Flash & Dazzle

ISSUE TWO - DEADLINE EXTENDED!

🎧 FLASH & DAZZLE, ISSUE TWO (DOG DAYS: MINI PLAYLIST) 🎧

Dogs have been muses for artists for centuries - how could they not be, as close as they are with man? Songs about dogs are plenty abundant, but here are some of our favorites to inspire you. Write about dogs literally, metaphorically, spiritually, symbolically - and then send in your work for our reading pleasure.

📚FLASH & DAZZLE, ISSUE TWO (DOG DAYS): REQUIRED READING📚

A little lost on what DOG DAYS is all about? Here's some required reading for the class 📓 The work listed focuses on canine companions and how our relationships with dogs change our lives. DOG DAYS is hungry for work that showcases what dogs symbolize to humanity, and to you.

DOG DAYS: WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.

Simply put, for Flash & Dazzle's second issue, we're looking for work about dogs. However, to elaborate:

- TALES OF INNOCENCE. Oftentimes, dogs represent innocence. Whether you think of your childhood hound or a friendly stray, we want your stories of naïveté (and/or its death).

- TALES OF LOYALTY. Dogs are often loyal to a fault. Where has your loyalty been well-earned? Where has your loyalty been poorly given?

- TALES OF LOSS. Dogs' lives are so much shorter than ours. Such love ends in such loss; it transcends description. But try to describe it anyway.

- TALES OF REDEMPTION. Lost dogs find their way home. Lonely people find companions in their canines. How have dogs redeemed you?

Hi! Thanks for asking.

In a cover letter, I typically look for (and include in my own, when I'm submitting to magazines and journals) the title and word count of the piece(s) being submitted, whether or not the piece(s) is/are simultaneously submitted to other publications, and any content warnings for your piece(s) if graphic content is included. Usually cover letters are pretty short and sweet and just include any information about the writing you want the magazine's reader/editor to know.

The theme for Issue Two is Dog Days.

"Tell us your stories of sweltering summers spent running through fields with your childhood dog beside you. Sing us your songs of strays on the street, moonbound mutts, and fading pawprints in the mud.

"This issue will be a love letter to canines and the ways they shape and change us."

FLASH FICTION SUBMISSIONS

SHORT FICTION SUBMISSIONS

POETRY SUBMISSIONS

CREATIVE NONFICTION SUBMISSIONS

For submission guidelines, visit the "Submissions" page on our website.

Big news:

Flash & Dazzle’s inaugural issue, “Convenience Store Quarterly,” will release digitally on Tuesday, April 7!

I know the process of this issue’s construction has not been widely advertised here, but unfortunately life has come at me fast recently and I have been more focused on doing the work than discussing it. However, it’s paid off – I’m really proud of what I have made (in tandem with our incredible contributors, who are named above, on the issue’s back cover) and am so excited to share with our audience.

🚨DEADLINE EXTENSION🚨

To be real . . . So far we've sort of flopped. 🥴 We have had ZERO SUBMISSIONS for Issue One so far, so we are extending our deadline by another month! That gives you beautiful creators another month to cook something up and send it our way.

CONVENIENCE STORE QUARTERLY: PROMPTS & PREMISES

Writing about convenience stores can seem a little niche. But CONVENIENCE STORE QUARTERLY isn't just about the 7-11 down the street from your house - it's about liminality, mystery, and mundanity that has the potential to become extraordinary. Your local gas station can make a brief cameo at most, and your work might still fit the issue. Here are a few prompts to get you started.

ISSUE ONE (CONVENIENCE STORE QUARTERLY): What we're looking for.

In Flash & Dazzle's inaugural issue, we want to set the precedent for work that does exactly as our moniker asks. More specifically, in CONVENIENCE STORE QUARTERLY, we're seeking work that fits the theme in the following ways:

WORK THAT IS DIRTY, CRUMPLED, WITH SHARP EDGES. Think of your local gas station - the grime makes it what it is. Send work that glorifies the dirt in the grout.

WORK THAT EXPLORES EMPTY SPACES. Consider yourself the security camera - the fly on the wall. When it's just you, the man behind the cash register, and the moon, what is said and done?

WORK THAT UNDERSTANDS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SMALL PLEASURES. Just as a pack of cigarettes or a mediocre coffee from the corner store can make a bad day more bearable, we want work that gives us that little hit of zen in the chaos.

Meet the founder of Flash & Dazzle!

Hi! I'm Abigail Diaz, B.F.A. I graduated from Texas State in May 2023 with a Creative Writing degree. I'm a dog mom, PCOS baddie, Diet Coke girlie, Libra, tattoo enthusiast, poet, and novelist (not necessarily in that order).