Please note: you do not have to be a writer to enter this contest Emily and I are hoping for entries from anyone who is interested in winning a free copy of our new releases, whether you’ve written anthologies, novels, flash fiction, or only your name. The theme will be fantasy, since the newly released books we are celebrating are both fantasy stories. The prompts will be posted on June 28th, and then you’ll have two full days to create a story of 100 words or fewer to enter. The contest submission dates run from June 28 – June 30. In honor of the upcoming releases of new installments in two of our fantasy series, Emily June Street and I are co-hosting a ONE-TIME FLASH FICTION CONTEST on the Luminous Creatures Press Blog. Mark was born and raised in London, works in Cambridge, and lives in Norfolk, England.Īlert to all Flashdogs, FlashMonkeys, FlashDragons, and anyone else who just likes Flashy things! His flash fiction stories have been published in a number of anthologies and magazines. Mark is one of the founders of FlashDogs, a global community of talented flash fiction writers. Maria is tracked, hunted and pursued-she can rescue the city, but first she must save herself. Maria, a vulnerable twelve-year-old from Kerala, India, has travelled half the world in search of her past and hopes for the future. In the seething streets, the hissing underground stations and lost subterranean rivers, the metropolitan dreams of ethical hackers, desperate criminals and traumatized Tube-drivers unfold. It is a world where the desperate are lured, the weak are exploited, and good men wrap themselves in the blanket of criminal rewards. In the darkness, London festers, drools, tempts and corrupts. The sunlit city weaves together the lives of repentant crime-lords, altruistic nightclub bouncers and resolute detectives. In the daylight, London sparkles, beckoning tourists, optimists and dreamers from across the globe.

There were many fine writers there, too, who not only inspired with their writing, but also their spirit and encouragement, for example Tamara Shoemaker.

I’m so very thankful to Rebekah Postupak who dedicated so much of her time and energy to the community. It is fair to say that these competitions were like fuel that fired the engine of story creation.

Many of the ideas were formed or experimented with in flash fiction competitions, and a significant number of ideas can have their history traced back to Flash! Friday (which my fellow judge and kind host today knows only too well) or The Angry Hourglass. There are so many things hidden in places and within people. I wanted to set the tale in London, not just because it was where I was raised, but also because there have been so many fantastic SF/Fantasy stories based in the city that I felt like I owed it to myself to start there. I’ve always had a fascination with major cities–how they can be tourist friendly during the day and turn into completely different places at night.

Ashes, Ashes by Tamara Shoemaker