priority to other things, but by writing every day you will see progress which will inspire and energize you to write more. And that’s also how you develop your skill. I can really see the difference between what I wrote two years ago and now. (And, unfortunately, I don’t get to write every day J)
d. If there’s a particular genre in which you write, find the best authors in that area and read them. Aspire to be as great as they are – anything less will still be great!
e. If you’ve never published a book before, self-publish! It opens doors. It tells the world that you organized your ideas, wrote them down and made it through the publishing process—that you have the drive and commitment to see a major project through to completion. You can build on that; you’re more likely to get magazines and newspapers to publish your articles which, in turn, will help open doors with traditional publishers. I think it’s important to have a hard copy book (Amazon’s CreateSpace is marvelous!) for your first effort. After that, I think e-books are fine. And anyone can self-publish a paperback book! The great thing about self-publishing is that you can be on Amazon and look as good as John Grisham – no one will know you self-published.
f. Hire a professional proof reader. Your published book has to be perfect as far as grammar, punctuation, spelling and syntax go.
WOW: Great advice to contemplate, Cathy! Thanks for taking time to visit with our readers today, and once again, congratulations on earning runner up honors in the WOW! contest.
Cathy: Well, LuAnn, I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my ideas, here! Thank you so much for the opportunity! And I LOVE WOW!
Good morning, Muffin readers! Today, we welcome Mary E. Michna to the blog. Her story - "A Different Season" - earned runner-up honors in the WOW! Spring 2012 Flash Fiction contest. You'll want to read Mary's story (which generated a great deal of empathy with this reader) and then come back to get to know her.
Mary E. Michna is a wife, mother and grandmother. Always an avid reader and aspiring writer, she wrote poems, stories and plays in grade school. She put those dreams aside with family; her career as a journalist, feature writer and editor; and later as a public relations and fundraising professional. During those years, she kept the dream alive with journaling and writing, making an occasional attempt to market her work.
Three years ago, Mary worked with a friend to form a women writers' group. Since then, she has retired and is focused on what she "really" wants to write. Last year, she received second place honors for a poem and is excited to have placed in the WOW competition. She feels that she has learned from every writing job and looks forward to growing as a writer.
WOW: Welcome to The Muffin, Mary. I must tell you, this story hit home. Nearly a decade ago, my spouse passed away suddenly, and like Lynn, evening was the worst. I'm of the mindset that the best stories come from life experiences. I'm wondering how this storyline came to life?
Mary: This was not my experience, but one of a former neighbor and friend. I called and wrote her frequently after her husband's death. Her difficulty with "eating alone - a seemingly small thing" really struck me and stayed with me for some time. In different conversations, the subject of "meal time being the loneliest time of the day" came up several times. I felt it would make a good story and that I wanted to tell it.
WOW: It's powerful and true to life. Thank you for sharing it. With flash fiction, character development is so important, especially since some type of growth should occur in a short amount of words. Do you have a formula for developing characters?
Mary: Lynn's development in this story had to happen in a certain time frame. I think I showed her personal growth through the pain of her loss.
WOW: That development comes through clearly. Mary, I'd like to talk about writing experiences. Your writing background is varied: journalist, editor, fundraising and PR, and fiction. What are some similarities in all writing experiences and how have those earlier experiences shaped your fiction writing?
Mary: There is great satisfaction in know that you have taken words and crafted a piece of writing that will entertain, inform, inspire and/or arouse feelings. Sometimes you can become too attached to your words. Here are "all these pretty babies" that I created! You have to be willing to step back and trim it down for the greater good: to have a piece that tells the story, fairly sings and does not distract the reader. Like journalism, flash fiction is a great discipline.
WOW: One of these days, perhaps I will be disciplined enough to complete a flash piece. I have several stories that are close to word count, and I agree; it takes discipline! Maybe my critique partner will hold me accountable. (smiles) Your bio mentions a women's writing group founded by you and a friend. Why is it beneficial for writers to work together and support each other?
Mary: My good friend and fellow journalist Colette Wisnewski and I shared our poetry and fiction with one another and attended a fiction class together. We wanted to expand our small circle. We both had a connection to a local retreat house. The two of us presented an afternoon program for women writers three years ago. Our group averages seven to 10 women and meets one Sunday a month. We have hosted several readings, a Poets for Peace event and will hose a retreat for women writers in June. As much as your family loves you and supports your creative endeavors, their "that's nice" just doesn't cut it. It's great to share your work with people who have a similar passion for the written word. It makes all the difference.
WOW: Agreed! Meaningful support of the written word makes a huge difference. With that in mind, I'm wondering what type of support, in the form of advice, would you offer writers considering entering a writing contest. You've experienced a fair bit of success!
Mary: This was the second time I entered a WOW Flash Fiction contest. Having a cut off for entries is inviting and gives one a better chance. I especially liked having the option for a critique. It was quite exciting to find out I made the first cut with the first contest I entered. And it was even more exciting to place in the top 10 stories in the last contest.
WOW: I imagine it is quite exciting! Congratulations again, Mary, and thank you for talking about your story and writing.Interview by LuAnn Schindler
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I have to admit my fiction writing skills aren't as honed as my non-fiction,so I read your entry with one eye towards the story and another towards your technique. It was a lovely story with rich detail and imagery and a heart. Well done for so few words! Let us know when you get that blog up.