Flash Fiction Published at Rhythm & Bones

Hi, friends! The good people at Rhythm & Bones published “Shadows Cannot be Seen in the Pitch-Black” recently. You can find the story here if you’re interested in reading it.

It’s been a tough year for the editors of Rhythm & Bones. As Tianna mentioned in the issue’s “Letter from the Editor,” “We weren’t quite sure we would make it to the end of the year, but here we are: strong as ever; stronger, even. Our passion and motivation have not flickered out, if anything they have grown.” I’m grateful not only for the publication of my flash fiction amid all of the challenges Tianna and her team faced, but I’m also grateful for the story’s early release. I admire Tianna and her team for their hard work, tenacity, and persistence. I hope you will join me in supporting the lovely literary magazine they’ve worked so hard to create.

Quick Reads (October 2018)

So many wonderful magazines and journals released new content this month and it was hard to keep up. I haven’t read through all the things I want to, but I’m sure I can sneak more in while procrastinating during National Novel Writing Month!

Anyway, here is the list of everything short I read this past month. Please remember: this list is not necessarily meant to act as a review, a show of favor, or a “best of” list. Feel free to share your own findings in the comments!

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“A Summoning in Section 292.1.J-P” By Anya Josephs (Green Briar Review)
[Note: This is where I volunteer as a fiction editor. Please consider sending us your own excellent creations!]

“When Czechoslovakia Was Still a Country” By Tad Bartlett (Green Briar Review)
[See note directly above this.]

“4P16.3” by Maya Alexandri (The Forge Literary Magazine)

“Snap Bam Boom” by Robert Mangeot (The Forge Literary Magazine)

“Zero Tolerance” by Jayne Martin (Barren Magazine)

“Toy Box” by Asher (Barren Magazine)
[Note: “Buried in the Ground” by yours truly is in this issue of the magazine!]

“Barnlights” by Amanda Crum (Barren Magazine)

“A Girl Buys Lilies for Herself” by Priyanka Sacheti (Barren Magazine)

“Sharp Parables” by Emily Osborne (Barren Magazine)

“How to weave a blanket out of horsehair and spidersilk” by Sonja Swift (Barren Magazine)

“The Horror of Party Beach” by Dale Bailey (Lightspeed)
[I listened to this story via the Lightspeed podcast.]

“The Miracle Lambs of Minane” by Finbarr O’Reilly (Clarkesworld Magazine)
[I listened to this story via the Clarkesworld Magazine podcast.]

“Midwestern Women: An Essential Reading List” by Meghan O’Gieblyn (Literary Hub)

“The Routine” by Marie McKay (Rhythm & Bones)

“Unravelling” by A.L. Bradshaw (freeze frame fiction)

“Waiting for Nothing to Happen” by Caroline Langston (Image)

“Dionysus Promised to Let You Have Another Glass” by Chloe N. Clark (Likely Red)

“The Atomic Clock” by Michael Grant Smith (Spelk)

“Crazy in Love” by Anita Goveas (Pixel Heart Literary Magazine)

“Letter of Recommendation for a Basic Male MFA Applicant” by Emma Brewer (McSweeney’s Internet Tendency)

“How to Build a Dream World” by Ruth Joffre (Electric Literature)

“The Power of Cautionary Questions: Neil Gaiman on Ray Bradbury’s ‘Fahrenheit 451,’ Why We Read, and How Speculative Storytelling Enlarges Our Humanity” by Maria Popova (Brain Pickings)

“Into the Wash” by Mitchell Grabois (Blue River)

“The Hill” by Laura Huey Chamberlain (jmww)

“The Things I Miss the Most” by Nisi Shawl (Uncanny Magazine)
[I listened to this story via the Uncanny Magazine podcast. It is part of the Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction issue.]

“Convalescence” by Alicia Cole (Uncanny Magazine)
[I listened to this poem via the Uncanny Magazine podcast. It is part of the Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction issue.]

“Catalyst” and “Reaction” by M. Stone (Nice Cage)
[My short story, “All the Waves Resound,” is also in this issue of the journal!]

“New Old” by Tara Isabel Zambrano (The Southampton Review)

“Emily As We Turn Off the Sound of Monday Night Football” by Darren C. Demaree (The Stay Project)

“The Horror of the Unknown: Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti” by David Peak (Electric Literature)

‘Buried in the Ground’ Published in Barren Magazine

Hi, friends! “Buried in the Ground” is up at Barren Magazine today if you’d like to read it.

Here is an excerpt:

You begin with the vegetable garden because it’s the likeliest place to bury something. You slip the blank paper into your bag and get to work, not daring to put it down until your dad goes back into the house. The ground is still soft in the garden from spring’s tilling and makes the digging less painful. But when you dig up the carrots, you regret your decision. It isn’t until you’re under the soil that you realize the vegetables are still slivers of orange root, born too early. The leafy carrot tops trick you, making the roots appear more mature than they really are.

I hope you’ll check it out! If you do, thanks for reading.

Quick Reads (August 2018)

Here is the list of everything short I read this past month. Please remember: this list is not necessarily meant to act as a review, a show of favor, or a “best of” list. Feel free to share your own findings in the comments!

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All of The Conium Review: Vol. 5

“Why Christians Should Read More Fiction” by Paul Anderson (RELEVANT Magazine)

“The Fool’s Stone” by Aubry Kae Andersen (Analog Science Fiction and Fact)

“An elf in the witch-garden” by Kate Garr (Rhythm & Bones)

“Thaumatrope” by Christopher Iacono (Rhythm & Bones)

“forgiving mistakes i’ve made” by Linda M. Crate (Rhythm & Bones)

“Today” by Maddie M. White (Rhythm & Bones)

“A Dungeon Open House” by Ben Niespodziany (Train)

“And the Hole Never Heals” by Ryan Habermeyer (Bat City Review)

“Dragon Princess” by Michael Chin (Cherry Tree)
[Note: I read the excerpt available online.]

“Big Bad Wolf” by Terrance Wedin (New South)

“Unicorn” by Philip Dean Walker (Big Lucks)

“This and That” by Ricky Garni (Big Lucks)

“Rhode Island Red” by Michael Kimball (Big Lucks)

“The Wardrobe” by Aysegul Savas (The Adroit Journal)

“Apology” by Anne Rasmussen (Jellyfish Review)

“Uncle Soot” by Joshua Jones (Midwestern Gothic)
[The round 1 winner for the journal’s annual summer flash fiction series]

“Perseids” by Madeline Anthes (Midwestern Gothic)
[The round 1 runner-up for the journal’s annual summer flash fiction series]

“Day in the Manner of Magritte” by Austin Sanchez-Moran (Maudlin House)

“Bees” by ​​Melissa N. Warren (Gordon Square Review)

“Me and You and Zvonimir” by Casey Whitworth (Green Briar Review)

“Arsonist With Unlit Match” by Matt Fiander (Barren Magazine)

“The House Mourns Alone at Midnight” by Maryse Meijer (Outlook Springs)

“Koi Pond” by Cathy Ulrich (Outlook Springs)

Rhythm & Bones Lit Will Publish Two of My Flash Fiction Stories

I received some really great news last night. Rhythm & Bones Lit agreed to publish two of my flash fiction stories! You will be able to read “Shadows Cannot be Seen in the Pitch-Black” in issue three of the magazine and “How to Suffocate a Shark” in issue four. Many, many thanks to Tianna, Renee, and Charlie for the kind acceptance letter. I can’t wait!

Quick Reads (July 2018)

Here is the list of everything short I read this past month. Please remember: this list is not necessarily meant to act as a review, a show of favor, or a “best of” list. Feel free to share your own findings in the comments!

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“Pillow Talk” by Lori DeSanti (Blue Earth Review)

“Ice” by Marianne Villanueva (Bellingham Review)

“Ohio Deathbed, 1990” by Greg Marzullo (Arkana)

“This Must Be the Place” by Jeffery Helton (Appalachian Heritage)

“Of Leaf and Limb” by Hamilton Kohl (The Arcanist)

“Bloom” by Lori Sambol Brody (matchbook)

“Coloring Book Sky” and “Holy Noodles” by Elizabeth Elliott (Remington Review)
[Note: Elizabeth graduated from the Creighton MFA program before I did.]

“Tips on Discipline” by Jeff VanderMeer (wonderbooknow.com)

“Jeff VanderMeer on the Art and Science of Structuring a Novel” by Jeff VanderMeer (Electric Literature)

“Rebuking A Sexist Prayer” by Diane J. McDougall (Fathom Magazine)

“Every Bright Patch of Green” by Rachel Joy Welcher (Fathom Magazine)

“Birds of a Feather” by Tianna Grosch (Okay Donkey)

“The Piano Room” by Lily Wang (Cosmonauts Avenue)

Flash Fiction Published in Fathom

Remember when I wrote that I was trying to read more Christian fiction? Well, I’ve been working on finding good homes for my own Christian fiction too. Thanks to the lovely editors at Fathom Magazine, I now have a new Christian flash fiction story published. You can find the story, “Though the Earth Gives Way,” in the Rebellion issue (No. 20). Thanks to Managing Editor Jonathan Minnema for accepting this flash and, also, thanks to the other editors at Fathom Magazine who had a hand in publishing this story. I’m really grateful to be a small addition to this rad publication.

Quick Reads (June 2018)

Wow, May and June are stellar months for flash fiction. There were a lot of contest and special issues that were recently published—the majority of which I haven’t had the chance to read yet. Here are just a few recommendations for flash lovers: Wigleaf’s Top 50, SmokeLong Quarterly’s contest issue, and the FlashFlood blog.

Anyway, here is the list of everything short I read this past month. Please remember: this list is not necessarily meant to act as a review, a show of favor, or a “best of” list. Feel free to share your own findings in the comments!

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“Drift” by Toti O’Brien (Bridge Eight)

“Fruit” by Jacquelyn Bengfort (matchbook)

“Why I Write Sad Stories” by Kevin Fitton (Ruminate blog)

“Gator Butchering For Beginners” by Kristen Arnett (Recommended Reading Commuter)

“The Vector of Our Love” by Elizabeth Shack (freeze frame fiction)

“An Ocean This Big” by Christine Hennessey (Monkeybicycle)

“The Mansion of Endless Rooms” by L Chan (Syntax & Salt)

“Upon Discovering That Cows Can Swim” by Santino Prinzi (Jellyfish Review)

“I Open I Wince” by Shane Kowalski (Peach Mag)

“Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid (The New Yorker)

“The Huntress” by Sofia Samatar (Tin House Online)

“There is No Albuquerque” by Kathy Fish (Newfound)

“A Man Named Magritte” by Abby Burns [Bending Genres (50mm Microfiction Contest first place)]

“Happiness is Gold” by Jean Reyes [Bending Genres (50mm Microfiction Contest, second place)]

“Sisyphus Speaks” by Jennifer Wortman [Bending Genres (50mm Microfiction Contest, third place)]

“Wings of Desire” by Jude Higgins [Bending Genres (50mm Microfiction Contest, honorable mention)]

“Tiny House” by Nancy Stohlman (New Flash Fiction Review)

“A Husband Should Be Eaten and Not Heard” by Megan Giddings (Split Lip Magazine)

Three poems by Erin Pulsipher (Déraciné Magazine)
[Note: Erin graduated from the Creighton MFA program the same time I did.]

“Full” by Carolina VonKampen (Déraciné Magazine)

“The Soul Sucker” by Andrea Salvador (Déraciné Magazine)

All of Crack the Spine Issue 238
[Note: My flash fiction story “While Taking Photographs in Nepal” is in this issue!]

“Final Girl Slumber Party” by Meghan Phillips (Barrelhouse)

“Hospice” by Tara Isabel Zambrano (The /tƐmz/ Review)

“Filaments of Air” by Tommy Dean (FlashFlood)

“Grateful” by Laura Pearson (FlashFlood)

“This Isn’t as Much Fun as I Thought It Would Be” by Mary Lynn Reed (FlashFlood) 

“A Day for Watching Birds” by Anna Vangala Jones (FlashFlood)

“Whale Fall” by Alvin Park (SmokeLong Quarterly)

“Nocturne” by Leslie Marie Aguilar (The Common)

“Snowstorm” by Tara Isabel Zambrano (Atticus Review)

“Shoot by Grace” by Grace Campbell (Jellyfish Review)

“The Rats” by Blake Middleton (Hobart)

“The Devil and Ellen and Charles” by Mary Clemens (Hobart)

“Greetings From” by Melissa L. Amstutz (Tin House Online)

All of the Penny Fiction in From the Depths Issue 15

New Flash Fiction at Crack the Spine

This past Tuesday, Crack the Spine included my flash fiction story, “While Taking Photographs in Nepal,” in Issue 238 of the magazine. Founder and Editor Kerri Farrell Foley made the entire experience a joyful one and I’m grateful for the lovely presentation of my work. I’m so thankful to be published in this literary magazine, which I have admired for a while now. Please check out the story if you have time, along with all of the other beautiful offerings in this issue. Thanks for reading!

Quick Reads (May 2018)

Here is the list of everything short I read this past month. Please remember: this list is not necessarily meant to act as a review, a show of favor, or a “best of” list. Feel free to share your own findings in the comments!

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“Ghost Story” by Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint (Split Lip Magazine)

“At the Plant Shoppe in OKC I Learn That I Need to Nurture a Plant” by Kimberly Priest (Storm Cellar)

“Mario Reconsiders His Profession in Plumbing” by Dustin M. Hoffman (Booth)

“Other Metamorphoses” by Fabio Fernand {Lightspeed [from People of Colo(u)r Destroy Flash Fiction!]}

“The Logicians” by James Warner (Ninth Letter)

“Sapphires” by Melissa Goodrich (The Forge Literary Magazine)

“The Dependants” by Michael Noll (The New Territory)

“A Change in Latitude” by Brianne Kohl [Wigleaf (winner of The Mythic Picnic Prize)]

“The Gift” by Rose Andersen [Gone Lawn (from Wigleaf Top 50)]

“Extinction of Female Blue Morphos from the Love Archive of a Museologist”  by Karen An-hwei Lee (Minola Review)

“Columbus, Ohio” by Joseph Grantham (Fanzine)

“Glass House” by Elise Blackwell (Necessary Fiction)

“The Liar” by Brandon Giella (Fathom)

Quick Reads (April 2018)

Due to starting a new job, I wasn’t able to read as much as usual. I managed to get a few stories in despite being so busy. Here is the list of everything short I read this past month. Please remember: this list is not necessarily meant to act as a review, a show of favor, or a “best of” list. Feel free to share your own findings in the comments!

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“Fathers” by Amanda DeNatale (Toasted Cheese)
[Note: Amanda is a good friend of mine. She also graduated from the Creighton MFA program.]

“Rainbow, Fungus, Rainbow” by Liam Johnson (The Molotov Cocktail)

“The Clearing” by Alexi Zentner (Orion Magazine)

“To Live and Die in E.V.” by Oscar Mancinas (Storm Cellar)

“No One Worships What They Find Under Their Fingernails” by Kathryn McMahon (Booth)

“Better than Healed” by Michael Harris Cohen (Apparition Literary Magazine)

Surprise! I Won a Flash Fiction Contest.

I am elated to announce that my flash fiction story, “Phoenix Fire Fight,” was chosen as the winner of the Apparition Lit April Flash Fiction Contest. I hope you’ll check it out! Many thanks to Tacoma and the editors at Apparition Literary Magazine for selecting my work.

Flash Fiction Chosen for Publication at Likely Red

Eric Shay Howard and the crew at Likely Red have chosen to publish my flash fiction story, “The Squatter’s Inn!” It will be included in “The Fancy Arm Hole Series,” an upcoming series by the press. I’m grateful to this hardworking group of editors for choosing to publish my work.

Quick Reads (March 2018)

Here is the list of everything short I read this past month. Please remember: this list is not necessarily meant to act as a review, a show of favor, or a “best of” list. Feel free to share your own findings in the comments!

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“The Town of Milkcarton Kids” by Ali Rachel Pearl (Redivider)

“No Girls Allowed” by Anna Valente (Fairy Tale Review)

“Raw Materials” by c.a. schaefer (Superstition Review)

“Forty-Five Feet” by Joshua Jones (Split Lip Magazine)

“Girl in Dog House” by Carol Guess and Aimee Parkison (New Delta Review)

“Red City” by Ashley Kunsa (Sycamore Review)

“Rattle and Spin” by Jeanette Sheppard (Bare Fiction)

“Investigations on the Theft of Heaven” by Abhishek Sengupta (Outlook Springs)

“TOMWABFAM” by Matt Tompkins (Puerto del Sol)

“The Ones Who Chose the Rain” by George Edwards Murray (Daily Science Fiction)

“Everything Red” by Emily Lackey (Monkeybicycle)
[Note: I met Emily at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts during her residency there.]

“Alien Love” by Jennifer Lynn Christie (Atticus Review)
[Note: I read this on the 2017 Best of the Net website.]

“Rut” by Maria McLeod (The Journal)

“Swayze” by Natalia Hero (The /tƐmz/ Review)

“What Strangers Do” by Christopher Allen ([PANK])

“A Priest of Vast and Distant Places” by Cassandra Khaw (Apex Magazine)

Read “Disembodied” in the Inaugural Issue of Laurel Magazine

The inaugural issue of Laurel Magazine launched today and it is gorgeous! You can download it here. I hope you’ll take the time to check out all of the beautiful things this issue has to offer. My thanks to the awesome team of editors that collected all of these shining gems into one place.

Two Flash Fiction Stories Accepted by Laurel Magazine

When I woke up this morning, I checked my email and found an acceptance letter for two of my flash fiction stories! The wonderful team at Laurel Magazine has offered a home for both “Disembodied” and “Overabundance.” I’m grateful to be part of the Laurel Family. You will be able to read “Disembodied” in the inaugural issue (tentatively releasing this month) and “Overabundance” in the second issue (likely in July). I hope you check them out and—as always—thanks for reading!

“Independence Day” Published by Allegory Ridge

I’m super excited to announce that my flash fiction, “Independence Day,” has been accepted for publication by Allegory Ridge. You can read it here! A big thank you to Alexander Rigby and his crew for publishing my unconventional little story.

Blue River Valentine’s Day Submission Special

Hey graduate student writers and those who know graduate student writers—are you ready for Valentine’s Day? At Blue River, we’re showing the love by offering a two-for-one special. Here are the details:

Blue River is offering a Valentine’s Day submission special: submit two pieces for the price of one! The two-for-one submission period will run from midnight to midnight on February 14 only. Submit here for a shot at publication and the $500 Editor’s Choice award in Fiction, Poetry and NonFiction. Regular entry fees will resume thereafter.

Blue River is a non-profit literary journal produced by the students in Creighton University’s MFA program. We seek to build a new tradition: to foster and celebrate contemporary graduate-level creative writers by publishing their fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.

Our March 1st deadline is almost upon us. Send us your best work!

https://blueriver.submittable.com/submit

Follow us on Twitter.

Like us on Facebook.

We’re looking forward to your contribution. Happy Valentine’s Day!

“When Continents Collide” is now available in F(r)iction #2

Hello! I wanted to provide an updated link to F(r)iction #2, now available for purchase from Tethered by Letters. You can find my short story “When Continents Collide” in this issue of the literary magazine.

I would encourage you to also consider the other works that are available in this issue—some literary leaning, others genre leaning—that are all high quality. I read most of Rose Hartley’s story before my professor at school asked to borrow the magazine and that story alone is reason to purchase F(r)iction #2. The full-color, commissioned artwork is also amazing!

I hope you will seriously consider purchasing a copy of this innovative and modern literary magazine. As always, thanks for reading!

Check Out My Short Story “When Continents Collide” in Friction #2!

Hello bloggers, readers, friends, and colleagues! I wanted to let you know that a short story of mine, “When Continents Collide,” will soon be available to readers. You can preorder the issue it will be featured in right now.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you read it! I’d love to hear your opinions. I’m writing to connect with people, after all.

If you guys don’t know about Tethered by Letters, the parent company of the F(r)iction Series, I’d encourage you to visit their site. They offer support to writers and give readers lots of great work to peruse.

As always, thanks for reading.