The coronavirus is bad for our health and bad for the economy, but its side effect, quarantine, could be the perfect setting for crime fiction. The Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance Two Minutes in Quarantine Flash Fiction contest opens Thursday. Maine mystery writer Julia Spencer-Fleming will write a “deadly” opening sentence as a starting point for entrants’ own flash crime piece. Submission details and the opening sentence will be posted on the MWPA website Thursday. Look for the winning stories, judged by Spencer-Fleming, in the books section of the Portland Press Herald in June.