Authors Only List

Hey, it’s Shannon.

The world is on fire—in more ways than one.

But here at Flash Fiction Magazine, we try to give you a break from all the noise. Today, we begin featuring the stories we nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Laura Besley, an editor at the magazine, had the impossible task of selecting six stories for nomination.

I asked Laura to share her thoughts on why each story was chosen and what makes it stand out among the thousands of submissions we received last year and the 365 stories we published.

We also have a selection of stories written by members of the Authors Only Collective that were recently published.

So, you have some reading to do!

And…

We will experiment with writing prompts and exercises with Finnian Burnett during the next Ask Me Anything. If it’s been a while since you attended, drop in and join the fun.

Okay, enjoy this story-packed email!

Featured Pushcart Nominees

These stories were selected by Laura Besley and the Flash Fiction Magazine editors. Laura wrote the story breakdowns.

You can follow Laura on X or Bluesky.

​“Bloom” by Rosie Gailor​

In “Bloom,” Rosie Gailor has taken a somewhat common theme (loss/grief, in this instance because the couple cannot conceive a child) and thrown a completely unique spin on it. There is a reason why certain themes—loss, grief, love, death, coming of age, etc.—crop up time and time again: because they’re central to our lives. But as writers, we need to find a way to tell an ‘old’ story in a ‘new’ way. Gailor has done this through speculative fiction. To fill her void, the main character eats the contents of various packets of plant seeds.

Gailor portrays her character with such confidence that, as a reader, all you can do is be swept along in the story until you reach its beautiful conclusion.

​“Cheerio So” by Gary Finnegan​

“Cheerio So,” by Gary Finnegan, is a wonderful example of how to open a story with dialogue.

The opening line gives us the main character—Mr. McKittrick—and, as we soon learn, the secondary character—also Mr. McKittrick, the main character’s father—as well as the setting (a hospital). There are strong indications early on—‘smile without warmth’ & ‘arms folded across a clipboard of bad news’—that all is not well. The gentle touch of dark humour throughout allows the reader a little room to breathe while taking in the severity of the character’s situation. As father and son reminisce, the humour remains firmly in place, such as in the example of the dance competition, but the bond they share becomes apparent too. Just when it seems neither will confront the ‘Big C’ face on, the dad says, ‘I died the day of the diagnosis,’ and his heartbreak is palpable. The ending is a delicate balance of openness and definite inevitability.

Stay tuned for more Pushcart Nominees next week!

— Shannon 🖖🏻

PS This email is brought to you by my Hot Dog Buns dictation hat.

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