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Any errors seen below such as typos, mislabeling of genre or category, wrong link, wrong person mentioned, etc. please state the error in the comments and I will update immediately. Mistakes can happen. I am only human.
POETRY
Our Final Pilgrimage by Maximilian Siddell of The Threshold [Free Verse]
We make our final pilgrimage in a time of storms and churning sea, of weeping rock, of drowning rains, of lupine winds and hidden things. (First Line)
COMIC/CARTOON
Holiday with friends by Margreet de Heer of Margreet’s Comics [Comedy]
"Lets keep a bit of a low profile on our er, identities..." (First Line)
SHORT STORY
Version History by Brock Eldon of Null Point [Literary Fiction]
I slipped the tablets into my satchel beside the notebook and walked home through the rain. (Any Line)
Back From The Brink by Owen T Badenoch of Gravity of Darkness, and other writings [Climate Fiction]
Why is it that when you think you’ve finally got it made, the Great Spirit or whatever goes and throws a polar bear at you? (First Line)
I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor… by Phillip Slater of Phillip’s Substack [Literary Fiction]
In the end the baby just didn't fancy being born in a hospital. (Any Line)
A Dream of Dragon Fire by Tyler Sehn of Hawk & Heron [Speculative Fiction]
At eight-stories up he straddled the edge of the map, balanced along the edge of the known world to peer at an overlay of fantasy and reality. (Any Line)
Breaking Free by LBaal of LBaal [Horror]
God never gave his opinion to the Vid-Priests. (First Line)
Wasted Time by Anastasiia Shafran of Spill Your Dreams [Speculative Fiction]
“I wish… I wish I could pause time.” (Any Line)
SHORT SERIAL
Story #629: the Have-Nauts [Pt. 1] by Gerard DiLeo of The FRICTION SECTION: microFRICTION (free) and macroFRICTION [Science Fiction]
The International Space Station now sported elbows and wings and warts of nearly twenty nations, afloat a gravity wave that kept it falling forward on that thin line between smashing into or forever escaping its planet. (First Line)
SERIAL
The Celebration [Chapter 1] by Alexander Aviles of Chapter One Again [Speculative Fiction]
Mary’s expression softened, like she was about to tell a child their parents had died. (Any Line)
Hey ya’ll,
I’m looking upon this issue fondly as it’s the 2nd half of the year and right around the time when I set out to create Top in Fiction 3 years ago. It’s not been an easy road and so for this issue I’m going to do something I don’t normally do; ask for your financial support. How does your monthly contribution help Top in Fiction?
Overhead costs such as hosting, keeping our URL, etc.
We’d love to be able to pay for exclusive stories outright and a large portion of your support would go towards paying writers.
Hiring digital artists to help us with our covers for anthologies, promotion of our events, and more!
As I said, asking you to upgrade from being a free subscriber other a monthly paid one isn’t something I ever thought I would do, so much like a pledge drive on PBS or your local radio station, I’m going to spend the next 4 weeks of July making an impassioned plea for your financial support.
In the meantime and as always, everything we do here on Top in Fiction is free to read. We do not put our weekly issues or monthly recaps behind a paywall nor do we ever intend to. And should we ever get enough paid subscribers to move forward with paying for exclusive fiction content, it would be put behind a paywall for paid subscribers first but then revert to being for everyone after a short period.
JOIN THE HEATWAVE
No matter where you are in the world, there’s a heatwave approaching. It’s reaching 100+ degrees and the time is now for letting your delirious mind guide you towards your best work. July 31st is the deadline that you don’t want to miss!
The guidelines? Let’s keep this very simple.
Short short story. Under 1,500 words (but any length you decide is fine). Any genre.
How the heatwave affects your story is totally up to you.
Write it now and be prepared to share it along with others on Friday, July 31st 10am EST!
Just five more weeks to break a sweat or try to beat the heat.
IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS
TiF Summit 2027 Sign-Up (June 15th to August 15th) - Would you like to join us and read your fiction on a Substack Live? You can rewatch many of those Voices here. The link to express interest and gain access to The (new and improved) Scheduler can be found here.
Right now I’m looking to fill 75 spots (a 50% increase). Don’t miss out!
SUBSCRIBER UPDATES
Consider becoming a MONTHLY subscriber and you’ll help us reach our 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 😈
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Thank you for mentioning me!
And I so love finding new voices to read through the weekly newsletter.
Oh my goodness. I am in disbelief that I was actually featured in TiF! Thank you so much for the opportunity to spread my writing. I am beyond thankful for you and your support of the community.