Kathy Hoyle is a working-class writer from the Northeast. Her stories are published in literary magazines such as The Forge, Lunate, Emerge literary journal, South Florida Poetry Journal, Northern Gravy and Fictive Dream. She has won The Bath Flash Fiction Award, the Retreat West Flash Fiction Award and the Hammond House Publishing CNF Award. Other stories have placed in competitions such as The Edinburgh Flash Fiction Award, the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize and The Cambridge Flash Fiction Prize. She has been longlisted for The Wigleaf Top 50 and her work has been nominated for Best Small Fictions, Best Microfictions and The Pushcart Prize. She is currently studying for a PhD in Creative writing at The University of Leicester. When she’s not writing, she spends her time singing Dolly Parton songs to her long-suffering labradoodle, Eddie.
Website: https://kathyhoyle.com/
Twiiter: @Kathyhoyle1
If you aren’t familiar with her work, here’s one of her pieces to start things off:
Sea Fret (Kathy Hoyle | Edinburgh Award for Flash Fiction)
Why I like it (MK): the chilling emotional undertow of the story which creeps up on a reader as they travel from beginning to end; the beautiful nature of the writing - the use of rhythm and sound which brilliantly underpin the setting; the balance created within the chosen four paragraph structure. Such a masterclass in lyrical flash!
Mousemouth (Addison Zeller | Trampset)
Why I like it (KH): This is such a beautiful piece. It’s long for a flash, (almost 1000 words) and it lacks the urgency of other flash stories but I think that’s what makes it so gorgeous. The restraint. It’s like reading a beautiful novel with layer after layer unearthed on each reading. The imagery is just gorgeous and the movement of the cat is exquisite, I can almost feel the scuff of its arched back on my hand. The end line is so melancholy; each time I read it, I just sit in that moment for a while, absorbing the gentle sadness.
A Mother could Go Mad (Epiphany Ferrell | Tilted House)
Why I like it: So many stories are written about grief and it’s such a difficult subject to tackle in a way that’s bearable for the reader. This story absolutely dazzles with originality and epitomises the idea of coming at a traumatic theme aslant. The image of the tiny coffin is so startling and the mother’s grief is portrayed beautifully – such tenderness – I adored the leaving of a fresh glass of water each night for her boy. And then the end line which is devastating, as surely the loss of a child must be, tying in perfectly with the title which you return to after reading the piece and realise just how heart-breaking it is. Such skilled writing.
Mutuals (Pat Foran | No Contact)
Why I like it: Anyone who knows me knows I am the ultimate Dolly Parton fan so, needless to say, this piece was an absolute must for me. I love the repetitions in this piece, they give the story it’s wonderfully strange and dreamlike quality, mirroring the idea of sleepwalking and disassociation. It’s a story of hope , that even in our darkest moments someone might just listen, might just get it and be able to help. I’m so pleased that in this story, it was Dolly Parton!
Nice Little Girls (Jo Gatford | Cease Cows)
Why I like it: It’s just so visceral! There is beauty in the darkness, all that wonderful sensory detail, the things that both draw us in and yet make us recoil at the same time. The images are brutal and dynamic but also there is a sense of understanding, the child knows more than most adults — that death is as inevitable and as fascinating as all other aspects of our short lives, to be studied closely, to be acknowledged and understood. The rhythm in this piece is exquisite, from that magnificently shocking first line, the reader is pulled through the piece at such a pace that all you want to do at the end is immediately return to the beginning and read again and again and again.
From Our Bones Will Blossom Coral Reef Kingdoms (Timothy Boudreau | Trampset)
Why I like it: I love the wryness in the dialogue, how incongruous it sits against the overriding threat in the story. I love the pacing, how the story is set just moments before the inevitable, and the natural world images are just gorgeous. I kind of love that the characters are all resigned to what is coming, resigned, almost, to a rather beautiful death and that nature is fighting back against the cruelty of mankind. This is a masterclass in how to write a surreal story!
We Call it Home (Heather Haigh | 50-Word Stories)
Why I like it: Wow. How to pack in a lifetime of story in just fifty words. It left me both amazed and bereft. It’s just so, so sad and yet completely beautiful – perfect, precise detail, wonderfully emphatic repetitions, and even in this tiny space, there is a story arc. Absolutely brilliant writing!
Same Old Same Old (Francine Witte | The Disappointed Housewife)
Why I like it: A wonderful, breathless one-sentence story. I’ve long admired Francine’s work, such a talented writer! This piece exemplifies that. I love the language choices, full of originality (‘tooty-toot-toot’ etc.) and perfect for this narrator. This is another story that packs in a lifetime. The pacing is wonderful, the urgency mirroring the whole gamut of emotions the character is feeling - desperation, shame, anger, we feel such empathy for her and her life with the god-awful Riley. Witte creates these rounded, complex characters in such a tiny space, it’s masterful writing.
Our Nudist Neighbours are Fighting (Joshua Jones Lofflin | Flash Frog)
Why I like it: this story has such a perfect balance of wry humour and underlying trauma. I love the characterisation — the children, ever alert to both parents’ moods, resonated with me deeply. I love the focused lens of the children looking through the window, a metaphor into another world, where freedom and humour and forgiveness exist, contrasting so beautifully with the confinement and trauma and anger of the family within the house. The specific details brought this story to life for me, the wonderful auburn tufts of Mr Marion’s hairy back(!); the clinking of the ice in the father’s glass, and then, later, the return to the ice melting in glass, cleverly building tension as it signifies the father’s temper soon to erupt. I could read this story over and over.
Ted’s Funeral is Held at McDonald’s (Cheryl Markosky | Maudlin House)
Why I like it: This is my very favourite type of flash, so humorous — in the world of flash, funny stories are so rare. This one is just perfect, incredibly funny with a fantastic dash of underlying poignancy. How can you not be drawn in by that title! And the characterisation is brilliantly done. It’s such a fun, original story.
God’s Gift (Audrey Niven |New Flash fiction Review)
Why I like it: This is a story that utilises colloquial dialect to establish both setting and character, and brilliantly so. I like how the title and religious references tie together beautifully throughout. The sensory detail is wonderful — the detritus in the room emulating the woman’s shame. And yet there is some redemption at the end, rather than falling into desolation, the woman has agency. She is the one who takes control and chooses to leave (this time). We can only wonder if she will be drawn in by ‘God’s Gift’ again in the future. The second person POV adds to the confessional tone of the piece. It’s dark and unsettling and wonderfully written.
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 Kristin Tenor and will be appearing (fingers crossed) on the 22nd October.
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