Emily’s Bio: Emily Freeborn is an author currently on submission with her debut NA heist novel (Sinners or Saints) and an entertainment law student at Chapman University in Southern California. She loves writing stories that explore the minds of complicated, morally grey women. When she's not busy plotting fictional crimes and racking up a search history that would probably get her put on an FBI watchlist, she enjoys hanging out with her chaotic husky and hunting down rare books. You can find her on social media at @authoremilywrites and contact her agent, Lauren Galit of LKG Agency, for inquiries.
Interview with Emily Freeborn: Spring 2026 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up
Interview With Sophie Claire, Runner-Up in the WOW! Spring Flash Fiction Contest
First, here is more about Sophie:
Sophie Claire writes emotional stories set in England and in sunny Provence, where she spent her summers as a child.
Previously, she worked in marketing and proofreading academic papers, but now she’s delighted to spend her days dreaming up heartwarming contemporary romance stories set in beautiful places.
Interview With Renee Rockland, Runner-Up in the WOW! Spring Flash Fiction Contest
First, here's more about Renee:
Renee Rockland is an award-winning short fiction and flash writer whose stories have appeared in a handful of anthologies including Beach Secrets and Beach Holidays (Cat & Mouse Press), The Year’s Best Dog Stories 2021 (Secant Publishing) and the forthcoming Winter Solstice (Devil’s Party Press) as well as a number of online publications. Her story, “Her Mark,” was a Runner-up in the Fall 2022 WOW! Flash Fiction Contest. A native of Iowa, she’s traded cornfields for seashores and resides with her wife, twin daughters and a menagerie of rescue and foster dogs in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where she happily hoards books and is a member of the Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild.
INTERVIEW WITH DR. JO SKINNER: SPRING 2021 FLASH FICTION CONTEST RUNNER UP
Jo’s Bio: Jo is a Brisbane based general practitioner who has worked in urban, regional and rural Australia as well as Ireland. She is married with three teenagers, a dog and a cat.
Interview with Dawn McCaig: Spring Flash Fiction Runner Up
Dawn McCaig is an Assistant Crown Attorney who prosecutes all manner of serious crime. She escapes the stress of her professional life by writing fiction. She lives in Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada.
If you haven't read her story, "In Bloom," take a moment to do so and then come back to learn about how she writes.
------interview by Sue Bradford Edwards------
WOW: “In Bloom” is such a chilling piece. What was the inspiration behind this story?
Dawn: My work as a criminal prosecutor has definitely influenced my writing. I’ve never had a case with a body buried under the front shrubs, but I do deal with chilling fact patterns, including homicides, on a regular basis. My professional life is very satisfying, but it immerses me in the worst the world has to offer, so I’m not surprised my imagination treads dark waters.
WOW: Your work definitely seems to fuel your writing. Revision is a vital part of the writing process. How did “In Bloom” change from the first draft to the last?
Dawn: The first draft of the story had looser language; it was too « flowery. » I cut around 100 words, and when I read it now I still see 10 more I probably should have tossed.
WOW: Because it is so short, many details don’t make it into a flash fiction story. We don’t know, for example, this history of Miranda and Nigel’s marriage. How did you decide which details to include in the story?
Dawn: The word limit made me a vicious editor; if something didn’t further the plot or theme I (hopefully) deleted it. I left most of the details of the marital disputes out to create some moral ambiguity - should Miranda have killed Nigel? Did he deserve it? From her perspective, yes to both, but we’ll never really know.
WOW: Individual words in your story, including exhume, bone-white, and sinew, help create the dark tone. What advice do you have for our readers about using word-choice to create a mood?
Dawn: I’m not sure I have a lot of advice to offer, but I do think it’s good practice to figure out the mood you want to evoke with your work, and to sit in that mindset for a few minutes before you start drafting.
For this story, I reached for language that describes graveyards and corpses because they provoke feelings of darkness and unease.
WOW: What are your writing plans for the future? Can you tell our readers where else they can see your work?
Dawn: Confession: I love writing fiction, but I have only just started letting other people read it. This is my first published piece and I am beyond delighted. I do have a draft of a novel nearly finished, so we’ll see what becomes of it. It’s a courtroom murder mystery, of course.
WOW: Good luck finalizing the draft of your novel! Murder and a mystery seem to be right up your alley.
INTERVIEW WITH CHLOE GRECH: 2020 SPRING FLASH FICTION CONTEST RUNNER UP
Chloe’s Bio:
Chloe has had a passion for storytelling ever since she could first form words. Whether that be unsuccessfully convincing her mother that it was her brother who spilt paint on the carpet, or missing the bus because she was off building her own worlds, not much has changed since she grew up. Chloe is now bringing stories to the screen as a Producer and Director of children’s and adult animation in Sydney, Australia.
Unlike the mad world of animation, Chloe enjoys the solitary gauntlet that is trying to put pen to paper. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle put it beautifully when he said that “a book is a mummified soul.” Unfortunately, writing one isn’t so beautiful and is just as excruciating as it sounds, but whether it be on the train, in a meeting, or it’s three o’clock in the morning, Chloe would be rather doing nothing else.
Excited to further explore her writing career, Chloe is working on her first manuscript, hoping to fulfill her ten-year-old self’s dreams of telling stories to anyone who will listen.
Take a minute to read Chloe’s story, “The Quiet that Follows,” and then come back to enjoy this chat with the author.
WOW: There is a story behind every story. Can you tell our readers what inspired “The Quiet that Follows”?
Chloe: I have always been interested in the different way death is perceived in different cultures. The one I was most familiar with growing up was the Grim Reaper, which is always depicted as a sinister and foreboding personification of Death. But why should death be seen as cruel when it only makes us appreciate our impermanence?
WOW: At first, readers assume Renfri is hunting the deer to feed her people. Only later do they realize she is a different kind of huntress. How did this surprise develop during the rewrite process?
Chloe: I always like leaving the reader something to think about toward the end of my pieces, so I knew early on that I wanted the reveal to come at the end. My hope is that in misleading the reader into believing Renfri is human, and therefore sharing a similar experience of death, the reader would be forced to challenge their perception of it once it is revealed that she is Death. I don’t believe that I would have achieved the same impact if I had introduced Renfri as Death earlier in the piece as the reader would not instinctually empathise with her.
WOW: In your “day job” you produce and direct animation. Can you tell our readers a bit about it and how this work shapes your writing?
Chloe: I have been in animation for seven years, mainly in management roles, but recently I have had the amazing opportunity to flex my creative muscles in the director’s chair. Animation is obviously a very visual medium, so in my work I have to have clear direction on character’s movements and actions when working with animators. I think this translates into my writing style as I tend to use verbs rather than adjectives and like to emphasise action. I do often find myself being excessive with my stage direction though, which I try to be conscious of.
WOW: That's good advice for all of us especially if we write things that will be animated or illustrated. What advice do you have for writers who are hesitant to attempt flash fiction?
Chloe: It can be intimidating trying to structure a story with deep and complex characters in less than two pages. If you’re unsure how to tackle the challenge, I would suggest approaching it as if you were writing the first two pages of a story you have always wanted to write, or better yet, the final two pages. Your characters will then feel as if they have developed over, and survived, an entire book. Flash fiction is also an amazing exercise on restraint and saying more with less. I like to think that instead of me being paid per word, I’m the one paying.
WOW: That's excellent advice on working with flash characters. What else are you working on? Where can readers find more of your work?
Chloe: I am a chronic project-ditcher. I have plenty of starting chapters and story outlines but no real completed pieces (yet!). That is why I find flash and microfiction so fun and rewarding, because it isn’t as daunting as a 350-page novel. The projects I’m currently working on are a high fantasy novel and a series of single-shot scripts, which are like flash fiction but in film form. I have only just begun to delve back into my writing so I don’t have many pieces under my belt, but I have plans to launch a blog soon.
WOW: Don’t we all have files full of story beginnings? We’re so glad that flash and microfiction are rewarding for you and, in turn, for our readers! We are looking forward to seeing more of your work in the future, especially getting to see your scripts as films.
Interviewed by Sue Bradford Edwards who refuses to disclose how many abandoned first chapters she has on her desktop. Sue is the author of over 25 books for young readers. To find out more about her writing, visit her blog, One Writer's Journey.
Sue is also the instructor for Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults (next session begins October 5, 2020) and Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults (next session begins October 5, 2020).





