Soliciting micro fiction votes.

[mdcesq]

As some of you know from my postings on other websites and the twitter, I've had a few short stories published in the last few months.

I have a new, very short micro fiction story up called "Dirty Bird."  It's on the long-list for a UK-based, international flash/micro fiction competition. Totally stoked about it.

In any event, I'm looking for votes from you all at P-Soul, if you like it. If you don't, don't vote for it. Vote for another piece or please just go fishing!

I had to use the word "festival" and stay at or under 150 words, which is really short but still longer than most sasquatch fishing reports. You may have to tap the e-book and scroll through to the right to get to "Dirty Bird" - I think it's the 16th story in:

http://adhocfiction.com/read/#FlashEbook

Thank you in advance to anyone who chooses to vote. However it turns out, I'm thrilled to be on the long list and make a few people cringe.



Now, I need to get up to speed and start posting my trout reports here again. With the favorable weather I've got some good ones coming, I think. 

[xjchad]

Read it. Liked it.  Voted for it. 
Love your short storied, please post more!
Looking forward to the trout reports too!

[mdcesq]

Thank you xjchad for the kind words, and the vote.

I have another flash fiction story that will be published around mid-July. Will post it up when it goes live.

Hoping to get more trout this weekend or 7/4 on the salmon fly!

[Latimeria]

Pretty funny too!  I got my vote in!

[mdcesq]

Thank you, Tom, for the vote.

I didn't realize it at first, but it does have a humor element to it.

Hope you don't mind me posting stuff like this up here. It is the "General" board, after all.

Gonna hit Lake Yellowstone for some lake trout in July. Hoping to get one of those bastids and have it cooked up at the Lodge (perhaps whole-trout method - eyeballs and all)!

[mdcesq]

Thanks, guys, for the votes. Unfortunately, I did not win. It was winner takes all, so I could have had the second most, or the least.

We'll never know. Nonetheless, it was a fun competition, and I'm happy to have the story up.

In other good news, I have another story published today:

https://occulum.wordpress.com/2017/07/13/guillotine-grabber-by-michael-carter/

This guy reminded my wife of Yellow Bastard in Sin City, but there's lots of room for other interpretation!

[mdcesq]

Got some new stories up. My first fishing-related tale - creative nonfiction about something that happened to me out by Hyalite Creek:

http://www.dnamag.co.uk/issues/issue-two/


Also, a 6th place finish in a dark fiction competition. This story will be published in an anthology in a few months and sold on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I'm not pushing a sale to PS folks - after all, it's free on the internet:

https://themolotovc*cktail.com/


Hope you guys enjoy!

[xjchad]

Great reading!
I needed something like that today and always enjoy your stories Mike!
Thank you!

[mdcesq]

Great reading!
I needed something like that today and always enjoy your stories Mike!
Thank you!

Thank you for reading, Chad, and the comments. My stuff is usually escapism of some sort with a dark twist. Nice to get away with some flash reading every now and then.

I see the overly-prophylactic sensor on Tom's site blocked the link for The Molotov c*cktail.  I have the unbroken link for "The Deceased of 120 Primorsky Street" on my website: www.michaelcarter.ink/my-work.html

[mdcesq]

   
I have another piece of dark micro fiction, "Grave Undigger," up in a weekly competition. Vote if you like, don't if you don't like, or don't read if you don't have time:

http://adhocfiction.com/read/#FlashEbook

It appears as the 54th of 88 fictions, so if you scroll until the e-book says "34 more," and you should see it.

Also, if you're really bored, check out my interview with a small but rapidly growing flash fiction journal, ZEROFLASH:

https://zeroflash.org/2017/09/29/getting-into-writing-an-interview-with-michael-carter/

Thank you to the P-Soul folks for the support in my new endeavors. It's amazing what can be done when not spending three hours a day in traffic in the OC, or five hours on a daily train commute to San Diego!

[xjchad]

Mike,
Read and voted.
Loved that one too!
Found myself hoping it would continue as I scrolled.  I don't have much time for reading these days so your short stories help fill that void.
Great interview also!
I'm very interested in the snowball fight story.
I bookmarked your website, fun looking at your reading list.  I'm also a fan of Patrick F. McManus 

[mdcesq]

Chad, thank you for reading and the vote!

My stories for this weekly competition always start off longer, but I have to trim them down to the 150-word limit. I too wish they could continue, but I gotta follow the rules (also had to use the word "earth" with this one).

There was a period of time, maybe around 2000, when short fiction was declared all but dead, and novels were king. Novels are still king, but short fiction has made a huge resurgence for a lot of reasons, including for exactly the reason you stated: people simply don't have much time to read these days and short fiction is quickly digestible in the little time they have.

I'll probably revisit the snowball fight story one day. My wife says it could be a good fit for a young adult/children's journal.

Stoked that you also read the interview. After Dune, I read a ton of Patrick F. McManus stuff as a kid. He's an amazingly talented and sometimes overlooked writer/storyteller.  He's from Idaho but I believe he lives or lived in my hometown, Spokane. Small world.

Thank you again for the feedback.

Mike,
Read and voted.
Loved that one too!
Found myself hoping it would continue as I scrolled.  I don't have much time for reading these days so your short stories help fill that void.
Great interview also!
I'm very interested in the snowball fight story.
I bookmarked your website, fun looking at your reading list.  I'm also a fan of Patrick F. McManus