Stolen Moments

Flash Fiction Stories and Poems

This book is a collection of short stories and poems I wrote under tight deadlines. I’m not talking deadlines of days or weeks: I wrote most of them in a matter of minutes.

Each piece was an exercise in flash fiction, a creative technique that never fails to produce surprising results. Flash fiction stories are especially startling for those of us who don’t expect gargoyles and dragons to come roaring out of our subconscious minds.

In my everyday life, I’m the kindly owner of an antique shop. Granted, it’s a haunted antique shop, but otherwise, I’m an ordinary, law-abiding citizen. I don’t drink, smoke, or gamble to excess. I don’t even drive over the speed limit.

But when I write, a whole cast and crew of monsters, imps, and aliens come out to play—along with a few goblins, ghosts, and other creatures that go bump in the night.

Those characters don’t always play nice. Some of them swear, and some of them say things that aren’t politically correct. I just try to stay out of their way: when I’m writing flash fiction, I don’t have time to censor anyone who decides to make an appearance.

The process of creating flash fiction is fairly simple: find a starting point, set a timer, and put words on a page.

I wrote most of the stories and poems in this book in the company of fellow writers, with pictures and prompts to keep us focused and moving forward. Typically, we used tarot cards to create characters, scenes, and settings, and my Flash Fiction book for impromptu story starters. Then we set our timers and wrote for fifteen or twenty minutes at a stretch. When the words flowed well, we reset the timers and kept going, which is why some of the stories in this book are longer than the others.

I also wrote some of the pieces during a visit to The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Salvador Dalí’s art is surreal, and so are the stories his paintings inspired.

I’ve included the prompts and inspiration for each piece in italics, following the title. You’ll notice that I didn’t always follow the prompts to the letter: that’s the beauty of flash fiction. Images and ideas are starting points, not destinations.

If you’re interested in writing flash fiction of your own, I’ve included some tips and hints at the conclusion of this book.

I hope you enjoy this collection, and I hope it inspires you to unleash some of your own more playful demons.

— Corrine Kenner

Buy the Book

Order a copy from your favorite bookseller, or find it at Amazon.com. It’s available as a paperback or a Kindle eBook.

Book Details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09YQ3K795
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Creative Guidance Publishing
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 162 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8811545421
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.37 x 9 inches