(I wrote this for Sunday Scribblings and Weekend Writer’s Retreat – it features Nate and Laurel, from my novel-in-progress Heart’s Chalice. These stories take place before the main action of the novel and are not necessarily being written in chronological order.) Hiking to the waterfall, Nate spied something poking out of the dirt off the [...]

Tags: flash fiction, short stories, Sunday Scribblings, Weekend Writer's Retreat
Filed under: Appalachian fiction, Heart's Chalice, Southern fiction, Sunday Scribblings, Weekend Writer's Retreat, flash fiction, short stories

(I wrote this for Sunday Scribblings and Weekend Writer’s Retreat – it features Laurel and Nate, from my novel-in-progress Heart’s Chalice. These stories, though they take place before the main action of the novel, are not necessarily being written in chronological order.) Holding the pizza box high in the air, Nate opened the door to [...]

Tags: flash fiction, short stories, Sunday Scribblings, Weekend Writer's Retreat
Filed under: Appalachian fiction, Heart's Chalice, Southern fiction, Sunday Scribblings, Weekend Writer's Retreat, flash fiction, short stories

(This piece, a riff on my novel-in-progress Heart’s Chalice, was written for Sunday Scribblings – the prompt is “wonder.”) Playing on the piano the piece he used to love, she turns her face up to the room’s only light and closes her eyes. His face, as she recalls it, paints itself on her lids. Since [...]

Tags: flash fiction, short stories, Sunday Scribblings
Filed under: Appalachian fiction, Heart's Chalice, Southern fiction, Sunday Scribblings, flash fiction, short stories

(I wrote this for Three Word Wednesday – it features Laurel, from my novel-in-progress Heart’s Chalice. These flash fiction pieces, though most of them take place before the main action of the novel, are not necessarily being written in chronological order.) While Aunt Sophie worked, Laurel sat nearby on a stool. Her legs weren’t long [...]

Tags: flash fiction, magical realism, short stories, Three Word Wednesday
Filed under: Appalachian fiction, Heart's Chalice, Southern fiction, Three Word Wednesday, flash fiction, short stories

(I wrote this story for Three Word Wednesday — it features Raoul and Renata, characters from my novel-in-progress Heart’s Chalice.) “I’m never acting again. Not even if I live to be one hundred.” On his way up the mountain trail, Raoul kicked at a twig. It stuck in his boot laces. Cursing, he shook his [...]

Tags: flash fiction, magical realism, short stories, Three Word Wednesday
Filed under: Appalachian fiction, Heart's Chalice, Southern fiction, Three Word Wednesday, flash fiction, short stories

(I wrote this for Sunday Scribblings and Weekend Writer’s Retreat – it features Laurel and her mother Marie, from my novel-in-progress Heart’s Chalice. These flash fiction pieces, though they take place before the main action of the novel, are not necessarily being written in chronological order.) One more time, and she’d be satisfied. Well, almost. [...]

Tags: flash fiction, magical realism, short stories, Sunday Scribblings
Filed under: Appalachian fiction, Heart's Chalice, Southern fiction, Sunday Scribblings, flash fiction, short stories

(I wrote this story for Three Word Wednesday — it introduces Harry, a character from my novel-in-progress Heart’s Chalice.) At first, Harry had intended to decline Marie’s invitation to dinner to meet her daughter. He had recently joined her husband’s law office as junior partner, and Marie’s matchmaking effort stank like desperation. She went on [...]

Tags: flash fiction, short stories, Three Word Wednesday
Filed under: Appalachian fiction, Heart's Chalice, Southern fiction, Three Word Wednesday, flash fiction, short stories

(I wrote this for Sunday Scribblings and Weekend Writer’s Retreat – more of Laurel and Nate, from my novel-in-progress Heart’s Chalice. These flash fiction pieces, though they take place before the main action of the novel, are not necessarily being written in chronological order.) On her sixteenth birthday, Laurel had a hard time saying goodbye [...]

Tags: flash fiction, magical realism, short stories, Sunday Scribblings
Filed under: Appalachian fiction, Heart's Chalice, Southern fiction, Sunday Scribblings, flash fiction, short stories

(This story was written for Three Word Wednesday and features Hucklesby, a feline character from my novel-in-progress, Heart’s Chalice.) For the third straight morning, the cat locked gazes with the woman who lived in the house. A breeze buffeted him and carried with it the scent of tuna. He took a step forward, his hunger [...]

Tags: flash fiction, short stories, Three Word Wednesday
Filed under: Appalachian fiction, Heart's Chalice, Southern fiction, Three Word Wednesday, flash fiction, short stories

(This story was written for Sunday Scribblings and features Renata and Raoul, from my novel-in-progress, Heart’s Chalice.) “Hurry, Daddy!” Bouncing up and down as though she needed to pee, Renata hummed, over and over, the melody that played in her mind. It had started on the way home from Grandma’s. This fragment was ephemeral. Delicate. [...]

Tags: flash fiction, short stories, Sunday Scribblings
Filed under: Appalachian fiction, Heart's Chalice, Southern fiction, Sunday Scribblings, flash fiction, short stories