Story Published in Flash Fiction Forum

Peter Case in the concert where he inspired this story

I'm so pleased that my story "California Turnaround" was published by Flash Fiction Forum. The magazine is beautiful, and contains not only fiction, but art from Works/San Jose, an art and performance space in San Jose. 

Flash Fiction Forum is a reading series for flash fiction. I've participated a few times in person. During the pandemic, I did a virtual reading of my story "California Turnaround."  You can see me (wearing a red hat)  in this collage from zoom. 

I got the idea for "California Turnaround" at a concert by musician Peter Case. If you are not familiar with him, not only is he an excellent songwriter, but he is (as Dave Alvin said in a joint show once) quite a "raconteur." Peter Case told a story about going on tour with an early band, driving a dicey truck for hours on end because a girl had given him some "California Turnarounds," pills that would allow someone to drive all the way to California, turn around, and drive back again. 

The term California Turnaround delighted me, so I decided to write a story using it. It's a first person story told by a young woman who has been driving 27 hours straight, strung out on California Turnarounds, on her way to a new life in Los Angeles. Because of her mental state, it was a fun story to read to an audience, and I'm glad it's been published by the fine folks at Flash Fiction Forum.