--interview by Marcia Peterson
WOW: Congratulations on winning first place in our Spring 2026 Flash Fiction competition! What inspired you to write your story, “Sixteen Hours From Now?”
Mary Beth: The story started with the phrase “sixteen hours from now, yesterday.” I loved the contradiction of time moving forward and backward at once and started wondering what kind of story could grow from it. I had also read the six-word story “For sale: baby shoes, never worn,” often mistakenly attributed to Hemingway, and was amazed by how much sadness could be conveyed in so few words. That became my challenge: to write a very short, tragic story about a grieving mother trapped between trying to change the past and moving forward, reliving that choice over and over.
Mary Beth: The story started with the phrase “sixteen hours from now, yesterday.” I loved the contradiction of time moving forward and backward at once and started wondering what kind of story could grow from it. I had also read the six-word story “For sale: baby shoes, never worn,” often mistakenly attributed to Hemingway, and was amazed by how much sadness could be conveyed in so few words. That became my challenge: to write a very short, tragic story about a grieving mother trapped between trying to change the past and moving forward, reliving that choice over and over.
WOW: You mention in your bio that your writing often includes speculative elements, as your flash piece does. What do you like about speculative fiction?
Mary Beth: For me, speculative fiction scratches the “what if” itch. What if a watch you buried suddenly appeared in your hand? What if you were caught in a time loop, reliving the same choice over and over? I love starting with the world as we know it, adding one impossible thing, and seeing what it reveals about the characters. Grief can make time feel circular. Regret can make us replay the same moment again and again. Speculative fiction allows me to make those internal experiences literal on the page and explore very real emotions from a slightly off-kilter angle.
WOW: What advice would you give to someone wanting to try writing flash fiction for the first time?
Mary Beth: Flash fiction is a wonderful way to experiment with different voices and writing styles. I tend to write very place-specific, voice-forward stories, often with a Southern setting. For this contest, I chose to write something more interior and atmospheric, with the quality of a fever dream and a slightly British sensibility. My advice would be to use the short form as an opportunity to take a creative risk. Focus on one moment, include only the details the reader truly needs, and trust them to understand what you leave unsaid. A flash piece should feel compressed, but still complete.
WOW: You’re also currently working on a novel. Can you tell us anything about it, and what your novel writing journey has been like so far?
Mary Beth: My novel, The Letters No One Signed, is upmarket fiction with speculative elements. It follows a forty-six-year-old woman who returns to her late mother’s Tennessee farmhouse planning to sell it and leave again. Instead, she inherits a pregnant barn cat and a growing line of ghosts who want her to write letters to the living on their behalf. The one voice she most wants to hear, her mother’s, remains silent.
I began writing seriously after retiring from a career in user experience design and product storytelling. I had no formal background in writing, although I have been a voracious reader my entire life. I was learning to write while I was writing, and I had a handful of earlier manuscripts rejected along the way. Some were not as well written as I believed at the time. Others sagged in the middle, lacked tension, or had query letters that did not accurately reflect the manuscript. But each one taught me something.
When I finished The Letters No One Signed, I knew it was special and the best thing I had written. This summer, I signed with Jenny Bent and James Mustelier of The Bent Agency, and I’m now preparing to revise the novel with their guidance before it goes on submission to publishers. My best advice is to keep writing. If you stay with it, the lessons begin to come together on the page.
WOW: Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Mary Beth. Before you go, do you have any tips for our readers who may be thinking about entering writing contests?
Mary Beth: My first tip is simply to enter. Do not wait until you are certain your work is good enough, because most writers are never entirely certain. Look for contests with a prompt, word count, or set of guidelines that excites you. Read some of the previous winning entries to get a feel for the contest, then use its constraints to push yourself in a new direction. Follow the submission rules, stay within the word count, and proofread one last time before you hit send. But remember, the goal is not to write something perfect. It is to write something that lands. Judging is subjective, and a story that does not connect with one reader may be exactly the story another reader has been waiting for.
Contests have given me deadlines, helped me find my voice, and offered welcome validation without requiring me to tackle an entire novel. I’m answering these questions today because of a story that won, but I’ve written many, many more that didn’t win. My number one tip: keep writing!
Mary Beth: For me, speculative fiction scratches the “what if” itch. What if a watch you buried suddenly appeared in your hand? What if you were caught in a time loop, reliving the same choice over and over? I love starting with the world as we know it, adding one impossible thing, and seeing what it reveals about the characters. Grief can make time feel circular. Regret can make us replay the same moment again and again. Speculative fiction allows me to make those internal experiences literal on the page and explore very real emotions from a slightly off-kilter angle.
WOW: What advice would you give to someone wanting to try writing flash fiction for the first time?
Mary Beth: Flash fiction is a wonderful way to experiment with different voices and writing styles. I tend to write very place-specific, voice-forward stories, often with a Southern setting. For this contest, I chose to write something more interior and atmospheric, with the quality of a fever dream and a slightly British sensibility. My advice would be to use the short form as an opportunity to take a creative risk. Focus on one moment, include only the details the reader truly needs, and trust them to understand what you leave unsaid. A flash piece should feel compressed, but still complete.
WOW: You’re also currently working on a novel. Can you tell us anything about it, and what your novel writing journey has been like so far?
Mary Beth: My novel, The Letters No One Signed, is upmarket fiction with speculative elements. It follows a forty-six-year-old woman who returns to her late mother’s Tennessee farmhouse planning to sell it and leave again. Instead, she inherits a pregnant barn cat and a growing line of ghosts who want her to write letters to the living on their behalf. The one voice she most wants to hear, her mother’s, remains silent.
I began writing seriously after retiring from a career in user experience design and product storytelling. I had no formal background in writing, although I have been a voracious reader my entire life. I was learning to write while I was writing, and I had a handful of earlier manuscripts rejected along the way. Some were not as well written as I believed at the time. Others sagged in the middle, lacked tension, or had query letters that did not accurately reflect the manuscript. But each one taught me something.
When I finished The Letters No One Signed, I knew it was special and the best thing I had written. This summer, I signed with Jenny Bent and James Mustelier of The Bent Agency, and I’m now preparing to revise the novel with their guidance before it goes on submission to publishers. My best advice is to keep writing. If you stay with it, the lessons begin to come together on the page.
WOW: Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Mary Beth. Before you go, do you have any tips for our readers who may be thinking about entering writing contests?
Mary Beth: My first tip is simply to enter. Do not wait until you are certain your work is good enough, because most writers are never entirely certain. Look for contests with a prompt, word count, or set of guidelines that excites you. Read some of the previous winning entries to get a feel for the contest, then use its constraints to push yourself in a new direction. Follow the submission rules, stay within the word count, and proofread one last time before you hit send. But remember, the goal is not to write something perfect. It is to write something that lands. Judging is subjective, and a story that does not connect with one reader may be exactly the story another reader has been waiting for.
Contests have given me deadlines, helped me find my voice, and offered welcome validation without requiring me to tackle an entire novel. I’m answering these questions today because of a story that won, but I’ve written many, many more that didn’t win. My number one tip: keep writing!
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