“Hark, kindred spirit!” yelled Minifiction, when a bout of Internet surfing brought us face-to-screen with British author Nik Perring, a new(ish) face on the block whose online flash fiction publications over recent years culminated in his 2010 collection of 22 short shorts, Not So Perfect.Yes, the title does refer to the stories within, but no, Perring is not being coy. The title fits because it renders the only theme that all 22 stories could be said to share, each one capturing the not-so-perfect moments in the lives of Perring’s protagonists. Putting that aside, what you have here is an eclectic mix of wide angles and close ups, quasi-bizarro and groundy realism, nostalgic twists and twisted nostalgia. Not So Perfect is well worth a read, although the faint-hearted or pious should come ready for a challenge.
Every Saturday, Minifiction starts to fidget. Our sandaled feet slap our parquet floor with impatience, our fingers stab the F5 key until it relents with unspringy fatigue, and, by nightfall, Madame Minifiction has been forced to slip something soothing into our bedtime beverage. Why? Simple: Because every Sunday, Joseph Quintela publishes the next edition of his superb eLit Mag, Short, Fast and Deadly.
Okay, we exaggerate. Only, not really, because Short, Fast and Deadly is a micro-fan's dream -- original micro-poetry and prose, fewer than 140 and 420 characters respectively, that lambasts Minifiction's earlier assertion that quality English language minifiction is a rarity. Shame on us.
The work featured here, by a growing number of international writers, is fresh, funky and forward-moving. And it is, of course, short. Fast. And Deadly: not like a grand piano tumbling from a fifth floor balcony, but more like a slayer of disbelief in the verve and scope of the ultra short.
