“Flash Fiction Calls to Me” RPLA Showcase: Joan J. Harris

It takes true skill to immerse a reader fully into a piece while using few words. Flash fiction requires a combination of tight prose and deliberate word choice to make less than 1,000 words pack a punch. Joan J. Harris is one of those masterful wordsmiths who can turn a short piece of work into something truly wonderful. Her piece, Scheduled Delivery, is evidence of her skill. It won First Place Unpublished Flash Fiction in the 2018 Royal Palm Literary Awards. Learn more about the winning entry and how Joan uses people watching to enhance her work in this week’s RPLA Showcase.

Joan’s Writing Journey

Joan has enjoyed a variety of careers. From a high school stint as a soda jerk to teacher, to full time parent of four sons, to a private practice as a marriage and family therapist. With them all, she managed to occasionally find time to write. Usually for her own pleasure but occasionally a professional piece was published in a local newspaper. Then there was a brief foray into writing a family issues question and answer column for the hometown paper. Today she continues a limited amount of work as a therapist but is focusing on writing stories with a purpose. “I have always enjoyed being a people watcher. Fascinating people and their real life stories just beg to be told. I can’t resist.”

The Winning Entry, Scheduled Delivery

Logline: They each waited in dread. If it was going to happen, it would be between three o’clock and four. The hour seemed interminable.

What made this piece special for Joan? “Perhaps it was the 100^th Anniversary of the Armistice or the continuing heartbreaking stories of the resurgence of antisemitism that brought stories of war to my mind. I think the thing that made this story special is that in less than 700 words it connected the reader to a time, a situation, and a main character.”

Two Truths and a Lie, Writer’s Edition

Accept criticism as helpful, not hurtful.

Avoid adverbs and adjectives.

Write, read, do a first edit and then put away for a time. Come back to edit again.

The lie? “I don’t believe #2, although many good writers follow that rule.”

Other Works by Joan

“Flash fiction calls to me. I enjoy writing a brief story as well as I can, then moving on to another vignette. I have published five children’s books about a dragon named Billy Bob who lives in a castle with Princess Betty Lou Sue, plays the kazoo, and makes s’mores with his fiery breath. He also has a very large dragon heart and attempts to make a better world for his schoolmates.”

Coming Next from this Author

Joan is back to work on her children’s books. “Soon to be published is another children’s book, When Pigs Fly. It is about a French flying truffle pig. I am also working on the final edits of a memoir, Only in Florida, which chronicles the people, the times and our personal journey of taking a one year plan for an adventure in living in Florida, to a lifetime love affair with the Sunshine State.”

See Joan’s Work

Joan’s books are listed on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Check out her Amazon author page to learn more about this talented writer.

More About RPLA

The Royal Palm Literary Awards competition is a service of the Florida Writers Association established to recognize excellence in members’ published and unpublished works while providing objective and constructive written assessments for all entrants. Judges include literary agents, publishers, film producers, current or retired professors, teachers, librarians, editors, bestselling and award-winning authors, and journalists from across the nation. Entries are scored against the criteria set by RPLA using rubrics tailored to each genre. Winners are announced at the annual FWA conference during the RPLA awards banquet. To learn more about RPLA, click here for the guidelines.