Salvatore Buttaci is a retired English teacher and college writing instructor. He has been writing since 1957 and says his objective as a writer has been to provide readers with stories and poems they will not regret investing the time to read.
“I have made it my business to constantly improve my command of language and my understanding of the writing craft. I am never satisfied with first drafts,” Sal says.
Sal always reminds himself that if readers are not hooked into a story, they will not stay for the long haul, or in his case, the short-short haul. Sal is a flash-fiction author. Each of his stories is less than 1000 words in length.
Sal says, “Like the haikuist who must present a galaxy of meaning in the moment of approximately 17 syllables, I strive to make each of my flash fictions whole and entire, exciting, thought-provoking, emotional, all in less than 1,000 words. I love that challenge!”
He finds his inspiration everywhere. As he describes it, “Sometimes it’s an eavesdropped bit of dialogue, a news story, my own experiences, in my head a sentence that won’t go away: a hook perhaps to begin a horror story I need to jot down and develop. Feeling good about life, being in a happy relationship with my wife Sharon, believing in a God who loves me… Inspiration, as I said, is everywhere.”
He believes writing well requires a commitment to hard work and honest introspection. “It’s the work it takes growing the seed into the fruit of one’s writing labors. Moving word to word, sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph…this is the challenge. Getting that story onto the page or screen so that one can read that first draft and admit to himself, ‘We have work to do,’ and then do the revising, the editing, the proofreading—whatever it takes to arrive at the best story possible,” Sal says.
Sal’s beta reader is his wife Sharon. Though she is not a writer, he relies on her keen eye and ear to cue him to what works and what does not. He does think that beta readers can be valuable, particularly for writers who are not strong enough in grammar and composition. He advises aspiring authors to, “Learn the writing craft, practice it daily, submit work when you feel confidently ready, and never allow anyone to divert you from the joy of writing.”
As for marketing his work, Sal is part of a group effort involving about 20 writers from All Things That Matter Press. He says the members of the group help each other market because a marketing effort cannot be a feeble one. “It reminds me of the salesman who knocked on twenty doors and managed to sell one Fuller brush. His boss told him had he knocked on 100 doors, he might have sold ten,” he says.
He is currently editing two of his novels and completing a chapbook on poetry writing, but his latest release is a flash fiction collection entitled, “200 Shorts.” No story in this book exceeds 1,000 words. The author says, “Each one is a completed story in a page or two, covering the gamut from adventure to zany with horror and science fiction, crime, and alternate history as well.” This book is a follow-up flash-fiction collection to his first book, “Flashing My Shorts,” which included 164 short-short stories.
“200 Shorts,” is available from Amazon in print or e-book and for Barnes and Noble Nook. Learn more about author Salvatore Buttaci and his other titles on his blog or website. You can also find him on Facebook or Twitter.
If you like great flash, Sal's books are outstanding. If you like sensitive and well-written poetry, be sure to check out his. The man is a treasure.
Sal is a master of flash fiction.
Thank you, Stephen, for featuring me on your blog!
Salvatore Buttaci
You are most welcome Sal. 🙂
Commander of the flash fleet, Mr. Buttaci dominates and is at the top of his game.
Sal has an inate gift of capturing the human condition through his works.
Not only a master of Flash Fiction, Sal is proficent in writing many forms of poetry.
Stephen, I am so happy you took the time to interview Sal Buttaci. Thank you