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POETRY
Silent Kiss of the Angel by Oli Trollgora of Oli Trollgora [Free Verse]
Finally, after hours (First Line)
MICRO/FLASH FICTION
The Quay by Anjay Dee of Anjay Dee [Literary Fiction]
He had left the event and began the walk home. (First Line)
SHORT STORY
Mermaid in the Bathtub by Tina Crossgrove of Existential Dread and Other Hobbies [Speculative Fiction]
“Chad you motherfucker.” (First Line)
Nerissa by Coral Evermore of Tales From a Wilted Rose [Fantasy]
The words struck Nerissa’s heart like a thunderous spell. (First Line)
The Talisman by Silvia de Negrobosco of Poor Translations [Literary Fiction]
The talisman was, in a way, purchased to restore divine balance. (First Line)
The Vermilion Border by Layne Mercer of The Vermilion Border [Horror]
Somewhere, a breach in the foundation of the house had allowed a thin stream of wildness to invade. (Any Line)
Dolokov, Dolokov by Oscar Ruto Chemelil of Oscar Ruto [Literary Fiction]
Joseph was a teacher although he’d never plainly reveal this fact to anyone who’d ask. (First Line)
Mommy Blogger: Back-To-School Edition by Machine Poet of Machine Poet [Speculative Fiction]
Okay parents, real talk time. (First Line)
SERIAL
The Call [Where the Blood Calls, Ch. 1] by Kummer Wolfe of Worlds of Kummer Wolfe [Historical Fiction]
I’ve heard it said a cry for help at sea is the loneliest sound in the world. (First Line)
WALL OF SERIALS
Check out our Wall of Serials where we have a dedicated page showing you ACTIVE stories:
Hey ya’ll,
Yesterday we celebrated the release of our first publication under TiF Press. For those who may not know, TiF Press was created out of necessity and a personal desire to help fellow fiction writers achieve what many of us feel is unattainable; having our work published! The mission statement of TiF Press is a simple one: Publish at least 2 Anthologies a year that feature dozens of up and coming fiction writers, making their dreams come true, while paying them for their work.
This is only the beginning…
Eye See You | A Horror Anthology is OUT NOW!
Tell your family, friends, and neighbors!
Click the book or the button below to pre-order the ebook for $4.99! And if you’re having any issues, please send TiF Team a DM, leave a comment, or reply to this email.
Looking for the Print version? Well, you’re in luck because it is currently available for purchase on Amazon (US) and Barnes & Noble! It will be available in other retailers in other countries like UK, Australia, Canada, and the Middle East but it can take a while for that metadata to reach those sites. I’m checking and refreshing my pages throughout the day and soon we’ll have a UBL (universal book link) landing page where all the links around the world are listed!
IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS
Rather than give you the long list of what’s coming in the second half of 2026, here is the most important one that you need to mark your calendars for, especially if you’d like to participate in any way.
TiF Summit 2027 Sign-Up (June 15th - August 15th) - Would you like to join us and read your fiction on a Substack Live? This past January we had 50 different readers across a 3-day Voices event who took turns reading their work one after the other! You can rewatch many of those Voices here. And come January 2027 you could join us as we attempt to do it all over again, only this time bigger and better than ever! The quick and easy sign-up to let me know you’re interested begins mid-June but if you’d like to let me know earlier (June 1st) join our Discord here.
Right now I’m looking to fill 75 spots (a 50% increase). Don’t miss out!
SUBSCRIBER UPDATES
Our very first anthology featuring 18 writers is out but we’re not stopping there. We have one more anthology coming in 2026 and plenty more planned for the future! But we need your help and support to make it all happen and pay the writers what they deserve. Consider becoming a MONTHLY subscriber and you’ll help us reach out goal of paying for exclusive short stories right here on Top in Fiction that you can read early before it is made available to everyone else.
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 😈
If you enjoyed any of these stories, please consider sharing this post everywhere:
Aw heck yeah! Super excited to be included in TiF!
And… I am immediately going to be that person. The title of Coral Evermore’s Substack (Tales From a Wilted Rose) is not italicized like the other fine folks’ Substack titles.
Thanks. I always find at least one gem to read in these.