Fallen Angel Reviews would like to welcome Sarah Black. Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for us today.

Hello, my dear Fallen Angels. Thank you for having me!

First of all, can you tell us a bit about your Flash Fiction and what exactly Flash Fiction is?

I love flash- it's an ultra-short, ultra-intense story. Always under 1,000 words, and many times under 500. Some flash is just like a regular story, only very short- something happens, somebody changes. But sometimes a flash is told differently, using really interesting language and storytelling techniques- in these stories, it's not that something happens, but that something is revealed. I really love the way these stories capture a moment, a feeling, the very instance when the world shifts.

Of couse, flash is fun as well, and I write flash all the time to make myself giggle. Here's a flash I wrote - (cheers from all of us who are 47, to all of you who are 27- we feel your pain, darlings!)

Questions from a Tired Mind of Average Intelligence
1. Is this food poisoning, or am I hung over?

That salami I had yesterday was starting to look a little gray, but I don’t remember it tasting off. I mean, I just had a few beers, and maybe one shooter of peppermint schnapps. A Gray Goose Martini that tasted like crap. I bet it’s a stomach virus. Two people were out of work last week with the stomach virus. Pepto? Alka-Selzer? Oh, God. Maybe both. And who is in my shower?

2. Is this a genital wart?

Oh, hell no. I cannot believe it. It couldn’t have come up since last night. It’s small, about the size of a grain of rice. It could be a wart. What do they call it, HPV, HSV, some damn V. Syphilis gives you a sore, too. But this isn’t a sore. It’s more like…a wart.

3. Did he flush the condom? Did he wear a condom?

I don’t see any torn wrappers next to the bed. Well, if he didn’t, I am sure as shit not obligated to mention genital warts, I know that much. God. Who is about to walk out of my bathroom? Was there a clean towel in there? Not likely. But if I’m not mistaken, I left dirty socks and underwear on the bathroom floor yesterday morning. What the hell kind of guy gets out of bed and takes a shower, for Christ’s sake? Why couldn’t he just grab his shoes and sneak out the door like a normal guy?

4. When was my last period? Did I take my pill yesterday? Can I take two this morning just to be safe?

An icy cold glass of Alka-Seltzer and a couple of hits of estrogen and progesterone. Yeah, baby. Go, girls. Get down there to those ovaries and tell them, No Eggs! No Eggs! Oh, God. Please don’t let me puke up these pills.

5. If a person can’t remember the name of the guy in her shower, should she ask, or should she just call him Sweetheart?

Hi, Sweetheart! Oh, and hello to your friend, too! How about that, two of you. Did you both get a shower? Together? Good, good. Okay, well, I was just checking out the fridge and the bagels are looking a little stale, you know what I mean? I think I’ll hop in the shower myself. Maybe I can meet you two down the street, that bagel bakery place? Yeah, they got juice, coffee, everything. Me? No, don’t order me anything. I think I’m getting a touch of the flu. -end

I blush to confess, but the first time I had a hangover, I called my mother and told her I thought I had food poisoning.

Your story "A Snowball's Chance" has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, congratulations! Can you give us a glimpse into the story and where the inspiration came from?

Thanks, I really like that story. It's included as a bonus in the Loose ID novel Border Roads, also one of my favorites. I'm a member of Books for Soldiers, and I send letters, books, snacks, etc to soldiers and marines overseas. I've become friends with several, and one young guy stationed in Afghanistan over Christmas a couple of years ago told me about his unit having a snowball fight on Christmas Eve. That's how that story got started.

Tell your fans something about you they would never guess.

Hmmm. Who knows? I'm an open book. Everybody knows everything about me! I can't shut up, that's the problem.

Of all things you have accomplished, is there one accomplishment you are most proud of?

I'm a Family Nurse Practitioner. Every day in the office someone says to me, "I sure am glad I came in. Thanks for helping me." That is accomplishment enough to keep me doing this work forever.

From what do you derive the most inspiration for your writing?

Well, I'm 47 now. I think I've just lived an exciting life and I've been paying attention. I think about things. I grew up in a Navy family, and I did a career in the Navy myself. You don't have to look very far to find the sort of heros we like to read and write about- the military is full of them. And they really are true blue solid gold, honorable, just, and strong. And that's not a romance novel, that's real life.

Since everybody needs a break, even when doing something they love, how do you like to spend your time away from writing?

Writing is my time away! I'm a single mom, and I work at a demanding career. Writing is the reward I give myself for everything I do for everyone else. It's the only thing in my life that isn't for my kid or my patients- but just for me.

When did you decide to take "pen in hand" and write with the intent to publish?

When I was forty. I always intended to write when I got older- then I realized I WAS older! I've been working hard at it- I decided to put in the same time as if I was getting a graduate degree. I'm still doing that much work, to keep getting better

Do you have any special rituals to help you get in the mood to write?

Sometimes I listen to Pink Floyd! The commute to and from work is reserved for thinking of story ideas and plots. I can plan out what I want to work on by the time I get home.

I have found that some authors listen to music while they write. Do you listen to music or is it something that is distracting to you?

I listen to music when I edit- and it's important- I usually listen to the music my main character listens to. Some guys like country, some like rock. I wrote a flash recently with that new Annie Lennox albumn- Songs of Mass Destruction.

We all have one, so tell us yours. What is your favorite comfort food?

Pizza, brought right to my door so I don't even have to change out of my sweats to get it.

Do you have a character that is especially close to your heart?

Clayton in Border Roads. Not sure why, I feel like I want to be his mom. Or I want my son to be like him, maybe. The new book coming out next week, Lawless from Liquid Silver- I love those guys, Colton and Diego. Fearless was the first book with them. Colton is me! In the body of a sexy Arizona lawman. I sure had fun with that book- One of my favorites to write.

If you could go back in time, where would you go and when? What is one thing you would want to take with you?

I would go to Venice, 16th century, with a trunk full of strong antibiotics.

Brett Favre? Really? Do tell.

Oh, man, I am so bummed he retired. What is the point in watching football when all the kids playing are young enough to be my sons? I can't look at their butts! I'm too busy worrying about concussions!

Is there anything you'd like to add?

I have a couple of free novellas at All Romance Ebooks- Gregori's Ghost is one of my favorite stories, just to say thanks to everyone who has read one of my books.

Thanks again for talking with us at FAR today. If you're interested in leaning more about Sarah, take a look at her website at sarahblack.net.

Interviewed by: Serena