Making the Jump

Well, I've finally begun submitting my flash fiction. Finishing the work was just the first step in a longer process. It is easy to be tempted, after you finish, to rush to submit your work. However, the query letter that must accompany your submission is of vital importance. If you don't put the time in to make a good letter, there is a good chance your story won't even be read.

Here are some tips to create an intriguing query:

1. A brief, dynamic synopsis of your work. It should be written in a voice that reflects the piece.

2. An explanation of how your work fits with the publisher you're querying. This shows that you've done your research.

3. A short introduction to you. Only highlight areas of your life that qualify you to write what you wrote. They don't care about your personal life other than how it makes you a better writer.

If you put in the time for a good query, it will pay off.

Writing Snippet

Here is a bit of writing I'm working on for publication. It's based off of my travels in Venice. Enjoy!

"The plague doctor waited over the canal. The open air carried the alien buzzing to him through the dark, and he knew what swarmed in the piazza. The square was close, but separated by a watery maze.   

            His mask made it difficult to breathe, and he drew slowly through its long, sloping beak. It was the mask of battle, and it had been protecting the doctors of Venice for centuries.

            But he was not fighting the plague of his ancestors, the flesh-eating spots the soldiers brought back from the Thirty-Years’ War. The plague he fought was eating the city itself.

            The locusts were devouring whole neighborhoods, eating away at the city’s foundation as they gouged down into the Grand Canal. Long ago, The Virgin had cured the city of its black spots. Now he, Dr. Maurizio Luchini, saw fit to finish Her work.

            He heard footsteps from the alley on the other side of the bridge. Ducking down behind a mooring pole, he disappeared under his black cape and waited.

            Their foreign speech gave them away though the locusts wore the costumes of carnevale, just like he did. The doctor studied them as the insects wandered slowly, stupidly together toward the hive center in the Piazza San Marco. These two were tall, with white-blond hair. They must have come from the far north. But really, they were all the same: members of the swarm, called together by their own putrid stink."