For the second year in a row, I am participating in #NYCMidnight’s Flash Fiction Challenge. The deadline is in five hours, but I’ve already submitted. My method is this: Wait up late to get my prompts on Friday night, then sleep on them, hopefully dreaming up a good idea or two. Then wake up and brainstorm, then start writing. I had a draft ready by 10:30 a.m. Last year I had my husband and kids read my story and help me make revisions, but this year I have some awesome beta readers, a breakout group from the NYCM forums. They helped me tremendously. I generally edit and revise as I go, though, and can finish fairly quickly. I submitted my story before noon Sunday, a good 12 hours before the deadline.

In this challenge, the prompts I received are as follows:

Genre — thriller

Location — a carnival

Object — a hairbrush

Once we’re given the go-ahead, I’ll post my story here. For now, the title and synopsis:

Baptism by Fire

A child’s first time at a carnival, a young couple’s first date, and an older couple’s celebration of their first kiss 50 years ago converge with a secret agent’s first mission: Find a bomber before the fireworks start and they all get blown to bits.

And that’s my first good thing for today, a thrilling writing weekend.