Tommy Dean lives in Indiana with his wife and two children. Tommy Dean is the author of two flash fiction chapbooks, Special Like the People on TV (Redbird Chapbooks, 2014) and Covenants (ELJ Editions, 2021). Hollows, A collection of flash fiction, was published by Alternating Current Press. He is the Editor at Fractured Lit. He has been previously published in the Atticus Review, The MacGuffin, The Lascaux Review, New World Writing, Pithead Chapel, and New Flash Fiction Review. His story “You’ve Stopped” was included in Best Microfiction 2019 and 2020 and Best Small Fiction 2019. He won the 2019 Lascaux Prize in Short Fiction. His interviews have been previously published in New Flash Fiction Review, The Rumpus, CRAFT Literary, and The Town Crier (The Puritan). He has led writing workshops for the Barrelhouse Conversations and Connections conference, The Lafayette Writer’s Workshop, Bending Genres, and for Kathy Fish’s Fast Flash. he is currently teaching at the Dallas Writer’s Workshop.
“Tommy Dean brought such energy and enthusiasm as a guest teacher in my workshop! He has a gift for sparking creativity and innovation in writers. As a gifted practitioner of the short form and a knowledgeable and inspiring teacher, he is sure to bring fresh insights and expertise to his own classes as well. I’m excited for any writers lucky enough to work with him!”
-Kathy Fish
Previous Workshops Have Sold Out Fast!
Don’t miss out on what 2025 has to offer! From learning how to create the feeling in a story, to testing your limits with brevity and word play, we cover all bases to turn you into a crisper, more innovative flash fiction writer.
For information on upcoming workshops and how to register, follow this page or email Tommy at thomasrdean13@gmail.com.
Looking for a 2025 mentorship? I can help you take your flash or micros to the next level!
Click here for more information!
Catching Lightning: A Flash Reading/Writing Club
Next Session: Thursdays, August 21-September 11 (for new participants)
Time: 3:00-4:15 pm EST
online/Live Zoom, 15 spots left
In my generative Zoom classes, I often wish I had more time to invest in each example story, to fully expose its foundations, to bring to light the craft moves made by the writer, and to discuss the story’s merits with my students. I wish I had more time to build community with all of you, to find the joy in discussing the value of flash fiction and how exhilarating it can be to bend and break the traditional writing rules and precepts.
Frankly, I’d love to spend more time working together to find new ways of expressing craft moves and elements in our flash fiction, to learn from the masters of the form, to create an in-person form of community. To do that, I want to create this club, where we meet on Zoom 1 time per week to analyze and discuss 1-2 flash/micros and then spend time writing together.
How it works:
- Meet 1x per week for 4 weeks (75 minutes per meeting). Each session is recorded.
- Participants will receive the story/read the story before the meeting. (The group may decide to use a particular book, or stories will be found in litmags online).
- I will develop a brief lecture/analysis on how the story(s) work to show a particular craft move(s).
- We will discuss the story(s) as a group. Share as much or as little as you want each week.
- I will provide a writing prompt(s) based on the story(s). We will have time to write and share a piece of our draft.
Cost: $17 per session or $55 when paying for the full 4 weeks
Thursdays, August 21-September 11 (for new participants)
Time: 3:00-4:15 pm EST
Revising Flash Through Prompts
Cost: $30
When: September 30, 2025, 2:00-4:00 pm EDT
Join me for a 2-hour session focused on revising fiction through the lens of flash and micro! Suitable for all writers of fiction and non-fiction narratives. Bring your almost-finished drafts and near-masterpieces! We’ll review model texts and hopefully get inspired by the revision prompts! Participants will be able to use the strategies to get their drafts closer to submission-ready. We’ll look for static scenes, undeveloped stakes, ambiguous feelings, murky openings, and so much more!
Writing Flash Fiction with Raymond Carver
Cost: $120
Where: Online/Asychonous
August 31 through September 14, 2025
12 spots
In this 2 week asynchronous workshop, we’ll use the work of Raymond Carver to investigate how to create tone and mood in our flash. The way Carver’s characters long for and fight against isolation in an alienating world. We’ll focus on how Carver balances character, setting, and conflict while deploying his famous minimalism. How can we apply his craft moves to our own writing in 2025?
The class structure is asynchronous, so you can log in as needed throughout the week. I’ll provide 1-2 prompts per day Monday-Wednesday-Friday and repeat this the next week with model texts and my analysis of how to use the model texts. You can write a flash for both or just 1 and post it to the learning environment (Canvas). I will then provide positive encouraging feedback for each flash piece you write. You will also get a chance to give and receive positive comments from your peers. We’ll use Saturday and Sunday to catch up on writing and commenting!
Writing Microfiction: Horror
Cost: $120
Where: Online/Asynchronous
October 05-October 19, 2025
In this 2-week asynchronous workshop, we’ll use horror/thrilling microfictions to create hair-raising stakes and plots through eerie tones and moods in our own stories. We’ll focus on balancing brevity and plot to develop scary characters, settings, and conflicts.
The class structure is asynchronous, so you can log in as needed throughout the week. I’ll provide 1-2 prompts per day, Monday through Wednesday and Friday, and repeat this process the following week with model texts and my analysis of how to use them. You can write a micro 1-2 prompts and post them to the learning environment (Canvas). I will then provide positive, encouraging feedback for each flash piece you write. You will also get a chance to give and receive positive comments from your peers. We’ll use Saturday and Sunday to catch up on writing and commenting!
Wild Life: Flash Fiction Inspired by the stories of Kathy Fish
Cost: $135
Where: Online/Asynchronous
November 30-December 14, 2025
I just love Kathy’s stores, and they’ve inspired so many of my own stories and flash fiction craft moves that I’d love for writers to join me in a 2-week asynchronous workshop to read, analyze, and write our own flash fictions inspired by prompts based on Kathy’s work. Kathy has generously given me permission to use her stories for this class! If you’re a fan like me, I know you’ll get so much out of this deep dive into how her stories work and thrill readers.
The class structure is asynchronous, so you can log in as needed throughout the week. I’ll provide 1-2 prompts per day, Monday-Wednesday-Friday, and repeat this the next week with model texts and my analysis of how to use the model texts. You can write a flash for both or just 1 and post it to the learning environment (Canvas). I will then provide positive, encouraging feedback for each flash piece you write. You will also get a chance to give and receive positive comments from your peers. We’ll use Saturday and Sunday to catch up on writing and commenting!
To register for any of the classes on this page, contact me at thomasrdean13@gmail.com. I will provide payment details via email.
Testimonials
This was such a fabulous, generative workshop. The material for each day provided us with a craft essay that illuminated elements of the microform, readings that showed these elements in practice, and prompts that gave just the right amount of guidance – enough to take away the paralysis of sitting down to write, but not so much that it felt too limiting. Tommy’s feedback, and that of the other participants, was warm and encouraging, and worked to recognize the best in our work and build our confidence. The pieces I wrote during this weekend are some of the writing I feel proudest of. I’ve come out with a stronger understanding of structure and construction of character and desire in a small space, and am feeling so inspired to continue to apply what I’ve learned to future projects. -Wendy Wallace
When it comes to flash fiction, few can rival Tommy for knowledge and expertise – he’s not only a highly influential editor, but also a master of the form as a writer. Working with him meant being challenged continuously, asked to dig deep and question whether I am wringing every drop of possible meaning out of every sentence, or whether I have done all I can to bring a character to life or keep the reader gripped. He provided thoughtful, expert advice and our discussions were lively, stimulating, supportive and fruitful. He certainly helped me write with greater rigour, and that’s helped me achieve greater success, which can be measured by the fact that stories we worked on together have gone on to win awards and be published in fine journals. -Jaime Gill
Tommy Dean 