Flash Fiction Flash Fiction And More Flash Fiction

Flash fiction is a wonderful thing.  A writer can write about any and every situation in life.  Flash fiction is the human condition at 300 to 1,000 words a pop.  And the Old Soldier has plenty of flash fiction for you on this site.

Not only that but if you write flash fiction I want to see it.  Now don’t send me anything until March 1, 2012.  On that date this magazine becomes a paying market.

You can’t beat that with a stick!

Then along with all this great flash fiction and a place to showcase your own flash fiction, there is the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette’s special editorial blend of articles, commentaries, sexology and the nude female form in all its glory.

Did I mention flash fiction?

Life: Time For The Long Walk

This Is The Old Soldier 8 Years Ago When He Was A Graduate Student At The University Of Pittsburgh

It’s around 10:30 AM, time for me to walk to the Senior Citizens Center to get the form I need to fill out for a rent rebate.  The sun is bright and it’s a mild 40-something degrees outside.

I got my extra virgin olive oil, but I’ll have my fish fry when I get back.  Walking is very much part of my excercise routine.  The Old Soldier did his breathing and stretching exercises this morning, but there won’t be any karaoke this Friday.  I’ve been spending too freely, still celebrating my new-found stable but small income based on Social Security, a pension from the Veterans Administration and a small pension from Giant Eagle.

So, I’m going to put this post up and I’ll see you when I get back.

A Free Subscription: Don’t Let Your Creativity Die

You’re a writer of some kind, maybe a blogger.  You have a lot of things on your mind besides writing: family, a job, trying to find a job, trying to find a better job, a significant other and on and on.  You know, life in general.  Then there are your friends, those guys and girls you love being around.

Now a writer has to be engaged in life in order to write about life.

But then there comes a time when you have to close the door on life and sit down and face that blank page or that empty composition box on the computer screen.

What ideas do you draw upon to give you inspiration?

Well, a writer gets ideas from a lot of places.  One of the places a writer gets ideas from is from the material that he or she reads.  You know where I’m going with this, don’t you?

Take out a free subscription to the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.  This magazine is definitely not for everyone.  There are a lot of nude women in the magazine and there is a lot of content about women: performing oral sex on them, sucking milk from their breasts, fingering them to orgasm, amateur women in porn on so on.  I’m sure you get my drift. 

Let me say two things in my defence.  The majority of the readers and subscribers of this magazine are women; and you will find lots of articles on blogging, writing and commentaries on news and social events.

Oh, I forgot to mention you will find in the magazine some of the best literary, mainstream, erotic and sex flash fiction on the internet.

So give the PFF Gazette a try.  A subscription is free.  The Subscription tab is at the top of the page.

Many Women In Porn Videos Don’t Have Orgasms

In my reporting on porn videos on the internet, I’ve found out a baffling fact.  Just because a woman is in a porn video does not mean she will have an orgasm during the video.

Do you get the irony here?

The Old Soldier only follows amateurs, the young women (and not so young women) doing their first, second, third or fourth video.  They are not acting.  But often times if they are matched up with just one male talent the women do not have an orgasm, at least not with the man.

Often times these women use a vibrator to have an orgasm.  Let me repeat that.  The women have to use a vibrator to have an orgasm.

The reason that these women don’t have an orgasm with one man is because no matter how hard and often he plunges his erection into the woman’s mouth, butt or vagina the clitoris does not get enough stimulus to make the woman cum.

Now if the woman is in a gang bang she usually has several orgasms (more orgasms in a very short period of time then she will have in her real life) because just the number of erections sliding in and out of her vagina will usually give enough stimulus to her clitoris to make her cum more than once during the video.

This is one reason why some of these women agree to be gang banged.  A woman knowing she is being taped having sex with several men can be a real turn on to her.  The money is a turn on.  And the orgasms are real and powerful.  If a woman can let herself go and just enjoy the moment her gang bang video will be the most exciting sexual experience of her life.  That is if she gets out of the porn business before she becomes jaded.  If she stays in the porn business too long her gang bang will be looked back upon as a negative experience; or at least as not as great an experience as she first thought it was.

The lesson for all of us men (boyfriends, husbands and lovers) is to pay attention to the clitoris.

The Debate On Making The PFF Gazette A Paying Market

This is a shout-out to all of you who enjoy reading and writing flash fiction.  It’s the Old Soldier here doing a little promo for the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette, the most dynamic flash fiction publication on the internet, a wonderland of reading entertainment.

Stay with me now.  I can prove it.

First you want to make sure that you are on the Home Page.  Then move your gaze from the sidebar on the left, to the tabs at the top of the page, then the sidebar on the right and don’t forget the middle-column.  The middle column is where I stick posts that have proven their popularity.

The PFF Gazette is more than just a flash fiction publication.  It is an entertainment center.  It is a publication of news events, social items, how to articles on blogging and writing, a celebration of female sexuality and a vehicle for concise commentaries on the ebb and flow of life.

It is a place where aspiring and veteran writers can showcase their work.

But always at the core of this magazine, you will find the flash fiction story in all its great variety: mainstream, literary, erotic and porn.  (I’m still waiting for some brave soul to submit some flash fiction romance.)  The Old Soldier is not bashful.

If you’re not bashful, this publication is for you.  Explore and enjoy this unique flash fiction wonderland.

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Well, that’s two posts for the day and it’s not 1:00 PM yet.  I’ve done my breathing and stretching exercises and now it’s time to shower and dress and explore the neighborhood.  I’ll phone the Matriarch before I leave.

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I’m debating with myself about making the PFF Gazette a paying market.  You know, will it be a paying market for poetry, non-fiction and fiction or just for fiction?  Any monthly budget for the magazine has to fit into my personal budget.  It has to be sustainable.  Is $5.00 an acceptance sustainable?  Is $10.00 an acceptance sustainable?

And the beat goes on.

Occupy Wall Street: Can A Leaderless Movement Succeed?

Members and admirers of the Occupy Movement are proud of the fact that the movement is an affiliation of individuals, a true democracy at work.  The occupiers are proud that there are no leaders; or, that anyone at any time can be a leader.

I am definitely one of the 99%.  I am an admirer and a supporter of the movement.  This news magazine sympathetically covers the movement.  The Old Soldier recently purchased a book about the movement, the price of the book going to the movement.

But for the life of me I cannot imagine the occupiers succeeding without identifiable leaders or without some sort of leadership structure.  Imagine India without Gandhi or the Civil Rights Movement without the Rev. Martin Luther King.

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I wrote this post as I sat at the bar in Del’s waiting for karaoke to begin.  Getting out of my apartment and bringing my small pocket notebook and two ink pens with me seems to free me up.

The ideas are flowing.

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English: Occupy Montreal on Saturday, October ...

Image via Wikipedia

I’m writing this part of the post in my apartment on Saturday morning.

Last night karaoke at Del’s rocked.  The place was packed out.  Everyone had a good time.  The Old Soldier got to sing People Get Ready by Rod Stewart, My Prerogative by Bobby Brown and I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2.

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Read.  Study.  Write.

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Snow is falling.

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The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is a news magazine about writing and sexuality.

The Life: A Strange Night

I’m writing this in my small pocket notebook as I sit at the bar in Del’s Wednesday night.  It’s 8:40 PM.  Karaoke begins at 9:30 PM.  It feels strange to be here in the middle of the week.

No one knows if karaoke at Del’s on a Wednesday night will work.  Del’s has had karaoke on Friday night for around 15 years.  I’ll be here this Friday night.  Karaoke is my key to a better social life.  I meet women of all ages.  For me, karaoke is performance art.  I’m really good.  No one believes I’m 65.  I’m a freak.  65-year-old men are not supposed to have that powerful of a voice or sing that well and move that well.

I shaved my head and face and I have my black bandana in the inside pocket of my black leather jacket and I’ve been doing my breathing and stretching exercises during the week.

I’m ready.

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English: Karaoke stub icon

Image via Wikipedia

I’m writing this in my apartment Thursday morning.  Karaoke last night at Del’s was a bust.  No one showed up.  I left around 11:30 PM and walked to Sonny’s Tavern which is closer to my apartment.  Sonny’s Tavern was packed.  No karaoke.  Just a DJ playing music and running a contest of some kind.  A young crowd.  A young woman sitting at the bar next to me had a tattoo down her right arm.  The young female bartender had tattoos on her arms and chest.

I had one beer and then walked the three blocks to my apartment.

The Life: Walking Through Little Italy

I’m writing this in my pocket notebook in Armand’s in Bloomfield (Little Italy) which is next to the neighborhood (Oakland) that I live in.  Armand’s is known for its cheap beer and huge fish sandwich.  I’m drinking a draft beer at the bar, no sandwich today.  It’s around 11:00 AM.

There’s only one other customer in the bar.  He’s probably a retiree like me.  Outside it’s overcast but unseasonably warm, in the high 40s to low 50s.

I got my pension check from Giant Eagle by snail mail on Monday.  My military pension check was deposited in my account electronically this morning and my Social Security check will be deposited in my account on Friday.

English: Giant Eagle in Stow, Ohio

Image via Wikipedia

For the first time in years I can pay my bills and have enough money left over to socialize.  I must not squander this opportunity.  Life is short.  I’m 65.

This blog is now the focus of my attention.  I may be retired but I want to be a successful full-time blogger.  I have work to do.

Karaoke at Del’s tonight.

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Read.  Study.  Write.

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The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is a news magazine about writing and sexuality. 

Writing: Don’t Use Flashbacks In Your Flash Fiction

First let me say that every rule is meant to be broken; but rules do serve a very good purpose.  They give us guidance in life and in writing.  There is a very good reason for why you should not use the flashback in your flash fiction. 

Flash fiction is too damn short.

If your flash fiction story is 700 words long and you use a 300-word flashback, that’s nearly half the story.  And then you’re breaking another rule.

The flash fiction story is most effective when there is unity of viewpoint, place and time.

FYI

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embezzlers-clubDon’t forget.  The Old Soldier wants to publish you.  This publication supports aspiring and veteran writers.

At the top of the page are three tabs.  Anything Goes is for non-fiction.  Send Poetry is for poetry and Submissions is for short fiction.

Read.  Study.  Write.

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The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is a news magazine about writing and sexuality.

Successful Blogging: Find A Routine You Can Live With

Are you a serious blogger?  I’m a serious blogger.  My stats page this morning said that this blog has over 5,600 hits for the month of February; but I know if this blog is ever going to crack the 6,000-hits ceiling for one month I’ve got to have a routine that I can live with.

I mean, now that I’m retired, blogging is my full-time job.  It’s the best job I’ve ever had because I love what I’m doing and I’m the boss.

So, I’m going to get up early and publish at least two posts every day.  That’s my routine.  Now all I have to do is stick to it.

What’s your routine?

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Blog of the day once again

Image by the Italian voice via Flickr

Hello hello hello all my brother and sister bloggers, readers, writers and my Flash Fiction Fanatics.  The Old Soldier has a new attitude and is moving to the attack.  It’s around 9:00 AM (when I actually wrote this post) and it will be sunny today with a high around 60.  Strange weather for Pittsburgh in February.

Writers have to do the mundane things in life just like everyone else.  So, my to-do list for today is to buy some 100 watt-light bulbs, deposit my Giant Eagle pension check into my savings account, call the Matriarch and return my book about Hunter S. Thompson to the public library.

I’ve already had breakfast (Ramen Noodles with a few pieces of cooked turkey and raw garlic and an energy drink) and I’ve already done my breathing and stretching exercises (karaoke tomorrow night at Del’s).  The sun is shinning and it’s time to take a hot shower and to see what adventures we can share today.

This is the Old Soldier blogging near the University of Pittsburgh.

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The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is a news magazine about writing and sexuality.

Writers, Inspiration Is Only A Click Away

Writing can be a lonely business.  Then there are the endless distractions.  That’s one of the strange things about being a writer.  Life can inspire you to write, but often times life gets in the way of you writing.

The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette may be able to give you the nudge to keep you writing no matter how many distractions there are in your life.  There are over 2,700 pieces of content on this site.  The site gets over 5,000 hits a month.  So far this month it has gotten over 5, 400 hits.

This publication has evolved over a three-year period into a news magazine of writing and sexuality.  Which means that it is not for everyone.

But maybe it’s just right for you.

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Read.  Study.  Write.

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The flash fiction writer searches for the significant event in everyday life.

How To Write A Great Flash Fiction Story About Sex

If you want to write a really good story about sex, forget the sex.  Concentrate on the dynamics of the relationship (s) of the people involved in the sex.  The days of just fucking is over.  We’re talking about really good sex short stories.  There will always be a market for trash; but we are not talking about trash.  We are talking about writing a first-class flash fiction story.

When you write your story about sex, pay as much attention to things like character motivation, dialogue, locale…You know, just as if you were writing a mainstream or a literary flash fiction story.

Then when you slip the sex in the situation will feel more life-like.  And that’s as hot as it gets.

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Read. Study.  Write.

Life, Writing And Over 5,000 Hits For January

And you thought this news magazine was only about naked women.

The Old Soldier has 65 years of life to look back on.  Ladies and gentlemen, the Old Soldier fucked up a lot.  He also accomplished a lot.

I’ve been lucky.  I distinctly remember wandering around at night in Vietnam in front of a sister battery and having my head almost blown off by the muzzle blast of a 105 mm howitzer.

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This is a good time to reflect on life as I lay here on the sofa with two pillows under my weary head and jot things down in my notebook and wait for my computer to finish a security scan as I do a load of clothes in the laundry room downstairs.

There’s karaoke tonight at Del’s.  I phoned the Matriarch on Wednesday and promised I would phone my younger brother Anthony (Tony) who lives in an assistant living facility; but he would probably ask me if I was going to karaoke tonight and I don’t want to lie to him.  He has not had a drink in over two years.  He is the classic drunk, always one drink away from disaster.

I’ll phone him Saturday or Sunday.

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English: Map of Vietnam, scalable format

Image via Wikipedia

Tomorrow, when I go back to Del’s to see Rick and Di, my baby boomer peeps, I’ll first stop at The Big Idea Bookstore to pick up a booklet or two of fiction by some local aspiring writers in a continued efforts to find new contributors for the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.

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Today, my stats page said that the PFF Gazette went over 5,000 hits for the month of January.  There are still four days left in this month.  My goal is for this news magazine to get at least 10,000 hits every month.  Only time will tell if that is a realistic goal.

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Read.  Study.  Write.

Writing: Dialogue Is Not A Dirty Word

Good dialogue brings a character to life better than any other device that the writer has in his or her tool box; but good dialogue is not easy to write.  Maybe the Old Soldier can give you a few pointers.

I guess the first thing that a writer must understand about dialogue is that dialogue is not just people talking.  Dialogue is “directed” conversation that must do several things to be effective.

It must characterize what kind of person the speaker is.  It must carry tension or conflict.  It must move the story to its conclusion.

It can also hint at locale and action.  It can hint at the past, the future and it can hint at the nature of a relationship.

And one other thing.  Long patches of dialogue come off more like speeches than like people talking to each other.  One, two or three lines of dialogue by one character is usually enough.  Then it’s someone else’s turn to talk.

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Subscribe to the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette, the news magazine of flash fiction and nude women.  The Subscription Tab is at the top of the page.

Successful Blogging After The Age Of 60

Seal of the United States Social Security Admi...

Image via Wikipedia

I believe I can speak with some authority on this subject.  The Old Soldier is 65 years old and in a good place in his life.  Oh, sure, I wish I was richer, younger and better looking; but none of that is going to happen.

The Old Soldier does have working-class financial security because of Social Security and two pensions; and he is in good health.

This does not mean that I can’t drop dead before I finish this post.  It does mean that I have an opportunity to blog full-time; and I love being a full-time blogger.  This is the best job I’ve ever had in my life.  And maybe one day I’ll actually make some money from my little blog.  This blog now gets over 5,000 hits a month.  Can 6,000 hits a month be far behind?

The point of this post is this: old age can provide a person with opportunities that he or she did not have when he or she was younger.

Gray power!

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Oh, what is the secret to successful blogging after the age of 60?  To identify a need or a want and to provide that need or want.  The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette provides serious writing and brazen sexuality.

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English: The Young and the Restless, logo of t...

Image via Wikipedia

Today has turned out to be a lovely day in Pittsburgh, mild and sunny.

I broke down and transferred some money from my savings account into my checking account so that I could get a withdrawal and have a couple of beers at Sonny’s Tavern.  The Old Soldier finds it nearly impossible to stay inside when he has money in the bank. 

I had two beers, watched The Young and the Restless, got a six-pack of beer and walked back home.

I feel much better.  Now I’m going to read a little of my Hunter S. Thompson book, watch the evening news on public television and think deep thoughts: flash fiction, female orgasm, karaoke…and maybe with my new financial stability I can find a woman in her 40s or older who would want to deal with me.

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