Meet The Editor #2: Nina Lichtenstein

November Submission Theme: BODY

Hi, We’re The Flashies, and We Want To Publish Your Work.

We’re a writing group devoted to flash CNF (creative nonfiction), and we’ve spent the last two years editing each other’s pieces while racking up publishing creds. We love working in flash— the electric way a single sentence, a single short paragraph, a single phrase can change the way you view yourself and the world in the span of a moment. We want to create more opportunities for short flash nonfiction in the literary world, and are excited to do so here.

The five of us will co-edit the IN A FLASH literary magazine here on Substack, each month publishing one piece of excellent creative nonfiction, written to theme, in 500 words or less. We’ll also spotlight the author with a Q&A section and lots of editorial compliments.

If you’re already excited about submitting, yay! Here’s a link to our submission guidelines. Our first submission period will be from October 1-15 on the theme of STILL. (Interpret as you will!)

If you’re already excited about reading, yay! Please subscribe and tell your friends.

Meet The Editor: Nina Lichtenstein

Hi, I’m Nina!

I look very much forward to my role as one of the editors at IN A FLASH lit mag. I have found that being a reader of submissions to literary publications feeds my creative soul as much as it teaches me about the submission/acceptance/rejections process. This in turn has helped me to take my own many rejections with greater ease! In my work as an editor, I’m especially excited to collaborate with authors turning already strong pieces of writing into the best they can be, through that fun but often challenging dance of “chisel and expand.”

The Essay

For our first 5 posts, we’ll be introducing ourselves to you through our own flash writing. Here’s Nina’s essay.

Eighty

My sweaty torso is slumped over his legs as I face his feet. We lie like this for some time, quiet, our breaths slowing. I look up and notice his toenails. Too long. They need a trim. I offer. “Sure,” he says. I kneel in front of him. The light is soft from the small bedside lamp; the room is warm from our lovemaking. Small wedges of hard nail fall to the floor, my free hand holding his octogenarian foot gently in place. I feel a deep sense of purpose and privilege; what we do when love is complete.

This piece was originally published in Thread Literary in 2017.

How This Essay Came To Be

As a writer with Norwegian as my maternal language (which, like German, tends to be a language that uses long sentences and many words to say something), and as a “recovering academic” I have struggled to learn how to tell a story in a tighter format. I love the intense challenge (for me) of the micro and flash essay, and the moment of the story in “Eighty” was extremely poignant to me, from an existential POV, and I knew the moment it took place that it had that power and zoom in-character that works so well in micro/flash pieces. I wrote it the next day, it was one of my first micro pieces, and I was thrilled when Ellen Blum Barish accepted it for the “Stitch” section of her Thread Literary. 

Here’s a Writing Prompt To Try

Think of a moment of extreme intimacy with another person, and zoom in. It does not have to be erotic, but it should only involve you and the Other in a scene that can be as revelatory as it is evocative of the two people’s connection. See how closely you can zoom in, to truly bring the reader in, and then if you can zoom out to give perspective, all in 500 words or less to tell the story that needs to be told. What’s the story here? Of course, it is probably much bigger than what is contained in the 500 words, but make them count, and give the reader the gift of a great story in a tiny container. 

Author Bio

Nina B. Lichtenstein (PhD, MFA), a native of Oslo, Norway, is a passionate storyteller, teacher, editor, and book & story doula. She is the founder and director of Maine Writers Studio offering workshops, retreats, and a regular literary salon & open mic. Her writing has appeared in numerous outlets and anthologies, and her memoir Body: My Life in Parts is forthcoming from Vine Leaves Press in 2025. She lives in Maine with her husband, and has three young adult sons.

Submission Calls

Before submitting, please refer to our Submission Guidelines page. (We’ll be linking to it in every new post, don’t worry!)

Upcoming: From October 1-15, please submit pieces on the theme of STILL.

From November 1-15, please submit pieces on the theme of BODY.

From December 1-15, please submit pieces on the theme of RHYTHM.

From January 1-15, please submit pieces on the theme of DREAMS.