Patricia Flaherty Pagan edited Up, Do, an anthology of thirty-three flash stories by award-winning and emerging writers. The four categories are “Our Hearts”, “Our Bodies”, “Our possible Futures”, and “Our Dreams; Our nightmares.” In the Introduction, Pagan writes:
“I subscribe to the theory that flash fiction is like a geode of a larger narrative. Slicing through the characters and the highest arc of the plot, the flash writer reveals the crystals shining within. Every movement of the blade, every word typed on the page, is crucial.”
Short stories have become popular again with readers. For writers, flash fiction in its required minimal word count is challenging . Pagan captures the essence of the form in her description. When well-written, flash fiction sparkles like gems in the mind.
I opened Up, Do at random and read, “Time Machine” by Melissa Webster. In its brevity, it evoked as strong a response as I had with the three hour movie in theaters now, Interstellar.
Flaherty Pagan earned her MFAW from Goddard College and founded the mission-oriented indie publisher Spider Road Press. Up, Do is available on Amazon and Kindle.
