November 2, 2023

“Maeltopia” on Rusty Quill

In honor of the spookiest of holidays only a few days away, here is Maeltopia, a horror and dark fiction podcast featuring interconnected series and stories set in the ever-expanding literary world, hosted by Rusty Quill. Rusty Quill is an industry leading independent production company and podcast network. It was founded in 2015 and works to originate, find, develop, fund, produce and distribute exceptional media content around the world. “Marvin doesn’t have a shadow? Of course not. Marvin is the shadow.” – Helena The Great Darkness of 1999 left enigmatic structures and artifacts known as Obscuruum in its wake, casting a grim shadow over humanity. Years later, a mysterious organization called the Esoterium founds the Obscuary – a team of extraordinary individuals tasked with uncovering the secrets behind these sinister artifacts. Endowed with rare abilities, the…

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October 19, 2023

“Baby Rando,” A Short Story by Robert Pope

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

Walt could not be more pleased with their baby boy, now they’d had him home a couple of weeks. With his fuzz of orange hair and sparkling green eyes, the child glowed. Rando laughed almost as soon as he came from the hospital. Ginger’s Dad called when he got back from The Islands. He could hardly believe it. He had given up hope of his only child making him a grandparent. Rando came three weeks early, fully formed, Walt informed Ginger’s Dad. Would you believe it? A father at forty-two, after a double bypass hit him wham, sucker punch to the solar plexus. Ten days later he had this fine scar down his naked chest. They took the few chest hairs he had before surgery. Never grew back. He missed them. He had given each…

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October 13, 2023

“The Secret Society” by Rachel Gonzalez

Posted by Ruby Fink in Audio Arts, Writing

“The Secret Society of the Women’s Bathroom” ~ An Audio Arts Short Story One of the most innovative and interesting positions we’ve developed here at The Fictional Café is the Writer in Residence. We choose a poet and a fiction-writer every two years from among our contributors, creative people in whom we see great merit and potential. We hope our two Writers in Residence, who are chosen in alternating years, will help FC grow in new creative directions, and we’ve not been disappointed. Be sure to click over to the Residency link to learn more about our Residency Program, past and present.Since assuming her new position in January, Rachel Gonzalez most assuredly has met and exceeded our criteria. One of the most innovative and distinctive ideas she came up with was to chronicle her hike up and down…

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October 11, 2023

“Taking Daddy’s Photograph,” Poetry by Gopi Kottoor

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

Taking Daddy’s Photograph Daddy’, I said, ‘Stand by those shoe flowers, there are so many of them blooming this morning’. Daddy took a step back. There is a strange beauty, in the hibiscus sheen, when, from the fresh green the hundred shoe flowers mount red. Daddy now looked like he was some God coming to me in a dream of sacrifice. He puffed hard at his cigarette, its red butt putting all the hibiscuses to shame. Looking on into the camera eye, Daddy said, ‘Be careful, son, The sun is still in front of you. Don’t let in too much light’. I remember, I knelt down, so the lens could take the shade, holding him right. Dad smiled, as though in the camera eye Lay his only woman. And in that stained Hibiscus silence, Time…

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October 5, 2023

“Out of the Far North” – A New Novel of International Intrigue

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews, Writing

The Third Nir Tavor – Nicole le Roux Mossad Thriller, Just Published With over 100,000 copies of Operation Joktan and By Way of Deception in print, authors Amir Tsarfati and Steve Yohn deliver again with another pulse-pounding novel of international intrigue. Enriched by its being based on true events – as well as Tsarfati’s having been a major in the Israeli Defense Forces – your editors at The Fictional Café loved Out of the Far North and think you will, too. When the story begins we find Israeli Mossad secret agent Nir Tavor outside Damascus, Syria, bribing a road guard with a carton of Alhamraa cigarettes, and we’re off and running. The very contemporary backstory concerns Russia and Putin, who is furious and plotting revenge on Western energy markets. Europe, once reliant on Russian gas, have…

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October 1, 2023

Mexico’s Legend of “La Llorona” in Story and Song

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Audio Arts, Interviews, Podcasts, Video

Debuting an Extraordinary Realization from Auteur Philip Gabbard and Fat Unicorn Society Studios The Fictional Café is thrilled to join in the worldwide release today of Philip Gabbard’s stunning work, “La Llorona.” He wrote the story, wrote and orchestrated the music, and produced this video, which features a heartbreakingly beautiful duet. This truly incredible visual portrayal of the legendary La Llorona stars Angela Muniz in her debut performance, accompanied by Mexican recording artist Federico Valdez. In just three minutes, “La Llorona” will take you on a journey through centuries of folklore and cultural heritage, revealed with a new artistic perspective on this age-old story. Take a listen, enjoy, peruse the lyrics and read the interview with Phil below. We would love for you to share your thoughts in the Comments section, and please share this post with…

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September 29, 2023

“In the Days of the Revolution,” by David Michael Litwack

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

Tehran, February, 1979 “So you’re a bachelor,” I ventured. “Why do you say that, agha?” “You wear the brown of a bachelor.” “That is a custom for the maghrebi—the westerners. The Berbers. For me it is a good color to disguise the filth I encounter here. For example, that dog.” “Nice taqiyah!” I was complimenting his white cap. White linen doubled over with a kind of gold filigree. “It is an araqchin, agha.” “Why are you sitting here?” I asked. I had had enough of the xenophobic vocabulary lesson. He’s irritated me so I decided to be irritable in return. “I am making illustrations of the bustle and tragedy of these people. These Emricani and the Irani. Maybe some are from Afghanistan as well. They are always in the wrong place. Always the wrong time, those…

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September 22, 2023

“Snowbirds” Created & Written by Linda Andersson

Posted by Ruby Fink in Audio Arts

“Snowbirds” is a Audio Fiction Drama – A Quirky Female-Led Comedy/Crime Series created and written by Linda Andersson. Four New York City women have a group mid-life crisis when a bagman friend involves them in a jewelry smuggling sting. Starring:Gina Glass as StephanieDenise Warner-Gregory as LizAJ Carter as JakeStephanie Johnson as RandiGwenith Knight as FrancoLinda Andersson as Mish Starring:Gina Glass as StephanieDenise Warner-Gregory as LizAJ Carter as JakeStephanie Johnson as RandiGwenith Knight as Franco Starring:Gina Glass as StephanieDenise Warner-Gregory as LizAJ Carter as JakeStephanie Johnson as RandiGwenith Knight as Franco We hope you enjoyed listening to “Snowbirds”, written and created by Linda Andersson. Produced by Linda Andersson and Gina Glass. Linda Andersson is a writer/director/producer and a member of the Television Academy (EMMY’S ®).Although she originally wrote “Nobody Parks in L.A.” as a live action…

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September 8, 2023

“Blue Dust” by Nicholas Dunkley

Posted by Ruby Fink in Audio Arts

BLUE DUST is a sci-fi audio-fiction series. We follow Max, a teenage boy, who has been stranded on a decaying Earth for over two years as he tries to return to his old home, a floating mega-city, to find his father. Upon his return, Max soon learns that his father is not only missing, but that he is central to the factional warfare that has gripped the city, with the old guards fighting against a new faction, lead by a girl with mysterious powers known as “The Red Queen.” In a city filled with lies and half-truths, where it’s either play or be played, truth is power, and Max has to come to terms with his past and where he belongs in this strange new world. In Max’s desperation to return to the city, he…

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September 5, 2023

The FC Publisher Interview: Stephen Games

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews, Interviews

The Publisher of EnvelopeBooks Proves You Can Judge A Book by Its Cover The art of creating a distinctive publishing brand among a miasma of publishers Ever wonder why there is no authoritative, independent resource for seeking out books like there is with IMDB for movies? (Well, like IMDB used to be, anyway.) It surely isn’t Amazon, nor is it Goodreads, which Amazon took over in 2013. A year earlier, a publishing entrepreneur filled that void in the UK . . . we interviewed him to learn about his experiences and views of the publishing business. In 2012, Stephen Games started a magazine connecting publishers’ books with readers and named it Booklaunch , which he says is, “now the highest circulation books magazine in the UK . . … Tabloid-size pages allow publishers to place…

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