Hello friends! It's been a while since I last posted. Maybe I've been lazy, perhaps just a coward, but the events of the last months have left me wordless and uninspired --- also, adventure-less since we haven't traveled far from home. So I hid away in my fantasy world and wrote a book. It's not ready. I don't even have a title for it, but it's finished and off to the editor. I loved writing it. It's a heartwarming story about a little girl, Ana Cristina, who comes alone to the United States from Cuba through Operation Peter Pan. If you don't know what that is, you'll have to read the book. Twenty years later, the little girl, now Anne Murphy, finds her mother who has arrived through the Mariel boatlift. Don't know what that is? Two reasons to read my book. Need a third reason? Coming soon.
Here's my dare. I will summon all my courage and participate in Writers Digest's 2021 February Flash Fiction Challenge. Flash fiction is short-short stories, between five to 1,500 words, that can be read in a few minutes and leave the reader satisfied. Someone described it as a bonsai tree, as beautiful as its giant counterpart, the novel, but different.
Three days ago, I didn't know what flash fiction was, but starting Monday, I will be writing one short-short story a day for twenty-eight days. I will publish as many as I'm bold enough to release. My goal is twenty-eight. Right now, without ever having written a single flash story, I'm feeling pretty brave by putting it out there, declaring I will do it. What's life if not a challenge? Ready or not, I will write starting February 1.
Your challenge, let me know what you think. Thumbs up or down, it will help me grow as a writer and a human being before it's too late.
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