(Photo Credit: Audubon Society) A number of years ago, while visiting the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, I was struck by the fact that many science fiction authors had envisioned the future in their novels, then watched as their vision become reality. Well, guess what? It’s happened at the Fictional Café, too! We recently published a short story by Kathryn Holzman entitled “Rattlesnakes.” It concerned a group of people demonstrating against creating a sanctuary on an island in a Massachusetts reservoir for…yep, rattlesnakes. Oooo, I thought, that’s a creepy idea! But I liked the story a lot, especially the dream-like ending. So it was with some surprise that I read this article by Jan Gardner in the Boston Globe a few months later: “Tale of the timber rattler” “After a public outcry, the state of Massachusetts earlier this…

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By Simran P. Gupta The author Jhumpa Lahiri is an inspiration to me, particularly with her latest memoir, In Other Words. In this work, she chronicles her journey with learning to write exclusively (as well as read and speak) in Italian. As a South Asian learning a language that is not from that subcontinent, her thoughts resonated strongly with me, and led to some reflection of my own. I am not by any means embarking on a mission to write exclusively in French yet, but thanks to my French major I have been reading more and more French and Francophone literature. I have quickly realized that this literature is not the same beast as the film or literature I study for my English major. French literature takes me almost twice as long to read, is…

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For the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo is the portmanteau for National Novel Writing Month, a social initiative to encourage writers – from amateur to seasoned – to take that leap from “I’ve got an idea for a story” to “Hey, I’m pretty far along on the novel I’m writing.” While it’s certainly not for everyone, it is an interesting, well-thought-out guide to helping people write and finish a first draft of a novel with the help of other writers and support via social media. On the other hand, the very thought of finishing a novel, even just a draft, in a month seems preposterous to some, especially with setting a deadline by which to finish it and a word-count goal for each day. So, NaNoWriMo: Love it? Hate it? Let us know in the comments section below….

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The month of apple cider donuts and kids in costumes roaming the streets is always a fun time for me. From scary movies to crisp cool air, October is filled with signs, omens, of the impending darkness of winter. Our member contributions this month all have something a little eerie, even sinister, in them. We hope you enjoy our overflowing cornucopia of fiction, poetry, art, photography and video this month. Our first piece of fiction is a short story about a play. Bobby Mustin’s Theory of Evolution follows three people from the fictional play Titans taking heat from a couple who think their production is garbage. John Grey is our featured poet this month, bringing us poems about hell and dead men. You know, in case October wasn’t already Stephen King-y enough for you. Our…

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The Fictional Café (not a real café) is teaming up with Café Monte Alto (a real café) for a brand new contest. You may recall we recently came into some very real Fictional Café stickers. Well, you can win real coffee from Café Monte Alto by putting your very real Fictional Café sticker in the most creative place and sending us a picture of it. The person with the best sticker placement will receive an 8oz bag of any blend of coffee from Café Monte Alto and their winning photo will be featured on our website. Four more creative sticker affixers will each receive a 2oz bag of any blend of coffee from Café Monte Alto. To Enter: Simply email us and say you’d like to participate in the FC Sticker Contest and we’ll send you…

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As those sunny summer days wind to a close, we start to wonder where the time went. I like to recall those days spent with head in the clouds, those hours sitting by the pond reflecting on life, while life reflected back at me. Our submissions this month are all about such head-in-the-clouds moments. Thomas Healy starts our offerings with his short story “Switzerland,” in which we see a man who sits all day by a fountain, lost in thought. To where does his mind venture? Where would yours go? Next up we have the poetry of Paula Bonnell. She ponders the “somedays” of life alongside vivid descriptions of nightmares past. Read along to see where her eyes and mind bring you. For our art this month, we feature the inspirational images of Jessica Edouard…

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