Sometimes readers ask why I keep posting shorter stories to the Literotica contests. Like, why bother? The short answer is: it’s what I have time for (in between a full-time job, family, house and other obligations.

But the real reason is that I love reading them. No matter how busy I am, I always have time to read a story that my Kindle app estimates would take me half an hour or one hour. Particularly if it’s a new author to me, then I’m very reluctant to spend 8 hours reading their book.

That said, when I first started writing, a short story was a much more difficult task than writing a long one. It probably sounds backwards, but with a long story, you have the chance to flesh out your characters and show why the reader should like that person. While in a short story, every word counts. So because of that, I feel the short story is a much bigger challenge for me personally to write.

And I just love a challenge. Don’t you?