Although my everyday work involves writing nonfiction, I have been writing fiction for pleasure ever since I was a child. I especially like the challenge of writing "flash" -- or very short -- fiction, and the elusive question of constitutes a short story. Must a short story have a beginning, middle, and end? Can a short story be -- as some have claimed -- a single sentence?
I like telling stories. When I'm talking I tend to relate events in terms of telling a story. I often think I should write more and talk less. What I like about writing is the clean slate at the beginning. The story -- if there is one -- is mine alone to tell or not tell, my characters will behave as I say, fail or succeed in their endeavors as I direct. Since I write fiction for pleasure I have never attempted to have my stories published, although I also sometimes write poetry and once had a poem published in a literary journal.
Although I read the work of current authors, I find that my inspiration and solace are often in the classics. A few of my favorite books are Middlemarch, by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans); A Dream in Polar Fog, by Yuri Rytkheu; The Last Day, by J.D. Landis.
No one has written on Denise Landis's wall.
No one has written on Denise Landis's wall.