February 1, 2018

Introducing Charlotte Pierce, FC’s New Managing Editor

Introducing Charlotte Pierce, FC’s New Managing Editor

Sometimes you just get lucky. I don’t mean the “good luck!” kind of lucky, I mean the fortunate kind where you do something unanticipated while you’re in a certain time-space continuum and it produces unexpected and quite beneficial results. That’s what happened to me recently. Charlotte Pierce and I were having coffee at Caffè Nero, chatting about our mutual love of all things publishing. I said something – not sure of the exact words – but it had to do with Fictional Café. Charlotte immediately said how cool FC was and how much she would enjoy being a part of it. And now she is. Charlotte has worked in nearly every aspect of the publishing business. Her first position was as a regional editor for Outdoor Empire Publishing in Seattle from 1980-1985. She went on to serve as managing…

Continue reading →

January 30, 2018

Debut Novelist Whitney Scharer’s Million-Dollar Book Deal

Debut Novelist Whitney Scharer’s Million-Dollar Book Deal

Barista Rachael Allen meets the novelist everyone will be talking about. Whitney Scharer and her fierce protagonist are set to take the literary world by storm! At this time next year, Whitney Scharer’s debut novel, The Age of Light, will stare up at you from your nightstand. The book will not stare at you so much as, potentially, display a woman staring into the distance, anonymously cropped at the neck, with scenic Paris blurred behind her. As much as she hopes for something different, Scharer says wryly, audiences are familiar with this kind of book jacket (think Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife). And, following its million-dollar deal widely covered in the media, the book is banking on this commercial success. Perhaps a dreamy woman will attract an audience, but the book—and its personable, expressive author—aims…

Continue reading →

January 4, 2018

Chimezie Ihekuna’s “Poured Out Thoughts” – A Poetry Chapbook Review by Simran P. Gupta

Chimezie Ihekuna’s “Poured Out Thoughts” –  A Poetry Chapbook Review by Simran P. Gupta

The Fictional Café has recently been treated to a drop of sunshine in the form of Chimezie Ihekuna’s poetry collection, “Poured Out Thoughts.” We happened upon news of his forthcoming chapbook of collected poems as a happy accident, through corresponding about his submission to our virtual ‘zine. Affectionately known as Mr. Ben, he is based in Lagos, Nigeria, and is a poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, speaker, and voice-over artist. He says his “love for humanity has inspired him to thirst for knowledge towards its advancement.” Though this review is centered on his upcoming book, you can get a taste for his work through the five poems published here on the Fictional Café. Mr. Ben’s poetry collection is titled “The P.O.T.- Poured Out Thoughts.” His poems are organized around themes that anyone, regardless of background, with…

Continue reading →

December 20, 2017

Reimagining Kristen Roupenian’s Short Story, “Cat Person”

Reimagining Kristen Roupenian’s Short Story, “Cat Person”

Editor’s Note: From time to time, fiction and real life converge like a solar eclipse. The “ME TOO” movement and a short story by Kristen Roupenian entitled “Cat Person,” published recently in The New Yorker, have crossed paths and set the world on its ear. It’s a timely story, to be sure, but it’s also something of a literary fete: the author’s first short story, controversial as hell, accepted by the country’s most prestigious magazine (and one of the few still publishing fiction), which immediately landed Roupenian a book contract with Scout Press, reports the New York Times. Like Roupenian, Rachael Allen is a college student who found herself able to relate to the short story and draw some shared experiences into a complex skein of perception, emotion and experience that reaches out beyond the…

Continue reading →

December 3, 2017

Natalie Rodriguez, Our Web Video Barista, is Making News in Hollywood!

Natalie Rodriguez, Our Web Video Barista, is Making News in Hollywood!

With all the icky news coming out of Hollywood [and elsewhere] these days, here is a bright, shining blogsite with good news, embodied in its title: Women and Hollywood. Hop over to this link and see the story about our newest, fabulously interesting and creative, barista, Natalie Rodriguez! Today’s the last day you can help crowdfund Natalie’s forthcoming movie, “The Extraordinary Ordinary.” Take a look at the benefits – and swag – you can get by making a donation, large or small. Happy Holidays! Your Baristas

Continue reading →

This is your site

Welcome to the Fictional Café! Your baristas are interested in all genres of short fiction, poetry, excerpts from novels-in-progress, your photographs, art, and audio or video podcasts. We encourage you to share your work for publication in the Fictional Café. Click on the Join/Submit button above to learn more.

Archive

Facebook

[custom-facebook-feed]