She is also a student at Hagley Writers’ Institute and trying to actually finish something. She’d not heard of flash fiction before this year but is enjoying trying to hone a story down to a minimum. She lives in Ohoka near Kaiapoi and is involved in the recovery of the devastated town after the quakes, chairing the Kaiapoi Rubble Rousers, a group intent on brightening empty sites in the town with art. They are colouring Kaiapoi with promise. Jackie Watson’s story was Highly Commended in the 2013 National Flash Fiction Day competition.