September's Death Match Winner!

Thanks to all those who read, enjoyed, and voted!  I saw that our contestants had lots of nice comments!  After counting up the votes on both the YA Flash Death Match site AND the contestants sites (remember, they had to be during our voting period), I can declare a winner!  Thanks so much to both contestants for contributing and I hope you will keep coming back and writing and sharing more!

Congratulations J.L. Jackson!

This month's winner will be invited to join our previous winners in the YA Flash Death Match anthology, coming in the Fall of 2011.  J.L. can also post the above award to her blog as well.  The October YA Flash Death Match will start next week, I'll post a schedule then! Hope you will join us again!

IT'S GO TIME!

Below I will list our Death Matchers for September's YA Flash Death Match.  Your job is to stop by each site, read, and vote.  You can vote on their site or here at the bottom.  You have one week to read and vote for your favorites.  Tell your parents, tell your friends, tell everybody!  I will visit each site next Sunday, September 26th, some time after noon CST to count up the votes.  I will only count one vote per person and I will NOT count anonymous votes. And I can only count votes given during the voting period, to be fair.  Only votes from 9/19-9/26 can count.  If, by some chance, you voted before that time, you may vote again and I'll count it. 

The winner will win the awesome Death Match award for their blog, in addition to an invitation to see their work published in a YA Flash Death Match anthology ebook next year. 

Let's get it on...



J.L. Jackson:  By the Moonlight

Theresa Milstein:  Camped and Confused 


Thanks to our challengers and thanks to our voters, who will decide who is champion of this month's YA Flash Death Match!

Game ON! Get Writing!

 Thanks to J.L. Jackson for coming up with this month's story idea!

You should now write 1,000 words or less on "CAMPING TRIP GONE WRONG."  Make sure it's for a YA audience!

 There are two ways to enter your story:

-If you have a personal blog, post the story there and email at (karlykirkpatrick@gmail.com) me the title and the link. Be sure to write (FLASH LINK) in the subject.

-If you don't have a personal blog, email me at (karlykirkpatrick@gmail.com) the entire story and I will post it here. Be sure to write (FLASH STORY) in the subject.

*To be eligible to participate as a YA Flash Death Match contestant, one must follow this blog in addition to following Karly Kirkpatrick and Michelle Sussman on either Facebook, Twitter, or our personal blogs. See the Details and Rules page for links! These rules will also be posted there for future reference.

stories/links are due to me no later than Sunday, September 19th at noon CST.


Voting will take place starting Monday, September 20th through Sunday, September 26th.

Interview with Author James Klise

I'm thrilled to have debut YA author, James Klise, join us this week. Welcome James!

1. When does Love Drugged come out and where can we buy it? Where can our readers find you on the web?

The official publication date for Love Drugged is September 1, 2010, and it’s available in bookstores and online. You can find out more by visiting my website, www.jamesklise.com and by becoming a fan of “James Klise” on Facebook. (My fan count is a humiliation!)


2. How old were you when you knew you wanted to be a writer?

I began college fully intending to major in Architecture. But sophomore year I took a creative writing class, and that changed everything. The teacher pulled me aside and said, “Hey, just FYI, you are good at this.” I admired this teacher for a lot of reasons, and I really heard what she said. Nobody in the Architecture department had ever told me, “Wow, James, you clearly were put on this planet to design important buildings.” I took the lack of encouragement there as a sign to make the switch to English. Best of all, writing fiction hardly ever involves a measuring tape.

YA Flash's New Format!

After some careful consideration, I've decided to make some changes to how YA Flash Death Match operates, as well as up the ante on the prize. The goal of this site was to give unpublished YA writers a chance to be seen and read by others. Our first two Death Matches provided us with some great fiction, but I feel like we can do more.

With the new YA Flash Death Match, each month instead of being a contest between two writers, I'm turning into a Brawl for All. All of you can compete, every month. You may be in a Death Match between 3 writers or 20. Each month, you will have a week to suggest topics, a week to write your 1000 word or less YA flash fiction piece, and a week to vote.  Please note, you do not need to suggest a topic to participate. 


There are two ways to enter your story:

-If you have a personal blog, post the story there and email at (karlykirkpatrick@gmail.com) me the title and the link.  Be sure to write (FLASH LINK) in the subject.

-If you don't have a personal blog, email me at (karlykirkpatrick@gmail.com) the entire story and I will post it here.  Be sure to write (FLASH STORY) in the subject.


Once the stories are posted, anyone can vote, once, for the best flash. The story with the most comments is the big winner! Anonymous voters will NOT be counted. You can compete every month if you like. There will be no limits.

The winner will receive an invitation to be published in the YA Flash Death Match Anthology, to be published in ebook format after we complete one year of competitions. The anthology will contain the winners from July 2010 - June 2011. We will also choose some of our favorites from throughout the year to round out the anthology.

Our first two winners, Genevieve Ching and Beth Ford already have their spot.  Are you ready to win yours?

*To be eligible to make a topic suggestion or participate as a YA Flash Death Match contestant, one must follow this blog in addition to following Karly Kirkpatrick and Michelle Sussman on either Facebook, Twitter, or our personal blogs.  See the Details and Rules page for links!  These rules will also be posted there for future reference.

And so, my friends, let the games begin.  Tell a friend, tell 10 friends.  Let's make this the best YA Flash Fiction site on the web.

Post your story/scene ideas below.

You have until Sunday, September 12th at noon CST to throw your idea into the ring.

The writing will commence Monday, September 13th and stories/links are due to me no later than Sunday, September 19th at noon CST.

Voting will take place starting Monday, September 20th through Sunday, September 26th.

Good luck and happy writing!

Brand New YA Flash Death Match Coming Tuesday!

Please stay tuned for a new and exciting format on YA Flash Death Match!  Details and information are coming Tuesday, followed by an awesome interview from debut author James Klise on Wednesday.  You will NOT want to miss this!