Today I received my copy of the first anthology from Reflex Fiction, titled “Barely Casting a Shadow”; my short piece “The Shore Road” made their summer 2017 flash fiction long list.  It’s great to see your words in print! If you get the chance, do check out the stories published at Reflex Fiction, there’s some really powerful writing.

I have a couple of additional flash fiction pieces out at the moment and I’m busy reworking the Lovecraftian short story mentioned in my last post; lots of work on short fiction, in other words. Unsurprising; I love reading and writing short fiction, but I made a commitment to not one, but two novels and they’re languishing on my laptop right now, rightfully feeling overlooked, neglected, and starved of my attention.

I know I have to sit down, renew my commitment to the research, the plotting, and the slog of getting lots of words on paper. Short fiction is fun, snappy, and the process of translating ideas onto the page has a quick turnaround. And that’s the lure. I’m guilty of Spongebobbing; finding endless fun things to procrastinate with, rather than get on with the job in hand (Spongebob’s job was to write an essay).  How do you balance your writing priorities; do you focus on one length of writing completely, or avoid all short fiction until your novel’s first draft is complete?