You know what we haven’t talked about much lately?

Fiction!

Well, Good News. The Rose Red Review has great fiction and

The Spring Edition of Rose Red Review, an online journal, is now up and live.

You should read it!  You may recognize one flash fiction author in the lineup.

nudge nudge, wink wink.

Yup, the very short piece Pillar of Strength is included among the interesting fiction and poetry.

I recently attended the Pikes Peak Writers Conference and while the road to get there was long and treacherous, the trip is always worthwhile. They host an on-site Flash Fiction contest each year. Last year I won – Thank God. You see, writing conferences are this incredibly bizarre emotional roller coaster that includes camaraderie, inspiration, and learning of craft in sharp contrast to a strong sense of ineptitude, and crushing critiques and revelations about your work.  It’s true.

ANYWay, this year I did not win. So instead, I’ll share it now with you.

Notes: The prompt was “The truth is rarely pure and never simple” and the story must be told in 150 words or less. Also this story is better if you have read HG Wells Time Machine.

The Time Machine

I last saw the Time Traveler just before his machine of steel and bolts evaporated. So you can imagine my surprise when that very machine appeared on my doorstep with this note:

“I’m in the future where mankind and technology are inseparably integrated. The men (and women!) continue to invent and define the human experience.

Upon my arrival, I embraced and inhaled enlightenment. I showed my machine with pride. Soon, with my new knowledge, I realized that this machine cannot, in fact, travel through time. The truth of the science shows its impossibility.

Although I remember building it and have memories of my youth in London, the truth of the present overpowers past truths.

Though I know it is in vain to send the ship, I must try, because truth is rarely pure and never simple.

Go, my friend, and live in peace with what you do not know.”

…

That said, the winners were all awesome and will be posted on the PPW Blogsite – so check it out.