Meet Tara Lynne Groth, Runner Up in the Winter 2018 Flash Fiction Contest

Tara Lynne Groth is a writer in North Carolina. She writes short fiction and poetry. She was accepted to the fiction workshop at the 2018 Looking Glass Rock Writers Conference. Tara Lynne placed second in the WOW! Women On Writing Summer 2016 Flash Fiction Contest, received honorable mention in the 2015 Carolina WomanWriting Contest, and was a semifinalist for the 2015 and 2016 James Applewhite Poetry Prize. She is an alumnus of the Southampton Writers Conference. In 2017 she published Magazine Queries That Worked, a guide for freelance journalists that features all of her successful query letters and the stories behind each article. She blogs at Write Naked and tweets at @WriteNaked. Visit her website at www.taralynnegroth.com.

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WOW: Congratulations on your top ten win in our Winter 2018 Flash Fiction competition! What inspired you to enter the contest?

Tara Lynne: Thanks! I've entered WOW contests before. A few years ago another one of my stories placed second. I took a break from submitting to contests and journals, and when I started submitting again I decided to send one of my recent pieces to WOW. I like that WOW partners with literary agents for their final judging process.

WOW: Can you tell us what encouraged the idea behind your story, "Ribbon?"

Tara Lynne: I've been doing family history research the past few years and I'm using the details of my ancestors' lives for plot development in a series of interconnected short stories. "Ribbon" is based on what I've learned about my relatives three generations back.

WOW: What key elements do you think make a great piece of flash fiction?

Tara Lynne: I love having a twist at the end of the story, but it needs to be supported by subtle hints throughout the story.

WOW: You were accepted to the fiction workshop at the 2018 Looking Glass Rock Writers Conference, which sounds exciting. What was that experience like?

Tara Lynne: The organizers of the writers conference run a great event. The mornings are reserved for time with the visiting speakers and the afternoons are free time to explore the quaint town of Brevard or nearby hiking trails in the Pisgah National Forest. The school has a phenomenal on-campus catering service. The organizers really take care of every need so that all the writers can focus on their work and the insight of the speakers. I would definitely go again!

WOW: Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Tara Lynne. Before you go, do you have any tips for our readers who may be thinking about entering writing contests?

Tara Lynne: Find or make a good system for tracking your submissions. It can get confusing when you have several stories under consideration at different contests. I not only like to track the date of submission and the contest deadline, but I also track the date the contest announces winners (if/when that date is provided). That way if the story didn't place I can submit it elsewhere right away.

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For more information about our quarterly Flash Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Essay contests, visit our contest page here.