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Hope Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, Whispering ‘it will be happier’…” Alfred Tennyson

A year ends, another begins. It’s the perfect time to pause and reflect on my 2018 writing, to take stock of where my stories were showcased.

The shortest story published in 2018 stands at just 42 words. The longest? 680 words. 2018 will certainly be remembered as my year of short, short fiction.

My stories appeared in fifteen journals.

Many thanks to the editors of these fine zines that featured my work: r.k.v.r.y quarterly, Brilliant Flash Fiction, Fictive Dream, New World Writing, Blink Ink, The Sunlight Press, New Flash Fiction Review, Cabinet of Heed, Flash Flood Journal, Necessary Fiction, The Drabble, Former Cactus, Litro, Wigleaf and Fifty Word Stories.

A special thank you to the editors of The Sunlight Press, Rudri Bhat and Beth Burrell, for nominating my story, They Dance and Beckon, for the Pushcart.

Also grateful to the Soul Making Contest for picking my flash, Matter in Water, as the winning entry in the flash fiction category.

I wish for everyone a happy, healthy and productive 2019!

The English language has many words for expressing gratitude: thank you, many thanks, shout out, bless you, much obliged, I owe you, you are too kind. I am dissatisfied with this palette and begin to search for a better way to express my feelings at the end of 2017. How do other languages and cultures express thanks?

I find it; the perfect way to say thanks.

Dhanyosmi is a Sanskrit phrase that generally translates to, “I am fortunate,” or “I am grateful.” Meanings in Sanskrit, an ancient language from India, are more than just literal. The first part of the compound word, Dhanyosmi, is Dhana, wealth. Dhanyosmi would thus mean, “I am thankful for the enrichment,” or “I am enriched.”

So, I say Dhanyosmi, to the editors of these eighteen respected venues for featuring my work in 2017: Flash Fiction Magazine, Peacock Journal, Foliate Oak, Brilliant Flash Fiction, Microfiction Monday Magazine, Right Hand Pointing, Jellyfish Review, Lost Balloon, Dime Show Review, Flash Flood, 101words.org, Foxglove Journal, Vestal Review, Postcard Shorts, Whiskey Paper, Ellipsis Zine, Spelk Fiction, and Superstition Review.

I am honored to have eighteen pieces of flash—all stories under 1000 words—published this year. In addition, I was invited to guest blog at Superstition Review.

While I didn’t win any competitions, three of my stories made the short lists. Also, Lost Balloon Magazine blessed me with my first-ever Pushcart nomination for my story, Imperfect.

Until the end of 2016, I focused on longer works of fiction, as is evidenced by my novel (A New Dawn, Laurel Highlands Publishing, 2016) and my two short story collections. In fact, I had only one flash published in 2016 ( Lowestoft Chronicle).

My foray into the world of flash fiction has been and continues to be a learning experience that is both enjoyable and rewarding.

Here’s to 2018 and more flash fiction.

Dhanyosmi!

Thrilled to have my story, Imperfect, nominated for a Pushcart Prize! The story appeared in Lost Balloon on May 31, 2017. Here’s the link to the story .

I’m grateful to editor Chelsea Voulgares for this honor. Click this link for the announcement in the magazine.

All writers are familiar with the writing process. The process goes like this: write, write, write, revise, revise, revise, and revise again. That first R, revision, is an author’s best friend.

Once the story has taken shape, though, when the creation becomes it’s own being, it needs to be launched into the world. Thus, begins the process of finding the tale a good home. This activity can be challenging. Here is where the second R, research, comes in.

Looking through calls for submissions I’ve found, is not enough. There must be a match between my story and the publication. Obviously, one wouldn’t send science fiction to an art and poetry zine. The trouble is, the distinctions are not always clear, the differences nuanced. The only way to tell if there can be a good match is to read the magazine’s content.

After becoming familiar with some journals, I identify a few publications that I believe are perfect for the story. Some are online-only magazines, while others might be ‘paper’ magazines or journals, and still others, both. I’m attracted to the content, not the medium. So begin the submissions.

And then, they start to come in: the rejections. The dreaded third R. Steeling oneself for rejections is not easy, but every writer knows they must, if their creative endeavor is to see the light of publication.

In the beginning, I believed the rejections came because I was an unpublished author. Now, I know that a list of credits is no assurance of an acceptance or publication.

There could be a host of reasons for a rejection. It might be as simple as the magazine receiving too many submissions. Or, the story may not quite fit their theme. Then, there’s the subjective view; editors are not universal in their preferences.

Instead of dwelling on the rejection, I research other places and send my story out again, and again – until the story finds its home.

This August I’m honored to have three of my stories published.

On August 2, Jellyfish Review published my story, Supernatural for their intergalactic planetary issue.

Supernatural

On August 28, Postcard Shorts published my story, Postcard from Arizona.

Postcard from Arizona

On August 28, Vestal Review published my story Left Hand Turns in their Magic Mondays category.

Left Hand Turns

I am grateful.

I am honored to have a story in Jellyfish Review this week. Thank you, Christopher James, for publishing my story.

Timbre and Tone