Welcome to our weekly meet-up and open call for the best fiction of the week!
OPEN DECEMBER 27 - 28
Fiction Accepted:
Only fiction shared between December 21st - December 27th on Substack!
This open call will be available: NOW until 9pm EST on Saturday, December 28th.
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 30th 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: The Summer We Said Goodbye is a coming-of-age novel set in the rolling fields of the English Cotswolds. Since he was twelve, Cosmo has spent every summer worth remembering with Aris, his best friend, who swooped in and saved him from the tumult and uncertainty of his parents' divorce. Now 18, they're on yet another summer adventure working at a small inn tucked in the rolling fields of the English Cotswolds. It's the kind of adventure they always dreamed of. But with a year of college under their belts at universities on opposite coasts, they're older now with new and unfamiliar expectations. Will this summer be like all the rest, or will it be the summer Cosmo and Aris say goodbye?
Rose and Ruth were both very plain girls, some would say homely, and maybe they’d be right. It was in the rural foothills of the California Sierra in 1949. Two Gold Country residents receive a surprise visitor.
Note: My debut Substack serial, INGRESSION, introduces The Consilience Series. The novel fuses dystopian, first contact and climate fiction themes, with a hint of swords and eagles fantasy. If you're into a near-future setting, character-driven plot and a strong, contemporary woman protagonist, then this might be for you.
Note: Magic returns to a post-apocalyptic world through a young gunfighter, who reluctantly embraces her inner sorceress when she discovers she’s one of seven prophesied children who might bring salvation - or extinction - to the human race.
Note: In an unfortunate series of events, our narrator recounts how the galaxy was destroyed - and they still had nothing exciting happen in their part.
Note: I’m an aspiring writer crafting short stories and a fantasy-scifi novel. My work weaves together threads of memory and imagination. Join me on this journey through worlds both fantastic and familiar.
Note: Prudence and Abagail, twin sisters born with monocular vision, embody the duality of perception—one eye fixed on tradition, the other blind to the possibilities of change. Together, they form a single, fractured whole, their lives intertwined by their love for Nathaniel Suttle, a wealthy industrialist caught in their emotional crossfire in New York in the 1890s.
Note: When so many of my friends and family died between 2016 and 2021, I became interested in death rituals from around the world and researched lots of different ones. I discovered that in Madagascar the Malagasy people have a tradition called Famadihana in which loved ones’ graves are exhumed and a ceremony follows where the bodies are cleaned and dressed in fresh burial shrouds, traditionally made of fine silk, and then a feast and party is held in their honour. The idea for this story was inspired by the image of the bodies in fancy clothes and people dancing at the celebration. It was originally published in Emerge Literary Journal in 2022 with a different title.
Story Title: Where is the spirit now?
Writer: Zivah Avraham
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Poetry
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/zivah/p/where-is-the-spirit-now?r=2yd0tl&utm_medium=ios
Note: About holidays, inspired by a poem written in the 7th century, in Old English
Story Title: The Whispers
Writer: Lucas James
Genre: Horror
Type: Flash Fiction
URL: https://lucasjjames.substack.com/p/the-whispers
Story Title: The Christmas Tree
Writer: luzenz
Genre: Lit-Fic
Type: Short Story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/luzenz/p/the-christmas-tree
Posted on 28/12 in Australia which was still 27/12 in the US, so I hope still acceptable!
Title: Phone Call
Writer: Dyce Anferné
Genre: Speculative
Type: Serial
URL: https://dyce.substack.com/p/phone-call
Note: Filled with the spirit of Christmas, Mr. Sniffles modifies his behavior, gifting Beano with a cup of delicious hot cocoa.
Story Title: The Superposition of Columbia
Writer: A.P. Murphy
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Type: Short Story
URL: https://thestrangenesskit.substack.com/p/the-superposition-of-columbia
Note: Deriving from a dream conversation with a dead astronaut over the wreckage of his spacecraft
Story Title: 18: But, Oh, That Summer Solstice Night
Writer: The Môrdreigiau Chronicles
Genre: Fantasy
Type: Serial
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/projectstarfish/p/18-but-oh-that-summer-solstice-night?r=1mk6at&utm_medium=ios
Note: Chapter 1i of “A River Trembles”! book two of The Môrdreigiau Chronicles. The summer solstice celebration reaches a climax.
Story Title: The Summer We Said Goodbye - Installment 20: The Upstairs
Writer: Jack Fitzgerald
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Serial
URL: https://jackfitzgerald.substack.com/p/the-summer-we-said-goodbye-20
Note: The Summer We Said Goodbye is a coming-of-age novel set in the rolling fields of the English Cotswolds. Since he was twelve, Cosmo has spent every summer worth remembering with Aris, his best friend, who swooped in and saved him from the tumult and uncertainty of his parents' divorce. Now 18, they're on yet another summer adventure working at a small inn tucked in the rolling fields of the English Cotswolds. It's the kind of adventure they always dreamed of. But with a year of college under their belts at universities on opposite coasts, they're older now with new and unfamiliar expectations. Will this summer be like all the rest, or will it be the summer Cosmo and Aris say goodbye?
Story Title: The Cooperatives: The scream
Writer: Claudia Befu
Genre: Science Fiction
Type: [Short Serial]
URL: https://www.storyvoyager.com/p/the-cooperatives-the-scream
Story Title: With Love
Writer: Jack Nagy
Genre: Sci-Fi
Type: Short Story
URL: https://www.scrapbookbyjack.com/p/with-love
Note: Humanity discovers a second universe. What next?
Story Title: ROSE AND RUTH
Writer: Sharron Bassano
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Short Story,
URL: https://sharronbassano.substack.com/p/rose-and-ruth
Rose and Ruth were both very plain girls, some would say homely, and maybe they’d be right. It was in the rural foothills of the California Sierra in 1949. Two Gold Country residents receive a surprise visitor.
Story Title: Technicolor
Writer: Preciousjane
Genre: Sci-Fi
Type: Short Story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/preciousjane/p/technicolor?r=dszai&utm_medium=ios
Note: A Sci-Fi short story about a girl looking for someone on the run, only to get a unique surprise.
Writer: Alexandra Hill
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Type: Short Serial
URL: https://substack.com/home/post/p-153079663
Note: "Omg I can't stop smiling about how love tastes like a top shelf margarita to her!
Loved this so much. Can't wait for the next one!" -E.K. MacPherson
"brief, beautiful, and leaving her wanting more.'
This is literally how you write" -Rob Heath
Story Title: Four Boys in Orchard Eight
Writer: Elie Lichtschein
Genre: Horror
Type: Short Story
URL: https://darkquarters.substack.com/p/four-boys-in-orchard-eight
Note: Over Hanukkah's eight days, four high school seniors attempt an ancient mystical ascent to a holy orchard, with disastrous results.
Story Title: A New Spin
Writer: @johannahwrites / Johannah Writes
Genre: Romance
Type: Micro/Flash Fiction
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/micromancemagazine/p/a-new-spin?r=3i3ori&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Note: Inclusion matters... even in 100 word meet-cutes! Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate.
Story Title: Affirmation (Ch. 31)
Writer: Johnathan Reid / @ReidItWrite
Genre: Science Fiction
Type: Serial
URL: https://consilienceseries.substack.com/p/ingression-8-4-affirmation
Note: My debut Substack serial, INGRESSION, introduces The Consilience Series. The novel fuses dystopian, first contact and climate fiction themes, with a hint of swords and eagles fantasy. If you're into a near-future setting, character-driven plot and a strong, contemporary woman protagonist, then this might be for you.
Story Title: The Worldshift Chronicles
Writer: Frank Bard
Genre: Nukepunk Fantasy
Type: Serial
URL: https://thelastdaysofgenerationx.substack.com/p/the-worldshift-chronicles-monday-86e
Note: Magic returns to a post-apocalyptic world through a young gunfighter, who reluctantly embraces her inner sorceress when she discovers she’s one of seven prophesied children who might bring salvation - or extinction - to the human race.
Story Title: Backwater
Writer: James Kenwood
Genre: Sci-Fi
Type: Short Story
URL: https://jameskenwood.substack.com/p/backwater
Note: In an unfortunate series of events, our narrator recounts how the galaxy was destroyed - and they still had nothing exciting happen in their part.
Story Title: Christmas Pinch
Author: Thomas Foydel
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Short Story
URL: https://falsechoices.substack.com/p/christmas-pinch
Note: What motivates us is not always clear, even, or especially, to ourselves. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year fellow writers, thanks for reading!
Story Title: City triggers
Writer: Rostislava Pankova-Karadjova of Airings
Genre: Literary fiction
Type: Micro Fiction
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/rostislava/p/city-triggers?r=zcxsb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Title: What's a Dragon? Chapter 25 - Discovery
Writer: Dragon Writer Luc
Genre: Fantasy
Type: Serial
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/dragonwriterluc/p/whats-a-dragon-chapter-25
Note: It doesn't seem like anyone is afraid of this Dragon.
Story title: Fortunately, I was Saved by the Aliens
Writer: Evelyn K. Brunswick
Genre: Sci-Fi
Type: Short story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/inadifferentplace/p/fortunately-i-was-saved-by-the-aliens?r=2s9hod&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Note: Can't really think of anything to put in a note except there's a fair amount of ironic humour in this one as well. It's about 2k words.
Story Title: A Separate Place
Writer: David Edward Stitt
Genre: Lit-Fic
Type: Short-short Story
URL: https://davidstitt.substack.com/p/a-separate-place
Note: I’m an aspiring writer crafting short stories and a fantasy-scifi novel. My work weaves together threads of memory and imagination. Join me on this journey through worlds both fantastic and familiar.
Story Title: Playing with Fire
Writer: Josh Louis
Genre: Fantasy
Type: Micro/Flash Fiction
URL: https://jlouiscreative.substack.com/p/playing-with-fire-microfiction-friday
Story Title: DarkLight
Writer: Mark Jarret
Genre: Science fiction
Type: serial
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/mjporter/p/10-darklight?r=1ujboa&utm_medium=ios
Note: chapter 1 of a serial I am writing. I have already posted the first eleven chapters.
Story Title: Why Teach? - chapter 10
Writer: Peter Shull - lower midlist
Genre: literary fiction
Type: serial
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/pshull/p/why-teach-chapter-10?r=2ler3z&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Note: William, Davis, Julia & company delve further into their Friday night at The Club Annabelle!
Story Title: Guns of the Magi
Writer: Scott MacLeod/Son of Ugly
Genre: Noir
Type: Flash Fiction
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/sonofugly/p/the-guns-of-the-magi?r=2sz29p&utm_medium=ios
Note:O.Henry Christmas noir.
Story Title: Paved Paradise
Writer: Scott MacLeod/Sum Flux
Genre: Noir
Type: Flash Fiction
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/sumflux/p/paved-paradise?r=2sz29p&utm_medium=ios
Note: Boy Meets Pavement. Thx Sandolore Sykes.
.
Story Title: Suttle House
Writer: Michael Arturo
Genre: Lit-Fic
Type: Short Story
URL: https://michaelarturo.substack.com/p/suttle-house
Note: Prudence and Abagail, twin sisters born with monocular vision, embody the duality of perception—one eye fixed on tradition, the other blind to the possibilities of change. Together, they form a single, fractured whole, their lives intertwined by their love for Nathaniel Suttle, a wealthy industrialist caught in their emotional crossfire in New York in the 1890s.
Story Title: Welcome to Fleet Grove - Chapter 1
Writer: Matt Gerrity of BluebirdFiction
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Serial
URL: https://bluebirdfiction.substack.com/p/welcome-to-fleet-grove-chapter-1?r=3wh4fq
Note: The first chapter in a serial story I'm writing!
Story Title: Christmas Spirit
Writer: Rolando Andrade/ Outside The Therapy Room
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Flash Fiction
URL: https://rolandoandrade.substack.com/p/christmas-spirit
Note: A tale based on the Christmas spirit
Story Title: Everything, Everywhere
Writer: Amanda Saint at The Mindful Writer
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Type: Flash Fiction
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/themindfulwriter/p/flash-fiction-friday-47d?r=eag3f&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Note: When so many of my friends and family died between 2016 and 2021, I became interested in death rituals from around the world and researched lots of different ones. I discovered that in Madagascar the Malagasy people have a tradition called Famadihana in which loved ones’ graves are exhumed and a ceremony follows where the bodies are cleaned and dressed in fresh burial shrouds, traditionally made of fine silk, and then a feast and party is held in their honour. The idea for this story was inspired by the image of the bodies in fancy clothes and people dancing at the celebration. It was originally published in Emerge Literary Journal in 2022 with a different title.
Story Title: Rest In Peace, Shamhuth
Writer: Bruce Dobbins/Tidal Locked Hermitage
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Flash Fiction
URL:https://open.substack.com/pub/bdobbins/p/rest-in-peace-shamhuth?r=351uu8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Story Title: First Contact: Gurjan and I (Close Encounters) Writer: Irshaad Genre: Humor Type: Flash Fiction URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/unfinishedspeedwriting/p/first-contact-gurjan-and-i?r=2qufyf&utm_medium=ios Note: First Contact with very familiar aliens….
Title: ...to the ones without a reason to celebrate
Writer: Bruce Dobbins/Tidal Locked Hermitage
Genre: Literary Fiction
Type: Poem
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/bdobbins/p/to-the-ones-without-a-reason-to-celebrate?r=351uu8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Note: This is a poem and so I put it as lit-fic but I don't particularly think about it in those terms.