BOOKS AND BEYOND: THE GREENWOOD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW AMERICAN READING (Ken Womack, Editor, four volumes, hardcover, 2008).

I recently got the news that my 7,500-word (plus) article on flash fiction that's to be part of a four-volume work on contemporary American fiction will be released in October, 2008. The title of the project is BOOKS AND BEYOND: THE GREENWOOD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW AMERICAN READING.

The Amazon site (where they're taking preorders) says: "each entry is written by an expert contributor and provides a definition of the genre, an overview of its history, a look at trends and themes, a discussion of authors and works, and suggestions for further reading." It also says, "More than 80 alphabetically arranged entries summarize the state of popular literature in America today."

You can see the other details at :
http://www.amazon.com/Books-Beyond-Four-Volumes-Encyclopedia/dp/0313337381/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218401206&sr=1-2

It was a tough job researching and writing the article (took a long time, too), but I'm pleased with how it turned out. So many people were so helpful in providing me with good information--especially Kent Dixon, Robert Shapard,and Jessica Treat thank you so much, Kent, Robert, and Jessica for all the wonderful material you sent me. I'm looking forward to seeing all four volumes of the Greenwood Encyclopedia in October.

The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction: Tips from Editors, Teachers, and Writers in the Field_ Edited by Tara L. Masih (and due for release/ publication in Spring 2009).

Happy day for me because last night I got the final edits for an article I wrote that will be included in the above anthology. The collection will be on preorder next winter at www.rosemetalpress.com

That was a tough article to write but it turned out quite well. I certainly worked hard enough on it! The editor agrees and that's important too. It was a challenging article to write since I had to come up with my personal/ working definition of flash fiction, had to explain effective techniques for writing it, had to come up with story prompts, and had to have an example story to illustrate what I am saying/ explaining in thearticle. The fine writer, Robert Hill Long, provided my example story so I was happy to get an outstanding one to use.

Anyway, I got lots of fine compliments from the editor so I'm very pleased. It feels good to think you've done a good job and then have it confirmed by the editor.

My topic, by the way, is metamorphosing myth to create short-short fiction.

I'm also exceedingly pleased about the company I'll be with in the anthology. Along with my article there will also be articles by Robert Olen Butler, Sherrie Flick, David Martone, Jayne Anne Phillips, Deb Olin Unferth, Ron Carlson, Pia Z. Ehrhardt, Julio Ortega, Bruce Holland Rogers, Pamela Painter, Robert Shapard, and many other fine writers (25 writers in all).

Now... if only my 7,500-word article that's to be part of a four-volume work on contemporary American fiction would also be released soon. It's to be published in England and distributed to colleges and high school throughout the U.S. and Canada. These things take so much time to finally see light of day. But that's okay... hopefully I'll still be around to see it in print when it's finally published. (I expect that will be late next year or early the following year.)

But at least now I can concentrate again on the anthology I'm compiling with Jessica Treat and Lawrence Greenberg. We have some really outstanding stories from some extraordinary writers (this is a by invitation only project and we convinced the best of the best to submit stories). Talk about something that takes a lot of time, though!