Flash Fiction Friday

Finals & A Freaky Short Story

Happy May Day! The flowers are blooming, pollen is in the air, and spring is in full swing! Did or do you celebrate May Day? I see it as a reminder to appreciate gifts of the season, even though I am now officially in finals season.

I have a few big projects left on the horizon in my PhD program before I reach the official halfway mark of my program. Once I complete these projects, I will be facing what is called the "Qualifying Exam,” which is something I am really looking forward to.

No really, I am.

It’s a milestone on my journey to earning my Doctor of Philosophy in Education for Social Justice. I am proud to be on this path and excited to see what’s ahead!

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Conquering Comp Titles

My series for authors about Conquering Comp Titles is officially publicly open!

This series discusses how to use comparative titles as ways to improve your writing, design your marketing plan, and to use as a tool of networking with your community of readers. Here are the current chapters:

• Chapter 1: Conquering Comp. Titles

• Chapter 2: Finding Comp. Titles

• Chapter 3: Marketing

There’s one more chapter to go and I hope these are helpful for you on your writing journeys!

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Flash Fiction Friday!

Alrighty, here it is! This week’s selection of Flash Fiction Prompts. Use these to create, blend them, or use them as a springboard for thought.

Feel free to leave your short story in the comments below or leave us a link in the comments to discover your Substack pages!

Prompt 1: A predator spots its prey

and/or

Prompt 2: The guests have arrived.

In this week’s edition, I went with Prompt 1. Full disclosure, this drabble is creepy to me. This was inspired in part by an episode of Hoarders I watched where one of the people had a ton of dolls. This shooketh me on a deep level and I’ve decided to incorporate creepy dolls into my novel Hoard so for any of you who are excited about reading my future book about a professional home organizer who has to return to the hoard she left behind, this is the tone of that tale.

“Collector” by Sarah Faxon

From across the room, I saw her.

The glittering diamonds on her garish mask might have concealed the details of her face, but there would be no hiding from me.

A collector of pretty things had an eye for such delights.

I crossed the room, sliding past the shoulders of dealers and keepers.

With a velveteen touch my fingers caressed the porcelain cheek.

Cold.

A chill tingled and bit its way up my arm.

"I'll take this one," I whispered to the seller.

"This doll's not for sale."

My arm recoiled like a snake. My lifelong dream would have to wait.

© 2026 Sarah Faxon

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This is most assuredly going to turn into something longer. I may actually tease this one out into a full short story that I may include in my soon-to-be coming collection of short stories. But more on those details later…

In next week’s edition of Flash Fiction Friday, I will be dropping my review on Luke Dumas’ latest novel, Nothing Tastes as Good. I finished reading it a few days ago and holy guacamole, Batman, did I eat this one up! (Puns intended). I kept notes in my reading journal that I’m transcribing into a more sensical and presentable collection of words which I will happily present to you next time.

Let me know what you think of this tiny tale, drop your links to your short stories, or feel free to say hi in the comments below!

I hope you have fun with these prompts and talk to you all soon!

-Sarah