January Flash Fiction Draw — “A Fairy Tale for the Little Acorn.”

Good morning! Today is the second Monday of January, which means today is the deadline for the Flash Fiction Draw challenge that Jeffrey Ricker drew a week ago. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can catch up here, but the short version is he used a deck of cards to randomly …

Short Stories 366:274 — “The Final Decree,” by Jeffrey Ricker

By now, it's likely you know I adore Jeffrey Ricker (see: Detours, The Unwanted, my never-ending-suggestion-that-I'd-like-a-sequel-to-The Unwanted) but it's maybe less known how much I like me a good pew-pew-pew sci-fi story (okay, maybe that isn't less known, it's just less often I get to read them). Jeffrey Ricker doing a queer sci-fi with cranky/grumpy …

#ShortStoryMonth Day Twenty-Six — “You Ride the Bus,” by Jeffrey Ricker

The Best Things in Life Are Free One of the things I do love about authors who write short fiction (and who have books I can purchase) is how often they've got a free story or two floating around so you can read them and fall in love with their words. Now, pointing you towards …

#ShortStoryMonth Day Three — “The Green Sweater,” by Mark G. Harris

Meet-Cutes and Meet-Disasters I have a weakness for meet-cutes. I also have a weakness for meet-disasters. There's a Venn Diagram you could draw there, where the two circles overlap, and in the middle of that circle you could find "The Green Sweater" by Mark G. Harris. And also me, smiling like a happy git, making …

Birthday Presence (and Giveaway!)

It's that time of the year again! I have made it around the sun once more without being taken down by a large predator or other natural disaster, big or small. This is traditionally celebrated with burning an ever-increasing number of wax effigies atop a confection and ritual chanting, followed by uncovering offerings (as I …

Sunday Shorts—Charlotte’s Mother by Jeffrey Ricker

I've known Jeffrey Ricker for mumble-mumble years now, and I've always loved his way with a turn of phrase. (I almost wrote "envied" there, and I do, but I'm trying to cut down on sounding bitter as much as possible, so I won't mention how often I'm super freaking jealous of his turns of phrases). …