Alex Flinn's Short Stories

Welcome to my short story page.  I love to write short stories and have had them in several anthologies.  Check this space soon for a short story I wrote while I was finishing Breaking Point.  It has characters from both Breathing Underwater and Breaking Point in it.

Coming soon . . .

Twice Told: Original Stories Inspired by Original Art, Dutton, April 6, 2006.  The anthologist took nine charcoal drawings by artist, Scott Hunt, and gave each one to two writers with the assignment to write a story about it.  The drawings are weird -- a cake on a table with an ax, for example.  The writers worked separately to create their sometimes startlingly different stories.  Authors include Sarah Dessen, Ellen Wittlinger, M.T. Anderson, and William Sleator.  My picture was of a child in a bunny costume.  My friend, Nancy Werlin wrote the other story based on this picture.

"Standout pieces are Margaret Peterson Haddix and Jaime Adoff's responses to the moving visual celebration of old-fashioned African-American love in the form of an elderly 'Couple,' and Nancy Werlin and Alex Flinn's takes on a small child dressed as a 'Bunny.'" -Kirkus Reviews

"This is a refreshing departure from most thematic short story collections." -Booklist (starred review)

What Are You Afraid Of?  Candlewick, Edited by Donald R. Gallo, July 11, 2006.  This is an anthology of stories about phobias with contributors including David Lubar, Neal Shusterman, Joan Bauer, Ron Koertge, and Angela Johnson.  This was fun for me because my story set the whole thing in motion, sort of.  I'd written a story about a boy with agoraphobia (fear of open spaces, basically fear of leaving the house) and asked Don to let me know if he ever had an anthology in which it would fit.  Don's wife, C.J., suggested a phobia anthology.  I read the anthology a few months ago, and it's really my favorite anthology ever -- no stories to skip over (and I'm a major skipper). 

Already in print . . .

Destination: Unexpected, Candlewick, Edited by Donald R. Gallo.  Stories of journeys.  Contributors include Joyce Sweeney, Ellen Wittlinger, and Will Weaver.  My story is about a girl who accepts a ride to a sleepaway camp where she'll be a counselor . . . and learns that she and her driver have a tragedy in common.  It was the first two chapters of a novel that didn't work out, but it made a wonderful short story.

Rush Hour: Sin, Random House, edited by Michael Cart.  Stories about all different kinds of sin.  Contributors include Joan Bauer (fiction), Hazel Rochman (nonfiction), and Chris Lynch (with an excerpt from his novel, Inexcusable).  My story is about a girl's manipulative affair with her teacher.