review of flash sequence anthology in the newest issue of flash magazine

I love the flash sequence, a form that hasn't gotten a lot of attention, and was thrilled to be included in a one-of-a-kind anthology in the Marie Alexander Series at White Pine Press: NOTHING TO DECLARE: A GUIDE TO THE FLASH SEQUENCE, edited by Robert Alexander, Eric Braun, and Debra Marquart. The anthology got some great advance blurbs. Tara L. Masih called the book "an important addition to the burgeoning exploration of brief prose and flash fiction." John Dufresne called it "a brave new narrative genre," a collection of "innovative and fearless narratives." Dinty W. Moore described the sequences as "hypnotic, startling, and alive." But there haven't been many reviews.

So I was pleased to see that Vestal Review editor Mark Budman has reviewed the anthology in the latest issue of the UK print journal FLASH: THE INTERNATIONAL SHORT-SHORT STORY MAGAZINE (edited by Peter Blair and Ashley Chantler at the University of Chester, the center of the thriving flash scene in the UK). While Mark Budman wishes for a clearer definition of the genre (that may be exactly what attracts me to the genre, its porous boundaries), he praises the anthology as "innovative," "an eclectic collection of anything short and powerful: stories, essays, prose poems, and most often, forms unclassified."

I read the 300-page anthology from cover to cover in one sitting. I loved everything in it! I hope the review draws more readers from the international flash community, because this is a very cool book. 

I had the opportunity to read my flash sequence on Freud's case history of "Dora" twice this year (both times with my husband Steve reading the Freud sections): at a wonderful reading on forgotten women curated by the poet Kathleen McClung, and at a memorable reading at Alley Cat Books in the Mission curated by the Flash Fiction Collective. Definitely fun to read.