“I saw her drop what looked like a hundred dollar bill as she climbed out of her car and rushed into the office building. “

That’s your opening line, provided by mystery writer James W. Ziskin, the award-winning author of Ellie Stone Mysteries. Take it and run with it. The Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance is inviting all Mainers to participate in its annual Crime Wave Flash fiction contest, this year titled “Two Minutes in Quarantine.” Participants have 500 words or fewer to finish Ziskin’s opening line with their own flash fiction story. Each entry to the contest must begin with Ziskin’s line.

Find more details, including how to submit a story, at the MWPA website, mainewriters.org. The stories are due on May 1. The winning story will be published on the Books page of the Maine Sunday Telegram later this spring, and its author will get a scholarship to attend the MWPA Maine Crime Wave conference in June.

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