May Is National Short Story Month

I love short stories.

I prefer the short stories of some great writers, like Ernest Hemingway, to their more notable novels.

Hemingway's short stories were very powerful. To use a boxing simile that Hemingway might have approved of, his short stories were like a short right knockout punch.

I also like the short stories of his contemporary, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Yes, The Great Gatsby is a great novel, but check out his Pat Hobby short stories about a hack Hollywood screenwriter.

The web site www.storyaday.org is sponsoring the celebration.

Short stories make the perfect intro to a new author’s work, a great way for readers to get a top-up from their favorite authors between novels, a perfect impulse purchase on a phone or e-reader.

After years of languishing in the shadows as magazines stopped publishing them and the big prize money went to novels, short stories are poised for a huge comeback.

You can check out the web site via the below link:

http://shortstorymonth.com/

You can also read three of my short stories, which originally appeared in the Orchard Press Online Mystery Magazine, via the below links:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/01/cat-street-short-story-about-murder-and.html

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/11/small-timer-crime-fiction-by-paul-davis.html

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2011/12/christmas-crime-story.html