Send in your stories

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Is there something going on? It feels as though I’m living in some kind of alternative universe of space and moment—perhaps a spiral galaxy like M100 in Virgo. In this universe everything—an offhand comment, an e-mail’s timing, a helmet’s scent—takes on a richer dimension of meaning. I like that street; it could have been transplanted from a city in Europe I’ve never visited. I like that sky; its smoke adds an atmospheric sense of danger to the world. I like that girl; her sense of time is fluid and mutable.

Easy as that. For an added challenge, I tried to write a good, acceptable story in 95 seconds, but I couldn’t pull it off.

I’ve been lax in my duties. We’ve been accepting entries to the 95-word fiction contest for several weeks, but I never announced it here in the editor’s note, so while we’ve had a decent response, we’re not avalanched in e-mail entries (and you better believe I prefer e-mail on these things). I’m going to add another week to the deadline, extending it to July 18, although the “winners” will still publish on July 26.

New to town? Unfamiliar with the concept? You write us a 95-word or less (excluding title) story (poems don’t generally win), send it in, and the editorial staff of this august publication selects the ones we like best and put them in the paper. We generally like stories with a beginning, middle and an end with some character development and humor, but sometimes moody ones (like the example above) make it into our list. Here’s last year’s winners.

Send your snail-mail entries to 95-word Fiction Contest, c/o RN&R, 708 N. Center St., Reno, NV 89501. E-mail to <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> </script>, and put “Fiction 2007” in the subject line. All entries must be received by 5 p.m. on July 18. Selected entries will be published on July 26. Give your contact information, including telephone number.