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

I jump up breaking our circle and switch on the light that sends current to the crystal chandelier. Livie sits quietly with her eyes closed, rubbing her hands back and forth across the table. I look from Henry to Livie, but no one speaks.


Henry goes to Livie and she rises, knocks her chair backward, and clings to her husband for support. He puts his arm around her and leads her from the room.


I follow them out, righting Livie’s chair as I pass her place at the table. I stop and look down at the bloody marks on the highly polished surface. They look like the ceramic handprints children take home to their parents from kindergarten. The fingers are long and delicate, much larger than Livie’s for she is frail with tiny bones.


Chapter 48