This month’s Mondettes picks are from the brilliant Gaynor Jones. Gaynor is the recipient of a 2020 Northern Writer’s Award from New Writing North and a DYCP grant from Arts Council England. She has won first prize in several writing competitions, including Bath Flash Fiction and the Mairtín Crawford Short Story Award, and has placed or been listed in others including the Bridport Prize, Reflex flash fiction and the Anton Chekov Award for Very Short Fiction. Three of her stories have been selected for the Best British and Irish Flash Fiction and her novella-in-flash Among These Animals was published by Ellipsis Zine in March 2021 and shortlisted for best novella at the Saboteur Awards. She has had numerous flash fictions published in print and online, including in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual, The Forge Literary Magazine, Barrelhouse and National Flash Fiction Day anthologies. She is represented by Laura Williams at Greene & Heaton
Website: www.jonzeywriter.com
Socials: @Jonzeywriter
**After a break to complete her Arts Council DYCP project, Gaynor is soon going to be returning to running workshops and doing all the other brilliant things that she does. You can check in on her upcoming workshops here:
http://jonzeywriter.com/workshops
If you aren’t familiar with Gaynor’s work, here’s one of her pieces to start things off:
Cleft (Gaynor Jones | Bath Flash Fiction)
Why I like it: the powerful emotional connection between narrator and reader; the use of different tones and textures; the honest, hopeful endpoint despite the darkness that precedes it.
No Matter Which Way We Turned (Brian Evenson | Tyrant Books)
Why I like it: I love everything from the initial idea, to the strange imagery, to the hint of explanation, to the final opposite image of the girl. The specific names and actions of those around the girl ground the surreal story.
If Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go Was About Leonardo DiCaprio’s Girlfriends (Amanda Lehr | McSweeney’s Internet Tendency)
Why I like it: I’m a sucker for pop culture references. The jokey title belies the dark undertones throughout the piece where humour and discomfort both take centre stage.
Rules (Meghan Phillips | Matchbook Lit Mag)
Why I like it: An intriguing opening line leads into one of my favourite flash tropes – troubled adolescent girls. Deceptively simple language throughout the piece echoes that of a teen, but the refrains are haunting (no pun intended), especially in the final line.
What Happens On The One Year Anniversary Of When You Went To Wake Your Sleeping Infant Only To Find He’s No Longer Breathing And The Doctors Tell You That It’s Rare But These Things Happen (Eric Scot Tryon | Pidgeonholes)
Why I like it: Quite simply, a story I wish I’d written. An utterly heart-breaking flash fiction that deals with grief in an extremely disturbing yet somehow very understandable way. I’ve honestly never read anything quite like it.
Helicopter Parent (MFC Feeley | Smokelong Quarterly)
Why I like it: The tension in the opening paragraph is immediately gripping and the imagery is so striking. Later in the story, the layout shift reflects the narrator’s hesitancy and it’s like we are there with her, complicit in her actions.
Madlib (Kim Magowan | Okay Donkey)
Why I like it: Truly, this is a horrifying story, but it’s horrifying because of the assumed knowledge the reader brings to it. A perfect example of form matching function and a brutal experimental flash.
Porcellanidae (Mandira Pattnaik | Reckon Review)
Why I like it: I was so taken in by this flash the first time I read it, it’s almost like poetry. Every word choice is striking and the cumulative effect is original and beautiful.
Touch Tank (Jan Stitchcomb | Lost Balloon)
Why I like it: A character-driven flash with a strong sense of place, evocative even in its depictions of dereliction. It’s also a hopeful flash, in the strange but comforting connection between the pregnant woman and the mermaid.
PROMPT: Write a flash fiction centred around a character returning to a place from their childhood. What has changed? What hasn’t? How do the changes in the place mirror or deviate from the changes in your character’s life?
This Could Be A Story About Swimming (Rosie Garland | Flash 500)
Why I like it: This flash starts so sunny and simple, and then turns into something eerie and unexplained. I have re-read it a dozen times and I still get a kick out of the strange shift and the open ending.
Chew (Venita Blackburn | Smokelong Quarterly)
Why I like it: Voice, pace, layers, this flash fiction has it all. A killer opening line, a central idea that’s sustained throughout, a meandering yet focused journey through a life. It’s just stunning.
I hoped you enjoyed Gaynor’s recommendations this month. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. I’d also love to hear about any other brilliant ‘mondettes’ you’ve discovered over the past few weeks.
Next month’s selection will be manifesting itself on the 24th October and will be ten picks by the always wonderful Anita Goveas.
What’s going on in my world
Short-Fiction Editing
Want an expert eye on a short story or flash fiction you are currently working on? Are you struggling to get to the heart of the story? Does the writing need a final polish at sentence level? I offer a variety of editorial services for short fiction from looking at the overall structure to approaching your writing with a magnifying glass.
https://www.mattkendrick.co.uk/short-fiction-editing
Editing for Novels, Novellas and Novellas-in-Flash
Working on a longer project? I know from writing my own novel how invaluable it can be to get input on your work-in-progress to help you move it along to the next level. I offer a variety of editorial services including:
First Steps Review: feedback on your outline plot and first 10,000 words (for writers who are just getting going with their first draft)
Structural Review: feedback on the narrative, structure, characters and emotional journey (for writers who have completed their first draft)
Submission Review: feedback on your cover letter, synopsis and first 10,000 words (for writers who are preparing to submit to agents)
https://www.mattkendrick.co.uk/novel-editing
Mentoring
Just starting out on your writing journey? Or perhaps you're a bit further along that journey and want help honing your craft at a word / sentence level? Or are you embarking on a new project and want some support as you take those first steps? In a one-to-one mentorship, I'll design a bespoke package that works for you, identifying short-term and long-term goals, putting in place a programme that helps you achieve them through a mix of monthly catch-up chats, feedback on your work and email support.