The Max McTrue Flash Fiction Contest

Aspiring writers out there will like this news. If you’ve read my reviews of Instructions for a Broken Heart and Songs of a Teenage Nomad, you’ll know that I love Kim Culbertson. She’s one of my favorite contemporary authors ever. This post is about her, her next book – The Liberation of Max McTrue and a contest.

This is the synopsis of The Liberation of Max McTrue:

Have you ever had an extraordinary day?

Max hadn’t.  Until one winter day when he met a girl. 

THE LIBERATION OF MAX MCTRUE takes place in a single day.  The classic Boy Meets Girl story.  Well, sort of:  Boy meets homeschooled girl.  Boy ditches school.  Boy finds his future.  And there's an ice cream truck.  And archery.  It's a bit like what would happen if Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Alchemist had a kid, well...a kid who was a YA eBook novella. You get the idea.

Max took a day off and found his life.

Who changed your life today?

Kim Culbertson is joining Figment for a whirlwind weekend of Flash Fiction to celebrate her new ebook, The Liberation of Max McTrue!

Enter the Max McTrue Flash Fiction Contest!

There will be a Total of three prizes: Each winner gets a free download of The Liberation of Max McTrue as well as a custom-made “beautiful things” journal. The first place winner will also receive a 30 minute manuscript review by Kim Culbertson.

All you have to do is write a super short story under 500 words that follows one of the four prompts below. Submit your entry between 11:00am on February 3^rd, 2012 and 11:59pm on February 5^th, 2012. The Figment editorial staff will choose the top ten entries as finalists, and Kim will choose the winners from those finalists.

The Prompts:

(1) Write a story set against the backdrop of a scavenger hunt.

(2) Write a story confined to the periods of a school day. The character can be in school or out of school.

(3) Write a story in which a character is deeply afraid of something.

(4) Come up with a totally ordinary character and then set him/her up to have an extraordinary day.

How to enter:

1. Go to www.figment.com and sign up.

2. Once you have received your confirmation email, go to your Figment profile page, click “My Writing,” and “Create Something New.”

3. Before you start writing, read the full rules on the Max McTrue contest page, which you’ll be able to find under the “Contest” tab on Figment on February 3^rd, 2012.

4. Write an original story, under 500 words, that follows one of the four prompts above.

5. Go to the “Details” tab of your story, and put maxmctrue in the “Tags” section.

6. Wait the 2 hours it sometimes takes to see your story appear on the contest page.