The Mighty Ant: An Anthology of Stories for Seniors

Join us on Thursday, Sept. 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the Chatham County Agriculture and Conference Center in Pittsboro for a special event celebrating the release of the Mighty Ant Anthology, Short Stories for Seniors, which is now available on Amazon. The book features flash fiction intended for adults suffering from dementia, memory impairment, and those with compromised attention spans.

Anyone loving a good yarn will savor this book, which delivers crumb after crumb of literary satisfaction.

At the Sept. 6 event, several authors (including the editor, Jessica Bryan) will be reading from and signing copies of the book. I’ll be reading “A Cup of Sugar,” a short tale based on the adventures of a sleepwalking baker who runs out of sugar at midnight.

Proceeds from the book will support The Chatham Council on Aging, so I encourage you to check it out and order your copy today.

For more information on the event, see the event flyer.

Interested in writing your own flash fictions? If so, consider joining us for a special workshop at the Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro later next month and in October. Hope to see you at one or both!

September 22, 2018: Flash Fiction Bootcamp. Think you don’t have time to write? Anybody has time for flash fiction, and by the end of this class, you’ll have five finished pieces. Bring your favorite writing gear (notebook and pen/pencil or laptop) and get ready for some prompts, new inspiration, and instant feedback. Atten-hut!

October 13, 2018: Flash Fiction: Revision and Publication. Now that you’ve written your flashes, you’re ready to show them off! Bring a story of your own and learn how to revise, prepare and submit it for publication in online or print magazines, and how later to create a book-length collection and find publishers.

In May, I participated in the “Story A Day” challenge to draft a new story each day of the month. Several of these stories turned out to be flash pieces and four were accepted for publication by Jessica Bryan, the editor of the Mighty Ant Anthology, Short Stories for Seniors, which is now available on Amazon. The book features flash fiction intended for adults suffering from dementia, memory impairment, and those with compromised attention spans.

Here’s a rundown of my stories:

• “Lavender and Lilies” — based on a prompt featuring a mythological love triangle resolved through clever debate (Thank you, Fred White, author of The Daily Reader).
• “While Planning the 55th Reunion of the Class of ’63, Kathryn Hunsucker Has a Conniption Fit.” You guessed it, this was inspired, albeit loosely, by my husband’s own high school reunion. Shhhh!
• “A Cup of Sugar” — the tale of a sleepwalking baker who runs out of sugar at midnight. You might want to lock your doors tonight–or at least latch your pantry.
•  “Eula Dare Hampton Agrees to Edit the Quaker Ladies’ Cookbook” (a shorter version of the same story that won third prize in the Carolina Woman Writing Contest and Honorable Mention in Women on Writing).

But this is just a taste of the stories (both fiction and nonfiction) offered. Anyone loving a good yarn will savor the title story (and others) by Editor Jessica Bryan, as well as stories from my writer-friends Mary Barnard and Anne Kissel and many others. The ant theme is woven beautifully throughout the book, delivering crumb after crumb of literary satisfaction.

Proceeds from the book will support The Chatham Council on Aging, so I encourage you to check it out and order your copy today.