While it’s true that blog award memes have become a somewhat commonplace thing, the Fabulous Flash award is the first I’ve come across that’s fiction related.

Writers tend to be very self involved, by nature so I think it’s pretty cool when we can stop and take a moment to give a nod to the work of our fellow writers whose stories we’ve enjoyed.

I recently got a “Fabulous Flash” mention from Aaron Wilson. Aaron writes speculative fiction. The Last Act was published at The Wry Writer some time ago. Links to more of his fantastic flash fiction and short stories are available at Soulless Machine .

I’m not sure which of my flash fics grabbed his attention but you can find them on my homepage in the Quick Fics and Daily Drabble sections. You can also find my latest flash pieces at my daily drabble challenge blog 1flashficdaily.

The idea of the award is to pay the gesture forward by giving the nod to four writers whose work I enjoy reading. The following are four superb writers who sometimes write flash fiction.

Jeremy C. Shipp writes what’s been dubbed “bizzaro” fiction. His stories are dark and quite arresting. He shares some of his shorter works online at Slices of Bizzaro Pie.

John Claude Smith is a speculative fiction writer whose work is often full of dark, very chilling imagery. Some of his flash pieces–including my favorites The Perfect Pumpkin and Numb–can be found at The Hive Mind speculative fiction collective. You may want to check out the other awesome writers there too!

Made in DNA writes sci-fi, sexpunk, cyberpunk & erotic fiction. He writes it very well. It’s a refreshing change of pace for the mature reader looking to read something a bit more visceral than every day fiction and a delightfully far cry from mere PWP (Porn Without Plot).

Troy Wiggins writes afro-centric speculative fiction which is anything but racially charged. What you get instead is a very rich and colorful landscape of diverse characters and anecdotes. He recently took up the daily drabble flash fiction challenge and posts the results on his website at Afrofantasy.

It’s amazing what a diverse pool of talent there is out there. If you haven’t checked their work out yet, you really should now. You just might be pleasantly surprised at what you’ve been missing.

Some time ago, I created the Web Fiction Directory as a way for people who visit my site to also discover these authors and the works that they share online.

Anyone who posts Free fiction for download or online reading is welcome to list his or her work.

I’m currently working to upgrade the directory to allow digital authors who publish their fiction for sale via Smashwords, as well as authors who post donation driven and Premium web-fiction to list their works in the directory as well.

I’ve been working on a new and better version of the directory. My goal now is to create a more intuitive directory which allow readers to find the fiction what they are looking for with ease but without having to dig too deeply to find it, so to speak.

The current Web Fiction Directory is organized by type and genre.

A Section of the current Web Fiction Directory

The new Digital Fiction Directory’s TOP CATEGORIES would be structured as follows:

AUTHORS
EBOOKS
- Free
- Premium
WEBSERIALS
- Free
- Premium (Includes Crowd Funded or Donation Driven)
DIGITAL FICTION MAGAZINES
- Free
- Premium
PODCASTS
- Free
- Premium
SHORT FICTION (Condensed to include short stories, flash fiction and microfiction and poetry)
RESOURCES
- Directories

(Genre would be a Secondary Level category option)

My questions for all the readers and writers out there who would be using or listing works in this directory:

1. Do you think the proposed new structure would be an improvement over the Web Fiction Directory as it currently exists?

2. What features or improvements not mentioned above would YOU like to see in an upgraded Web Fiction or Digital Fiction Directory?

3. What would be a fair $$ price to list premium works in such a directory?

Made in DNA and Tonya R. Moore (Yours Truly) are extending an open invitation to digital authors of all genres to be a part of our upcoming Girls With Guns Anthology.  The Girls With Guns anthology will be published on Smashwords and made available for Free download.

There is no payout–the anthology will be free to readers. Authors retain the full rights to their work. We only require one-time digital publication rights. Our intent is to give some of the awesomely talented writers out there a chance to gain a bit of exposure while offering readers a taste of bold and unapologetic fiction.

If you’re a digital author who happens to like girls, girls with guns or girls who like girls with guns… do you see where I’m going with this?

Submission Instructions

Email Submissions to Tonya R. Moore (mikodragonfly [@t] gmail.com) or Made In DNA (made.in.dna [@t] gmail.com)
The title of your email message MUST be “Girls With Guns Anthology Submission”
Be sure state your name or pseudonym, contact info, homepage and your story’s title at the beginning of your email message.
Paste your story into the body of your email message after your contact info. We will not open submissions sent as email attachments.

Submission Guidelines

As long as your main character is or encounters one or more girls with guns, any setting from space operas to urban melodrama will be considered for inclusion. We will consider short stories up to 7500 words in length. Flash Fiction submissions won’t be rejected but they should be at least 1000 words in length.

We prefer block style paragraph formatting, as shown in the the excerpt below:

I followed her up the well-trodden path that led to the top of the knoll from the frilly edge of the ocean. Her home was frail, a ramshackle box with misshapen boards for walls. Moonlight peeked in through the tiny spaces between the boards. Time flew by as I sat at the wooden table in her kitchen. I watched her pour hot water into a pot with a handful of some sort of greenery I’d never seen before. When it was done, she poured some into a surprisingly dainty cup. The cup, spoon and saucer were obviously from a proper China set. I’m not sure why I found such a trivial thing so jarring.

She sat across from me, set a small basket down on the floor beside her. After selecting cloth and thread, she nodded encouragingly. “Go ahead, try it.”

I obediently took a sip. She’d made a particularly strong brew. I could literally smell the bitterness. I swallowed gamely but set the cup back down into the saucer.  “Ugh. God. What is this?”

“Cerasee. Drink it. It’ll cure what ails you. Well, maybe not all that ails you.”

We look forward to your submissions.

GIRLS WITH GUNS Anthology

Theme: GIRLS WITH GUNS / GIRLS AND GUNS
Genre: ANY/MIXED
Deadline: June 30, 2010

To keep getting updates, follow the Girls With Guns Facebook page.

Kreativ Blogger Award - My Design

The Kreativ Blogger Award is the brainchild of a Norwegian lady named Hulda. She maintains two very lovely blogs, Husfruas Memoarer and Hulda’s Homemade. A few years ago, she handcrafted the first Kreativ Blogger Award and presented it two blogger friends. She urged them to pay the gesture forward by bestowing the same upon others they felt were worthy of such recognition. The award has gained popularity and evolved quite a bit since then.

Recipients are encouraged to propel this charming tradition forward as follows:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award. Be sure to include a link that individual’s blog in your post.

2. Reveal seven things about yourself.

3. Award seven bloggers with the “Kreativ Blogger Award.” Post links to their blogs. Leave a comment on each of their blogs, to let them know they have received the award.

I was surprised and delighted when I found out that Melanie Edmonds listed me as one of her choices for the Kreativ Blogger award. Melanie is one of the prolific voices of the WebLit sphere. She writes Apocalypse Blog and Starwalker. Melanie is a very talented writer and and I’m humbled and really appreciate being considered worthy of the same distinction. Melanie tweets as @KessBird – Please follow her!

Seven Things About Me?

1. I am terrified of snakes. Terrified.
2. I can’t carry a tune even to save my life. This, I finally realized after years of strident denial.
3. For a very brief time in my life, I was a soldier.
4. I’m a fan of anime (and recently, manga) but I wouldn’t exactly class myself as an Otaku.
5. I’m highly disorganized and halfway insane. One has nothing to do with the other. Or everything.
6. I love the ocean. Being by the ocean on a quiet day is the most effective therapy I can imagine. If I ever get swept away by a massive wave, I’m doomed because I still can’t swim.
7. I don’t have very much confidence in myself or by extension, my writing. Sharing my work online and getting feedback from writers and readers has gone a very long way in helping me to overcome that. Thanks everyone!

Wow – that kinda took forever, didn’t it? Alright, you can stop being bored now. You’ve arrived at the part where I name my choices for recipients of the Kreativ Blogger Award.

7 Kreativ Bloggers

1. Alexandra Wolfe is an Editor and the author of Fantastical Flights of Fiction. This talented lady is also Publishing Editor at KISSED BY VENUS – the Lesbian Fiction Magazine and Founder/Editor at the HIVE MIND Speculative Fiction Collective.
2. Samantha Ricks is a talented new writer who wants to share her voice with the world. She recently starting posting web fiction at Let The Muse Shout.
3. Miladysa is the prolific author of the phenomenal Refuge of Delayed Souls series of supernatural novels.
4. Troy Wiggins is a speculative fiction author who describes the focus of his blog, Afrofantasy as “afro-relevant literature of the abnormal variety.” His current web serial is progress is Discontinuity, an intriguing and exciting Steampunk adventure.
5. Dazjae Zoem is Editor in Chief of Purple Magazine and author of Afro-centric and Steampunk works such as Books of Zambaru – Maji Omnibus and Wonderdark. Her endeavors fall under the umbrella of The Ultraviolet Underground, a projector for the voices and visionaries of under-represented cultures and ideologies.
6. Lorna Suzuki is a documentary script writer and author of the Imago fantasy novel series. She interviews a lot of writing industry professional and shares her experiences as a published author in her blog at IMAGO books FANTASY REALM
7. Ruthibelle is a Jamaican blogger whose earnest passion for words took me by surprise when I happened upon her blog. It did my heart good to read the words of a gifted young Jamaican on the hunt for meaning and inspiration.

Kudos to everyone on this list of gifted people. I’m grateful for having had the chance to become acquainted with such talented and inspiring individuals.

Translation Note:

“Kreativ” is Norwegian for “Creative.”

The Dark Province: Son of Duprin is an epic fantasy novel by William H. Johnson. The sprawling adventure is set in an originally created world and follows the journey of Calvin Gooding, a man forced to deny the strict religion of his homeland to follow his faith. It is his only hope to save his dying sister’s life.

Release Day: Saturday, March 13th at 12:00am EST.

The Story:

Sitting in the honored stalls of the Crystal Sanctuary, Calvin Gooding should be rejoicing in the message he receives from the Holy King of Duprin. But his heart is heavy. He awaits the carriage in which he must ride to deliver the fated news to his family. Time has run out.

In the midst of sorrow, exhaustion, and uncertainty, a sorceress from the Dark Province appears to Calvin. She promises to make his terminally ill twin sister, Marilyn, well again. As twins, Calvin and Mari share a special bond, and Calvin will do almost anything to save his sister’s life. But in order to free Mari from death’s grip, the sorceress claims that Calvin must travel to the Dark Province–a land where souls and flesh are devoured by the lawless and the spirit of man is bound in shackles. It’s a reckless land dominated by morally corrupt warlords and open sexuality.

Wrapped tightly in his religion, Calvin must make a life-altering decision. He can choose to follow the sorceress into the sinful abyss to save his sister, or he can accept a life of guilt and certain torment over her death.

READ AN EXCERPT!

Excerpt #1: “Forbidden Promise”

Excerpt #2: “A Game of Pleasure”

The Dark Province: Son of Duprin is set for release on Saturday, March 13th at 12:00am EST.
*Free Shipping starts 12:00am EST on 3/13/10 and ends 3:00am EST 3/15/10. Applies to U.S. states and territories only.

Once again, I learned about something amazing via social networking. A couple of days ago, I saw that namenick of PasswordIncorrect and a number of my #weblit acquaintances were tweeting about #ebookweek. It turns out, this awesome event has been around for years and I was just hearing about it for the first time.

Read an Ebook Week is a week-long annual event that runs from March 7th thru 13th. Many major ebook retailers and writers participate by sharing information about ebooks and offering massive discounts–up to 100% off numerous ebook titles.

Coincidentally, I already had a FREE ebook offering in the works. I only had to speed things up a little bit to make it available, in time for this week’s event.

Fancy a Free Ebook?

Download EARTHBOUND EXOTICA

EARTHBOUND EXOTICA is a small selection of some of my urban fantasy flash fiction and short stories. These stories are already available for online reading at www.tonyamoore.com but I wanted to make a small sampling of my favorite Urban Fiction pieces available for Free download.

You can download your very own copy in the format of your choice from Smashwords and it should soon be available from Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo (formerly Shortcovers) and Amazon.

EARTHBOUND EXOTICA will still be FREE to download even after Read an Ebook Week is over. Reviews and ratings are much appreciated though!

Read an E-Book Week educates and informs the public about the pleasures and advantages of reading electronically. Authors, publishers, vendors, the media and readers world-wide are welcome to join in the effort. We encourage you to promote electronic reading with any event. These could include: public readings, library displays, reading challenges, school visits, newspaper and blog articles, chat show appearances, internet radio interviews, e-book give-ways, and banners on your website.
~ www.ebookweek.com

You can find a list of more providers, participating in Read an Ebook Week here:
Read an Ebook Week Providers and Authors

Find more Read an E-Book Week offerings on Smashwords.

Nobody writes werewolves like Naomi.

Her style and her unique stories and striking characters are unforgettable. SILVER KISS, the brand spanking new novel by Naomi Clark follows somewhat closely on the heels of the success of the QUEER WOLF Anthology which includes her story, WOLF STRAP.

In “SILVER KISS” by Naomi Clark…

Ayla Hammond has come home. After years as a lone wolf in a self-imposed exile she’s rejoining the pack and trying to mend fences with her parents. She’s convinced them to accept her girlfriend, but can a lone wolf change her ways?

As if homecoming wasn’t hard enough, Ayla also can’t help getting involved in a missing person case.
With pressure to solve the case mounting from the pack alphas, Ayla is starting to question where her loyalties lie – and if a return to the pack she left behind is really what she wants.

Silver Kiss is now available from Queered Fiction.

Today is the big Release day, so don’t miss the Twitter release party for SILVER KISS. Tweet about SILVER KISS using the #silverkiss hashtag and you could be in for an awesome treat. Gifts include tarot readings, ebooks, and print books.

Now, I haven’t read SILVER KISS yet but that’s only because I am determined to hold out until I can get may hands on my very own print copy. Can I do it or will I break down and get the ebook before the week is out? Stay Tuned.

In the meantime, here are some essential links to get to know this awesome author a little better:

SILVER KISS Blog Tour Schedule | Naomi’s Homepage | Follow Naomi on Twitter

When Google Buzz first launched, I was eager to give it a try. Now that the novelty has worn off, I’ve come to the same conclusion as most. Google Buzz is undeniably powerful and has the potential to be very versatile. I think that Google Buzz is a great service that will definitely augment my web experience but I doubt that it will significantly affect my use of other services, such as Twitter or even Facebook.

It’s also very noisy.  A couple of days ago, I set out to de-clutter my stream. Twitter and any other micro-blogging sites from which I frequently broadcast, have been removed from my connected sites. The endless torrent of micro-updates is hard to follow. Since I happen to be a chatty Tweeter sometimes, I have no desire to add to the chaos. I then proceeded to unfollow a large number of irrelevant accounts that happened to be included in my stream, due to my bloated-by-Google-Wave contact list. Once I did that, my stream became a whole lot less chaotic and I find I’m no longer disinclined to use Google Buzz.

All I need now, is an option to Share/Note a post included in the iGoogle module for Google Reader and keeping on top of my subscriptions will be even easier. Before I started using Google Buzz, I would completely forget that Google Reader even existed. You can Buzz updates from sites to which you subscribe via Google Reader. Sure, I used to “share” occasional updates from Google Reader before Buzz but who was actually seeing them?

Now, I’m using Google Reader so much more frequently, that I’ve had to organize all of my feeds into categories so I can keep track of my subscriptions. Some of you might have even noticed that I’ve been commenting on more of your blog posts and sharing them over the past few days. Yesterday, I read a post from TechCrunch stating that sharing of updates from Google Reader has increased 35% as a result of the use of Buzz.

Here’s a crazy idea: Why not include Google Buzz in the tab for Google Reader also?

The very nifty Google Buzz icon displayed above is from unmatchedstyle.com. They’ve made 3 nice little sets of Google Buzz icons that many will find more appealing than the original and they’ve made them available for free download on their website.

I’ve always admired women’s ice skating. The deceptive delicacy of female ice skaters is fascinating. The success of their performances depends up their seemingly effortless economy of motion and grace, yet those movements require an almost brutish degree of physical strength, endurance and grit. Most of the competitors that I’ve seen so far, brought their best game faces to the Olympics. I was impressed with even those participants who weren’t quite at the elite levels but competed for the experience and for testing their own limits. Of all of these wonderful ladies, three stood out in my mind.

“Queen” Yu-Na Kim, the tremendously talented and idolized favorite from Korea was was a cool customer. Her performance was flawless, a confident display of grace and subtle ferocity.

Sixteen year old American hopeful, Mirai Nagasu performed exceptionally as well. While her inexperience might have cost her a few points, her exuberance was infectious and she firmly established that both the ice and spotlight are where she belongs.

Canada’s Joannie Rochette competing so closely on the heels of her mother’s unexpected passing, was a phenomenal display of sheer will and courage. She neither faltered nor allowed herself to shed a tear until her performance was over. She gave her very best performance–a profound homage to her loved one and even beat her own personal record. As she completed that last movement, she finally broke down and gave way to her grief. Was there even a single dry eye in the stadium at that point?

Sportsmanship is perhaps, one of the most revealing and honest gauges of human ability and spirit. It’s uplifting and fascinating to watch these amazing men and women compete and test the limits of their abilities. I probably won’t be blogging about the Olympics again this season but I’ll still be watching and keep silently cheering them on.

Photos: Associated Press

Inspiration propels our endeavors. For many, there’s no greater feeling than that moment when unexpected words arrive in a great deluge. Much as we love it when the cup runneth over, it becomes necessary to switch mental gears and approach the creative process in a disciplined and methodical manner.

The fertile mind is a constant battleground. The transient and unpredictable nature of the creative drive can be as much of a hindrance as a boon to our craft. Striking a comfortable balance between inspiration and productivity a common dilemma. The challenge therein, lies with determining when and how to effectively silence that wayward muse.

Lately, I’ve been wondering how others writers walk this particular tightrope. How often do you find yourself tempted to set a work-in-progress aside to entertain a new and exciting story idea? Do you go with the flow or firmly tighten the reins on your enthusiasm? To what degree does your current approach to writing affect the evolution of your craft?

I tend to waver between compartmentalizing and multitasking. Being methodical only works for me between spurts of inspired writing. Approaching writing intuitively means recognizing that it’s okay to set on-going projects aside when I get stuck or when some persistent notion becomes a distraction. Alternatively, there are times when I feel a need to choose practicality over self-indulgence. At those times, I make an effort to ignore or delay the flood of ideas.

I have a desire to be more productive, perhaps even to the point of becoming a prolific sort of writer. Still, I wouldn’t ever want to sacrifice my personal authenticity for the sake of being more productive. While there’s something of a haphazard method to my madness, I’m still searching for that middle ground.

Have you managed to strike that comfortable balance yet?