BITE: An Anthology of Flash Fiction

by Katey Schultz (Editor), John Carr Walker (Editor)

From a ride in the car with grandpa, to a lover confessing he is from Mars, the stories in BITE zero in on the intimate, often overlooked moments of life that have the power to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. In these very brief stories, emerging authors such as Lesley Alicia Tye, and established masters of the form like Tom Hazuka, demonstrate that the truth of our lives lies in the details. There's nothing like the power of a well-told story to drive this home and there's nothing like flash fiction to do so in as few finely crafted sentences as possible. Whether looking back at Hercules Massis, reporting the night terrors of Shop-Vac man, or entering the imaginary world of a young boy and his pet fish, these 33 stories conjure vivid worlds in a matter of sentences. Authors include: Sherrie Flick, Bruce Holland Rogers, Alex Mindt, Tara L. Masih, and more.

124 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2012

About the author

Katey Schultz grew up in Portland, Oregon, and is most recently from Celo, North Carolina. She is a graduate of the Pacific University MFA in Writing Program and recipient of the Linda Flowers Literary Award from the North Carolina Humanities Council. She lives in a 1970 Airstream trailer bordering the Pisgah National Forest. Flashes of War is her first book.

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful little collection of flash fiction. Some real gems in here. Lots of variation in voice and storyline, though interesting how often fishes and water and the ocean and sea are involved. Includes James Claffey, Sherrie Flick, Bruce Holland Rogers, and Tara Deal.

[Katey Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an honor to organized and edit this anthology of flash fiction, featuring new stories by authors I have always looked up to as well as writing by up-and-coming writers I had never heard of. I designed this anthology with teaching in mind, as its small size lends itself perfectly to a unit of study on flash fiction. The bios of each contributor will direct a curious reader to more excellent book titles, and many of the authors are easily accessible online. I highly recommend this to teachers of literature and creative writing, as well as to writers who are interested in studying the exciting possibilities of this genre.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good number of pieces here actually didn't hit me the way I like flash stories to hit me. Possibly I'm a little inured to that these days. And yet when I considered each piece and what I took away, I discovered a few stories with layers of subtlety. Yes, I realize not every piece of flash fiction has to slap me in the face to be effective. And yet, it was a little difficult for me to distinguish some of the slower-burning pieces with pieces that only fit the flash rubric in terms of minimal word count. Those latter pieces might be complete stories, but they could've been told--might as well have been told--in two or three or five thousand words. There were gems from some of "the usual suspects" in flash fiction that I like to read: Bruce Holland Rogers, Tara Masih, Sherrie Flick, Tom Hazuka, et al. But my joy at reading those stories was tempered by the ones that didn't impress so much. I'm rating this 4 stars, but it's really closer to 3.6 for me.

[Lea Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flash fiction is a curious form. My favorite, in this collection, was "Riding with Icarus."