You are slicing bell peppers into ribbons when your man tells you that moving in together was a mistake. Next to the cutting board, you’ve measured out a thimble of hot pepper flakes, and the shrimp are shelled and deveined, cooling in the fridge until you’ve finished the rest of the prep. He asks if you heard what he just said. You keep slicing the pepper meticulously; you are proud of this one dish—shrimp fra diavolo—that you make well.
All tagged Writer of the Month
SHORT STORYHave Mercy, Hold OnJamie MooreWriter of the Month
Miss Etta handed me the tiny coffin, no bigger than a shoebox. It was made of pine and painted blue. She had bought it to hold her recipe cards in the kitchen.
NOVEL EXCERPTfrom Walk With MeJamie MooreWriter of the Month
After they took the body of my friend away, I lost my ability to move. They'd left the twisted sheet he hung himself with, still tied to the curtain rod. The noose taunted me, its wide mouth ready to claim another black body.
SHORT STORYBeer MileSarah SzaboWriter of the Month
"Beer Mile" combines exercise, competition and beer. What could possibly go wrong? Find out in this short story by our Writer of the Month, Sarah Szabo.
So they began the regimen, cramming what they could into two long, grueling months of prep. The goal was learning how to run plowed, keeping the booze down. He’d had years of practice running, good form, and the genetics of a true rake in him. All there was to do was get used to the feeling of running a full sprint while a liter and a half of cold beer wreaked havoc in his gut—to make it as close to second nature as they could.
SHORT STORYFit of InspirationSarah SzaboWriter of the Month
"Fit of Inspiration" by Sarah Szabo, our writer of the month, is a short story about a man who is having a day where nothing is going his way. It all starts when someone tears out half of the last page.
Karl bit his lip, set down the book. Last page torn out of the sturdy binding. How shitty. Some awful rube must've needed to scribble a phone number and panicked, or just hated the ending enough to damn it to the void. Or maybe they were just sadistic. One crucial page gone and the whole story's ruined.
NOVEL EXCERPTThe Soul is a StowawayWilliam LemonWriter of the Month
An exclusive excerpt from our Writer of the Month William Lemon's novel-in-progress, The Soul is a Stowaway.
“I’d like to buy an Indulgence,” the man on the other end replied.
“Certainly,” I said, now typing. “What level of sin would you like to purchase?”
SHORT STORYFairby Lise QuintanaWriter of the Month
Lise Quintana, our Writer of the Month for February 2016, leaves us with a story you'll never forget: the funny, disturbing, haunting "Fair".
“I think that what you have is an infestation of fairies.”
I waited for the smirk – for the “gotcha” that I was sure was coming, but she continued to stare at me with a serious expression.
SHORT STORYMummy (baby)by Lise QuintanaWriter of the Month
Lise Quintana, our Writer of the Month, with the horrifying, symbolic, and surprising short story "Mummy (baby)".
Bella rubbed her fingertips over Maggie’s inner arm, and Maggie could feel a little ragged nail edge scratching her. She took the child’s hand, found the offender, and bit it off. She held the little grain of nail between her teeth and realized that in order to put it into the trash, she would have to dislodge Bella who was almost asleep. There was no way she could twist herself to spit it into the trash from where she was, so she swallowed it.
Lise Quintana builds a shocking, sweet legend around one of the most unique performers in music history: Yoko Ono.
In early 1980, just before John Lennon's death, Yoko Ono considered a breast augmentation. But this was 1980, and this was Yoko Ono. These would not be regular one-on-each-side-with-a-nipple-on-top kinds of breasts. Not for Yoko.
William Lessard, our Writer of the Month for January 2016, reports from a future not so far away to reveal that Lena Dunham has saved ... not THE world ... but A world.