August 2024
Ten stories picked by T.L. Tomljanovic
T.L. Tomljanovic dabbles in drabbles, micro, and flash fiction writing from the greater Vancouver area in Canada. Her 1989 picture book “Tatiana and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” (a clear plagiarism of Judith Viorst) received a third-place ribbon at the Spruce Grove Elementary School Book Fair, which was enough encouragement to keep her going. Her work has appeared in Raw Lit, the Woolf, Full House Literary, Carousel, Blank Spaces, Literally Stories, Short Edition, Bear Paw Arts Literary Journal, Alien Buddha Press, Off Topic Publishing, and others. She was nominated for Best Microfiction 2024.
Tweets @TLTomljanovic
If you aren’t familiar with her work, here’s one of her pieces to start things off:
Milk Drunk (T.L. Tomljanovic | Raw Lit)
Why I like it (MK): this piece tackles a difficult topic in such a powerful way, bringing the emotions to the page with so much nuance and clarity. The way the narrative shifts from beginning to end creates a brilliant sense of build, and the final sentence is perfectly heart-breaking.
Three Blind Mice (Anne Wilkins | Sci-Fi Shorts)
Why I like it (TLT): Told from a child’s point of view, this dystopian tale is a tight-wire act that nails an innocent voice while conveying complex adult themes. The staccato rhythm and repetition of a nursery rhyme used as a story structure device makes the horror even more chilling.
PROMPT: Pick a nursery rhyme, fairy tale, or fable and change elements of it to tell a sci-fi or modern-day story.
Unsay Anything (Chad Frame | Not Quite Write)
Why I like it: This story won the Not Quite Write prize with a creative interpretation of the prompt: “always use said.” The result is lyrical and heart-breaking dialogue arranged in reverse chronology peppered with unsaids and untolds to untell a story of domestic violence.
PROMPT: Write a story in reverse. Begin at the end and end at the beginning.
The Weight of My Own Voice (Finnian Burnett | Off Topic Publishing)
Why I like it: Ever read something that just sticks with you? This is that story for me. A sharply written CNF about body image and casual comments that cut deep and leave scars that can take a lifetime to heal.
Nana Won’t Rise Up from the Dead (Margo Griffin | Literally Stories)
Why I like it: Smell more than any other sense can take me back to a time and place that I haven’t thought about in years. This flash explores a big event and the deep feelings that accompany it through small moments of scent, sight, and touch.
Better Overlate Than Never (Andrew Shaughnessy | Blank Spaces)
Why I like it: I can picture this story like a movie reel in my mind because its characters Muriel and Walter are clearly drawn, true-to-life, warm, and funny. Rather than characters serving the plot, the plot follows characters who behave in believable ways and say and do things that make sense. A simple, yet extremely difficult thing to achieve in storytelling.
The Unbearable Heaviness of My Weighted Blanket (Nina Miller | The Belladonna)
Why I like it: Humour, in my humble opinion, is the hardest genre to write. If good literature is subjective, funny literature is even more so, but I dare you not to laugh out loud reading about a weighted blanket named Chad.
PROMPT: Anthropomorphize an inanimate everyday object in your home or office. Give your object a name, personality, and have them interact with a human being.
Relaxing on the Holodeck (Lindsay McDonald | Have Has Had)
Why I like it: It’s about Star Trek: The Next Generation and I’m a die-hard TNG fan. That alone would win me over, but this story goes further and makes granular pop culture references universal. Who among us hasn’t daydreamed at our desks of a better life “light years away from everything”?
Drag Barbie (Karen Schauber | The Woolf)
Why I like it: The title alone made me want to read this drabble. Who hasn’t had a drag Barbie or at least doesn’t know exactly what one looks like? Surprising turns of phrase and description of the toy take a left turn half-way through, and by the end it’s clear this story is about more than just a doll.
The Heart is an Open Wound (Mario Aliberto III | Raw Lit)
Why I like it: A raw story that avoids easy answers about trauma and loss. Set in a dog sanctuary, the main character draws parallels between a retired sled dog that bites and the woman with whom he lost a child in miscarriage. The ending is sharp and honest.
You Are What You Eat (Barbara Diggs | Fractured Lit)
Why I like it: A triptych sensory feast of taste, touch, and smell. Each description of food as a metaphor for family, love, and rage is exquisitely drawn out before the gut-punch of the final line.
What did you think of these choices? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments - have you found a new favourite piece? Did you try out one of the prompts?
Next month’s selection will be chosen by Kathy Hoyle and will be appearing (fingers crossed) on the 24th September.
4th-17th November
How do we craft writing so infused with musicality that it deserves to be read out loud? How do we get a reader to speed up or slow down? How do we sustain rhythm and flow from one sentence to the next? This flash fiction course explores various tricks and techniques which can be used to lend a lyrical quality to our prose.
Price: pay-what-you-can (£95 recommended)
"Matt's courses are always hugely positive experiences for me. The course structure, the supportive communities that form and Matt's invaluable feedback allow me to experiment with freedom and dramatically improve my writing in the process."
Tom Spooner
“Matt’s Lightbulb courses are beyond brilliant (I’ve done all four). The craft notes, example stories, discussion prompts and writing exercises are different, full of insight, and meticulously presented. And you get to keep them for ever! And the courses are ridiculously good value."
Chris Cottom
Other opportunities to work with Matt
Editing
NOVEL / NOVELLA EDITING: First steps review, structural review, line edit, proof edit, submission review
EDITING FOR COLLECTIONS: structural overview report, line edit, proof edit
SHORT FICTION EDITING: Structural review, line edit, detailed edit, proof edit
My favourite -
The Unbearable Heaviness of My Weighted Blanket (Nina Miller | The Belladonna)
Thank you for sharing this - it DID make me laugh out loud and we all need that :)