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MICRO/FLASH FICTION
What Happened with the Firework Was a Total Accident (Closing Statements to the Jury) by Hannah S. of Hannah S. [Literary Fiction]
A gas-station regular started telling me about her latest kills, and at first I thought she was some sort of gamer, but no, she meant *literal* kills—stabbings, explosions, attacks by carnivorous animals. (Any Line)
Pups for Sale by Justin Deming of Along the Hudson [Literary Fiction]
I’d heard about the “Pups for Sale” in an ad in the paper and figured my life could use a bit of light. (Any Line.)
SHORT STORY
Sojourn by Blace Alcock of Keep On Keeping On [Horror]
What think thee, Coyote, is thy thirst for coffee great? (Last Line)
Murder and Over Again by Tony Mills of Tony's Special Word Sauce [Mystery]
Trent looks up to the Punjabi man, softly bowed, twice removed from his native land by now, mustachioed with a smile bright enough for any of the famous ollywoods. (Any Line)
INDIA'S TOES by Adam John Wilshaw of DUSTSCEAWUNG [Literary Fiction]
You can feel how the restaurant under a sea is being shadow-grilled this morning with the 3D signpost maps of grey shallot blooms and the bad-word slurp of fauna cooks with goat hearts and sauna rash. (First Line)
Is That Checkmate? by Lucien Wolfson of One More Draft [Speculative Fiction]
The first night, Juliet throws a whiskey tumbler, and Karl calls it their Kristallnacht. (First Line)
SHORT SERIAL
Two Feet Short of a Grave by Michael DeWitt Jr. of DeWitt's End [Literary Fiction]
I thought Momma and the mule were going to die before we made it to the Savannah River, but what do I know? I’m just the bastard child of a dead man. (Any Line)
SERIAL
Urd's Well [Ash & Oak, Ch.1] by Katharine Kapodistria of Notes from the Edge [Fantasy]
This is Urd’s Well, and it is where all mortal destinies are decided. (Any Line)
WALL OF SERIALS
Check out our Wall of Serials where we have a dedicated page showing you ACTIVE stories:
We are now officially at 2,000+ subscribers! YAY!
It was a long time coming but I knew we’d get here in time. I don’t like to set goals that I have no control over, so, while I want us to all take a moment to be proud of this accomplishment, I much rather look forward to things that Top in Fiction can control; such as promoting as much fiction as humanly possible!
So, please do make sure you’re letting Top in Fiction know about any great fiction you’re reading (or writing) week-over-week as we are constantly looking for new and fresh stories to share! Every Friday the form opens up for new work and closes Sunday evenings. Plenty of time to let me know! I’d love for us to get back to the early days when we received upwards of 60+ (sometimes 75+!!) submissions every week! Make my job of finding the best of the best that much harder!
The Ultimate Serialized Fiction Discussion!
The date and time is officially set! Mark your calendars for Monday, March 30th @ 2:30pm EST / 11:30am PST / 7:30pm GMT where I’ll be joined by none other than Simon K Jones and S.E. Reid! Some of the leading leaders and voices when it comes to serialized fiction here on Substack.
A few weeks ago I reached out to the fiction community of serial fiction writers and asked them to answer 5 questions. Well, I’ve got the results and now the three of us will discuss them as well as other things all related to serialized fiction and hopefully help those who are in the weeds or on the fence to make the experience for readers even better!
SUBSCRIBER UPDATES
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Paid Monthly Subscribers will get early access to the TiF Story Story of the Month, for a period of two weeks, after which time the story will then be made available to all subscribers. Writers will be paid from the monthly subscribers.
- Erica Drayton, Editor-in-Chief 😈
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Thanks for the mention! Really looking forward to the live chat about serials next week.
Exciting to see my name on here! Thanks for including my nonsense. Looking forward to reading these!