READERSVOICE.COM: You’ve been published on flash fiction websites like Flashshot, Postcard Shorts and Fiction Flyer. What are some other favorite sites or hardcopy magazines you like for Flash and Micro fiction?

NANCY CAVANAUGH: I don’t often have time to read fiction so I really don’t have a favorite site or magazine for this type of writing. One of my favorite writers and publisher of micro fiction stories is 50-Word Stories by Tim Sevenhuysen (http://fiftywordstories.com). The stories are fascinating to write and read because they have to be exactly fifty words. I’ve been published on the site a few times, though not recently.

RV: Do you think flash fiction has had an influence on traditional longer short story writing?

NC: I don’t think it has. They’re such completely different beasts. Good flash fiction is devoid of details or information that isn’t constantly moving the story forward. You can toss in a few descriptive words here and there but when it comes time to get the word count, they are the first ones to be eliminated. With traditional short story writing, they’re still looking for deeper, richly detailed stories and pushing the limits on word counts.

RV: Will you be releasing any more books like My Flashy Words in the near future, and do you have other plans?

NC: I had taken a bit of an unplanned hiatus from writing micro and flash fiction. Between work, college and taking care of my daughter, much of my time is accounted for and I wasn’t having much inspiration for writing like that. The last few weeks, however, I’ve become inspired once again and the stories are flowing. I’ve been asking for writing prompts and am participating in a Flash Fiction Project that lasts a week, with photo prompts, which has helped. You can read two of the stories I wrote for the project on my web site — The Trouble with Birds and Know Thyself. If I’m able to come up with 50 or so new stories to put into a collection, I’ll probably release a new eBook but there isn’t a set plan to do that. At the moment, I’m more focused on finishing some of my longer pieces that I hope will be novella or novel length and editing. I have several projects that I’m working including some picture book stories for children, a potentially controversial story for young adults and a few mysteries that are graphic with grisly murders, rapes, and cannibalism.

-See nancyacavanaugh.com and myflashywords.com.

-copyright Simon Sandall.