Flash Fiction & Short Stories

Writing flash fiction while also writing long fiction--novels and novellas--is one of the best tools I could have gifted myself. What is flash fiction? A story, a whole story, in fewer than 1000 words (often, 500 words). It's a study in brevity, yes, but it's also a way to expand. It sounds contradictory, but as a writer, there's a satisfaction in having completed a story or a thought, and flash fiction makes that possible. It's a portal that allows me to explore a wide range of genres and topics, strange, dark, weird, funny, lovely, "purple", and everything that falls in between. It has allowed me to express thoughts and ideas I might never have otherwise explored. Here are a few that have appeared either online or in print.