Noon in Florida doesn’t waste a word — I put everything I had into making Noon in Florida great. It contains 12 stories — about 6,000 words — of my best flash fiction. Here’s the blurb: Noon in Florida delivers realistic flash fiction with no wasted words. By turns angsty, empathetic, and eccentric, these minimalist short-short stories center on…

Relationship advice from a friend and a racing camel — **audio available on Kris Keppeler’s podcast, click here!** “Tom Marley is a racing camel,” Ahmed said. “The fastest in all of the Sinai.” “Tom Marley?” I asked. “Not Bob?” Ahmed appeared somewhat surprised by my ignorance, but the stupidity of tourists is known the world over. Ahmed patiently explained that…

It all started with windmills — Balls to the wall has nothing to do with testicles. Neither does balls out. Both expressions mean working at maximum effort or speed, and the balls in question are part of a device invented in the 17th century — the centrifugal governor. Please, allow me to explain. Centrifugal governors had some balls James Watt designed…

Prompted flash fiction: magnet, kelp, Machu Picchu — Ollie, in the middle of the street, balanced on one leg for what must have been his twentieth selfie with a llama wearing a multicolored knitted cap. Pen, at the bar, sipped her pisco sour and pondered levels of stupidity. First, you have absentminded or merely dumb mistakes. Embarrassing, but…

Prompted flash fiction (garden, moose, solar panel) — Zach didn’t want to shoot the moose. April wanted his head on the wall and his steaks on the grill. She’d named him Stew after he munched her broccoli and kale down to nubbins and trampled the rest of her garden. The whir of April’s sewing machine faltered and stopped…

RFP (request for prompts): living thing, inanimate object, location — I’m writing today to ask for your help. In January of 2022, I started a series of stories based on writing prompts submitted by readers. When I publish the story, I tag the person who submitted the prompt. I’d like to keep the momentum going, but I’ve got a problem. …

On the origin of names — Ray laughed until he ran out of breath, which didn’t take long. “Shit, Manny, I thought you were smarter than that.” “Than what?” Ray wiped his eyes with a red handkerchief then mopped the rest of his face. He took a long, tentative breath and chuckled. “You think your ma…

Free verse —

Prompted flash fiction (bobcat, ring, northern Canada) — A Bobcat A bobcat freezes at the edge of a clearing, its head cocked, its yellow eyes drawn by sunlight glinting on a gold ring encircling a finger. …