Flash Fried Fiction

Flash Fried Fiction∙Source: Global Times∙[10:20 November 12 2010]∙CommentsWriters of Beijing, lend us your biros. The Global Times Beijing Metro wants your smoking nuggets of flash fiction. If you're one of our winners, you'll find yourself published in an anthology of Beijing fiction, and could win books or even a 5,000 yuan cash prize. Terms and conditions below.Terms and ConditionsEntries should be submitted to flashfriedfiction@ by email only.Please make the subject line "Flash Fried Fiction" with every entrant.Entries should be submitted using Microsoft Word (.doc extension only please)No .docx OK?Entrance is open to all. Please include brief contact information.Entries should be "Flash" fiction, that is, no longer than 1,000 words. They should be written in clear English prose. Non-native English speakers are encouraged to seek editorial assistance (if needed) prior to submission to increase their chances of success. We're way too busy!The theme of this year's competition is simple: "Beijing." Stories that ignore this theme will be rejected - please don't send us the contents of your rejection pile.Stories must be original and submissions are accepted on the basis that they are the writer's own work.All genres are permitted. Except fan fic. Obviously.The FFF staff reserve the right to reject submissions at their own editorial discretion.There will be three prizes awarded, on the basis of first, second or third. The first prize is a guaranteed 5,000 yuan while other prizes for runners-up are to be confirmed.The deadline for story submissions is December 25, 2010. Submissions after this date cannot be accepted. Publication will begin shortly after the Chinese New Year.By submitting, you grant us permission to print or distribute it as we wish. We reserve the right to edit as necessary. From all submissions, 12 will be selected and printed in the Community section of Metro Beijing weekly every Friday. Details and dates will be confirmed prior to publication.Of the 12 published, three will be selected as winners. The judging will be done by a panel of professionals drawn from the literary and media world in and around Beijing. You can tell your friends they are "celebrity judges" if you like.Winners must agree to attend the award party (scheduled for Spring 2011) and give a reading of their prize-winning story in order to qualify for their awards. Alternatively, stand-in readers can be nominated and agreed to by both parties (us or you).Thanks for reading - now get writing…ExamplesHere's two short examples of the kind of thing we're looking for.FriedThe clock is ticking and she can feel the fat frying in the pan, spitting, it's under her skin, almost. A sliced finger bleeds slow sticky drops into the sink and nearly brings tears, but she won't let it. She'll never finish on time and she'll have to start the bacon frying all over, it burned up and he'd never eat that. Not like that. And so she peels three fresh slices from the pack and wipes the pan, begins again. She has to breathe, soften shoulders. Take these eggshells, place them with the rubbish. A tidy house so you can breathe; breathe. It's not going to be like last time he came home, because it can't be and if it is they'll never let him go again, not ever. There's twelve minutes now and she still has to move the fruit bowl, why didn't she move the fruit bowl? There is a reason she wrote a list of the things that set him off and while she reads it she wonders if he'll be medicated when he comes, it might make it easier for him to settle, but what if it wears off and he's screaming and they've all left for the night? She reads the list again and bites her lip. Runny yolks! Is there time? How can it be that simply getting up and going to work everyday can fracture a man like him who learned about everything from the best places while she knows nothing about nothing and carries on; it's not his fault. It's fate perhaps, or chance. She turns off the gas and digs out the new plastic cutlery from a plastic shopping bag. The clock is ticking and the fat is loosening her skin, no time to wipe it now. One minute. One minute more.ChinaclownMack leaned back and looked at the dame opposite: Poised and alert, looking like she could eat a Chihuahua in less than it took most people to pick up a dumpling, Mack knew she was trouble. Trouble with a capital D, for "dame" - the worst kind. Removing the chopstick from his nostril and carefully placing a lit cigarette in its place, Mack held out his hand.She handed over the newspaper with all the cool of an ice cube in a Mr Peanut costume. Dames! Mack pulled a sour face.So, she was right. It was all there: short-story competition, cash prize: 5,000 yuan! That was more money than he made in a month chasing divorcees and looking under beds."I want you to tell the world what happened," the dame said. "Everything in this rotten case: The cold noodles, the missing qipao and the fact that my cat is in a bowl of hot soup in Guangzhou right now.""Everything?""Tell the world, Mack. Disguise it as fiction. Keep it short, say, 1,000 words. And win that prize, Mack. Win it for you, for the cat but mostly, win it for me. Because I haven't got the 5,000 yuan I owe you, see."Mack shook his head once again, dislodging the lit cigarette, which fell into his naked lap."Forget it, lady, this is Chinatown.""No, Mack, it isn't. You're mistaken. This is China.""Oh yeah," Mack realized his mistake. "I must have been thinking about something else. I'll do it."Flash Fried Fiction∙Source: Global Times∙[10:20 November 12 2010]∙CommentsGlobal Times Metro Beijing is looking for Beijing's choicest cuts of Flash Fiction. We want your sizzling, full fat, high-calorie fiction hits in bite-sized pieces (1,000 words or less). Every Friday from Spring Festival we'll publish one story in the Community section of Metro Beijing. All published finalists make it into an anthology (if you're in it, you'll get a copy) and our celebrity judges will pick one winner at our wrap party next June who'll get 5,000 yuan cash.There's only one stipulation: The theme is 'Beijing.' So get writing. We're hungry for something fresh and meaty. Deadline for entries: December 25, 2010. Entries go to:flashfriedfiction@。