Flash Fiction Fridays

Hi there boys and girls! This is Michael Gillan Maxwell bringing you another book report from the Alice B. Toklas Book Journal. Writer, author, teacher and radio personality, Robert Vaughan has delivered the goods with his sparkling debut anthology: Flash Fiction Fridays. Robert Vaughan is the host of the innovative monthly radio show Flash Fiction Fridays, which airs on Milwaukee Public Radio’s WUWM Lake Effect and has put together a truly delightful anthology of 34 stories from local and international authors whose work appeared on its namesake radio show each month during 2011.

I am a Milwaukee expatriate, born and raised there, now living in exile in upstate New York. However, I’m still a hardcore fan of most anything that comes out of Wisconsin, except for the current governor. So soon as I heard that Robert Vaughan had put together this collection of short fiction I ordered it immediately, not only to support the home town team, but also because I knew it would be great. A prolific writer and accomplished author in his own right, Robert Vaughan is on his way to being one of the preeminent authors of flash fiction today. In this anthology, he has assembled a collection of some of the best flash fiction written by the rising stars working within the context of this genre.

Don’t let the label “flash fiction” fool you into thinking that these pieces are like light snacks without substance. Brevity is power. This is the undiluted stuff. Each piece is a little package of dynamite, full of vivid imagery, emotion and humanity. Flash Fiction Fridays is available on Lulu.com and Amazon.com. The physical book is a slick and professional, aesthetically pleasing, high quality volume and it was on my doorstep within three business days. If you want to read some of the freshest contemporary flash, this is a must-have book for your library. It will leave you wanting more. I can only hope that Robert Vaughan is already working on this year’s collection because I’m already looking forward to Flash Fiction Fridays: Volume II, and I think that you will too!