Prince Phillip’s life used to be filled with action, adventure, heroism, and focused passion—all things he excelled at. He used to think himself the most fortunate prince. Then he made the mistake of finding the princess he’d spent years looking for, releasing her from a wicked enchantment with a one-sided kiss that felt pretty creepy,…
Throwback Thursday | An UNDERWATER Excerpt: “Baiting the Hook” by R. Judas Brown
When the catch dries up, you move upstream, inland through the rivers and creeks, until you find fresher waters. Teddy guided his flat-bottomed boat through the shallow channel, checking his juglines and limblines. A couple sets of tags under his and family members’ names let him run as many lines as he wanted. State limits…
Throwback Thursday | A DISTORTED Excerpt: “Your Name is Leda” by Catherine Edmunds
You’ve always been afraid of tunnels, turnings where you can’t see what’s round the bend—it might be a man with a flame thrower, or it might be Swanny Fred from Mr. Robertson’s class; Swanny Fred who throws chalk at you and lifts your skirt, and you hate him, especially today when the boys have dared…
Why I Write Mysteries by Madison Estes
One day, I was out walking my dog around the neighborhood, and a young boy approached me and started talking to me about his family and pets. Once the sun began to set, I told him we should go and asked him if he’d like me to walk him home. He said no, but my…
Throwback Thursday |An ON FIRE Excerpt: “Red Curtain” by Jaclyn Adomeit
The girl smells like the laundry soap of my childhood, but I haven’t smelled anything close to fresh-breeze or lilac-mist in years. I splash canteen water on her face. She sputters, choking as she inhales. I step back and crouch down across the cooking fire. Laundry searches the dark trees, her pony tail whipping back…
Back to School Anthology Sale!
We’re celebrating the season of back to school by putting our anthologies on sale! Whether you’ve already started back to classes or are about to, we have collections to consume in one go and those that can last the semester! Both of our BIG anthologies—we’re talking 60+ stories—are a special $5 off the print editions!…
Throwback Thursday |An AFTER THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER Excerpt: “A Sleeve of Feathers” by Claudia Quint
“Stephen, how do you feel about living together with all six of Geileis’s brothers?” The well-intentioned doctor with her degrees framed and hanging on the wall, pulled down her glasses to stare at them, and Stephen leaned forward and fiddled with the cuffs of his shirt as though an animal were caught in his throat,…
Throwback Thursday | An UNDERWATER Excerpt: “Happiness Shoal” by Gregory L. Norris
The man pressed forward through the rain. Happiness radiated in his eyes, a rich green the color of emerald gemstones on that moody gray morning, and his lips, the lower slightly plumper than its twin on top, a crooked smile beaming from the prickle of a new, unintentional beard. The wind gusted, stirring the ocean’s…
Throwback Thursday | A DISTORTED Excerpt: “Lost in the Labyrinth” by Christian Bone
I was lost in the labyrinth. Sweating stone walls, as black as the heart of the Beast, encased me, echoing the helpless cries of my fellow cattle. One by one the cries died away. I heard but two and then merely one. I realised the sound was my own. Sacrifices. Prisoners. Finger food. We were sent…
Long and Short by Jean Roberta
Novelists and short story writers can be classified as different groups, with some overlap. In a workshop on erotic fiction that I ran recently for a local writers’ group, a man complained that he couldn’t find a publisher for his erotic romance novel, which was well over 100,000 words. My advice was to write something…
Throwback Thursday | An AFTER THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER Excerpt: “It’s in Her Kiss” by Tiffany Michelle Brown
Delilah has developed a fetish of the human-who-was-once-an-amphibian variety. Her predilection has progressed into a full-fledged addiction as three or four times a week, the door to our flat bursts open and a new prime specimen drips pond water onto the Ikea rug in the foyer. Delilah wears a proud smile and clings to their…
Throwback Thursday |An ON FIRE Excerpt: “The Clearing” by K.N. Johnson
We gathered on summer nights electric with the spectacle of storms, the promise of charred messages from the gods. The wind lifted our feet from the ground as we raced through the musty woods. Small branches snapped, green leaves sacrificed to pad our muddy path. At the clearing, trees stood back, and all knew to hush, to press lips…
