Chad, thank you for reading and the vote!
My stories for this weekly competition always start off longer, but I have to trim them down to the 150-word limit. I too wish they could continue, but I gotta follow the rules (also had to use the word "earth" with this one).
There was a period of time, maybe around 2000, when short fiction was declared all but dead, and novels were king. Novels are still king, but short fiction has made a huge resurgence for a lot of reasons, including for exactly the reason you stated: people simply don't have much time to read these days and short fiction is quickly digestible in the little time they have.
I'll probably revisit the snowball fight story one day. My wife says it could be a good fit for a young adult/children's journal.
Stoked that you also read the interview. After
Dune, I read a ton of Patrick F. McManus stuff as a kid. He's an amazingly talented and sometimes overlooked writer/storyteller. He's from Idaho but I believe he lives or lived in my hometown, Spokane. Small world.
Thank you again for the feedback.
Mike,
Read and voted.
Loved that one too!
Found myself hoping it would continue as I scrolled. I don't have much time for reading these days so your short stories help fill that void.
Great interview also!
I'm very interested in the snowball fight story.
I bookmarked your website, fun looking at your reading list. I'm also a fan of Patrick F. McManus