The Fabulous Flash Award

Jon Strother, the founding father of the fridayflash community, came up with an idea for writers to shine a spotlight on other writers that they can't live without. Writers that week after week you can't wait to read, writers whose words light up the synapses in your brain when you see that they've posted new work and you say oh boy……

Shannon Esposito's work is like that for me. I had the privilege of editing Her Migration, the piece Shannon submitted to the upcoming FridayFlash Anthology and the whole time I worked on it I felt like a surgeon fiddling with perfection… repeating in my head the mantra do no harm. Her work is glorious, pulls you in, fills you up, gives you a cup of tea and a cookie, or gut punches you in such an unexpected way that it still leaves you feeling somehow stronger at the finish.

So for Shannon to bestow the Fabulous Flash Award on me was such a gleeful surprise that I immediately printed out what she said about my work….

"Karen's flash is saturated with humor and sharp wit. And she does it every single week. I am in awe of her power. Do you remember pop-rocks? That's your brain on her flash. Crackle, sizzle, POP! Just brilliant stuff. Go read her now!"

….so I could look at it a bunch of times today. Shannon is a brilliant writer and a wonderful friend and I am humbled that she thought of me when she made her "must" list of fabulous flashers.

I made my own list last night and had it narrowed down to sixteen favorites. Then I worked to whittle it down further and further until I had four. Technically since John Wiswell, who is one of the funniest human beings on the planet, a great writer, and so much fun to interact with, ALSO bestowed the Fabulous Flash Award on me this morning [blowing me away because he said I was wacky and out there....high praise indeed coming from John] I could probably get away with listing eight of my favorite flashers and stay within the guidelines, but I'm going to let other folks have some fun and give you only my top four. Jon Strother asked us not to make the Fabulous Flash Award a popularity contest, and I understand that reasoning because if it was, every single one of us would bestow the award on the lovely and very talented Laura Eno. Laura is such an amazing person and such a staunch supporter of the fridayflash community at large that no list of Fabulous Flashers would be complete without her. I'm delighted that John Wiswell bestowed the award on myself and Laura in the same posting. But Laura? I'm pretty sure that he did say I was funnier.

So without further meandering, I would like to bestow the Fabulous Flash Award on the following four amazing writers:

RachelBlackbirdsong is someone I run to see- I'm so glad that she's back with us and producing again. Her use of language is gloriously artistic without being pretentious. She writes so unlike my own style that I love to go to her site just to immerse myself in voices that I would never hear in my own head. Her work pulls you in, then under, strips you naked, leaves you breathless, and not minding a bit that you just took a hell of an emotional pummeling.

Michael Solender is an enigma. He can be stark and shocking, sweeping and romantic, does male and female viewpoint equally well. His wit is sharp, but his heart is huge. Michael never ceases to amaze me with his flexibility. He is a writer in every sense of the word; a scribe who takes words from his head and puts just the ones needed onto the paper.

Laurita Miller stabs at my heart and tickles my funny bone in equal measures. She has a depth to her writing that goes beyond calling her a writer. She is a weaver of stories, an inventor of dreams, a wholesale purveyor of ideas so wonderful that you feel like she's handed you a goblet and said "drink" and when you do, you're transported into the tiny worlds she creates in her head and has the talent to transcribe to paper. Laurita is someone who was born to write. And it's a privilege to read both her prose and her poetry.

Marisa Birns is a delightful smorgasbord of writing styles. It's not that she can't decide, it's that she's so flexible that she can tell you a funny story that's horrifying, or tell you a horrifying story that's funny, or tell you a story that is gentle and lilting right up to the moment when she goes in for the kill and rips your heart right out of your chest. She is a master of pacing. And she can wear any hat her muse hands her with panache.

I hope you take a minute to click on the names of the above flashers to read a piece I selected to delight and amaze you. I will be linking to the first few Fabulous Flash Award postings as they come down the pipeline. You can follow the trail of breadcrumbs after that. I can't wait to see some of the upcoming choices. Being in the fridayflash community has been such an amazing experience for me. It made me stretch my wings and try things that I don't think that I would have tried if I wasn't part of this welcoming group.

Thanks guys. You all add so much to my life.

Jon Strother's Fabulous Flash choices

Shannon Esposito's Fabulous Flash choices

John Wiswell's Fabulous Flash Choices

Peggy McFarland's Fabulous Flash Choices

Mazzz's Fabulous Flash Choices

Laurita Miller's Fabulous Flash Choices