About My Writing

I began writing short fiction in September 2017, after I stopped practising employment law and my son began junior school. I have written short stories and creative non-fiction pieces (some of which may be accessed through these pages), but the form I keep returning to is flash fiction.

What is flash fiction? Flash fiction is a very short story, ranging from the apocryphal six-worder attributed to Hemingway - "For sale: baby shoes, never worn" - to more substantial works of about 1,000 words. Because of its brevity, the form typically leaves much of the larger story to the imagination, though the usual elements (particularly character and plot) are still present in some way. Whatever the definition, because flash is short, each and every word needs to earn its place.

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What is a novella-in-flash? A novella-in-flash is a collection of individual flashes which, as a whole, contribute to an overall story arc (though, in many cases, they fit together more loosely than would the chapters of a classic novella). Each flash or chapter should at least to some degree stand alone, although it is informed and enriched by the wider stories it keeps company with. A novella-in-flash might typically be 6,000 to 18,000 words, with chapters of no more than 1,000 words each.

For further discussion of the form, see Michael Loveday's article in SmokeLong Quarterly and Meg Pokrass's essay in talking writing, in which she likens writing a novella-in-flash to making a patchwork quilt.

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My novella-in-flash, Kipris, is available on Amazon as well as through the Ad Hoc Fiction bookshop. Alternatively, you can buy a signed copy from me direct for £9.99 incl P&P (UK only). Please message me via the Contact form.

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