As the New York Times reported today: A United States District Court judge . . . blocked a White House policy barring military service by transgender troops, noting that the policy did not appear to be based on facts, but instead on ‘a desire to express disapproval of transgender people generally.’
I wrote a flash-fiction story when the President tweeted that policy in July — expecting it would be snapped up. No such luck: It was three months before a literary magazine called Ponder Review, from Mississippi University, accepted it, and it won’t be in print until December.
Until then, I can only offer a taste. But I’ll tell you it was inspired by that book I’ve been reading on flash fiction — a chapter that urged looking for a classical mythical character or story to put into a modern setting. The title alone will tell you where I’m heading. Read the opening here=> Tiresias
Halfway Down the Stairs, a respected online literary magazine whose editors are spread across the globe, set “Gravity” as the theme for its June 2017 issue. Such themes are common, and the editors seldom spell out exactly what they’re looking for; one suspects they’re hoping writers will show them work they hadn’t anticipated but will like.
