THE STAGE NAME by James Tadd Adcox
Just as the first wife had found the stage name pretentious and comical, the second experienced the real name as uncanny, unnatural.
WORK by Andy Tran
The Algebra II teacher stood up with his hands full of frozen peas. “I don’t know what to say. But thank you,” he said. A pea dropped from his hand. Tess moaned.
TRANSMISSIONS: Textual Healing
As a writer I think it’s helped me to guess which questions an author might really want to get asked. So many podcasts solely focus on the writing. As a writer, I know that can be exhausting.
THE LUCKY ONE by Pamela Painter
She walks with purpose over to a gangly tree and dumps our mother’s ashes at its base, then smears them around with the toe of her purple sneaker. Then she turns to face me as if to see if I’m going to object.
SHORT, SMART, FUN, BAFFLING: An Interview with Brian Allen Carr
It’s infuriating to watch my peer group become less intelligent and more certain as time winds on. It’s supposed to go the other way. The more reality you experience, the less certain you should be.
MY FRIEND LOUISE… by Susannah Felts
Amber beads, electric blue billowing, jasmine. Here comes Louise, here she comes, into the kitchen.
XRAY SPECS: Chafed Elbows (1966)
Isn’t that what every artist wants? To do the thing in the way they want to do it and have everyone they care about want that for them, too?
ELAINE by LJ Pemberton
The more of Elaine he had had, the less it felt like she belonged to him at all. Besides, he said, I have learned that even possession is a kind of disappointment.
LIFE AND ALL OF ITS VIOLENCE: An Interview with Alex Kazemi
A shocked reaction to this work really just makes my point about why I wrote this novel. It’s all so obvious, and I’m bored to death.
FARM HANDS by Mark Abdon
The rocking horse was hideous, though. It was the eyes. Wide open and vacant, set too high on that giant head. The foot-pegs had snapped off on Black Friday.