Welcome to our weekly meet-up and open call for the best fiction of the week!
OPEN DECEMBER 13 - 14
Fiction Accepted:
Only fiction shared between December 7th - December 13th on Substack!
This open call will be available: NOW until 9pm EST on Saturday, December 14th.
Self-promotion of your fiction is welcome!
Leave a link of the story in the comments. Please say the GENRE as well (if applicable).
Submit as many as you want, so long as they were written and shared during the window mentioned above.
TEMPLATE FOR RECOMMENDATION
Copy/Paste in the Comments Section. Anyone who does not use the template will be passed over for selection.
Story Title: Writer: [Substack Name] Genre: [See NOTE below] Type: [Choose 1: Comic/Cartoon, Poetry, Micro/Flash Fiction, Short Story, Short Serial, or Serial] URL: [Must be a Substack URL] Note: If you’d like to say a little something about your recommendation/self-promotion for anyone who happens upon this comments section in search of something new to read.
Genre can often be difficult to pin down or explain. And, if given the opportunity, we’d likely choose 3+ genres to try and explain our story but that can easily cause confusion for readers. So, I urge, nay INSIST, you only list ONE genre for your story. Using a “/” or “-” does not count as ONE genre and will be passed over for consideration. Some key exceptions are Sci-Fi, Cli-Fi, Spec-Fic, & Lit-Fic.
List of Popular Genre Fiction: Science-Fiction OR Sci-Fi / Literary Fiction OR Lit-Fic / Speculative Fiction OR Spec-Fic / Climate Fiction OR Cli-FI / Fantasy / Horror / Thriller / Romance / Historical / Mystery / Comedy / Folklore / Dystopian / Young Adult
This list is in no way “complete.” For instance, you may choose “Crime” in place of Mystery or “Suspense” in place of Thriller. There are hundreds of genres to choose from. A good source of research, if your story does not fit into one of the above commonly used fiction genres is this page.
Feel free to include “extra genres” in the Note area where you can say whatever you want about your story.
Look for our email on Monday, December 16th where the Top In Fiction list will appear in your inbox! You never know what new gems you’ll discover. All we ask in return is that you share Top In Fiction to your email list and Restack the post on Monday in Substack Notes.
Note: Humour lies, some say, wherever you may find it. So it’s far from a dull day when I get to write about starry smiles, woke wiles and a full bladder. Confused? Intrigued? Here's my Lunar Awards prompted story to explain it all…
Note: Zola finds himself caught-up in a night of rioting, is glo-slimed and meets the lumpyface woman. "Get one of these,’ pointing to her face covering, "you absolutely need it".
Note: This is a special 'Christmas Edition' of my ongoing Flash Fiction series, featuring five, fun festive tales. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all... 🎄😎🎄
Note: The story of Italian immigrant Giacomo Mazzone, who sets out on a journey to find a pair of stolen boots, is a folkloric meditation on identity, loss, and the dehumanizing indifference of New York in the early 20th century.
Note: I did two sci-fi stories this week - this one isn't humour as well though. It's a first contact story. But the Great Image Generator, as always, did a superb job. The story's not bad either, if I say so myself. Part of my Immigration Control collection.
Note: the other genre here is humour/comedy. It's basically sci-fi and humour in equal measure, and was inspired by the recent Lunar Awards Prompt Quest.
Note: Part I of a story about class warfare involving a 16-year-old girl's discovery of the plot that murdered her uncle, a hedge fund billionaire, and staged it as a heart attack.
Note: Part II of a two-part story about an AI-enabled toy that helps kids with their homework. Some reader appreciation was expressed: "That was a wonderful story. And I really wasn't expecting that part 2 - you went from really funny to poignant sadness. Both were equally well done."
Note: The week of the big game: can William pull himself up out of his spiritual malaise to be the teacher that Javi, Marcos, and his other 'Jock English' students deserve?
Note: A paranormal investigator becomes the subject of her own investigation after a routine ghost hunt goes horribly awry. I'm serializing my first published novel, posting two episodes (four chapters) a week.
Note: A short story about a rock group in the form of a review of their last album. Details of their story come dripping out between the lines before a climatic end track.
Story Title: Star Child
Writer: Johnathan Reid / @ReidItWrite
Genre: Science Fiction
Type: Short Story
URL: https://reiditwrite.substack.com/p/star-child-a-short-story
Note: Humour lies, some say, wherever you may find it. So it’s far from a dull day when I get to write about starry smiles, woke wiles and a full bladder. Confused? Intrigued? Here's my Lunar Awards prompted story to explain it all…
Story Title: DRONIKUS 7, Rators, rebels and glo-slime
Writer: MarkoNewman
Genre: Cli-fi/Dystopian/Sci-fi
Type: Serial
URL: https://substack.com/home/post/p-152130101?source=queue
Note: Zola finds himself caught-up in a night of rioting, is glo-slimed and meets the lumpyface woman. "Get one of these,’ pointing to her face covering, "you absolutely need it".
Story Title: Flash Fiction: Volume Five
Writer: Chris J. Franklin
Genre: Humour
Type: Micro/Flash Fiction
URL: https://chrisjfranklin.substack.com/p/flash-fiction-volume-five
Note: This is a special 'Christmas Edition' of my ongoing Flash Fiction series, featuring five, fun festive tales. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all... 🎄😎🎄
Story Title- Afterwards: The Airplane
Writer- Cade Robinet
Genre- Sci Fi
Type- Short Story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/caderobinet/p/afterwards-the-airplane?r=4ldfnm&utm_medium=ios
NOTE- An airplane is determined to make one last delivery during the apocalypse.
Story Title: The Apprenticeship of Joel Pushkin
Writer: Thomas Foydel
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Short Story
URL: https://falsechoices.substack.com/p/the-apprenticeship-of-joel-pushkin
Note: Like thousands before him, a young fellow with little direction grabs hold of an idea and takes it all the way to the bank.
Story Title: Laus Veneris
Writer: K.M. McKellar
Genre: Fantasy
Type: Short story
URL: https://karenmckellar.substack.com/p/laus-veneris
Note: This is a World War One story with a touch of fantasy. So mostly historical, but the fantasy element is important to the story.
I posted two stories this week. The other is much shorter.
Story Title: The Gallery of Earthly Delights
Writer: K.M. McKellar
Genre: Fantasy
Type: Flash fiction
URL: https://karenmckellar.substack.com/p/the-gallery-of-earthly-delights
Note: More of a dream-like, irrealist piece of writing.
Story Title: The Apple Tree and The Sun
Writer: Rostislava Pankova-Karadjova of Airings
Genre: A folk-poem
Type: Poetry
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/rostislava/p/the-apple-tree-and-the-sun?r=zcxsb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Note: A translation of a poem I first wrote in Bulgarian, including an audio of the original
Story Title: The Lawn
Writer: Victor Jimenez
Genre: Sci-Fi
Type: Flash
URL: https://serialassemblerofwords.substack.com/p/alien-gardening
A nice callback to the pulp era.
Story Title: Don’t Let Them Take Your Boots
Writer: Michael Arturo
Genre: Folklore
Type: Short Story
URL: https://michaelarturo.substack.com/p/dont-let-them-take-your-boots-e79
Note: The story of Italian immigrant Giacomo Mazzone, who sets out on a journey to find a pair of stolen boots, is a folkloric meditation on identity, loss, and the dehumanizing indifference of New York in the early 20th century.
Story Title: XF
Writer: Evelyn K. Brunswick
Genre: Sci-Fi
Type: Short story
URL: https://inadifferentplace.substack.com/p/xf?r=2s9hod
Note: I did two sci-fi stories this week - this one isn't humour as well though. It's a first contact story. But the Great Image Generator, as always, did a superb job. The story's not bad either, if I say so myself. Part of my Immigration Control collection.
Story Title: King Work
Writer: Making It Up As I Go Alone
Genre: Crime
Type: Short Story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/richarddavis565153/p/king-work?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=46o1cl
Note: A slab of Brit-Grit noir that follows killer King at work. All goes according to plan, until it doesn't.
Story Title: Johnny Gone to Charon
Writer: Evelyn K. Brunswick
Genre: Sci-Fi
Type: Short Story
URL: https://inadifferentplace.substack.com/p/johnny-gone-to-charon-act-iii-finale?r=2s9hod
Note: the other genre here is humour/comedy. It's basically sci-fi and humour in equal measure, and was inspired by the recent Lunar Awards Prompt Quest.
Story Title: Wine Pairings
Writer: Vladimir Ivanov
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Type: Flash Fiction
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/vladimirivanov/p/wine-pairings
Note: My first ever flash fiction story about an eccentric wine shopkeeper and his peculiar clientelle
Story Title: The Public Humiliation of Brian
Writer: M.P. Fitzgerald
Genre: Sci-Fi
Type: Short Story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/mpfitzgerald/p/the-public-humiliation-of-brian
Note: Dark-humored social anxiety horror about a man whose mind leaks.
Story Title: What's a Dragon? - Chapter 23
Writer: Dragon Writer Luc
Genre: Fantasy
Type: Serial
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/dragonwriterluc/p/whats-a-dragon-chapter-23
Note: Snow blocks bikes but it doesn't block flying.
Story Title: Unicornity
Writer: BamBoncher
Genre: Fantasy
Type: Micro/Flash Fiction
URL: [https://open.substack.com/pub/bamboncher/p/unicornity?r=36jaso&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Note: a humorous drabble on the outcome of choosing the wrong spell ingredient
Story Title: Probe
Writer: Karl K. Gallagher
Genre: Science fiction
Type: Short Story
URL: https://gallagherstories.substack.com/p/probe
Note: A humorous story looking at why flying saucers decide to kidnap, probe, and return people.
Story Title: We Were Out Hunting IV Billionaire
Writer: Elie Lichtschein
Genre: Spec-fic
Type: Literary Fiction
URL: https://darkquarters.substack.com/p/we-were-out-hunting-iv-billionaire
Note: Part I of a story about class warfare involving a 16-year-old girl's discovery of the plot that murdered her uncle, a hedge fund billionaire, and staged it as a heart attack.
Story Title: Imagine an AI Tutor for School Children
Writer: Shoni
Genre: Spec-fic
Type: Short Serial
URL: https://shonistar.substack.com/p/can-we-trust-ai-to-teach-our-children
Note: Part II of a two-part story about an AI-enabled toy that helps kids with their homework. Some reader appreciation was expressed: "That was a wonderful story. And I really wasn't expecting that part 2 - you went from really funny to poignant sadness. Both were equally well done."
Story Title: Imagine an AI Tutor for School Children
Writer: Shoni
Genre: Spec-fic
Type: Short Serial
URL: https://shonistar.substack.com/p/imagine-an-ai-tutor-for-school-children
Note: Part I of a two-part series about an AI-enabled toy that helps kids with their homework. It's not too Black Mirror, I promise.
Story Title: Katydid and the Snow Angel
Writer: Diana Hannay of Fickle and Whimsy
Genre: Literary-Fiction
Type: Short Story
URL: https://fickleandwhimsy.substack.com/p/katydid-and-the-snow-angel
Note: A nostalgic reflection on imagined winters on the farm, where the simplicity and quiet magic of the season evoke a timeless sense of wonder.
Story Title: The Missing Lover
Writer: Renni Grier
Genre: Fantasy
Type: Short story
URL: https://spiritinmotion.substack.com/p/the-missing-lover?r=3i19cd
Note: A high priestess no longer hears the voice of God in the face of her people's extinction.
Story Title: The Question
Writer: Sue Meredith Mann/ On the Road to Jericho
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Serial
URL:https://ontheroadtojericho.substack.com/p/21-pretoria-1993-the-question-f85
Note: Eleanor navigates a high-stakes interview. Will truth elevate or sink her?
Story Title: Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika
Writer: Sue Meredith Mann/ On the Road to Jericho
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Serial
URL: https://ontheroadtojericho.substack.com/p/20-durban-1992-nkosi-sikelel-iafrika
Note: The University receives a special visitor. Some celebrate. Others mutiny.
Story Title: Cold Feet
Writer: James Kenwood
Genre: Sci-Fi
Type: Micro/Flash Fiction
URL: https://jameskenwood.substack.com/p/cold-feet
Note: On a grim Mars far in the future, our protagonist must make choices around life and limb...
Story Title: Ink Tears
Writer: Tommy Green
Genre: Free Verse
Type: Poetry
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/tommyjgreen2004/p/inky-tears?r=4k4m5l&utm_medium=ios
Story Title: Campfire
Writer: Tommy Green
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Flash Fiction
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/tommyjgreen2004/p/campfire?r=4k4m5l&utm_medium=ios
Title: Darragh’s Scourge
Writer: Tommy Green
Genre: Poetry
Type: Poetry
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/tommyjgreen2004/p/darraghs-scourge?r=4k4m5l&utm_medium=ios
Note: A poem based on the weekend I had thanks to Storm Darragh.
Story Title: Thanksgiving
Writer: Jack Fitzgerald
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Serial
URL: https://jackfitzgerald.substack.com/p/the-summer-we-said-goodbye-18
Note: Installment 18 of The Summer We Said Goodbye
Story Title: The Cigarette Hotbox - Chapter 2
Writer: Zachary Clark (Foolish Words)
Genre: Lit-Fic
Type: Serial
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/zacharyaclark/p/the-cigarette-hotbox-chapter-2?r=2stmma&utm_medium=ios
Note: After deciding to stay late at a family party, Baxton starts to see the sort of crowd that lingers past normal hours
Story Title: I am Not Alone: They Lurk in the Shadows Writer: Irshaad Genre: Horror Type: Flash Fiction URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/unfinishedspeedwriting/p/i-am-not-alone?r=2qufyf&utm_medium=ios Note: Denied sleep because of his fears, he wonders if his fears are real or imagined….
Hi Erica, it's good to be back. I got lost for a while. I have two stories for you to consider this week...
WRITER: Scribbler -- a portal to fiction (I changed my name.)
GENRE: Literary
Type: short story
My THROWBACK THURSDAY story is an oldie but a goodie...
https://open.substack.com/pub/benwoestenburg/p/throwback-thursday-b5e?r=254e8w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
And my STORIES, AFTER EIGHT (reading/written) conclusion to my story FREEDOM HOUSE is not for everyone because of the subject matter, but hey, it is what it is...https://benwoestenburg.substack.com/p/freedom-house-c69?r=254e8w
Title: LONDON STREETS: NIGHT
Writer: Sharron Bassano
Genre: Fiction
Type: Flash Fiction
URL: https://sharronbassano.substack.com/p/london-streets-night-49e
What transpires on on the streets of London on one particular night?
Story Title: "An Artist's Remembrance"
Writer: @bluebirdfiction
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Type: Short Story
URL: https://bluebirdfiction.substack.com/p/an-artists-remembrance
A college student experiences a strange encounter at the museum.
Story Title: Priced To Move
Writer: Scott MacLeod/Son of Ugly
Genre: Holiday
Type: Flash Fiction
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/sonofugly/p/priced-to-move?r=2sz29p&utm_medium=ios
Note: Christmas schmaltz.
Story Title: Gullywashers
Writer: Chris DeWitt (Dork Mansion Dispatch)
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Short story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/dorkmansiondispatch/p/dispatch-18-gullywashers?r=e4td0&utm_medium=ios
Note: A writer drives his ailing father in law across Texas and gets lost in a torrent.
Story Title: Liminal Mall
Writer: Bruce Dobbins
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Type: Flash Fiction
https://substack.com/@brucedobbins/note/p-153045990?r=351uu8
Note: How far would you go for one last moment?
Story Title: Why Teach - chapter 8
Writer: Peter Shull
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Serial
URL: https://substack.com/home/post/p-152383514
Note: The week of the big game: can William pull himself up out of his spiritual malaise to be the teacher that Javi, Marcos, and his other 'Jock English' students deserve?
Story Title:
Writer: Jean Marie Bauhaus [Through a Glass, Darkly]
Genre: Supernatural thriller
Type: Serial
URL: https://jeanmariebauhaus.substack.com/p/restless-spirits-chapters-13-and
Note: Second installment from this week (see previous comment).
Story Title:
Writer: Jean Marie Bauhaus [Through a Glass, Darkly]
Genre: Supernatural thriller
Type: Serial
URL: https://jeanmariebauhaus.substack.com/p/restless-spirits-chapters-11-and
Note: A paranormal investigator becomes the subject of her own investigation after a routine ghost hunt goes horribly awry. I'm serializing my first published novel, posting two episodes (four chapters) a week.
Story Title: Why Teach - chapter 7
Writer: Peter Shull
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Serial
URL: https://pshull.substack.com/p/why-teach-chapter-7
Note: An unusual homecoming: William attends Jim Morris Sr's birthday-slash-retirement party at the Plains City Country Club.
Story Title: Overnight Stay at Breakheart Lodge
Writer: A.P. Murphy
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Short Story
URL: https://thestrangenesskit.substack.com/p/overnight-stay-at-breakheart-lodge
Note: A short story about a rock group in the form of a review of their last album. Details of their story come dripping out between the lines before a climatic end track.