Year: 2023

All Stories, Sunday whoever

Sunday Whoever

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Today’s interview is none other than one of our Founding Editors, Diane M. Dickson, who, along with Hugh, has been at the castle from day one–before the moat was dug and filled with dangerous Moat Beasts.

 Diane is a successful crime novelist by trade, but she continues to contribute short works as well as give each and every last submission a read (which ain’t no easy task).

Now that we have met our Diane, let’s see what she has to say.

Thanks to Hugh and Leila for asking me to do this. It was fun.

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All Stories, Editor Picks, Short Fiction, Writing

Week 454: The Sensitive Side of Evil and One, No, Make That Three Special Announcements

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Sensitive Side

I believe that there should never be violence of any kind directed at a child. But that presents a problem. There’s neither intelligent discourse nor diplomatic give and take with a two-year-old individual who considers it perfectly reasonable to shit her pants rather than heading to the bathroom while something she wants to watch is on TV. You cannot spank this person (not that you’d want to) nor can you take any disciplinary action that someone out there somewhere won’t find objectionable.

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All Stories, General Fiction

The Circle Route by Paul Kimm

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Jennifer finished the last slice of defrosted quiche she’d bought from the freezer shop on Monday. She switched off the gas fire. In the kitchen she rinsed off the plate under the tap, pastry crumbs, and slotted it on the drying rack. She put on her coat, shoes, unlocked the back door, stepped outside, locked it, and walked the five minutes to the bus stop nearest her house.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Joe Harrington’s Wake by JD Clapp

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Darla pulled into the alley behind the bar and parked under the streetlight. Before she undid her seatbelt she sat in silence for a moment. She adjusted her rearview mirror and looked at her bloodshot eyes, the rims rubbed red from blotting tears. Over the two weeks since Joe Harrington dropped dead, Darla struggled as much with the prospect of her own future as much as her loss. The same thoughts ran over and over thumping her mind like a shoe in a dryer. I’m 64, I have no retirement savings, no real family. I need to keep working but my knees hurt all the time. How long can I keep this up? Her tiny self-chosen family had just lost their most stable member; she had lost her best friend and former lover. She took a make-up bag from her purse and went to work on her eyes.

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All Stories, Short Fiction

Bonus by Hugh Cron (Warning – Adult Content.)

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Jimmy shut his curtains.

“That’s the Polis. Bitch must’ve got mail.”

“Whit?”

“Think about it Al, the only way that staff come near the rooms at this time is if they’re handing out our letters!

…I bet you it was shite too! They fuckin’ found her cause of some shite letter.”

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All Stories, General Fiction

What You See Is What You Get by Scott C. Thompson

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After about seven months of being alone, Beth began to see the ghost of her son. Or so she thought. The audience knew better, but she didn’t.

The experiment had always been designed for Beth. It’s not everyday that a colleague’s child dies mysteriously, creating a rare opportunity for “Science.” She, of course, didn’t know this. She believed she had volunteered and won the opportunity fair and square. The opportunity? To stay in isolation for one year in a submarine on the ocean floor to test the viability of long-term survival in similar crafts. That’s how it was sold to her by the scientists, anyway.

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Literally Reruns, Short Fiction

Literally Reruns – When Planet’s Miss by Doug Hawley

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here we are just past October, or, Rocktober, as some of us like to call it. There’s something wonderfully reflective about that month (perhaps enhanced with an abundance of mini Three Musketeer Bars); and in such a mood I go all the way back to the Summer of 2016 for this Rocktober‘s rerun.

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Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 453 – FIENDALS (The spelling is for you Gwen), Eric Is A Legend And I Should Have Mentioned A Tattie Scone.

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I did the Scottish translation thing a few weeks back and I had forgot to add in a certain phrase.

With these, some have some logic. For example,

‘Did you bring a piece’

Some of our friends in America would probably think we were asking if you had brought a gun, but no. Nothing could be farther from the truth. You see ‘A piece’ is actually a packed-lunch or a sandwich. The logic part is it comes from ‘A piece of bread and butter / cheese / jam / cheese and jam (A hidden delight I have mentioned before. It must be a red jam and it is even more delicious if the bread is toasted.)

Continue reading “Week 453 – FIENDALS (The spelling is for you Gwen), Eric Is A Legend And I Should Have Mentioned A Tattie Scone.” →
All Stories, General Fiction

Tansy by Nancy Smith Harris

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Every bone in her body warned Ellie Snyder to turn Bertha Miller away at the door; still, she took the haggard woman in and brewed the tea, fragrant as a Balsam fir in December. Clay Miller’d already saddled her with five kids, and one more might just put Bertha in her grave. Only problem with saving the wretch was Bertha’s need to make confession—it was religion that’d trip her up. The woman was a walking apology, a sinner perpetually pleading for redemption. Ellie hoped to hell she’d confess to somebody other than her damn husband.

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