The Price of Cheap By KJ Hannah Greenberg Nathan chose a cheap flight to Kobarid. Seeing the Julian Alps had long been on his bucket list. He planned to sleep the ten hours from JFK to Ataturk, to remain inconspicuous in Istanbul, and then to make friends on route to Ljubljana. With luck, he’d score a night on some local’s sofa before traveling from the capital to the mountains. Nathan believed himself sufficiently charismatic to succeed. Hearsay about Slovenian tourism suggested that a stranger’s room would be equivalent to a fee-driven guesthouse. By taking advantage of complimentary accommodations, Nathan would save enough cash to hire a guide to accompany him to the Kozjac Waterfalls and on the Alpe Adna Trail. It was foolhardy to tour remote places alone. Unfortunately, at Ataturk, instead of deboarding, Nathan’s…
Writing Contest Deadline Extended!!!
Hi all! Just a quick note about our fabulous writing contest. We’ve had a lot of emails in the past few days, all of which run along the same basic theme: Dear (somebody) I really want to submit a story, but it’s not perfect yet. Can I please have a few extra days to finish it up? Thanks (somebody) We’re not monsters. We get that sometimes art takes a little longer than expected. Because of this, we’re rolling the whole contest forward a month or so. As of right now, the deadline to submit stories to our contest is Friday, August 18th. After that, we’re going to be monsters. At 0001 on the 19th, submissions are closed forever. You have an extra month. Show us what you can do with it.
Podcast: ZBS’s “Tiny Dreams” Part 2
Original art by Genevieve Shapiro, http://gentoons.com/ Welcome to Week 2 of “Tiny Dreams,” very short podcast stories which will appear here at the FC every Friday evening in July. I encourage you to visit the ZBS website, where you will find a treasure trove of fun listening. More about ZBS in coming weeks. A Short Introduction to “Tiny Dreams” by Tom Lopez, ZBS Earlier this year, we were commissioned to do a series of short pieces for a group of radio stations, what they call “Triple A,” commercial rock & roll radio! And so our writer, M. Fulton, spent two days listening to one of their stations. He woke up the next morning with an idea, a series of dreams that could be inserted between songs. The one restriction he was given – the pieces had to…
The Many Layers of Morocco: Photography by Michael Calcagno
Photographer’s Note: In selecting these photos taken during a recent trip to Morocco, I focused on the many layers that exist in Morocco. Often what you see when you are wandering the streets is just the veneer, and what’s hidden behind it is surprising, simple, and profound. The photos range from the many different environments in Morocco: city, mountains, desert, but they all portray the many layers of life in Morocco. Please click on the photos to see a larger image. * * * * * * * * * ** Michael Calcagno is a freelance photo editor and photographer based in Brooklyn, where he explores the city with his camera in search of the unexpected. He loves finding the intersections of humanity and nature through photography. In selecting his photos, he strives to capture…
“Lost Howling,” A Short Story by Christin Rice
They ran, the four of them, hand in hand. It was the only way they could get from this place to the next. Despair rose in the thicker woods as one became wrapped around a tree, whiplashing the group in the onslaught. But on they ran, recovering themselves, never breaking their grasp to dust off their muddy knees. The terrain was an endless, mountainous wood. Neverending. But there is nothing more determined to race home than a Howling. Howlings are almost always children, amorphous in their gender until they make a choice at age 18—if they make it to that rare age—and despite their name they very rarely howl. But when they do, you don’t want to be anywhere near. It is the sound of universes shattering and will consume your eardrums by snaking up…
Podcast: “Tiny Dreams” from ZBS
We welcome a new podcast to Fictional Café which can hardly be called new. The folks at the ZBS Foundation have been producing audio/radio stories since 1970, and I’ve been listening to them since those times as well. The brave, intellectual, spiritual adventurer Jack Flanders lives in my memories. I’ve listened to many ZBS stories and turned many others onto them as well, perhaps notably my son Josh who shares my passion for audio drama. I hope you will too, beginning with a premiere taste of some new stories from ZBS: “Tiny Dreams,” very short pieces which will appear here at the FC every Friday evening in July. I encourage you to visit the ZBS website, where you will find a treasure trove of fun listening. More about ZBS in coming weeks. A Short Introduction to…
“The Mahogany Box,” a Short Story by Karen Trappett
The Mahogany Box by Karen M Trappett The movement sent waves across her belly, like little fish weaving and darting amongst the piers of a jetty, pushing gently up through the layers of her woollen skirt and reaching her gloved hands resting lightly on her lap. Holding her breath through the crest, she looked down and attempted to catch a glimpse of the creature currently using her body as a gymnasium. A soft smile made the corners of her mouth crinkle, and she felt the contours of her bump. Was that a foot, or a hand? Crimson leaves glistened, moisture dripped onto her knitted hat and the shoulders of her coat. A bedraggled sparrow appeared to keenly observe her, then shivered. Hearing her little ones, she hopped to an inner branch and disappeared; thoughts of…
Endless Summer – July Submissions
It’s a busy time at the Fictional Café, but what else is new? Even though summer is only a few weeks old for us, here in the northern hemisphere, it already seems like it’s been an endless summer. No not that kind. We’re pumping out so much Fresh Java, we can hardly keep up! We hope you can, though. In addition to our European Penpals series, we’re sharing the great work of some folks in the industry at Dead Darlings and Authors Publish (stay tuned for this one). We are even celebrating the genesis of our first ever Fictional Café Print Edition! We’re so excited to get our members’ work in people’s actual hands this winter. Of course, in addition to all this Café fare, we have the monthly work of our amazing creative members….
Enter the FC Writing Contest and Get a Free FC Hat!
Our first Fictional Café Writing Contest is underway. Winners will get to see their work appear in our first Fictional Café Anthology, in both a print paperback book and an e-book. And if you get your work in between now and July 4th…read on. You can click here for the long version of the rules, but here’s the short version. Use the link above to submit your story Unless it’s poetry, art, or flash fiction your tale should be from 2k to 8k words It costs $10 to submit Submissions close on Friday, July 14 Starting Monday, July 17 we run head-to-head elections to see who wins each genre category Winners of 1st through 3rd place go in a print anthology. They win glory, honor, and two free copies! As a special incentive, the first 10…
Our Pen Pals: a Personal P.S.
We baristas have had many fun, innovative publishing experiences here at FC over the past four years. We thank each of you for becoming a member, and are grateful to everyone who has contributed their creativity. We can’t keep the FC going without you! I want to express my personal gratitude to Rachael and Simran for their pen pal exchange, published here in May and June. These two talented writers had never met one another, yet they both responded to our request to embark upon that old-fashioned notion of writing a pen pal – updated, of course, for the internet era. I loved reading their exchanges. They wrote from the heart, sharing many personal feelings amid their experiences – something we as a culture don’t do enough of anymore. Here is the last photo we…