International Short Story Day

Did you know it's International Short Story Day today? It's a day for authors worldwide to extoll the virtues of short story telling and share their short stories, and I'm so grateful to Irish author, Carol Oates for bringing it to my attention. 

I'm quite fond of short stories. For one, they're short.  And in these busy, busy times it's nice to get the satisfaction of bringing a story full circle in a matter of days/weeks rather than months/years. But more than that, I enjoy the challenge of scraping away an excess of words to tell a complete story and convey rich, interesting characters.  Short stories are crisp and clean and leave more room for the reader's imagination. I've also noticed that my short story characters tend to be much quirkier than those in my novels...I'm not sure exactly why that is; care to put forth a theory?

In honor of International Short Story day, I share with you links to two of my favorite shorts. If you like, you can bookmark for later when you get time to read---but just a bit of time, cuz they're short!

This is the one that gave me the confidence to share my writing with friends and family who had no idea I was even writing: 
(online at Goodreads. 2000 words.)

This is my latest: 
Sway 
(free download in pdf, ePub & MOBI or 99 cents on Kindle. 6500 words.)
 You can read an excerpt in my Author Spotlight at Book Club Sisters:

If you have a short story you'd like to share on International Short Story Day, feel free to add your link to the list below, and be sure to check out Omnific Publishing's collection of short stories available for FREE. 

Comments

Tony Van Helsing said…
I went to my local butchers today to buy a pork pie but it was three in the afternoon and he had sold out. I was upset.
Is this short enough?
6/20/2012 9:24 AM
DL Hammons said…
All of my shorts are out on submissions to various publishers, so I don't have anything to contribute. But I will be checking yours out! :)
6/20/2012 11:01 AM
Susan Oloier said…
I find it so hard to write a short story, so I truly appreciate the art and craft of those who write them and write them well. I'll have to check yours out, Nicki.
6/20/2012 11:07 AM
CarolOates said…
I've already said this, Sway is one of my favorite shorts of recent times. Even when I read the title I hear music floating across an evening breeze.

Can't help you with the quirky characters I'm afraid. :)
6/20/2012 11:20 AM
Alex J. Cavanaugh said…
Totally missed this day. Of course, I'm busy with my next book so doubt I could've come up with a short story.
6/20/2012 11:26 AM
Lynn Proctor said…
love a good short story!
6/20/2012 12:47 PM
Suze said…
'I'm quite fond of short stories. For one, they're short.'

You are too cute.
6/20/2012 1:27 PM
Annalisa Crawford said…
I completely missed this Day. And I'm a short story writer! Fail :-)
6/20/2012 3:37 PM
Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said…
My favorite short story is "For a breath, I tarry" by Roger Zelazny.
6/20/2012 5:34 PM
Heather Murphy said…
Fun party! I had no idea
And "Yay for Sway" :)
6/20/2012 7:51 PM
Jennifer Lane said…
Sway was indeed quirky and delicious! I'm guessing your "short" characters (pun intended) are quirkier because you want to pack a punch with them since there's less time for characterization?
6/20/2012 9:41 PM
Patricia said…
I think I agree with the shorter the story, the quirkier the character. I'm totally bookmarking your stories so I can read them, I love quirk :)
6/20/2012 10:47 PM
Andrew Leon said…
Thanks for stopping by and supporting me in the Star Wars thing a second time!
6/24/2012 2:30 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In which I get rated R...eh, maybe NC 17...

Image
Before I start talking dirty, guess what happened---I hit 200 followers!   My 200th follower is Tony VanHelsing (who I'm going to assume is a descendent of you-know-who, and if anyone knows differently do not tell me).  To celebrate this milestone, how about I put Three Daves on sale for only 99 cents in Nook , eBook, ePub , and even Kindle until September 30th. ;) For today's feature post, visit Irish beauty Carol Oates .  This talented author and I discuss Adult versus Young Adult and where the line gets crossed.
Read more

Lexa & Julie's Dream Destinations Blog Hop & #Giveaway

Image
We're celebrating the release of Julie Flanders' The Ghosts of Aquinnah   and Lexa Cain's  Soul Cutter   with a Dreams Destinations blog hop. Aaand Lexa & Julie are hosting a great GIVEAWAY.  Visit either Lexa's blog or Julie's blog to enter and also to find the Linky list so you can travel to more dream destinations. It was unbelievably difficult for me to settle on just one place. I decided to make it somewhere I'd never been before...and then I decided to stop over thinking and just pick a place already...and I landed at Piazza San Marco in Venezia, or as we call it for some reason, Venice. (Does anyone know why we don't all call it Venezia?) I would stroll the square, sidestepping pigeons and saying buongiorno to people whose eyes met mine, not worrying about my sorry accent. I would have tickets for that evening's opera in my pocket and a caffe-flavored gelato in my hand. I'd be wearing a darling scarf I'd just purchased, arr...
Read more

Top 10 Movie Countdown Blogfest

Image
Yay, today's the day for another of Alex. J. Cavannaugh's famous blogfests. I'd like to thank him not only for hosting, but for keeping it simple & fun---coming up with this list and looking at posters of my most favorite movies turned out to be quite a cathartic exercise. I hope you found it to be the same (assuming you were in need of catharting). Thanks, Big Al. These are in the order of my affection for them: 1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl 2. Raiders of the Lost Ark 3. Star Wars: A New Hope 4. When Harry Met Sally 5. Return of the Jedi 6. The Empire Strikes Back 7. Toy Story 8. Mystic Pizza 9. Goodfellas 10. Jaws  I'm allowing myself two more because I think it was really good of me to count the original Star Wars Trilogy as three separate entries: 11. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring 12. Pirates of the Caribbean: D...
Read more