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POETRY
Listening - 4/29/25 [Free Verse]
Sean Nordquist of The Pirate's Library
demeter at dusk - 4/29/25 [Literary Fiction]
M.Devereaux of DISTILLIST.
SHORT STORY
Muse in the Machine - 4/29/25 [Horror]
Melissa Smith of Melissa Smith
Fever Dream - The Call - 5/1/25 [Horror]
L.G. Wells of Ink & Shadows
Simeon the god - 4/30/25 [Literary Fiction]
Cobol of Synopsys
Blue - 5/2/25 [Science Fiction]
Victor Jimenez of A Serial Assemblage of Words
Tricksters of the Terminal Ooze - 4/30/25 [Speculative Fiction]
A.P. Murphy of The Strangeness Kit
SHORT SERIAL
Afternoon Tea [The Seven Knights of Princess Snow White, Pt. 2] - 5/1/25 [Fantasy]
E. H. Lau of Lotis Heroes Musings
SERIAL
What to do about Katrina, Ep. I, Act I, scene 37 - 4/27/25 [Mystery]
Evelyn K. Brunswick of In A Different Place
This Offering of Flesh [Ch. 1] - 5/2/25 [Horror]
Dylan T. Bosworth of Drek Death and Doom
HONORABLE MENTIONS
The Myr Has a Thousand Eyes - 4/30/25 [Fantasy]
Ian Dunmore of Dunmore Dispatch [Short Story]
Merlin - 5/1/25 [Free Verse]
Jude Goodwin of JUDE GOODWIN // CANADIAN POET [Poetry]
Recalibration Rose - 4/27/25 [Science Fiction]
A. Kristina Casasent of Chaos Critters [Short Story]
The Street Urchin [CAUGHT UP Truth and Metaphor | An Imaginary Tale, Ch. 29] - 4/28/29 [Speculative Fiction]
Rachel Victorianna of Messages from the Mond of a Mystic [Serial]
Gym Boomer - 4/30/25 [Speculative Fiction]
Making It Up As I Go Alone of Making It Up As I Go Alone [Short Story]
The Send Us Your Fiction Database is a comprehensive list of all stories recommended each week! Use it to find even more fiction to read!
What You Missed This Week on TiF…
Last week Monday, April 28, was the last Monday Live that I’ll be doing for Top in Fiction. A short and sweet moment for me as I truly enjoyed that time we got to spend together. But with my time being valuable and limited, I need to prioritize my family and the job (where I get paid) over everything else, even my own writing. But, enough about that. Below is a new section that will become a staple for Top in Fiction. I’m playing around with how it will work, but eventually I want to have news for READERS and news for WRITERS and separate them better as we move forward. Thank you for your patience as I figure all this out.
Going on Around TiF Town:
Calling all Horror and Dark Fantasy fiction writers:
Under 200 Subscribers? Your theme is Small and Scary!
Over 200 Subscribers? Your theme is Big and Beastly!
Reach out to Garen Marie today to sign-up for her amazing idea and to learn more!
TiF Voices - This is a new aspect of Top in Fiction for fiction writers. Record yourself reading a piece of fiction (published or unpublished) and send in the MP3. We’ll share it in this email as often as we receive them. I hope that fiction writers will take this as an opportunity to reach their audience in a new way and test the waters with reading their work, especially for those who’ve never done it before. I know how difficult it can be to use all the tools that Substack has to offer, namely the Live feature. Not everyone feels comfortable going on camera. Consider this a way for you to still read your work and share it to a wide audience without the added pressures of being on camera. [This is the NEW NAME for TiF Sociable]
TiF Presents… - Friday, June 13th, the only, Friday the 13th happening this year, is right around the corner and Top in Fiction would love to collaborate with writers of HORROR! If you write horror or would like to dabble in writing horror, please do join us! The theme is Eye See You and this will be both a contest and an event wrapped into one! All who wish to participate should write then share their story on their own Substack on Friday, June 13th. More information coming June 1st in the meantime, here are some important things to know:
Let us know you plan on writing a story by leaving a comment in this post.
Only new and unpublished stories will be accepted for the contest aspect.
Must be a stand alone story.
Any length, but remember, shorter is always better.
We won’t police how graphic each story will be but we will ask if it should have a Trigger Warning and we will not select any story that has extreme violence or language in any way.
Pre-Order these amazing releases:
Blood in the Yolk by Various Artists [5/13/25]
Lamb: A novel in Snapshots by Mr. Troy Ford [6/3/25]
The Ring: A Muldoon Mystery by Hanna Delaney [6/6/25]
And find other amazing releases by fiction writers HERE
— Erica Drayton, Editor-in-Chief 😈
TiF Voices - Where the Line is Always Open
Story Title: Why Some Guys Died Young
Author: Jenean McBrearty
Substack URL: Unpublished
Type: Short Story
Genre: Literary Fiction
Want to submit a reading of your own fiction? Find out more information on the FAQs page.
Update on paying for TiF Rebrand:
If you are able to donate towards raising the bar on paying for this rebrand, please consider a one-time donation today:
[FEATURED WRITERS: DOWNLOAD YOUR MEDALLION HERE]
Want to know how to use your medallion? Click Here!
If you enjoyed any of these stories, please consider sharing this post everywhere:
I've been working on a story for the Friday the 13th event. So count me in!!
A great selection as always. Planning to take part in the the Friday the 13th event - sounds like fun.