As summer approaches and I have my MG out on query, I’ve decided to try my hand at short stories.
I’m a plotter, my analytical brain won’t allow for anything else and so I am on the lookout for a craft of writing book that is dedicated to the short story form.
I own the book CREATING SHORT FICTION, by Damon Knight and it gives great writing advice, but it’s not giving me the short story advice I want.
So I ask my blogging friends, if you have read a good book on creating the short story can you please let me know? Thanks!

Ray Bradbury is my ultimate favorite short story teller. All Summer in a Day continues to be my favorite short story of all time, followed closely by The Veldt. I read these stories in elementary school and they still haunt me. I love rereading them. And when I grow up I want to write shorts like Ray.
Stephen King is also a master at creating short stories that stick with you. The Body is one of my favorites, made into the great movie, The Stand. Ah, River Phoenix, sigh.
And who hasn’t read Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery? Hunger Games was surely inspired by that great short story!
So tell us, what is your favorite short story, who is it written by and have you ever tried your hand at emulating a great short work?