The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson is the queen of New England gothic horror. Did you know that she also wrote Haunting of Hill House which the Netflix series is based on? That’s right, many movies and even series are based not on novels but short stories. It seems to be the only way to sell stories these days,…

the midnight special

The Midnight Special

#RealFlashbytes by #PhiliipLoyd #realwritersmarket The Midnight Special is not an original term. It can mean several things. For people from my generation, it was THE TV show to watch late nights if you wanted to see your favorite band. And believe me, back then there weren’t many places for that. For my grandfather’s generation, the…

The Insanity Virus

The Insanity Virus

#RealFlashbytes by #PhiliipLoyd #realwritersmarket The insanity virus eludes to scientific research suggesting that certain mental illnesses, particularly schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis, may be brought on by viral infections (such as CMV, Toxoplasmosis, or HERV-W) that interact with the immune system. This hypothesis further asserts that infections can oftentimes create chronic brain inflammation leading to psychotic behaviors.…

Kung Fu Trump

Kung Fu Trump – Trump v. DeNiro

#RealFlashbytes by #PhiliipLoyd #realwritersmarket Hi. My name is Roberto Dinero, and I’m from the LA. East LA. The mean streets, where it all goes down. Shit. Okay, so you know who I really am. What gave it away? But that’s not the point. Everybody has the right to use a pseudonym. If Martin Lieber gets…

RWM Gets First Goodreads Review – 5 STARS

Great news. We got our very first Goodreads review and it’s a good one. It’s not just 5 stars, but the reviewer actually picks up on some of the best features of the book. I guess this means that it works. Awesome!     The reviewer touches on certain key points, like “The curated list…

The Sudden Walk by Franz Kafka

We love stories that are self-contained. TRUE Flashbytes. In fact, it’s so easy to place it even fits right in on Reddit. The Sudden Walk by Franz Kafka is one of our favorite stories of all time. Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir The actual story itself is only two sentences long, with the first…

2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was originally published in the digest magazine If: Worlds of Science Fiction in January 1962. #kurtvonnegut 2BR02B is a 1962 dystopian short story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. about a future where nobody gets old anymore. At the same time, there is a max population cap of 40 million. For the WHOLE…

A Very Short Story by Ernest Hemingway (In Our Time)

A Very Short Story is one of Ernest Hemingway’s earliest literary works. Not just one of his earliest flash pieces, but one of his first pieces altogether. Remember, Hemingway first started writing for the Toronto Star, followed by the Kansas City Star. This was all way before moving to Paris. The short appeared first as…