FlashFiction.Net

I think I always wrote stories that were very very short, but didn’t know it was okay. I remember having these notebooks full of 1-2 page stories and feeling the story was complete, but also feeling like it would never be seen because I was completely ignorant about everything back then. Eventually I discovered some online journals like Thieves Jargon and Smokelong and my brain exploded. It was like I landed in OZ and I didn’t want to go back to Kansas.

What does flash do for you that other writing styles don’t?

What I love about flash is that it gives the reader a lot of credit. I think it’s a unifying genre in that the author is sort of using shorthand to speak and the reader is able to pick up the meaning. It’s kind of like having one of those friends who only needs to raise an eyebrow in a certain way and you know exactly what they mean. I also think it’s the least egotistical form of writing. Not a lot of show-offs go into writing flash. None that I know anyway.  

Is there anything you would love to write about but haven’t found a way to tackle yet?

It happens. I’m currently obsessed with lightning, but haven’t found a way to convey that. I have a story about fireflies that’s been tangled into knots over the last five years that I don’t think I’ll ever finish. 

What advice do you have for someone who is just starting out in flash, and is looking to be published in the future?

I would say make sure the story is a true story and not some longer piece that you cut down to fit a word limit. Make sure it’s not a throw-away story, editors see right through that. I think if an author writes a story and gets that last word and says, “Yeah, that’s it. No more.” The story will be strong and someone out there will publish it and someone will read it and that’s good.

Your chapbook We Know What We Are was published over the summer as the winner of Rose Metal Press’s annual chapbook contest. Can you talk a little bit about what inspired you to enter, what that process was like, and what the publication process was like?

This was my second time entering the contest. The first time, I just threw a bunch of stories into a Word Doc and sent it away and, duh, nothing. The second time, I actually looked at how I wanted to create a collection. I knew that I had a lot of stories that kind of had this theme of self awareness and disdain so I tried to give a sort of arc to the book and sent it away. Then, when I won, I did cartwheels.

Rose Metal Press is awesome. Kathleen Rooney and Abby Beckel are so on top of their game, it’s ridiculous. They made me feel really special, even though they have a ton of crap on their plates. 

The press prints 300 copies of the chapbook. I have Geoffrey Forsyth and Sean Lovelace’s chapbooks from the previous contests and I think they’re beautiful. So joining the club has been super.

I noticed you have another chapbook, Kill Me Forever coming out in 2011. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Kill Me Forever is coming out with Cow Heavy Books, which was formerly known as Willows Wept Press and is the brainchild/baby of Molly Gaudry. The book will be out in 2011 and will have a limited number of copies. I’m pretty excited by this as well. I love the work Molly did with Willows Wept and with Cow Heavy so far, so, more cartwheels.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about you and/or your writing?

No, but thanks for the interview! and keep up the awesome work on the website!

About the Author

Meghan Rogers is an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) candidate at Rosemont College. She is new to the world of flash fiction, but is enjoying the creative challenge. Her favorite things to write are novels and short stories that tend to be more young adult. When not writing, she enjoys reading, sports and watching way to much television.

For further reading, check out FlashFiction.Net’s suggested readings of flash fiction and prose poetry collections, anthologies, and craft books, by clicking here.

Subscribe to FlashFiction.Net by Email