Is this of interest to anyone? I’m putting out an open call for short stories, 3,000 words or less, that are either not yet ready for publication, or have been turned down. I will put the selected story (or possibly more than one) up on my blog with gentle but insightful suggestions for improvement, and where I feel the story is “challenged.” The writer will then get busy with revisions, each published in order, until the story is deemed “ready.” Flash fiction is okay too!
My aim is to remove the mystery from working with an editor. As the story improves in stages, it will show how the right revisions can gradually develop characters, plot, style and voice, with a beginning that “hooks” readers and endings that surprise and satisfy.
Does this seem like a fun and educational idea? I look forward to your comments. Please send submissions to ashedit@gmail.com with “Challenge” as the subject line, and tell me a little about your experience…or lack of!
This Challenge is solely the project of Elaine Ash, and is separate from Beat to a Pulp, even though David Cranmer knows about and approves of the idea. 
THE UNREAL JESSE JAMES is set to blow writers and readers away with its genre-busting mix of western, sci-fi, historical-romance and humor. It takes great skill to toss so many elements into one story and make anything more than a mess–but Chap O’Keefe does it with style and wit. David and I are thrilled to debut “The Unreal Jesse James” on Beat to a Pulp, Sunday, March 1st, 2009.
Award-winning short fiction scribe and blogger, Patti Abbott, has invited me to guest-blog on her site about one of my favorite, old mystery novels. I chose The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde by Erle Stanley Gardner.