Lisa Jade
Science Fiction Author
Short Stories
With the start of 2016 came a new emphasis in the publishing world - flash fiction. Short stories have been gathering momentum for a while now, as novellas and novelettes draw in more readers than ever. A fast paced world means that there's more of a demand than ever for short, quick, inspiring fiction. While some writers may choose to stick to novels, not me! I adore the challenge that comes with writing new forms of fiction. So in addition to my ongoing novels, I've also dedicated more time to writing up shorter pieces for you.
The ones towards the end of this list are flash fiction, so they make for very quick reads. The Bout is a novella and around 75 pages long, and there's some in between. I've put them all up here in PDF format for you to read, download and share as you please!
Particularly enjoyed a story, or have a critique on one of the pieces below? Let me know via the Contact page.
The Bout
Seven years ago, a deadly strain of weaponised influenza escapes. In the space of a few months, it tore through the population of Earth, killing over 7 billion people.
It's been about two years since Harri has seen another living person.
Tired of the loneliness that comes with being possibly being the last person on Earth, she decides to try and chase down that old pipe dream - society - by visiting a place that was once rumoured to be a homestead for survivors.
But she may be surprised with what she finds...
Greyzoned
In January 2016, I entered the first round of the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge. Entrants were asked to write a short story of no more than 2500 words in a specific genre, characters and themes.
Genre: Suspense
Character: A Nanny
Theme: A condemned apartment building
The genre definitely lies outside of my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed the challenge and had some great feedback from the judges.
This story received second place in my Heat and enabled me to move on to the second round of the competition!
With A Whisper
With A Whisper is a 1,200 word short that I initially wrote to enter into the Writer's Forum magazine here in the UK. While it didn't win, I did receive some positive comments about the character, world and edgy realism.
The nameless main character is the sole human surviving in an abandoned city. Months ago, people began disappearing, and before they knew it they were the only one left. They sit on a rooftop and look out over the city, looking back on the recent events.
Fortune 5000
In July 2016 I entered NYC Midnight's Flash Fiction Competition, and was tasked with writing a max 1000 word short story in 48 hours, including the following:
Genre - Suspense
Location - Parking Garage
Subject - Fortune Cookie
This was great fun and received 5th place in Challenge #1, earning me 11 points to carry forward to the upcoming second challenge!
Enjoy!
Prodigy
Here's the latest addition to the short stories page. This is the second challenge in round one of the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge. The prompts this time were:
Genre: Science Fiction
Location: Hot air balloon
Subject: Four leaf clover
I had a great time doing this story, and was pleased to have received sci fi as my allocated genre! This story came second in my heat, earning me 14 points and getting me through to round 2!
Just A Touch
This was my entry to Challenge #2 of the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge, 2017.
Romance
A Jazz Club
A Name Badge
Tough for me since I don't normally write pure romance. So I took a darker approach to it and utilised half of an old idea with some new aspects, in hope of writing a tragic love story.
Enjoy!
The Descent
For Round 2 of the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge 2016, I was tasked with writing a horror story. Prompts included:
Genre: Horror
Location: Freight Elevator
Subject: Helmet
This wasn't easy for me since I'm not experienced in horror, but I gave it a good go and am pretty happy with what I came up with! This also earned 4th in the round and got me through to the final.
The Jitters
The Jitters is my first round entry for the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge 2017.
Guidelines:
Historical Fiction
A Rope
A siezed plot of land
This was tough for me since it's the opposite of what I would normally write - luckily, we have some very interesting local history I was able to pick at for inspiration (and a friend who's a bit of a history buff!)