366 Squared

One day, one story, at exactly 366 words each, that is the promise of 366 SQUARED, the short-short story / flash fiction collection that raises the question "In the age of multi-novel book series, is this guy for real?" Yes, he is, and 366 SQUARED is the launch of a new era in literature for busy people. If you are tired of reading for an entire day, only to end up with yet another cliffhanger and an invitation to buy another book. 366 SQUARED is the book series for you! Dip into it, read a few days' worth, then get on with your life until you are ready for more. For January, we examine some historical events, with special attention to the weird and wacky. Highlights include (1)The dangers of technology to the moral fibre of the nation, as represented by the introduction of the electric wristwatch, (2) Why planetoids should never be named after sexy TV characters, (3) The futility of trying to change history, and (4) Equal rights for super-villains! What else have we got? A conspiracy theory here, a toe-dip into Singularity fiction / cyberpunk there … Yes, I'd say January turned out to be a good month. Volume 1: January contains 31 stories, vignettes or mini-essays, each at precisely 366 words. Buy now, before they run out of electrons! Michel Clasquin-Johnson is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of South Africa. He lives in Pretoria, South Africa with his wife, son and two motorcycles. In his spare time, he writes what can loosely be called science fiction. Not a lot of science involved, and a fine disregard for the rules of fiction.

Welcome to Volume 2 of 366 Squared, the e-book series that poses the question, "Just how much sense and/or nonsense can one say in 366 words?" This volume contains twenty-nine entries covering the month of February. It turned out to be a difficult month, and there are more mini-essays than I originally planned. There is also a lot more fantasy and less science fiction than I thought there would be. Oh well, I can only take this project where the source material allows me to. We'll see what happens in the next volume.But back to the present. February is, of course, the most important month of the year. The fact that it contains my birthday has nothing to do with it, it is an objective fact. What other month has the honor of varying its length depending on whether the year is divisible by 4, 100 0r 400?Almost every story in this volume is based on a real event, a celebration, a birth or a death associated with a specific day. But you may have to read carefully to figure out just what that was. I'm certainly not going to give it away in the title: if you need to know in advance what the story is going to be about, then the story itself is a flop. But if the reference is too obscure, you can look it up in the back of the book, where all the day references are listed.I did say almost every story. For some days of the year, I just could not find something tied to that day in history to write anything interesting about. But fear not! You will receive your daily quota of words. For such days, there will be a little essay, a poem, well, something. Michel Clasquin-Johnson is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of South Africa. He lives in Pretoria, South Africa with his wife, son and two motorcycles. In his spare time, he writes what can loosely be called science fiction. Not a lot of science involved, and a fine disregard for the rules of fiction.

This volume was published out of sequence. The reasons for that were explained in Volume 4. I am just happy to be able to put it out there today. We are more than a year late. But we have three billion years to go before the sun expands into a red giant, swallows the Earth and all it ever produced, and all this will be moot anyway. So in the larger scheme of things it does not really matter. Relax, pour yourself a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and enjoy this collection of brand new 366-word flash fiction stories. Meanwhile, I'll start working on the July volume. Michel Clasquin-Johnson is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of South Africa. He lives in Pretoria, South Africa with his wife, son and two motorcycles. In his spare time, he writes what can loosely be called science fiction. Not a lot of science involved, and a fine disregard for the rules of fiction.

"Hey dude, what happened to March?" I know, I know. The last volume to come out was February. Well, we moved. It was a big, traumatic move that involved four sets of attorneys, two estate agents (one not speaking to her own client, the other … well, never mind), a building crew, a busted geyser, a busted electrical gate, a swimming pool that resembled the black lagoon, and a computer that was standing idle at the other house. The only way they will get me out of this house is when they wheel me out to the frail care unit. Or worse. There will be a volume 3 for March, I promise. Someday, probably after volume 12 is all nicely wrapped up. Meanwhile, this is Volume 4: a little less fantasy than back in February, and a little more straight historical fiction. As for the science fiction stories, I've come to realize that the problem of writing science fiction about historical events is that you end up doing a lot of time travel scenarios. A few mini-essays, as usual, although this month, they do tend to be about the day itself, not just a random essay used to fill up the spaces. Michel Clasquin-Johnson is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of South Africa. He lives in Pretoria, South Africa with his wife, son and two motorcycles. In his spare time, he writes what can loosely be called science fiction. Not a lot of science involved, and a fine disregard for the rules of fiction.

For the merry, merry month of May, a collection of 31 short stories to wipe that spring-is-here smirk right off your face. As usual, a blend of science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction and the occasional mini-essay. As always, each story told in exactly 366 words. In this volume we find out the true origin of email spam, what happens to famous painters when they die, what really happened to the vanishing evangelist, and we meet a Saint with a very unusual name ... Michel Clasquin-Johnson is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of South Africa. He lives in Pretoria, South Africa with his wife, son and two motorcycles. In his spare time, he writes what can loosely be called science fiction. Not a lot of science involved, and a fine disregard for the rules of fiction.