The author of Conflagration! now presents a selection of his best short fiction and poetry. Included are a few presenting his best character, magician-detective Bill Sirclient, a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Harry Houdini, as well as Blackburn's Pill, a prequel to Conflagration! Also included are selections of his best poetry.

Are you looking for a special book of endearing quick reads? Are you looking for a book of short stories to captivate you and stick in your mind forever? Here you go! Oh, oh! Look out! The flashes return! Along with some sparks and shorts too. An entire circuit of reading delight as Paul John Hausleben adds the fourth book of short pieces of fiction to the series “Flash Fiction, Thoughts, Essays, and Short Stories” by Mr. Paul John Hausleben. In the fourth book for the collection, the author once more mixes up the genres with his meditative thoughts on life with the various sparks, some religion, romance, along with doses of fantasy and emotional outpourings. When the author feels the stories are too emotional and a little on the dark side, he strategically mixes the collection up with some of his trademark humorous pieces, to keep the spirit of the book lively and enduring. The book is anchored by the critically acclaimed story, “Many Mansions,” a short story loosely based upon the Bible verse of John 14:2-6 and the remarkable romantic flash fiction piece “The Branch Sitters” and the emotional flash fiction piece “A Line of Stones.” These stories highlight the wide range of creativity of the author as he bridges genres effortlessly within layers of captivating storytelling. As the author writes in the opening notes of the book, “If you give me doses of inspiration that I can write forever.” This is another outstanding collection of thoughts, short stories, flash fiction, and general meanderings in this very popular series, all of which highlight and demonstrate the author’s exceptional skills at writing shorter stories and flash fiction pieces. As did the other books in the series, Flashes, Sparks, and Shorts, Flash Four will capture the hearts and minds of faithful followers of Mr. Hausleben’s previous work, and new readers that first experience the magical storytelling abilities of Mr. Paul John Hausleben.

A dazzling new anthology of the very best very short fiction from around the world. What is a flash fiction called in other countries? In Latin America it is a micro, in Denmark kortprosa, in Bulgaria mikro razkaz. These short shorts, usually no more than 750 words, range from linear narratives to the more unusual: stories based on mathematical forms, a paragraph-length novel, a scientific report on volcanic fireflies that proliferate in nightclubs. Flash has always—and everywhere—been a form of experiment, of possibility. A new entry in the lauded Flash and Sudden Fiction anthologies, this collection includes 86 of the most beautiful, provocative, and moving narratives by authors from six continents, including best-selling writer Etgar Keret, Zimbabwean writer Petina Gappah, Korean screenwriter Kim Young-ha, Nobel Prize winner Czeslaw Milosz, and Argentinian “Queen of the Microstory” Ana María Shua, among many others. These brilliantly chosen stories challenge readers to widen their vision and celebrate both the local and the universal.

Within the pages of Flashes, Sparks, and Shorts: Flash Two the author conjures up more interesting, emotional, eccentric and unusual pieces of flash fiction (Flashes) covering many diverse subjects covering, romance, humor, fantasy, life, death, crime, new-age thoughts, religion, and who-knows-what, with some Flashes inspired by his taste in music, and others, simply from his own life experiences. Mr. Hausleben mixes the Flashes with Sparks, which are quotes of wisdom and random observations of life, and then as he did in Flash One, he adds two more previously unreleased short stories (Shorts) from a collection titled, Where We Used to Live as the anchor stories.