Category Archives: Read Short Fiction

BACK TO SCHOOL BLUES?

…then Andy Bailey’s “Strike” at Read Short Fiction might be just what you’re looking for! It’s just been posted here. Enjoy!

MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE FAN?

If you’re a fan of The Manchurian Candidate, you’ll enjoy Gerald Rivard’s “Faith” over at Read Short Fiction! It’s an intense little piece full of twists and turns you won’t want to miss. Check it out now here.

LYNYRD SKYNYRD FAN?

If you’re a Lynyrd Skynyrd fan, you’ll definitely want to head out to Read Short Fiction and check out Cynthia Wilson’s short story, “Sunshine and Stones.” This tale of teenage mischief on the day of the plane crash that killed Ronnie Van Zandt, Steve and Cassie Gaines, Dean Kilpatrick, and two pilots beautifully renders a moment in an era gone by–and serves as a reminder that nothing is the same once you have an awareness of your own mortality.

Read “Sunshine and Stones” here.

VISCERAL, CREEPY GHOST STORY: THE TALE OF RAUÐÚLFR BY LISA FARRELL NOW AT READ SHORT FICTION!

As most of you know, I love a good ghost story. The most recent feature we’ve got over at Read Short Fiction is just that! If you’ve read my short story “Wailing Station” and enjoyed it, I’m pretty sure you’ll like this one—Farrell has done a beautiful job with atmosphere, and the tale is reminiscent of Jack London’s scarier pieces. For best results, read “The Tale of Rauðúlfr” in the middle of a snow storm in front of a roaring fire.

Enjoy!

NMWC INVITE, PTOWN ADVENTURES, SCREAMS OF AUTUMN, RAGNAROK

Well, the Norman Mailer Writer’s Colony invited me to stay on for two more weeks, and thanks to the incredible generosity of several people—particularly those at work (who the hell is luckier than me?)—I could accept the offer! I’ll be here, working, until February 14!

The Norman Mailer Writer’s Colony.

My writing place — I’ve totally nested!

A cute new wine I discovered! Yummy!

I’ve had a few awesome adventures in the past week. I had a lovely lunch at Fanizzi’s with Guy (administrator of the NMWC), where I had FRESH Fish ‘N’ Chips. Wow. I grew up thinking they were greasy, heavy, and mealy. Yeah. Not so much. That comes from living in a land-locked place, I guess.

Guy and I at Fanizzi’s.

View from our table at Fanizzi’s.

I helped Peter change batteries in the smoke detectors in a few local apartments, and also, when it was brutally cold, go and check all the water pipes in the sub-basements (it’s just beach sand and dried seaweed for flooring. Totally wild!) Pete and I are Michael Jackson fans, and we were lucky enough that The Cape Inn’s Whaler Lounge was playing This is It. What does that mean? It’s a local thing. It’s a cozy lounge with comfy chairs, cocktail seating, FREE movies, and awesome eats (we had a pizza, and then ended up leaving the leftovers in my trunk for a day. Good thing it was cold out. It probably kept better than it would have in a refrigerator).

Me and Pete the next-door neighbor. We don’t have to look for trouble.  It finds us.

The Cape Inn Whaler Lounge. This is the photo from their website; I didn’t take this. It’s actually so much more classy and elegant than this photo suggests. They’re playing Zombieland next week and we plan to go, so hopefully I’ll get a few shots then.

Charles came up to visit over the weekend, and we had dinner at Michael Shay’s (among Norman’s favorite places to eat) and brunch at Fanizzi’s ($12.95 and it’s breakfast AND lunch – I’ve never eaten mussels over pasta at brunch before). We also visited Norman Mailer’s grave and explored the cemetery, and I have to say, I’ve never seen such interesting stones. It may be because this is such a highly creative town, but many of the stones are quirky works of art.

Mailer’s grave. Note the sea shells and other items which were left behind as tributes by prior visitors.(Please note — I don’t feel funny posting a photo of his grave here, because the link above will take you to FindAGrave with more specific details, including a photo and location.  So this is considered public information).

This is a really cool shop downtown.

DEFINITELY my kind of place!

I just loved this window display. Charles did the best he could to capture it, but with the bright sun and the reflections, it was hard.

Isn’t this cool? It’s all Lobster Traps. They light it up at night and it’s gorgeous.

My short story “Screams of Autumn” is now available at Spilt Milk: an online literary journal! You can read this story at http://warmmilkpress.blogspot.com/. It should be at that link, right on the front page, for a couple weeks, and then after that they’ll move it to the archives, which is down at the bottom of the page. To those of you who’ve read it already, thanks for all the awesome comments you’ve left! You guys rock! It’s especially inspiring to get such great encouragement when I’m up here churning out more.

“Ragnarok” by Patrick Scalisi is our most recent selection for Read Short Fiction and is up on the site now at www.readshortfiction.com. If you love Norse mythology—and especially if you’re a fan of LOKI—don’t miss this hilarious twist on an old tale told in contemporary language. If you liked my short story “King of Bull,” especially, you’ll DEFINITELY go for this one. And if you read it and have something thoughtful to say, please feel free to comment. We like to hear from our readers!

SPILT MILK ACCEPTANCE, READ SHORT FICTION, NMWC

I’m proud to say that so far, 2010 has been the best year yet! So what’s new?

“Screams of Autumn”

My short story “Screams of Autumn” has just been accepted by Spilt Milk, the Literary Magazine of Warm Milk Press. I’ll keep you posted on its availability.

Read Short Fiction

I’m honored to have been asked to serve on the staff at Read Short Fiction (www.readshortfiction.com), which is headed by Rob Mayette. We’ve reviewed several submissions over the past few months, and our first three acceptances (there are more in the queue, but they haven’t gone out yet) are now posted: “Hippie Market” by Tom Mahony,  “Handy Man” by David Landrum and “A Christmas Eve Story” by Milan Smith are all a lot of fun. Head on over there and check it out—and see Rob’s video introduction to the ’zine.

Norman Mailer Writer’s Colony

I’m already here and finally settled! In fact, I did scads of work today. I will have some access to e-mail, but as I’ve got a whole novel to write, a couple of short stories to revise, and a few book recommendations to take care of for “Dead Letters” on the The Ghostman & Demon Hunter Show, I don’t know how much I’ll be online. I do plan, however, on keeping my website updated with some occasional blogging and photos about my experience—I’m usually good for about seven or so hours of writing a day, and then I need to switch gears. I’ll be back at home on February 1.

“Paisley Surprise”

If you’re on my (postal) mailing list, this year’s exclusive story chapbook, “Paisley Surprise,” will arrive soon. (Although I will note this: they’re expensive to mail, so I’m going to mail out a few each week.) Only 225 copies were printed. If you don’t think I have your postal address and would like to receive a copy, just e-mail me or use the contact form on my website. While I’ll soon join the ranks of writers everywhere and send PDFs through e-mail or post them to SCRIBD, I won’t discontinue my chapbook editions. Nothing’s as magical as getting a cool little printed and hand-bound book to put on your shelf!