Hint Fiction

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The Ultimate Flash Fiction Package

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Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer hits bookstores on November 1st here in the United States, and to celebrate, we're having a contest!

First, what is Hint Fiction? Inspired by Ernest Hemingway's six-word story -- "For sale: baby shoes, never worn" -- Hint Fiction is a story of 25 words or fewer that suggests a larger, more complex story. The anthology features 125 stories by writers worldwide, including such luminaries as Joyce Carol Oates, James Frey, Peter Straub, and Ha Jin. Here is what people are saying already:

“The perfect story collection for all of us with too little time on our hands is a brilliant reminder of the magic that happens when you string the right words together. A must-read for anyone who is or wants to be a writer.” — Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of House Rules

“Some of these stories suggest entire novels in just few words. So, in this small book, you have a whole library. It’s reading at the speed of light.” — Robert Shapard, editor of Sudden Fiction and Flash Fiction

“The stories in Robert Swartwood’s Hint Fiction have some serious velocity.  Some explode, some needle, some bleed, and some give the reader room to dream. They’re fun and addictive, like puzzles or haiku or candy. I’ve finished mine but I want more.” — Stewart O’Nan, author of Last Night at the Lobster and Songs for the Missing

The anthology is currently available for pre-order at:

You can follow Hint Fiction on Twitter, "like" it on Facebook, and even add it to your shelf on Goodreads.

Now what's the Ultimate Flash Fiction Package? These eight wonderful anthologies of course!

The total cost for these eight books is $120.00, and it can all be yours.

How?

By simply linking back to this contest. Put it on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Then paste the URL in the comments section of this post (if on Facebook or any other password-protected site, paste your profile URL). The contest runs until midnight, October 31st, EST. A winner will be picked by random and notified by e-mail and announced here November 1st. Five runners-up will receive a copy of Hint Fiction. Have fun!

(Note that the website may hold your comments for moderation, so don't worry if it doesn't appear right away.)

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One More Month ...

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... until the release of the Hint Fiction anthology. Aren't you excited? Yes, yes you are. Also, a quick reminder that the deadline for the Gotham Writers' Workshop Hint Fiction contest is October 11. Get those entries in!

Have a great weekend. Be sure to check in Monday for a very special announcement.

Oh, and is anyone else psyched about Elmore Leonard's new novel, Djibouti, coming out this month? I must say, I'm not as psyched as I am about Dennis Lehane's Moonlight Mile, but still, you can never go wrong with Leonard. Here is the master himself answering some questions.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuOgcbI59Xw

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The Tale Of Two Roberts

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Like any narcissistic blogger in the 21st century, I have Google Alerts set up for "robert swartwood" and "hint fiction." Oftentimes, these two alerts go hand in hand, though, interestingly enough, in the past few months my name has become less and less associated with Hint Fiction to the point where HF is now becoming its own thing. Sometimes, though, when one of those alerts for "hint fiction" pops up, it will also mention me or, I should say, my evil twin brother Robert Smartwood. I'm anal about my name, just like many people are anal about their names (don't believe me, ask Roxanne Gay). All too often my last name will be misspelled. But shit happens. Still, I wondered what I would find if I Googled "robert smartwood." Unsurprisingly, a good bit came up, the highlights of which I'd like to share. Back on October 29, 2009, the Book Smugglers reviewed the horror anthology Fifty-Two Stitches edited by Aaron Polson. Here's a bit of what the reviewer had to say:

Reading each “stitch” in this book, I came to a (in retrospect, a pretty “duh” moment) realization – writing flash fiction is HARD. I’ve read and reviewed my share of horror anthologies and first novels, and many authors tend to make the same mistakes: wasted, powerless adjectives, descriptions that are lengthy and try too hard at gruesome, for example. But in the flash fiction of Fifty-Two Stitches, there’s simply no space to make these mistakes. Each sentence, each word has to be selected for maximum effectiveness – and the result is all the better for it. As in all anthologies, Fifty-Two Stitches has some duds and unevenness, but there are also some memorable, truly awesome stories within as well. Some of these gems include “New Woman” by Doug Murano (in which a man used to taking charge on dates gets more than he can handle), “In the Garden” and “Mother’s Love” by L.R. Bonehill (both eerie, haunting stories about mothers dealing with loss), “Sitting Up With Grandpa” by Blu Gilliand (where a young boy sits vigil with his recently deceased Grandpa), and “Dead Weight” by Robert Smartwood (a story that gives a whole new meaning to coyotes and border crossing).

Back on April 19, 2010, Dark Sky Magazine did a "Recommended Readings From Online Magazines" and was kind enough to excerpt a paragraph from my story "The Cigarette Tree":

– That summer he went to stay with his grandmother. She smoked constantly. He hated the way she smelled and sounded when she talked, and he knew smoking would kill her, so one day he stole his grandmother’s carton of cigarettes she kept up on top of the refrigerator—he had to balance himself on a chair to do this—and then he took the carton out to the garden in the backyard. He dug a hole, threw the carton inside, filled the hole back in, and patted it down like nothing was out of place. — Robert Smartwood in Staccato Fiction

And there are a few others, mostly people mentioning one of several Hint Fiction contests and then mentioning my evil twin brother Robert Smartwood too, but the real doozy and major fail of them all is Borders.com who, despite frequent requests from my publisher, still has my name misspelled. Which explains why I never listed Borders as a possible place to pre-order the anthology. Hell, I don't even have it listed as one of the sites to pre-order from on the Hint Fiction page. And honestly? Borders isn't even giving you a discount if you order from the site (not even 1% off), so do everyone involved a favor and just don't order from them! Instead, order here, or here, or here, or here, or here, or here, or even here. But just not here.

Look What Arrived Today!

What could possibly be inside?

Could it be that Mogwai I ordered?

Or could it be a Mattel hoverboard?

Oh, it's the Hint Fiction anthology! And hot damn, it does look good.

In fact, it even smells good.

But the real question is: does it taste good?

The answer is most definitely yes!

But how does it read? Let's see what Franklin thinks.

He seems to dig the cover ...

And this page isn't bad ...

So far so good ...

Having a little snack of lettuce makes reading more enjoyable, sure ...

Last page, huh? So what did you think?

Seriously? You don't have anything nice to say?

Everyone's a critic.