Just Enough

Traveler through Darkness available HERE

By Fierce Dolan 

Short stories are an under-appreciated art in post-postmodern literature. It isn't that we don't know how to write them well; rather, we don't know how to honor their brevity. Ironic in a drive-through microwave culture, that, as I often hear readers say they don't enjoy short stories because they aren't long enough. It isn't that they aren't compelling, aren't as well-developed as their longhaul cohorts, or don't accomplish as much in significantly less pages. Short fiction often loses out because we want more.

Enjoying something so much as to want an extra scoop is a great problem to have. I'm curious, though, is it that short stories are too brief, or is there a deeper, more provocative reason that they get under our skin?

I think a well-written short story pushes us to actively participate more in the plot progression, to engage more emotionally and psychologically than most novels do. Without flowery prose to gently seduce us, starkness forces us bare, raw, and receptive to bring more of ourselves to the table, without preamble, without presupposition. As well, they end with us breathless, panting, craving more--because every encounter that truly sates instills deeper want.That's part of what makes them so powerful.

Literarily speaking, with short stories, we have to be ready for the good stuff--juicy, unabashed movement--from the hook, on. Posthaste we get down and dirty, rubbing against exactly what we need right there, between the words, among the undercurrents. For that reason, short stories require faith in the moment, without fretting what comes next. We have to be willing to give ourselves over to that momentum and trust wherever it takes us.

I love short stories. To me they are poetry's deep sigh. I love them so much that throughout my college writing curriculum, I was devoted to perfecting them as my form of choice. That's why I enjoy Decadent's The Edge series. For one, they are sexy as hell, and they bring it, every time.

So yes, the short form requires more of a commitment, a leap of faith. Risk it. Dive into the fling, knowing the foreplay and after-cuddling are on you to provide. 

Comment on your favorite short story to win a copy of Traveler Through Darkness!

The Glory of the Short Story

by Fierce Dolan

I started out writing fiction, and by started out I mean dictated stories to my mom, who transcribed them when I was wee. Fiction was always my creative love, specifically short stories. Through my college writing curriculum I embraced the brevity, the economical poetry in saying everything I needed to with as few words as possible. I reveled in what was expressed between the words, as much as the story inked into every line.

I find short stories are like decoding a painting, while longer works are a feature film. Novels give everything away, leaving little for me to scheme, bridge, undo. But short stories with their broad strokes and vivid language, they inform me of the scene, yet allow my imagination to run amok and prod the blanks.

Not only do I adore short fiction, now I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to publish it. Better yet, I get to publish short erotica! Decadent’s The Edge series is a welcomed opportunity to forego the prelude, perhaps even the foreplay, and just get right down to business. It was a perfect opportunity to unveil characters and their complexities in only a glimpse of their lives, starting with Tarik and Wo.

Tarik is an Arab Muslim, though he’s been in the western world long enough to have established a bountiful life in the United States. Wo, a young Navajo man, is proudly out but on the fringe, himself. What possible catharsis could be evoked by their chance meeting, the night of Tarik’s bachelor party, in less than 4,000 words?

On Traveler Through Darkness

A lifetime of want collides with fate the night of Tarik’s bachelor party, fulfilling his deepest secret desire—only it’s not with the strippers his Arab friends hired to cater to his every whim. Uncomfortable with the debauched festivities, Tarik ducks out of the soirée, stumbling into Wo, a kind Navajo artist, who forces him to say what he really wants, then gives it to him, all night.

From Traveler Through Darkness

“I am so sorry–” Tarik began.

“It’s okay. It was an accident.” The words were rushed as he pulled the soaked sweatshirt from his skin and fanned the dripping tablet. Black smudges coated the fingertips and heel of his left hand.

“I've ruined your work,” Tarik lamented, motioning toward the pad.

“Oh, no. It's just a sketch. I was fascinated with the moonlight on the harbor.” He flashed a charcoal rendering of the midnight water. A long, shimmering black strand fell forward of the band securing his hair, lighting just at the edge of his upturned mouth. “No masterpiece here.”

Piercing umber eyes met Tarik’s, and the gentle smile relaxed his shoulders. “You were in the ballroom earlier.”

“Mmm. The bachelor party.”

Tarik pursed his lips, nodding once. “I’m staying in the hotel. Allow me to get for you a clean shirt.”

“It’s fine. I don’t have far to go.”

“In this cold, with no jacket, you will freeze. Please. I insist—”

“What's your name?” the younger man asked.

“I am Tarik.” He bowed.

“I'm Wo.” He nodded. “Thank you for your kind offer, Tarik.”

~*~*~*~

One lucky reader who is 18 or older and comments here will be randomly selected to win a free ebook of Traveler Through Darkness. Good luck!

Enjoy Traveler Through Darkness along with the Reader’s Guide.

Bio

MezzoFiction author, Fierce is imagination shapeshifted as a scribe taunting blank pages and carpal tunnel, neither of which are much use for deadlines. Close allies are impeccable timing and a trusty masseuse. Being a switch I/ENFP doesn't hurt. For kicks Fierce has other personas across several genres, tends to fill in “Other” on surveys without explaining, and chooses the finality of the Japanese Tamagotchi.

In summary: Fierce write all kind of dirty things that you shouldn’t read, ever …

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