A Few Moments in Time:
100 Stories in 100 Words, Flash Non-Fiction
This book uses the Flash Non-Fiction format to tell stories about moments that shaped or groomed me into the role of confidant, scapegoat and companion as the oldest daughter in the family. Many of the stories give examples of how silence and compliance preserves peace, yet why at my advanced age I am still living with some of the emotional wounds that resulted from events in my life.
The book will be available on Amazon by February 2026.
About Flash Non-Fiction
Flash nonfiction is a literary genre that has been around for a number of years. The beginning of this method of storytelling is attributed to fables and parables, but I believe flash has taken a firm hold in the 21st century due to social media platforms that mandate putting your message across in a limited number of words.
The flash fiction/nonfiction genre gives the writer a palette to construct a story using just a few words or up to 750. The flash nonfiction that I write is a subform of flash with a strict word count: the 100-word story, called drabble. The story must be rooted in factual events, experiences, and observations. I’ve heard flash described as a single moment, like the flash of a camera, creating a quick word picture.
Brevity is a key component of flash, so the story must present a complete narrative arc with a beginning, middle, and end. An important difference with flash, though, is that the ending can leave the reader with a feeling or a question—which is why I love flash. The writer is not required to provide complete closure to the story, but can offer the reader an unanticipated twist or surprise at the close.
I have given background on flash nonfiction because I would not have been able to write these stories without this form. Just as some cities are characters in a book, flash is a character in my stories. The 100-word count allowed me to visualize the moment in time and write about what happened without going deeply into emotions and feelings.
About the Book
In keeping with flash idiosyncrasies, you will note that this book includes 100 stories. However, the title calls attention to a “Few Defining Moments,” and of course 100 is not a few.
I use juxtaposition—contradictory pairing—as many of the 100 stories told are used to cushion “a few” life-altering events whose telling has never seen the light of day. I speak of “defining moments” that shaped or groomed me into the role of confidante, scapegoat, and companion as the oldest daughter in our family. The few-defining-moment stories I write give voice to why I thought I was a parentified child. Many of the anecdotes give examples of how silence and compliance preserve peace—and why, at my advanced age, I am still living with some of the emotional wounds that resulted from these events.
The other stories not associated with the “few” reach into many facets of my life and were a joy to remember and write. Topics such as hobbies, relationships, and travel were used to buffer the difficult defining moments that comprise the true purpose of this book.