SQF: Why did you start this magazine?
Derek McMillan: It was started after an event at Chichester Festival where three writers talked about flash fiction. It was to encourage Worthing residents to try their hand at flash fiction. Since its inception, I have received contributions mainly from Worthing but also from India, Nigeria, New Zealand and the United States.
SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?
DM:
- Every word should count.
- It should be a story not a vignette.
- It does need to be in English (mea culpa, you might say).
SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?
DM:
- Poor grammar except where it is intentional to establish character.
- Wasted words.
- Too many characters.
SQF: What magazines/zines do you read on a “regular” basis?
DM: Page and Spine, Everyday Fiction, Fictive Dreams, 101 Words, Paragraph Planet
SQF: Many editors list erotica, or sex for sex sake, as hard sells. What are hard sells for your publication?
DM: Pornography would not be acceptable but well-written, literate erotica would be.
SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?
DM: Why do you write?
I enjoy reading and I have been writing stories since I got an old Remington typewriter from my sister when I was ten. This meant readers didn't have to struggle with my handwriting to read my work. I think we are surrounded by flash fiction. This includes everything from jokes about "a man who walked into a bar" to the parables in the Bible to my story about why I started writing. I love stories.
Thank you, Derek. We all appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.
This is an interesting insight. Flash fiction is not as easy as it might seem, and it's great that there is a site devoted to this form. It will concentrate our minds and keep us on our toes! The stories on the site are really diverse and make for good bite-sized reading.
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