Do you write short fiction but long to s-t-r-e-t-c-h those tight little 55ers, flash pieces, and short stories into longer, publishable work? Do you have binders full of short pieces with characters you’d love to flesh out? Are you dying to tell the rest of these stories? If so,The Short and Long of Itis for you! Award-winning short fiction writer Paul Alan Fahey shows you how to expand and adapt your brief creations into longer, more satisfying stories, plays, novellas, and novels pitch perfect for publication in the e-age. This book will help you practice expanding your short fiction. Through detailed examples and hands-on exercises, you’ll learn how to: Adapt 55 fiction into flash fiction;Adapt flash fiction into short stories and plays;Adapt flash memoir into personal essays;Write a tight logline;Develop a story theme;Build three-act structure; andDevelop characters and enhance backstory.So grab a copy today and start writing longer stories tomorrow!

The Short and Long of It

A sudden blast rocks the earth and lights the night sky.


Joyce jumps up from the sofa and runs outside. She stands by her husband, one hand on his shoulder, the other cupping her eyes, trying to focus on an object almost immediately overhead. “There! Do you see?”


Trevor instinctively slides his hand into his pocket for the camera as a second explosion outlines the Long Island village and harbor in a reddish glow. Later, they will hear of the tragedy in detail from the television news’ anchors, about the hundreds of lives lost, about the debris scattered for miles over the Atlantic.


“It isn’t fireworks, is it, hon?” He reaches out to her, and she hears the camera fall from his hand and skid across the patio tiles.


“No,” she says, drawing closer to him, trying to erase from her mind the vivid image of her husband boarding an early morning flight. “No, I don’t think it’s fireworks at all.” (804 words)


And There Was Claudiaby Paul Alan Fahey


Chapter 38