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Author: Ingrid Jendrzejewski

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Published on 2 Comments on Bulletin 06/06/14

Hello all,

Well, we are just two weeks away from the big day and it's all been happening.
We have now finalised our list for the 2014 anthology. The title will be Eating My Words and it will feature the following stories/writers:
‘The Well’ by A. Joseph Black
‘Taste’ by Adam Wolstenholme
‘Nicotine’ by Amanda Mason
‘Old Friend Dinner’ by Amy Mackelden
‘A Sense of Balance’ by Andrew Jenkinson
‘Tasty’ by Andy Cashmore
‘Sun Synchronous Satellites’ by Andy Lavender
‘Hey, Why Not Be a Daughter?’ by Angela Readman
‘The Sensation of Pain’ by Angi Holden
‘One Rat for Every Person’ by Becky Tipper
‘Random’ by Calum Kerr
‘The Five Senses’ by Caroline Worsley
‘Tomorrow We Will Return’ by Cassandra Parkin
‘A Sticky End’ by Cath Barton
‘Friday Roses’ by Cath Bore
‘Show’ by Cathy Bryant
‘Handle With Care’ by Cathy Lennon
‘Hosting’ by Christopher Allsop
‘Spaghetti and Meat Balls’ by Colin Watts
‘Coming Clean’ by Davina Jones
‘Please Remain Silent for the Benefit of Other Library Users (In Hushed Tones)’ by Debbie Young
‘Launch Pad’ by Diane Simmons
‘Hotdogs’ by Dixon Barker
‘A Sense of Entitlement’ by E.L Norry
‘The Busker’ by Eabha Rose
‘5D’ by Ed Broom
‘The Water is Clear’ by Emmaleene Leahy
‘Skewed Perspective’ by Helen Knotts
‘All the Rage’ by Ian Shine
‘Bread’ by Ingrid Jendrzejewski
‘Dress Sense’ by James Coates
‘Angus Hears Things’ by Jane Roberts
‘Parched’ by Jeanette Sheppard
‘Where Memories Live’ by Jennifer Harvey
‘Postcard to My Best Friend from a Non-Londoner, One ‘Dull… of Soul’’ by Jenny Holden
‘Lear Bus’ by John F King
‘The Sixth Generation’ by Jon Pinnock
‘Cherished’ by Kay Beer
‘On Taking Measures to Eliminate Fair Play’ by Kevlin Henney
‘Strangers’ by L. D. Lapinski
‘A Visitor from the Past’ by Lawrence David Coss
‘Eating My Words’ by Marie Gethins
‘Half-Life’ by Michael Marshall Smith
‘Eye of the Beholder’ by Miranda Roszkowski
‘Fear’ by Moira Conway
‘Chekov's Gun’ by Nigel McLoughlin
‘I Am No Good at Video Games’ by Nik Perring
‘Cider and Simnel’ by Nuala Ní Chonchúir
‘Seven Breaths’ by Pam Plumb
‘To Test the Senses of Worms’ by Pauline Masurel
‘The Sundial’ by Rhys Barter
‘The Working Man's Struggle’ by Richard Holt
‘Bottle of Silence’ by Sal Page
‘What We Do In Our Sleep’ by Santino Prinzi
‘A Shanty for Sawdust and Cotton’ by Sarah Hilary
‘Masha's Burning Memory’ by Selina SIAK Chin Yoke (surname is SIAK)
‘The Notes Play On’ by Shirley Golden
‘What I'll Do to Be In Love With You’ by Simon Sylvester
‘The Law of Attraction in Action’ by Sonya Oldwin
‘The Bedroom Tax’ by Susan Howe
‘The Visitors From Out of Town’ by Tim Stevenson
‘Vinegar’ by Tracey Upchurch
Plus, of course, the winners of the micro-fiction competition:
‘Never Let Me Go’ by Cathy Lennon
‘Night-time Knitting’ by Roz Mascall
‘If Kissed by a Dragon Fish’ by Tania Hershman
‘Dare’ by Simon Sylvester
‘The Star Falling’ by Morgan Downie
‘Sintra’ by Parineeta Singh
‘The Sponge Diver’ by Danielle McLaughlin
‘Peppermint’ by Jennifer Harvey
‘The Invisible Girl’ by Karl A Russell
‘4am’ by Angi Holden
 It was, as ever, a really tough job choosing the stories, and our thanks go out to all of you who submitted. If you didn't make it, chances are it's not because it wasn't good enough, but because we could only fit 50 stories and so we had to make some hard decisions. Best of luck to you all in placing your stories elsewhere, and congratulations to those who made it!
In other news, we have had a slew of events come in which we need to tell you about. They are all listed on our site at http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/events.html, but here are the highlights so far:
June 14th 2014 - Bournemouth
Quick as a Flash Slam! 2014
June 14th 2014 - Abergavenny
Write and Read Event
Writing live at 2.30 and 3.30. Write for 15 minutes, then read your work. Free admission. 
June 21st 2014 - Bristol
Bristol Flash 2014 - National Flash-Fiction Day Workshop - Daytime
and Bristol Flash 2014 - National Flash-Fiction Day Readings - Evening
June 21st 2014 - ONLINE
Fish Facebook Flash 2014 - National Flash-Fiction Day Competition
June 21st 2014 - Dublin, Ireland
FLASH FURY 2014 - National Flash-Fiction Day Readings and Competition
June 21st 2014 - Oxford
The Albion Beatnik 2014 national Flash-Fiction Day Reading Event
June 23rd 2014 (closing date) - Online
Twisted Tales Competition
July 8th 2014 - Manchester
Flashtag Writers Short Short Story Slam
If you have an event we haven't listed, or want to set something up quickly - a competition or pop-up journal or something - then please make sure you let us know, and we'll tell the world. 
There will, of course, be other goodies. We're going to be running FlashFlood again, so look out for that. We want to see if we can get the full 144 stories!
Also, on the day, we'd like flash-fiction writers who have Kindle editions to consider offering their books for free. Our older anthologies will be available (as will a selection of my own books!). So, if you would like to join in, send us a link to your book and we'll make sure the world knows about it.
And, if there's anything else you think of, just drop us a line.
As we get closer to the day it would be great if you could spread the word about all these activities, as well as our Facebook page and ourTwitter feed, and please do get involved in one of the events to make this another fantastic day!
Right, that's it for now. So go and sign up for something, set something up, send us an event, send us a book link for our Kindle offer, or whatever flashy thing you fancy, and I'll be back in touch when we have more news on anything.
It's getting quite exciting now, isn't it?!
All the best
Calum
Calum Kerr
Director, National Flash-Fiction Day
(If you would like to receive these bulletins directly, please send an email asking to be added to the list to nationalflashfictionday@gmail.com.)

Published on Leave a comment on Bulletin 09/05/2014

Well, hello there! 

Hope you're having a sunny day today, and looking forward to the summer and to the 3rd National Flash-Fiction Day on 21st June.
We have some updates for you today on our anthology, some competitions, some events, and some other opportunities. But to start off, I want to point out to you that it's now just 6 weeks until the big day, so if you are planning something, it's time to get the details to us so we can spread the word and get you as much attention as possible. All details, questions, suggestions etc. to us here at this address, and we'll try and get back to you as soon as we can. 
Okay, with that said, let's start with our anthology. We are accepting submissions until 18th May, stories should be 500 words maximum and on the subject of 'the senses' however you might like to interpret that. All selected contributors will receive a free print copy of the book. Full details are at http://host2021.temp.domains/~nationo0/anth.html and it would be extremely helpful if you could spread the word and keep spreading it up to the deadline, so we can get as many great stories as possible and make this year's book as exciting as Jawbreakers and Scraps. 
As promised, we also have some competitions and opportunities for you:
Winchester Writers' Festival is running a whole host of competitions, including a flash-fiction one being judged by yours truly. The closing date is 16th May. Full details at http://writersfestival.co.uk/competitions.
The Twisted Tales collection is running again (https://ragingaardvarkpublications.submittable.com/submit/28748) looking for stories between 350 and 750 words, with a closing date of 23rd June. 
And if you happen to be in New Zealand, they are running a competition for their NFFD at http://nationalflash.wordpress.com/competition/.
Not a competition, but Brilliant Flash Fiction Mag are looking for your stories over at http://brilliantflashfictionmag.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/welcome-readers-and-writers/comment-page-1/#comment-1.
And, in a turn around, we have someone looking for an opportunity which you might be able to help with. Australian Flash-Fictioneer Richard Holt will be in the UK for the day this year. He has created a flash-fiction video piece (titled 'Flashing the Square') and is wondering about the possibility of somewhere with public screens being willing to show it on the day. So if you can help, or know someone who can, please get in touch with us and we'll put you through to Richard.
On the day, we currently have two events being organised:
Oxford - Albion Beatnik Bookshop are hosting an evening reading event, organised by Virginia Moffat. More details from her at Virginia.Moffatt@ntlworld.com.
And we are once again having our main event in Bristol. More details to follow once we have them, but if you can make it, it would be great to see you there.
And, while I'm on, other flash-fiction things you might be interested in:
I will be doing a workshop at Wigan Literary Festival on 24th May - followed by a panel on getting your work out there. Details at http://www.wlct.org/default.aspx.LocID-0cs00r007001.Lang-EN.emID-970.rss-yes.EventID-16439.htm
Plus I will be doing a workshop as part of the Winchester Writers' Festival on the day after NFFD. Details at http://writersfestival.co.uk/the-festival.
And that's it for the moment. So, if you have news for us, or questions, then please get in touch. Otherwise, please spread the word about the anthology and our events, and let's make this year's NFFD another great success.
All the best
Calum
Calum Kerr
Director, National Flash-Fiction Day
(If you would like to receive these bulletins directly, please send an email asking to be added to the list to nationalflashfictionday@gmail.com.)

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Published on 6 Comments on NFFD 2014 – Micro-Fiction Competition Winners!

Well, the waiting is over, and we can finally announce the winners for this year's National Flash-Fiction Day 100 word Micro-Fiction competition!

It was a hard task for the judges, who had to whittle down nearly 400 entries to a list of their favourite twenty five. These lists were then amalgamated to form the shortlist that we posted earlier in the week, and from this they had to chose their top tens. Again we put the lists together, and from that has emerged this final list of winners. 

I'm sure you will agree that these are ten really wonderful micro-stories, but we'd like to send out our congratulations to all of you who entered, for making the judges work so hard. So many wonderful stories - thank you!

Next week we will be opening entries for this year's anthology, which will also feature all of these stories, so stay tuned for that, but let me not hold you in suspense any longer. Here are the results:


FIRST PLACE WINNER:
‘Never Let Me Go’ by Cathy Lennon
SECOND PLACE WINNER:
‘Night-time Knitting’ by Roz Mascall
THIRD PLACE WINNER:
‘If Kissed by a Dragon Fish’ by Tania Hershman
HIGHLY COMMENDED:
‘Dare’ by Simon Sylvester
‘The Star Falling’ by Morgan Downie
‘Sintra’ by Parineeta Singh
‘The Sponge Diver’ by Danielle McLaughlin
‘Peppermint’ by Jennifer Harvey
‘The Invisible Girl’ by Karl A Russell
‘4am’ by Angi Holden
STORIES:
FIRST PLACE WINNER:
'Never Let Me Go' by Cathy Lennon
First it was cartons and tins on the worktops, then newspapers on the stairs. Each window-sill sparkled with tin foil. He made me a necklace of ring-pulls and bottle tops. Like swans we perched on our bundles of rags and flattened boxes, smoothing the creases from wrappers. The hallway was Manhattan, a canyon of towering piles. Across the no man’s land in our bedroom our fingertips would touch, until one day they couldn’t anymore. From the other side, perplexed, he watched the tears slide down my face. He threw me two empty film canisters to catch them in.
SECOND PLACE WINNER:
'Night-time Knitting' by Roz Mascall
A gorilla is living in my cupboard. Every night, he swaggers onto my bed and waits for me to wake-up. I pretend to be asleep but hear his knitting needles clicking together. He is making a very long scarf for me. Squinting at him from under my blanket, I see his huge hairy hands scratch his scalp in disappointment. He looks sad. A pang of guilt hits me. I sit up and he hands me a ball of pink wool. His watery eyes meet my gaze. He is lonely. We lean against each other and knit until sunrise.
THIRD PLACE WINNER:
'If Kissed by a Dragon Fish' by Tania Hershman
If kissed by a dragonfish, do not bite. If kissed by a dragonfish, make sure you are sitting. Do not worry during the kiss, before the kiss, or after. Do not worry about a scale or two between your teeth. The dragonfish's skin is armoured but its heart beats loud and soft. You will not forget the kiss. You will not forget the coolness of the dragonfish's breath inside your lungs. You will look down through the floor of glass and see nothing, swimming. You will part, like an ocean, and on your sea bed you will pearl.
'Dare' by Simon Sylvester
Every day that summer, we played Dare. On hot afternoons we escaped the sun by hiding in the fort. We ate apples and counted pips and swapped secrets. We sat close, damp with sweat, bare skin sticking. She traced her fingers up my leg. Her fingertips whispered inside my thigh, and my breath caught in my throat.
She always chickened out. I taunted her, urging her higher, but she always chickened out before me.
When that summer was finished, we went back to school. We don’t really talk any more.
I heard she started playing Dare with boys.
'The Star, Falling' by Morgan Downie
When his eyes grew so bad that he could no longer see the horizon he built an artificial one in his garden. Afterwards he persisted in a stubborn refusal to cross it in case he should fall off the edge of the world. Asked, on reflection, if he had realised his intention as a younger man, to live the brief and fiery life of a meteor, he looked out across the universe of his garden, to the wife he still loved indescribably and said,
‘I am a meteor, just moving very, very slowly.’
'Sintra' by Parineeta Singh
I have followed you to this small town. I have walked the same cobblestones that you once trod on. I have stood on those hilltops in the mist you spoke of. I have felt it as smoke in my throat. The air I now exhale was the air you once breathed in. But this is not love; it is nowhere close to it. Love was the time when I put my ear to the flagstones listening for your footfall.
'The Sponge Diver' by Danielle McLaughlin
They knew each other a month when he told her about his Greek grandfather who, as a young man, had been a sponge diver. She closed her eyes, saw a figure – lithe, tanned  –  dive naked from a boat in the blue Aegean. He surfaced, water glittering silver on his skin, as if a shoal of tiny fish had followed him.
Opening her eyes, she noticed how her lover was most unlike a sponge diver.
After it ended, she bought a sea sponge, yellow and pocked. She sat it on her desk at work, and thought about his grandfather.
'Peppermint' by Jennifer Harvey
Afterwards, he thought about the gum stuck underneath the desk. It would still be there.
Every morning he watched as she slipped a finger in her mouth and prised it out, acting coy, though he knew she was aware of him.
Once, she’d looked him in the eye, stretched the gum between her teeth and let it snap, like a flirtatious wink.
He slid his fingers under the rim. It was still there.
Picking it loose, he popped it in his mouth.
It was fragrant, peppermint fresh.  A taste of her he could keep and roll across his tongue.
'The Invisible Girl' by Karl A Russell
It should have been an accident, Mel always thought. Something sciencey and catastrophic. Experimental bombs, or maybe the bite of an irradiated marmoset. That's how it used to happen in the comics anyway; A good dose of cosmic waves transformed you.
And everyone loved you.
Even the villains.
But there were no sciencey accidents in the real world. All it took to make Mel invisible was a split lip, or a black eye, or a few raised voices on a Saturday night, just after chucking out time.
And then, for just a little while, no-one could see her.
'4am' by Angi Holden
I open the bedroom curtains.
Dawn seeps across the horizon. The long grass beneath the hive glistens with dew. Hand-trimming takes patience; this summer I’ve neglected the garden.
I straighten the sheet across your chest. The air cradles the sour milk and vinegar scent of the sickroom.
Downstairs, I fumble with the lock, step into the morning. My slippers absorb the damp. No matter, I have a task to perform. Before I call the doctor, your sister, our son.
I walk down the path, your black crepe bowtie dangling from my hand. There is news I must tell the bees.

Published on Leave a comment on NFFD 2014 – Micro-Fiction Competition Shortlist

Hello all,

Just a very quick post today. We are pleased to announce that our hard-pressed judges have been beavering away and we now have a shortlist of 26 stories for our competition from which the winning 10 will be chosen.

The final decisions are being made as we speak, and as long as all goes to plan, we hope to announce the list of winners on Friday of this week - 11th April 2014, so spread the word and come back on Friday.

In the meantime, congratulations to all who made it down to this shortlist of 26. We received nearly four hundred entries this year, so to get even this far is a huge achievement. The judges have had a hard time choosing these stories, and I'm seriously worried that narrowing it down to only 10 might just finally break them. Assuming it doesn't, come back on Friday to find out who has won!

See you then,
Calum.

SHORTLIST:

'4am' by Angi Holden
'A Story To Be Read Slowly And With Ample Pauses, In A Voice Like Leonard Cohen' by Bob Jacobs
'Dare' by Simon Sylvester
'Elk Back' by Peggy Riley
'Gathering' by Sam Russell
'Harry on A.V.' by Brindley Hallam Dennis
'If Kissed by a Dragon Fish' by Tania Hershman
'Illuminated Relationship' by Jane Roberts
'Literary Costume' by Isabel Rogers
'Little Red' by Neil Murton
'Moments' by Natalie Bowers
'Never Let Me Go' by Cathy Lennon
'Night-time Knitting' by Roz Mascall
'On the rocks' by Francis Hayes
'Peppermint' by Jennifer Harvey
'Secret Admirer' by Clare Kirwan
'Sintra' by Parineeta Singh
'Sleepwalkers' by Pauline Masurel
'String of Smiles' by Allie Rogers
'The Dolls' by L. D. Lapinski
'The Human Body is More than 50% Water' by Żelazko Połysk
'The Invisible Girl' by Karl A Russell
'The Sponge Diver' by Danielle McLaughlin
'The Star Falling' by Morgan Downie
'The Strongest Man' by Elaine Borthwick
'Towards the Light' by Rebecca Swirsky

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Published on 1 Comment on Bulletin 05/02/2014

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the first Bulletin of 2014. I hope you are all keeping well and your flash-fiction activities have been running smoothly since we last spoke.
This will be a quick message, as we are just starting to gear up for getting ready for this year's day. However we do have a few messages, and a call for entries to our annual Micro-Fiction competition.
First, I need to direct you to our new website (http://host2021.temp.domains/~nationo0/). It's similar to the old - the same information - but with a shiny new look courtesy of a new logo from Charlotte Henson Design (https://www.facebook.com/charlottehensondesign) and a whole new site courtesy of Tim Stevenson. Many, many thanks to them both. 
Second is, of course, to tell you that the date for this year's NFFD will be Saturday 21st June, so it's time to start planning your event and thinking about what you will do to celebrate this year's day. Send us your information as soon as you have it, and we'll list it on the site.
And, of course, that is true for anything else that you think we need to list on the site - flash-fiction magazines and websites, new authors, or whatever. Please send it through and we will add it and spread the word.
Finally for this bulletin, and the item you have all been waiting for, it's time to announce that we are now open to submissions for this year's Micro-Fiction competition. The word limit is, once again, 100 words, and the closing date is Sunday 9th March, so you have a little over a month to get us your stories. Full details are on the website at http://host2021.temp.domains/~nationo0/comp.html
Prizes will once again be supplied by our sponsors, Salt Publishing, Comma Press and Gumbo Press, and we have an illustrious panel of judges comprising: Carys Bray, Cathy Bryant, Kevlin Henney, Jonathan Pinnock, Angela Readman and Tim Stevenson. 
You will notice that this year we have had to introduce a charge for entering the competition. This decision was not taken lightly, but it has been necessary in order to fund the activities of NFFD, not least the production of our now traditional anthology. We have, however, done our best to keep the cost to a minimum (and lower than many other similar competitions) and we promise not to squander the money on sweets and fizzy pop. Payments are via PayPal, but if you don't have an account with them, you can still use an ordinary credit or debit card. Of course, if you have any problems, please do get in touch.
And that's it for now. Go and have a look at the new site, get thinking about what you are going to do for the day, and start sending us your micro-fictions, we can't wait to read them!
More soon, as and when we have it. Until then, be well.
All best
Calum Kerr

(If you wish to subscribe to this bulletin, please send an email to nationalflashfictionday@gmail.com and we'll add you straight away.

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Published on 1 Comment on Shipshape and Bristol Flashing by Kevlin Henney

[We asked Kevlin Henney to talk about the Bristol NFFD workshop and readings which served as the main events for this year's day. He said 'yes' and here it is...]

Isn't it odd, I thought, that there are no flash-related events in Bristol on National Flash-Fiction Day? This was 2012, the first National Flash-Fiction Day was happening and Bristol — a happening place in terms of flash fiction, judging by theKissing Frankenstein & Other Stories collection and the number of local authors flashing their short shorts — seemed to be marking the day with a curious lack of happening on the day. How come?

And what was I doing on NFFD 2012 instead? Driving from Bristol to Oxford to slam flash at the first flash slam, presided over by renowned flash author Tania Hershman, who also lives in Bristol. We were there because Oxford was one of the places where things were happening... but by being there, we weren't in Bristol.

The penny dropped. If I wanted something to happen in Bristol for NFFD 2013, then I might have to (1) suggest it and (2) help organise it. A group of us — me, Tania,Sarah Hilary, Pauline Masurel and Deborah Rickard — got together to make it so.

This year's NFFD was the day after the summer solstice, following the shortest night with a day of the shortest fiction, which conveniently placed it on a Saturday. Convenient until you realise that if you're planning an event on a Saturday in summer, you're also competing with weddings and the like for event space. We reckoned on a couple of events, an afternoon writing workshop and an evening reading event, and through trial and error and luck and generosity found venues for both. Bristol Central Library generously gave us the use of a meeting room for the afternoon and The Lansdown pub in Clifton has an upstairs space with great ambience and decent acoustics.

To really make sure we got NFFD to happen in Bristol, we managed to persuade Mr NFFD, Calum Kerr, to join us for the day. Tania and Calum took the afternoon workshop, leading twenty people — the room's stated capacity! — through discussion and critique, reading and writing, and tea and coffee. The evening brought rainshine, thirteen readers and a room of people ready for a goodnight story or two.

One of the best things about flash spoken-word events is the range and number of stories and readers you can pack in. After five minutes of most short stories you're often still in the foothills of the story; with flash, you've been taken to the peaks of one, two or three whole stories, and you're on to the next reader. Not sure if a story is to your liking? Like buses, wait a couple of minutes and another will be along. But there were no duff stories or readers. In addition to the motley organisers and Calum, we had readings from Anna Britten, Ken Elkes, Paul McVeigh, Nick Parker,Jonathan Pinnock, Clare Reddaway and Tim Stevenson. Calum also read a couple of stories by other authors from Scraps, the hot-off-the-press NFFD anthology.

Was it good? Was it fun? Do you wish you'd been there? See for yourself. Hope to see you in Bristol next year!

Published on Leave a comment on Post-Match Roundup

Well, hello everyone,

It's been just over a week since The Day, so I thought I would catch you up with what happened then and what has happened since. 
Of course, we launched our new anthology, Scraps, and that has done incredibly well. We have exactly 5 copies left from our original printings. 
However, we also have it on Kindle and now, as a print-on-demand book from Amazon, so it will be available in print for ever! (It says 'out of stock' but if you order one, they print it and send it, so don't be put off.) This last option might be more attractive for those outside the UK as it will result in reduced postage costs, especially in the US, and even more so if you get free shipping from Amazon Prime.
If you are interested in any of those versions of the book, then the links are:

(With the Amazon links, change the .co.uk to .com or whatever, for your local site.)
We also, of course, had FlashFlood running throughout the day. It was about 140 stories long, making a rate of one every 10 minutes or so. You can still read all the stories, and those from previous issues, at FlashFlood
And then, there were the events. I was at Bristol, where a wonderful time was had by all, but much else was happening. Below is a range of blog links to fill you in on other happenings - reviews, stories posted, all kinds of things!
'The Monster Under My Bed' - Ro Smith
NFFD Shrewsbury - Pauline Fisk
Stories from Shrewsbury
'Final Words' - Damon Lord
NFFD - Katy Wheatley
NFFD Bristol - Grace Palmer
Flash-Mob
NEW Flash Fiction Competition from December House
Flash Fiction on Youtube - Marc Nash
Edinburgh Evening News 
NFFD - D Thomas Minton
'Dry Throat' - Lucy Montague Moffatt
NFFD - Dave Hartley
On a more personal note, NFFD saw the launch of my first full length collection, Lost Property. To celebrate its publication I have set off on a blog tour where I will be posting stories, being interviewed and writing articles about NFFD, my writing, and my thoughts on Flash-Fiction in general. If you think that might be interesting, you can follow the tour on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LostPropertyCalumKerr.
And so, all that is left is to to wrap the ribbon around this year's day and call it finished. Thank you to all who helped with the various activities, to all the writers and organisers of events and competitions, and to all the readers who make what we do so worthwhile.
Specific thanks from me must go to:
The Micro-Fiction Competition judges:
Cathy Bryant, Tom Gillespie, Kevlin Henney, Emma Lannie, Kirsty Logan and Angela Readman.
My co-editor on Scraps, Holly Howitt. And Amy Mackelden who did all the real work. Without her, the book just wouldn't have happened!
To Tim Stevenson for website and book cover design help.
To Kevlin Henney (again!) for organising such a great event in Bristol. 
And, of course, to the good Lady Flash, Kath Kerr, for help and support beyond all reason, with NFFD and everything else.
And, that's it, I'll go now before I start weeping and thanking God.
Have a good year, keep your eyes peeled for all things flash, some of which are likely to come from us, spread the word about the books and everything we do, and put the date of 21st June 2014 into your diaries now!
All best

Published on Leave a comment on Announcing December House’s Flash Fiction Fest 2013 competition
As a publisher we're delighted to be associated with National Flash Fiction Day. For so many of our authors, the short form is where they honed their craft and polished their storytelling skills and for that reason, amongst many others, we are big supporters of Flash Fiction.
Last September, when December House was just a fledgling start-up, we were approached by three fantastic writers who had an idea they were calling "Four Weeks of Flash Fiction". We loved their work and agreed to bring the project under the December House banner and to promote and publish it. As a result Flash Fiction Fest was born.
From day one we'd always planned to make it an annual event, and so this November we'll be doing it all again. This year the theme is "The 7 Deadly Sins" and every day we'll be  publishing a number of pieces of Flash Fiction, both at FlashFictionFest.com and on Wattpad. The entire collection will also be available as an e-book.
We've already got 8 of our authors lined up to take part, but we also want to open it up to the wider writing community. So today we're launching a competition to find the best three pieces of Flash Fiction on the theme "The 7 Deadly Sins".
The Prize
The December House team will read every entry, and the writer judged to have the best three stories will see them included in Flash Fiction Fest 2013, and the e-book of the event (for which they'll also be paid royalties). 
The winner will also have the chance to work with our editor on a novel, with the intention being to prepare it for publication by December House.
How to Enter
To enter you'll need to upload your three pieces (which must be under 1,000 words each) to WattPad and tag them "FlashFictionFest". 
There are full instructions on www.FlashFictionFest.com, and you can see some examples from last year's event on the December House Wattpad page.
Want to know more?
Visit www.FlashFictionFest.com or follow us on Twitter and ask us a question.

Published on Leave a comment on Happy National Flash-Fiction Day!

Good Morning, and Happy National Flash-Fiction Day,

Yes, the day is finally here and there is plenty going on.
If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook, then you have almost certainly seen the torrent of words which is FlashFlood http://flashfloodjournal.blogspot.co.uk/. They are pouring out at a rate of almost one every 10 minutes right through till midnight. Lots of great stories. Enjoy, comment, and share!
In other virtual realms, we have a selection of ebooks, including last year's anthology, Jawbreakers, which will be free this weekend. http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/kindle.html (Although, at the time of writing, the price promotion hasn't kicked in. That's Amazon, not us, so keep your eyes on the books, they WILL be free soon!)
And, of course, this year's anthology, Scraps, is now available on Kindle too (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scraps-ebook/dp/B00DEFT5ZY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1371886611&sr=8-4&keywords=calum+kerr). 
If you download any of these books, it would be wonderful if you could leave a review. They do make a difference.
Scraps, the paperback book, after a slight delay at the printers. has now officially arrived. It will be available at the Bristol events (more below) and any pre-orders will be shipped on Monday. You can order your copy, and more, at http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/shop.html.
And, what else? Well, as mentioned above, there are a couple of events happening in Bristol today - a workshop I shall be co-leading with Tania Hershman, and a reading this evening with loads of great writers. I shall be at both, so do come along it would be great to see you. 
And a host of other events are getting underway, including events in Abergavenny and Manchester which have been added in the last couple of days. 
Apart from that, it just remains for me to thank you all for your continued support, to wish you a very happy National Flash-Fiction Day and to hope you will enjoy it and spend at least some time writing those tiny gems which have brought us together again. And please, send us anything you write, whether a blog post, a story, a review of an event, or whatever. We will post them over the coming days and weeks, or share the link (if it is a link). We want to know how you have celebrated the day and then share it with others.
Happy NFFD!
All best
Calum Kerr, Director

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Published on 1 Comment on ‘Like A Jewel’ by Pauline Fisk
The rocket man said no, even before he set off.  There are some things you won’t stoop to, and bagging moon dust for sale back on earth was one of them, especially sale by some company operating out of Jersey, calling itself Planet Earth Holdings. 
The company texted, phoned and emailed not just Space Control UK, but the rocket man personally, but he refused to reply.  Even after he’d been launched, they were still trying to get through to him as if they actually thought there were mobile phone masts in space. But all they got back was a engaged beeping sound that went on and on and on and on….   
The PR people for Planet Holdings started a grass roots campaign.  They raised public awareness of the value of moon dust by cosying up to the right journalists and a couple of useful blogsites. The idea caught on so fast that it never had time for a tipping point. It went up like wildfire. 
Suddenly everybody was blogging about bringing dust back from the moon.  Pride in the achievements of Space Control UK turned to discontent. All this messing around with rockets had been paid for out of the public purse. Pound for pound, that moon dust belonged to the Great British man and woman in the street.  Their rocket man, funded by their taxes, had a public duty to bring it back to them.
People started phoning Space Control UK.  God alone knows how they found the number. The story made it onto the radio, and then TV.  Chatlines filled up with indignant callers demanding moon dust as their human right. Some wanted it sold to raise money for the International Children’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight.  There were arguments about what would happen if the EU lay claim to it. Some people reckoned it should be adminstered by Lottery.  Some subtle voices whispered that the safest hands in this situation were the good folk at Planet Earth Holdings – a company nobody had heard of before, but whose shares[ on the subject of sky rocketing] were now aiming for the stars.  
Questions were asked in Parliament.  The country had crippled itself, announced the Labour front bench. In its attempts to prove that it was still an important nation, it had been brought by the present government to its knees - and were they now going to deny its citizens access to what, in effect, was their own moon dust?  A nationalized industry needed setting up, analyzing moon dust and making it available on a basis of need. No way, announced the Tory front bench.  Moon dust should be privatized. Already discussions with Planet Earth Holdings were under way.
At this, a mob took to the streets. The matter was discussed in Cabinet.  When the police joined forces with the mob, a COBRA meeting had to be held. Rumours abounded about moon dust’s properties. The Government’s Chief Scientist was called in. Air Force chiefs advised. The people from the Space Programme were called in.  The Church had something to say. So did Greenpeace and the Friends of the Earth. Was it ethical to remove dust by the rocket load from the moon?
Everybody had something to say, but no agreement could be found, as tis often the way.  The Cabinet was split.  The Prime Minister was prevaricating. The Deputy Prime Minister was no fool.  He appraised the situation like a hawk, and seized his chance.
Up on the moon, the blackness of infinity was so intense that the rocket man could not just hear it, but actually see it sing.  Dust lay like fallen stars beneath his feet.  The earth shone like a jewel. It was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen.