"All Things Lit" (January 2012)

The Cud's annual "All Things Lit" issue. Includes just one flash-fiction piece, along with a 725-word sword & sorcery poem, a 3,000-word mainstream short story, and an 8,700-word ebook reprint of "Cone Zero, Sphere Zero" (from Nemonymous 8: Cone Zero and Atheist Tales)

• “Up Shit Creek” – dark fantasy, 528 words

• “The Fantasy Film Festival” – sword & sorcery poem, 728 words

• “The Hellbound Express” – mainstream, 3,043 words

• “Cone Zero, Sphere Zero” – dystopian SF, 8,700 words (PDF ebook)

"Love and Lust" (February 2012)

Yep, it gets a bit racy this month. Don't read these stories if doing naughty things in the bedroom make you uncomfortable. Or if you don't like good ol' romance stories. With naughty things in the bedroom.

• "Forbidden Love" - supernatural, 307 words

• "Immoral Character" - science fiction, 836 words

• "Parting the Lips" - dark fantasy, 874 words

• "Lessons in True Love" - fantasy, 991 words

"Springtime" (March 2012)

Springtime has long been symbolic of rebirth and change. But rebirth and change aren’t always good, even though they have a pretty solid reputation for being such. In this month’s stories, our characters deal with some difficult changes in a springtime season they might just as soon forget.

• "In the Balance" - sword and sorcery, 651 words

• "Mud Season" - fantasy horror, 701 words

• "After the Monsters" - science fiction, 753 words

• "Sunrise" - science fiction, 890 words

"Battle Games" (April 2012)

After the whining that The Hunger Games ripped off Battle Royale, I had to chuckle. Young folks in particular think everything they read or saw first was THE original. But the fact is, stories about dystopian futures where people are forced to fight to the death at the behest of the government aren't new. Consider Stephen King's The Long Walk, published in 1979, 20 years before Battle Royale. So this month's column honors a long tradition of such fiction.

• "Show and Tell" - dystopian, 768 words

• "Bottom of the Civilized Ninth" - dystopian, 893 words

• "Maternity Prison" - dystopian, 981 words

"Flowers" (May 2012)

April showers bring May flowers, as they say where I’m from. From Keyes’ “Flowers for Algernon” to Zelazny’s “A Rose for Ecclesiastes” to Swanwick’s Vacuum Flowers, flowers have made many appearances in science fiction. I even used flowers as a mystical message on an alien world in my own “White Ribbons, Red Roses” in the anthology Unparalleled Journeys. So what better way to honor the flowers of May (in these parts, anyway) than with some science fiction?

• "Star Flower" - science fiction, 498 words

• "Attack of the Roses" - science fiction, 557 words

• "The Impatient Botanist" - science fiction, 613 words

• "Desolation" - science fiction, 1,131 words

"Nanobots" (June 2012)

My original intention this month was, as per usual, three to six flash-fiction stories with the theme of nanobots, a sci-fi staple of microscopic robots that can enter a human body and repair damaged tissue (or enter a computer system, or any number of proposed uses). But as a busy schedule and a vacation got in my way, when Evan’s email reminding contributors of deadlines came in, I was suddenly frantic: I’d forgotten all about it. So I’m cheating a little bit as I offer the following story, which was originally published in a startup magazine that turned out to be run by incompetent editors and page-layout people (and died as quickly as it launched). Luckily, the story fits nicely into the nanobot theme.

So is this flash fiction? Some might say yes, but no..

Is this the annual January “All Things Lit” issue where I get to break the mold? Certainly not.

Is this a procrastinating columnist who now has too much to do before heading out on his motorcycle for a week? Absolutely.

• "Armed and Dangerous" - science fiction (nanobots), 2,476 words

"Hot" (July 2012)

While trying to come up with a topic for this month, all I could think about was how hot it was. It’s July. It’s hot in Maine. It’s hot all over the country. (Thanks, global climate change and the humans who perpetuate it.) And “hot” in Maine might sound funny to those who think we live in ice and snow all the time; sure, it doesn’t get as hot here as it does in other parts of the U.S. or the world. But one thing we get here is humidity. I’ll take 105 degrees of dry heat over 90 degrees of wet heat—humidity so high that it feels like breathing bath water. Well, enough complaining; it’s actually not too bad right now, all things considered, and I have the fan running. But man, it’s been some hot. Did I mention that it’s been hot?

• “Desert Thirst” – science fiction, 501 words

• “Why Are We Walking on the Sun?” – science fiction, 594 words

• “Fire Devil” – superhero, 786 words

• “Burning Apocalypse” – science fiction, 1,052 words

"Quicker Flashes" (August 2012)

A friend recently argued that the stories in this column are usually too long to be considered flash fiction. The definition of “flash fiction” depends on who you ask, but I write it here at usually under 1,000 words, a range often considered as short-short fiction.

I like a little room to work, because while there are many ways to write stories, I prefer to write short fiction with the novel-writing recipe. That includes five basic things: a protagonist; an antagonist; a plot; a resolution to the plot (which the protagonist participates in making happen); and change in the protagonist on some basic level (he learns something, achieves a goal, etc.). I don't like slice-of-life vignettes or stories that don't accomplish anything or arrive anywhere; it's weak writing, if you ask me, and a reader deserves more.

But I'll take my friend's point and put myself through what I make my writing students endure. Following are ten 200-word stories, each with those five things. As a writing exercise, this sort of writing is fun but challenging, especially when you ensure those five things are present.

• "Butterflies" - time travel, 200 words

• "Eyes" - psychotic murder, 20 words

• "Hero" - superhero, 200 words

• "Honor" - Western SF, 200 words

• "Immortality" - fantasy, 200 words

• "Limitations" - erotic SF, 200 words

• "Love" - science fiction, 200 words

• "Potions" - fantasy, 200 words

• "Selfishness" - science fiction, 200 words

• "Vampgina" - vampire erotica, 200 words

"Bat Into hell - Part One" (September 2012)

Note: This is a two-part entry for Cud Flashes in the Pan. It commemorates the release of the rock album Bat Out of Hell. It was split between September and October as the September issue of The Cud will be up from September through October, and also because the entire thing would be far too long for one month.

An important event in the history of rock music occurred on October 21, 1977 when the album Bat Out of Hell was released. It was the brainchild of musician Jim Steinman, who was influenced by the likes of The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Phil Spector, and Richard Wagner (yeah, that guy—Der Ring des Nibelungen and such). And it showcased the overpowering vocals of a man once called Marvin Lee Aday but forever after known as Meat Loaf. Bat smashed records and even spent 471 weeks on the UK national charts and is currently the fifth highest-selling album in history, behind Michael Jackson's Thriller, AC/DC's Back in Black, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, and Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard. (Relax—Whitney's album is at 44 million and Bat is at 43 million. BOOH still sells 200,000 copies per year, and I'm guessing Whitney isn't moving that many of The Bodyguard.) But whether you like Bat’s brand of rock opera or not, you have to appreciate the iconic cover art: a musclebound motorcyclist blasting out of a grave, while a giant bat perched atop the headstone spreads its wings in observance. To commemorate the album's release 35 years ago this October, we’ll honor it, Meat, and Steinman with seven shorts inspired by the titles of the seven tracks. And in honor of Halloween and the very cool Bat cover art, those seven will be in the horror vein.

• “Brat Out of Hell” – horror, 957 words

• “You Took the Worms Right Out Of My Mouth” – horror, 652 words

• “Hell Can’t Wait” – horror, 543 words

"Bat Into Hell - Part Two" (October 2012)

This is part two of the two-part commemoration of the release of Bat Out of Hell in 1977. Read more details about this two-parter in September below.

• “All Wrecked Up And A Placenta To Go” – horror, 824 words

• “One Out Of Ten Ain’t Good” – horror, 369 words

• “Three Pair of Dice By The Dashboard Light” – horror, 648 words

• “Crying Out Loud” – horror, 754 words

Each November, the editor, Evan Kanarakis, does a "best of" edition from the current year, so there is no Cud Flashes in the Pan in November.
 

This month's entry is a single story -- not too long, but beyond flash fiction. This was previously published in Morpheus Tales in 2008, but as it was the 2012 December shopping season, I was reminded of it during my forays into the insanity of retail stores.

• "Watch Out for Falling Prices" – dystopian SF, 3,008 words