This week’s Whoever has been with us since May 2021 when he had the beautiful All My Darlings Waiting published. Now it’s time to find out more about this writer of poignant, lyrical work. We sent Antony a list of questions and his responses are as thoughtful as his fiction writing. If you haven’t read any of Antony Osgood’s work you really are missing a treat.
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Now a chance to get to know one of our wonderful authors in more depth.
This time it is the turn of Rachel Sievers who has been with us since 2021 and if you haven’t had a look at her stories, now is the time.
Continue reading “Sunday Whoever”
Welcome to this week’s Sunday Feature. Today we proudly present a breathless little “kiss” of a work by Jacob Greb. Although it is brief and lies somewhere between a prose poem and a story, we found this too wonderful to pass by. We hope you agree.
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I Kissed Her Goodbye
I stare at the headlights with distress. The restless night made me a zombie. “Brains?” I beg a bystander. He kindly smiles.
“You fool,” memories of Julia’s last words like waves return to the shore. If only I knew how to swim. I keep on chasing the wrong fields. The meadow has turned brown. The autumn has come and Julia’s feet got cold. She likes to wear orange and green striped wool socks. My mesh of a head however can’t catch any fish. I am lonesome for her touch but Julia repeats that she loves me more. We sweep each other into our arms and lay wrapped in the blanket.
“Your heart beats radicle,” Julia says between her hums. She does so to sway me to sleep, but my fingers tingle readily to paint a thousand moons. The notes stain another night as the pianist plays the wrong lullaby. My mother’s curse carries on. White stripes and surgical tables. That’s where my mind wonders at the late hour. The wanderer I become. Julia falls asleep and I lay listening to her light snores. Nothing can cure my disease. I lift my feet and leave the bed, stumbling on the crate reused as storage for books and doctor’s notes. Hope has left the day. The streets at two finally breathe with relief. A bicycle leans against a steel pole for thieves to gaze at and take.
“Don’t leave your valuable unattended.” The reminder notice I keep in my pocket. I stole it from the psych ward.
I enter the middle lane and take my chances. The strange air is left behind by the last exhaust pipe and I inhale the pollution and cough. Fly by with a honk, but I continue to walk to the top of the block and close the loop. Takin’ on the sideways, finding a nickel, before I stop and stare at the headlights approaching, thinking of poor Julia. The curve of her smile as she whispered, “I love you. Good night. Be in peace. You fool.”
I kissed her goodbye.
Now a chance to get to know one of our wonderful authors in more depth.
This time it is the turn of David Henson who has been a regular supporter of the site in terms of both submissions of his wonderful short stories and his regular reading and commenting. Thank you David.
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We sent David a list of carefully considered and in depth questions to discover just what makes him tick. Fascinating:-
– What topic(s) would you not take on?
– What in your opinion is the best line you’ve written?
– Would you write what you would consider shite for money?
– Will you ever go Woke with your writing and use pronoun / non-descript characters and explore sensitive issues in an understanding and sensitive way?
– Type something surprising.
– Do you see something different in a mirror that others don’t when they look at you?
– The future – Bleak or hopeful?
– What would you like to like as you hate that you hate it?
– Records? Tapes? Or CDs?
-What genre you don’t write in would you like to try?
-Bonus question (worth double points): What percentage of their time do Dogs spend thinking about food?
Thank you
The LS team.
David has got this feature off to a flying start. Not only was his response super quick, his answers are just what we had hoped for. Interesting and amusing. Thank you David:-
– What topic(s) would you not take on?
I don’t think I’d ever write a rape scene. It’s too horrible and would require more finesse than I’m capable of. I have written two stories that appeared in Literally Stories and dealt with rape. Ronda 12 was an android who’s subroutines were altered to fall in love with humans against her will. So she was effectively raped, but the story didn’t describe it. Letti the Yeti had an “almost rape” scene but it ultimately didn’t happen. That scene came as close as I’d want to get..
– What in your opinion is the best line you’ve written?
The best line I’ve ever written is: “I haven’t written my best line yet.” But in case that turns out to not be true … I’m not very good at writing great “lines” per se in my stories and am envious of authors like Leila who are able to work them in seamlessly. In my case, the lines I like best tend to be images. In a creative nonfiction I wrote about my father when he was on his deathbed, I had the line “Past, present, and future — soap bubbles slipping around the drain.” I don’t know if it is the best one, but considering how personal the piece was, I’ll say it is.
– Would you write what you would consider shite for money?
No, I’m happy to write shite for free. The serious answer is also no. At this stage in my life doing so is neither necessary nor worth it.
– Will you ever go Woke with your writing and use pronoun / non-descript characters and explore sensitive issues in an understanding and sensitive way?
Hell no.
– Type something surprising.
Nothing surprises me anymore so this becomes an unanswerable question. I’m surprised I said that.
– Do you see something different in a mirror that others don’t when they look at you?
I read that most people in their minds consider themselves to be 20 years younger than they are. So … a full head of hair? No, that’s not right ‘cause I didn’t have a full head of hair 20 years ago either. I’ll have to say shaving cream because that’s about the only time I look in the mirror. Otherwise I generally rely on my wife to tell me how I look. She’s nice about it.
– The future – Bleak or hopeful?
Bleakly hopeful. Humanity has a pretty good track record of defying the odds.
– What would you like to like as you hate that you hate it?
I hate many things, and they all deserve it. Well, maybe that’s an overstatement. Socializing. I don’t hate it but I don’t like it. But once I’m there it’s good. People need people.
– Records? Tapes? Or CDs?
I listen solely to streaming music these days because it’s so convenient to tell a smart speaker to play what I want to hear. As with most people, I went through the progression of records, tapes and CDs. Several years ago, I through away all my vinyl and regret it. (And then I threw away all my vinyl.) I miss the sound of the needle dropping, the snap, crackle, pop. Come to think of it, I miss Rice Crispies, too.
-What genre you don’t write in would you like to try?
Historical. I think I’ve tried almost everything else with varying degrees of success, but not historical. I haven’t written action- adventure stories either, and have no desire to. Nothing against that genre. It’s just not for me.
-Bonus question (worth double points): What percentage of their time do Dogs spend thinking about food?
In our Annabelle’s case (see my LS bio photo), I’d say only 10.77%. She’d often rather have her chin scratched or play fetch than eat. She sleeps a lot, so if she’s dreaming about food, the percentage would be much higher. But as far as I can tell, most of her dreams are about chasing rabbits. (The kind that squeak.)
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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay – Question mark inside a light bulb on a black background.
Amnesia – An Essay by Douglas Hawley
I’ve had clinical amnesia, but it was relatively insignificant. Some other cases have been earth shaking. Let’s start with a lesson ignored or forgotten to the present day. The Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 started a trade war and according to Wikipedia it was catastrophic. There is general consensus that it contributed to the Great Depression. Subsequently, raising tariffs have been tried and failed on many occasions, including as it is currently being used by the US president who seems to think that he is a good business man. Classic economics has always held that people and countries should usually buy the cheapest regardless of where it originates, making tariffs counterproductive.
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