Editor Interview * Rebecca Halsey!

Flash Fiction Online has long been one of my favorite journals for both speculative and literary flash. Thanks to Rebecca Halsey, publisher and editor-in-chief, for taking time out of her busy schedule to share her insight into the magazine!

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Myna: First, tell us about Flash Fiction Online, and your role there!

Rebecca: Flash Fiction Online specializes in 500-1,000 word stories across all speculative fiction genres as well as literary pieces. My roles at FFO are publisher and editor-in-chief. The editor-in-chief part is picking and editing the stories; the publisher part is funding, formatting, and releasing the stories.

Myna: What’s your favorite thing about Flash Fiction Online?

Rebecca: The variety! We don’t have to stick to one genre. We favor plot-driven stories, but we’ve had some quieter character pieces as well. I try to find a common theme for each issue, but there’s always so many different ways you can take an idea.

Myna: What makes FFO unique?

Rebecca: The length and, at this point, our longevity on the web.

Myna: What are you looking for when choosing stories? Are there any specific styles or subject matter you especially like?

Rebecca: Good clean writing, unique perspective. If a story is a borderline yes, it’ll come down to whether I have a spot to fill and whether I know which specific edits to ask for. I’ve been on an ecopunk kick lately. I come from romancelandia, so I love a good cute-meet.

Myna: What’s your least favorite trope?

Rebecca: Super tired of siren stories. Also, robot stories that end with the death of all humanity.

Myna: Do you edit the stories you accept? Is the writer part of the process?

Rebecca: I’m very editing forward, but I don’t accept a story until after edits are done. The writer can walk away, but most of them don’t. I’m not sure how I feel about that to be honest.

Myna: Tell us about your role. What do you do? What takes the most time? What is your favorite part of this job?

Rebecca: When I took on the magazine, my biggest goal was to restructure the organization as a nonprofit. I spend a good percentage of my FFO hours on budgeting and planning. The other part of my time is spent on actual editing. I’m a very edits-forward EIC because I want to work with authors to make their story really shine.

Myna: Tell us about your career trajectory. How did you become involved with FFO?

Rebecca: I was in Seton Hill Univ’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction with a former editor of FFO. So via that connection, I began as a reader until last year when our previous EIC Emma Munro mentored me on editing the stories. When Emma and Anna retired last Fall, I took on both EIC and Publisher roles.

Myna: If FFO had a theme song, what would it sound like?

Rebecca: Probably an overture for the Chrono Trigger game soundtrack.

Myna: Which mode of transportation would you prefer: electric seahorse, cyborg dragon, raven-starship hybrid, or something else (explain!)?

Rebecca: Electric seahorse because I love the ocean.

Myna: Do you have a pet? Show us a picture!

Rebecca: Yes, I have a 3yo Olde English Bulldogge named Jersey. She can do 10 mins of big energy and otherwise lays around in my office. It works out great!

Myna: Do you also write? If so, tell us about your own writing. Where can we read your work?

Rebecca: Yes, but I’m a novelist! LOL! I’m currently finishing up an upmarket, contemporary novel about two brothers on a road trip to visit their four half-sisters. I previously published a Jazz Age romance set in Hollywood.

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Rebecca Halsey is the Fiction Editor for Flash Fiction Online. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Georgia. Her debut novel Notes of Temptation was released in 2017.