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Any errors seen below such as typos, miss-labeling 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.
MICRO/FLASH FICTION
Bee by Chad Eastwood of Chad’s Substack [Speculative Fiction]
I won’t eat your jam and you don’t eat my biscuits and we’ll get along fine. (Any Line)
Death in the North by Dave Boyko of Dave Boyko [Horror]
Jack managed a wry smile, “I think at one point, I hoped that I could become a vampire… but my body is too old… and I miss Danielle too much…”: (Any Line)
White Room by Ricardo A. Martagón of In Search of Lost Time [Speculative Fiction]
I’d been home for the past three days, recovering from a severe leg injury; otherwise I’d already gone over and given them a piece of my mind. (Any Line)
SHORT STORY
The Long Dark by J.M. Gooding of J.M. Gooding [Horror]
Half the town leaves because they say the Taqriaqsuq walk when the sun goes down. (First Line)
Eye of the Storm by Tyler Sehn of Hawk & Heron [Speculative Fiction]
Bowen realized some people, maybe the majority, were going to fight against this change, which is like a person arguing with themselves—even if you win, you lose. (Any Line)
Endgam8 by Layne Mercer of The Vermilion Border [Science Fiction]
Twenty minutes later I was on the highway in my Civic, hauling ass down I-5 toward the Bay with my heart scraping against the inside of my ribcage and a Beretta 9mm in the glove box. (Any Line)
The Last of the Gen Xers by Angelique Fawns of Free Friday Fiction [Climate Fiction]
A chain link fence separated the meticulous metal roads, wind turbines, and skyscrapers of the Canadian Colonies from the reforested buffer zone to the States of Freedom. (Any Line)
SHORT SERIAL
Layer 1 [Till Death Do Us Partition, Pt. 1] by M.P. Fitzgerald of Graphomania [Science Fiction]
If God is alive, then He certainly must live in the machine; otherwise, how could He bear not to flood this creation? (Any Line)
Honey Trap [Pt. V] by Jim J Wilsky of Writing Wrongs [Mystery]
“As much as these formal affairs are under strict security and the invitees are carefully scrutinized you would be shocked…despite all these measures, as much as a third of that ballroom might be foreign intelligence of some sort.” (Any Line)
SERIAL
Treachery and Tales [The Huntsman's Widow, Ch. 7] by Larry Denninger of Smatterings [Fantasy]
Our repeated calls for Gilnor go unanswered. (First Line)
WALL OF SERIALS
Check out our Wall of Serials where we have a dedicated page showing you ACTIVE stories:
The TiF Library is a comprehensive list of all stories recommended each week!
Over 2,000 stories to search and choose from!
Use it to find even more fiction to read!
Last week I woke up and decided I wanted to find out first hand “what the heck is going on with serialized fiction on Substack?” But I want to do more than just answer that already complex and multi-layered question. I want to deep dive in and find out if there are answers to my questions or just more questions? So, I put a call out to everyone here who writes serialized fiction or have written (or plan to write) serialized fiction to reach out to me. I came up with 5 simple questions that I hope will undoubtedly answer more questions than they create once combined with as many volunteers willing to answer them. And as always the community did not disappoint! We got nearly 70 brave souls willing to answer the call and these 5 questions!
In just a few short weeks I will be joined by Simon K Jones and S.E. Reid to analyze, discuss, dissect, and perhaps see how we can take the tools we have, combined with our obvious love of storytelling, and make the journey forward the best it can be!
Look for a more specific date and time for this HUGE Substack Live to be announced SOON! I suggest following me on Substack Notes as I’m most likely to mention it there first.
SPRING FEVER IS HERE!
Do you feel it? There is a certain warmth coming in and melting all the snow (at least where I am) but with it come strange happenings I can’t quite describe. Just ask Garen Marie all about it as she’s putting together a lovely writing event for everyone who wants to participate. You can read more about it by clicking the image below:
But the most important thing to remember is the deadline is March 16th! Get your ideas and stories written in time, then join us as we go Live (along with all the stories) on March 20th!
THE MURDER ROOM UPDATE!
As you know, the Murder Room opened on February 16th for submissions and we plan on revealing TWO this month! This is a cross-post opportunity between Top in Fiction and the writers who are chosen!
This is an open-ended event and opportunity for you to get your writing style out to 2k+ subscribers! March 10th and March 24th at 12pm EST. Mark your calendars as Top in Fiction treads into a new frontier this year.
EYE SEE YOU (A HORROR ANTHOLOGY) UPDATE
As you know, this is TiF Press’s first ever publication and we want to make sure we get it right. To that end, I am sitting on my hands as I practice patience, waiting for the 2nd proof copy to come in the mail. And praying that it’s right this time! I’ve decided not to go Live this time when it comes in. I will, instead, just share an update with those contributors in the book. However, if it is right you’ll be the 2nd to know! It will mean I can move forward to starting the engine on getting pre-order links, etc. to all of you who I know are waiting just as patiently to show your support to the writers in this anthology!
OTHER NEWS OF NOTE
I can’t believe it’s March already! I’m looking at my calendar of events for Top in Fiction in the 2nd half of this year and there are many. I just want to share the State of the Union post here with you as a reminder of what’s coming! We will have a bit of down time this April and May but after that, WATCH OUT! Cause the 2nd half of this year is going to fly by and I want to make sure you don’t miss anything! Some things to look forward to:
TiF Summit 2027 Sign-Up
Super Secret Writing Event
These Wicked Things Event (2027 Anthology Opportunity)
Pentober 2026
And much more! READ THIS POST AND MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
SUBSCRIBER UPDATES
We are 32 subscribers away from 2,000 but more importantly, we are 8 Monthly Paid Subscribers away from our goal of paying for short story fiction and opening up our TiF Short Story of the Month Club!
If you want to help us reach that goal, become a MONTHLY update today!
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
I’ve been going above and beyond when it comes to my plan to write a mystery series by reading and watching all things Agatha Christie. Do you ever go deep on a passion project before you endeavor to do it yourself? Are you in the middle of doing just that right now? What are you learning/reading/watching/eating? Share your latest obsession(s) and why you’re so obsessed now!
Do you have a question you’d like to ask the readers/writers in our little fiction community? Let me know in the comments and I just might select it for a future weekly issue!
- Erica Drayton, Editor-in-Chief 😈
If you enjoyed any of these stories, please consider sharing this post everywhere:
Great post and cool suggestions! I will check some out.
I know J.M.'s awesome. For Substack standards we go waaay back. Haha!
I'm going to send you a DM with a little layout thing that you might have missed.
As fiction curators, writers and lovers on Substack we gotta stick together, haha! I love what you're doing and wish you all the best!
I almost missed this (Substack notifications have been weird for me, lately). Thank you for including my serial! I'm linking back now!