Passin' on the Love...The Fabulous Flash Award

I had heard tell, the past couple of days, of a pyramid scheme a prestigious award flying about cyberspace. It finally landed in my back yard where I quickly retrieved it before the dog got it.

Jon Strother, 'pappy' of the #fridayflash community of writers, has created a new award recognizing those regularly producing outstanding flash fiction (1000 words or less). The Fabulous Flash Award was presented to me this morning by Cathy Olliffe at Life on the Muskoka River and by Laurita Miller, a fellow islander, who blogs at Brain Droppings. I have become good friends with both of these ladies the past few months (and not just because the are fellow Canucks!) and enjoy every creative creative story, poem, photograph, photoshopped photograph, interview or whatever is going on at their blogs. Please check out their blogs if you haven't done so before.


The acceptance of this award means, of course, that I must sportingly follow a few rules:

• Recipients of the Fabulous Flash Award should acknowledge receiving the award in a blog post


• link back to the person who awarded it


• select four other fabulous flashers to receive the award to keep spreading the joy


• write one or two short lines explaining why you’ve chosen each recipient


• optionally (I know not everyone is on Twitter) tweet, “I just gave the Fabulous Flash Award to (name). They’re worth reading.” Include a shortened URL back to your post in the tweet.


• Pose for a full-body photo wearing only a fez and a smile

Ok, so maybe I made up that last one...

The hard part is selecting four people to pass this along to. There are probably over 100 people contributing stories to the #fridayflash scene and I have about 40 bookmarked and visit them regularly. I think my criterion is to select those blogs who I feel compelled visit each time they post a story and who always reward me for doing dropping by. My selections are...

Anthony Venutolo...what hasn't been said about Ant? His stories always take you to different times and different places in the American culture. With a few words he can shock you, impress you and amaze you with the depth of his characters and the often sordid lives they lead. Drop by his blog Bukowski's Basement, you may get a nibble of caviar or perhaps a bite from a greasy old burger. Either way, you won't go hungry.

Mark Kerstetter...I have been really enjoying my visits to Mark's blog The Bricoleur the past few weeks. I have little background in art, but I feel that I have learned more these past few weeks than all of my previous 47 29 years. His merging of art and fiction is flawless and the factual/fictitious stories of famous artists he has posted have been fascinating. Of all the bloggers I have come across, I have met none who write from closer to the heart than Mark. And I thank him for that.

Pamila Payne...I haven't been following Pamila's blog Bella Vista for very long, but she has impressed me with every flash story. If anyone was to surpass the previously mentioned Anthony Venutolo for 'seedy' stories, it's Pamila Payne. Her street-wise characters may be course but they show a glimmers of salvation and her descriptive stories make you wonder if she is in the room with real people; she is studying their movements and speech, faithfully recording them on paper.

Peggy McFarland...since I have started following Peggy at Eldritch Way, she has posted science fiction, human drama and horror all with equal skill. Her characters are so well-rounded and her descriptive passages are so vivid you feel that you are immersed in their world and you will be held there until Peggy chooses to let you go. Make time to check out her stories.