Category: Literally Reruns

All Stories, Literally Reruns

Literally Rerun: Saint Frances Everlasting by Leila Allison

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When we began the feature ‘Literally Rerun’ we imagined that it would be generated by readers. So that there would be no percieved favouritism on the part of the editors we suggested that readers nominate their favourite stories. On the one hand that didn’t really work. People were backward at coming forward. The original idea still applies and anyone is welcome to suggest a Rerun. On the other hand it did make us very aware of our lovely Leila. Leila has the unique record of having no rejections among the multitude of stories on the site. We (Hugh, Nik and your’s truly) were aware of her outstanding talent as an author from when we first met her back in the mists of time. Along with that wonderful gift she was fun to interact with and extremely supportive of the site and the writers on it generating Rerun after Rerun. So much so that when we found ourselves struggling we invited her to join us as an editor and she has been tireless in that role.

It doesn’t seem fair though that she is still suggesting the Reruns but because of the earlier agreement among editors there are rarely any of her own works highlighted in this feature.

I am putting that right today. But, she has such a varied and wonderful back catalogue that, quite frankly all I could do was pick a favourite. This piece, as so may others of Leila’s is part of a series and there are pieces in here that truly reduced me to tears, fascinating characters which it is hard to believe she invented and unique locations that are fun to visit.

Look up her pages (she has 3) and treat yourself to reading delight. To start you off I give you

Saint Frances Everlasting by Leila Allison

Let this be the stepping stone to the rest of her work.

Diane.

Literally Reruns, Short Fiction

Literally Reruns: The Last Cigarette by Tim Frank

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Tim Frank has published a number of stories with us and each and every one of them requires the reader to consider questions that the works create but do not answer.

This story, The Last Cigarette is a perfect example of addiction and social attitudes. Smoking is the Devil, even though I would like anyone to point out someone who drove the wrong way up a freeway exit and killed a family due to cigarettes. And what about doobie? Ultra popular in both poetry and prose, but I doubt that the smoke is special health smoke.

I’ve been smoking for over a half century and when it is clear that it will kill me I will not complain. Consequence for action is the soul of life, and death. I associate some of the finest moments in my life with smoking and I will never give any of those back. In this piece Tim shows our strange needs with subtlety; not necessarily addiction but in our requirement for Devils and others to blame our own faults on (sometimes that appears to be the only reason why we have parents, in art anyway).

It is always a pleasure to introduce work by Tim Frank and we invite him to add his thoughts about this story.

Leila

The Last Cigarette

Comments on the Last Cigarette:

I was inspired by my realisation that I had to stop smoking, because the smoker’s cough and fear of death caused by the dreaded cigarette warnings finally got to me. But the ending, with the main character’s mother being a smoker and creating a cycle of addiction from childhood is completely fictional. I wanted to create a world where addiction is inescapable and deeply personal. The main character didn’t really stand a chance because of society and family ties, showing just how difficult the situation can be.

Tim

Literally Reruns, Short Fiction

Literally Reruns: Bingo by Hugh Cron

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Oh my oh my, after reading Bingo, I wondered what kind of father our beloved Hugh Cron would be. Actually, I think he would be an excellent parent because he would never bullshit his kids about Santa, organized religion or “The Farm” where pets go, mysteriously, all of a sudden while the child is in school. “Sparky decided he will be happy, there, at The Farm,” Papa said, wiping his eyes due to a sudden recurrence of his “allergies.”

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Literally Reruns, Short Fiction

Literally Reruns: Artificial Love by L’Erin Ogle

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Of all the writers who have appeared on the site, L’Erin Ogle is the one whose name I most expect to turn up on the list of famous writers. She is not a commercial type of writer, but she is just plain so damn good that you’d think that even the doofs who control the money would notice her. But maybe it is for the best that she continues to make her way under her own control and at her own speed.

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Literally Reruns, Short Fiction

Literally Reruns- The Old Guitarist by Dale Williams Barrigar

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Dale Williams Barrigar has been a blessing to every writer on the site since his arrival last summer. I dare anyone to find more sincere comments or an even more learned mind on the subject of literature on the site (although Gerry Coleman satisfies that condition as well!) Thus it is fitting that a painting The Old Guitarist should have at least partially inspired Dale’s first site story, today’s rerun.

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Literally Reruns, Short Fiction

Literally Reruns – The Assistant by Douglas Hawley

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Doug Hawley has been busy publishing work online for the past few years, including, happily with us. We are happy to share his often curmudgeonly POV, which is always tempered with amusement and is never caustic; he also presents his own original point of view that sometimes irks those who demand conventional writing. So it goes with Doug’s The Assistant.

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