FlashSpec Volume One was first released in July 2006 as an experiment in flash, speculative fiction. The number of submissions we received and the overall response to the very first edition was truly amazing!

The carefully selected collection of stories includes works from Simon Haynes, Paul Sheringham, Stephanie Campisi, Mark Smith, Julia Felicity Ker and Stephen Jones, to name just a few, with each easy-to-read story less than a thousand words long!

From spine-tingling horror and spellbinding fantasy to creative and humorous science fiction, Volume One offers a fascinating and entertaining sampling of original speculative fiction from a raft of international authors.

From The Editor

"I was first introduced to flash fiction when I stumbled across the term during an Internet search of writing-related sites.

Fearing that the word flash may be leading me to a site one would never publicly admit to visiting, I was pleasantly surprised (and somewhat relieved) to find myself at the home of aurealisXpress, a monthly, electronic newsletter for subscribers of Aurealis Magazine.

I was even more surprised to discover that the flash fiction they spoke of referred to a monthly contest where submitted stories had to be fifty words or less!

I thought, how could anyone write a story in fifty words or less? Never being one to shrink away from a writing challenge, I read their simple guidelines and bravely submitted a reworked short story I had been toying with as part of a writing exercise. The story was called Anomaly, and not only was it accepted, but it won the aurealisXpress monthly prize for June 2002. After that I was hooked!"

Volume One features the following running order of stories and contributing authors:

     Foreword
     Anomaly by Neil Cladingboel
     H for Human by Julia Felicity Ker
     Trick or Treat by E. N. Taylor
     The Intruder by Jackie Hosking
     Danika by Amanda Pillar
     Disconnected by Sharyn Lilley
     Phantom by Juliet Bathory
     From Famine To Feast by Stephanie Campisi
     Aftermath by Susan J. Boulton
     Smoke by Lynne Lumsden Green
     Roadkill by Paul Sheringham
     Intervention by Chris Garrett
     Stableboy by Neil Cladingboel
     The Night Visitor by John Craig
     The Shark God by Brian C. Malone
     The Kiss by Mark Smith
     The Cold Clichés by Daniel Bieger
     Pastimes by Simon Haynes
     Blood Lust by Juliet Bathory
     Bedtime Story by Christopher Elston
     Fallen by Neil Cladingboel
     The Coin by Stephen Jones
     The Hounds by Elaine Shipp
     Flowers for Dawn by Peter Hart
     The Job by Tsana Dolichva
     Last Wave by Lynne Lumsden Green
     Yum Cha by Paul Haines
     Hair Raid by Neil Cladingboel
     Peace by Amanda Pillar
     Click by Chris Garrett
     Shadow by Bren MacDibble
     Roadside Assistance by John Craig
     Wilful Hands by Juliet Bathory
     Angel of Death by Christopher Elston
     Finders, Keepers by Marty Young
     Pest Control by Elaine Shipp
     Behind Closed Doors by Theresia van Walsum and Neil Cladingboel