This month’s issue is about hope for the future. Wherever you are, whatever is going on, two things are certain: there will be strife and amidst that strife there will be hope. We can’t always see it right away, but it comes in many forms. We think this month’s member work will fuel some hope for a better tomorrow, whatever that may look like for you. Whether it is the wide-eyed optimism of a child’s writing, the reflective joy of a long-time love affair, the realism of a budding artist, the coming-of-age perceptiveness of a young writer or the commitment to servitude that one’s work can inspire within one’s own community, we believe these works of creative expression can give our members a little hope in the unseen.
Fiction
A big welcome to our youngest contributor, Joy Son, who is 10 years old! Her short story is entitled “Princess Olivia” and is a delightful recasting of classic fairy tales.
Poetry
“What’s the Fictional Café without coffee?” Jake Aller asked himself, and so he wrote some poems about our favorite drink. They’re so good you can almost taste them.
Art
Our Featured Artist for September is David Morton Meyers. He delivers a curated selection of his paintings on themes like war, law enforcement and other troubling aspects of today’s society.
Podcasts
Watch your inbox for an astounding new podcast as Mike and Jack catch up from their summer travels.
On the Blog
Rachael Allen, our intrepid correspondent and pen pal extraordinaire, returns with an exposé of one of the new Amazon Bookstores, where she worked for the summer.
You may recall Mike Squatrito’s great excerpt from his fantasy novel back in July. We recently asked him to write about his experience as a writer working outside the confines of his own writing. He shares a great way he is giving back to future creative folks of the world.
— Your Baristas
