Meet The Editor #4: Cynthia Allen

January Submission Theme: DREAMS

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: Cynthia Allen

Hi, I’m Cindy!

What I like best about writing Flash nonfiction is that it helps me to be mindful of the people and places that form my world. I use my iPhone as my notebook, jotting down ideas and taking photos to help me to remember. I have an analytical mind. I need to see images when I write.

What I look for in other people’s work is the integrity of the story leading up to the flash. What’s not on the page is often as important as what’s explicit. I admire stories that employ poetic devices and which are rich in imagery. 

In the two years since our group began writing together, Flash seems to have exploded as a form. I’m excited to be part of this movement and look forward to reading and sharing your work.

The Essay

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

On Opening the Door

I’d called the deacon of our church for the name of a senior citizen willing to spend an hour a week with me to fulfill a requirement for my counseling degree.

“I’ll buy her lunch,” I said, “and help her run errands.” The assignment was the brainchild of my gerontology professor who spoke glowingly of time spent with her grandmother.

The deacon gave me Jenny’s name saying, “She could use some attention.”

I wanted to cry, “I have a mother of my own dying of cancer who needs my attention too,” but was afraid he might offer to help.

Jenny opened the door to her modest home and said: “You’re the answer to my prayers.”

“It’s just until the end of the semester,” I replied, then handed her a card with my contact information. She showed me where she kept her spare house key under a flowerpot in the garage.

The ground rules were fuzzy; I wasn’t yet a counselor, and she wasn’t a client. At the grocery store, I watched as she dug out change for Depend® panties and a chocolate bar, resisting the urge to pay. But when her toilet clogged and she needed a plumber, I wrote a check to cover the expense.

“I call you my rich friend,” she said, patting the hood of my Mercedes.

Jenny introduced me to Anne, a ninety-year-old artist with a bright, airy studio who served tea in colorful cups that didn’t need to match. I bought a watercolor from her of a lighthouse on Barnegat Bay and told her I’d love to visit again.

At lunch the following week, Jenny choked on a shrimp. “Does anyone know the Heimlich?”  I cried, afraid to hold her in my arms.

When the semester ended, I went on vacation, telling her I’d visit in August. But the days turned into weeks, and it wasn’t until the leaves were falling from the trees that I finally found the time. By then, Jenny had forgotten me. She didn’t even recognize my car.

This essay was published in Ruminate in 2017.

How This Essay Came To Be

In writing CNF Flash, my impulse is to tap into a memory and unearth its significance through association. “The Answer to her Prayers” was written in response to the prompt “Opening the Door.”

In my first meeting with Jenny, the dynamic between us was quickly established. Jenny was a widow in her late 80’s living alone and praying for a miracle that I couldn’t deliver. At the time, my own mother was battling breast cancer, ninety miles away. As a psychology grad student, I was unprepared for the emotional firestorm unleashed by my inability to save my mother and help Jenny.

Having been on both sides of the therapist’s couch, I cringe when I think about how my inexperience and lack of supervision may have hurt my first “client.” 

Here’s a Writing Prompt To Try

Some Say Luck. Others Say Fate. I Call It Grace.

Why is it that some people get all the breaks, while others spend their lives on the sidelines? Think of a time when you were presented with an opportunity that you hesitated to embrace and found out later, you’d made a mistake.

Perhaps, a colleague offered you a single ticket to a concert that you felt uncomfortable attending alone only to find out later that it included entrance to a celebrity afterparty.

Or you finally scored that dream job you thought was in New York but turned it down when you found out it was in Chicago (or LA or London).

How about when your friends ghosted you after you refused to give them a ride to the airport (or hospital or work)?

What could have happened if you’d said yes? 

Write about your dreams for inclusion and friendship. How your fears and excuses get in the way of opportunity. Reflect on occasions when you took the leap despite your misgivings.

Author Bio

Cynthia Allen began her career in public relations, producing and syndicating a monthly radio show of interviews with writers and editors from Ms. Magazine, Reader’s Digest, and Better Homes & Gardens, among others. She earned master’s degrees in creative writing and clinical psychology and has taught at a number of colleges, including Montclair State University. Recent publications include: BigCityLit, The Metuchen Times, So To Speak and Atlantic Northeast.

Submission Calls

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

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.