My first online class offering (starting January 7th) is called Write in a Flash. The title is, in part, a play on words because – of course – the term flash fiction exists (which we will cover), but I also want the title to make you think of writing in two different ways: quickly and/or from the moment of inspiration (another kind of flash). The class will cover short versions of each genre (non-fiction, fiction, drama, poetry) which will hopefully give each participant a chance to try different forms as well as give them pieces to work with towards longer works (or publishable work) in the future.

I’m thinking about that class offering this morning (registration is open, but I know most people will sign up after Christmas) as I look over the few items I have to discuss.

Non-fiction: I finished Sandra Beasley’s memoir Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl. Filled with personal reflections on a life filled with food allergies and lots of research into the issue of living with food allergies, this was a great read. I think it could make an interesting gift as well especially for anyone who has ever thought food allergies are fake.

Fiction: I have two fiction pieces to mention. The first is the short story collection An Orinthologist’s Guide to Life by Ann Hood which I picked up when she read at the Charlotte Writer’s Club. The Goodreads description is a good one so I’ll let you click over there to check it out. The second fiction book I finished was Stephen King’s 11-22-63. I used to be a huge Stephen King fan. When I was about 15 I became obsessed; I was gobbling up every book of his I could find at the used book store. Heck, when I got into the Dark Tower series and new books were coming out I sprung for new editions! Then there was his book “The Cell,” and I quit reading him for a while. But, 11-22-63 is a really terrific read. This book isn’t just good for Stephen King; it’s just good.

Drama: OK, I’m cheating a bit with the drama category because instead of books I’m going  to mention a few things I have watched recently. I’ll mention one fiction and one non-fiction. The first is a movie called Puncture. I wasn’t sure about this at first because it dealt with someone suing someone else and sometimes those movies are so FAKE, but this one was pretty well done. The other I’ll note is Craigslist Joe. I like the concept more than the actual documentary, the narrative felt a little off to me. Still can’t quite put my finger on why…

Poetry: My most recent poetry read is Jessy Randall’s Injecting Dreams into Cows. I’ve read Jessy’s other books, and I’m glad I went ahead and grabbed this one as well. As more people roughly around my same generation start publishing more I love seeing what things from their childhoods and young adult lives will make their ways into their work. In this case, you can’t go wrong with several Ms. Pac-Man poems. I still remember that as the one video game I ever saw my mom play in the arcade.

So these are just a few of the things that have inspired me lately. What has inspired you?

PS I will try to get Thursday Poem Share up this week, but if I don’t make it – sorry in advance!