April 21, 2021

Jennifer Green & Lorraine Martindale: New Baristas

Posted by in News
Jennifer Green & Lorraine Martindale: New Baristas

Please join us in welcoming our two newest Baristas, Jennifer Green and Lorraine Martindale! We are excited to add these two talented editors to our team. You may have noticed their contributions already, but if not, check them out here and here. You can learn a little more about them on our Baristas page or just keep reading! About Jennifer:Jennifer is our Publications Barista. An English teacher by day and freelance editor by night and weekend, she loves helping writers find their voices and refine their craft. In addition to completing the editing certificate through the University of Chicago Graham School in 2020, Jennifer holds degrees in psychology and English from North Carolina State University, Meredith College, and the University of Nottingham (UK). When she’s not teaching or deep into a developmental edit, she can be…

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March 12, 2020

Our New Baristas! Welcome Michael, Amanda & Yong

Posted by in News
Our New Baristas! Welcome Michael, Amanda & Yong

Please join us in welcoming our new baristas to The Fictional Café! These three talented additions to our staff have rolled up their sleeves to help us brew the tastiest “fresh java” this side of Pluto. Michael Piekny has joined our Editorial Board, which also includes our editor and all-star submissions manager Ruth Simon and our editor and anthology barista, Mike Mavilia Rochester. As an Editorial Board Barista, Michael brings a robust enthusiasm for editing based upon years of practice, and the work he does at his own company, Hub Edits. If you’ve recently been published on FC, you’ve surely enjoyed working with him. Our new Visual Arts Barista is Amanda Grafe. She’ll be curating our visual art offerings, which includes anything from paintings to sculptures to photography. An artist herself, Amanda’s passion for art…

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September 30, 2019

How To Succeed In Your Writing Career

Posted by in Interviews, Member Writing & Art, Writing
How To Succeed In Your Writing Career

An Interview with Fictional Cafe Barista Jason Brick In this wide-ranging, 30-minute conversation about today’s writing and publishing environment, Jason shares his knowledge and experience as a writer, an author, and a publisher with curious Fictional Cafe writers who wish to create a sustainable business and income from their writing, rather than its being a hobby in which one indulges in his or her spare time. Jason Brick is a professional writer, martial artist, travel addict, and dad whose work has been published across multiple genres and formats. He has contributed over 3,000 articles and short stories to print magazines and online sites on topics ranging from home improvement, to health and wellness, to cocktail recipes, to small business management. Some of Jason’s top-level corporate clients include BlackBelt and Thrillist magazines, American Express, Intuit, and Mint.com. Jason has ghostwritten more…

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July 13, 2019

Ruby Fink is Our New Associate Editor, Audio Arts

Posted by in Audio Arts, Member Writing & Art, News
Ruby Fink is Our New Associate Editor, Audio Arts

We’re very pleased to announce Ruby Fink’s promotion to Associate Editor of Audio Arts. Ruby began working with Fictional Café in the fall of 2016. We published her “Mickie McKinney, Boy Detective,” podcast series, which she wrote, directed and managed to get produced by bribing the actors with pizza. “Mickie” ran serially on FC in 2017. Ruby studied Film Production at Chapman University’s Dodge College, with a minor in Narrative and Dramatic Literature. She has her own production company, Faux Fiction Audio, in L.A. We offered Ruby the podcasting baristaship shortly after running the Mickie McKinney series, and since then she has been a major FC contributor and collaborator. She has brought us – and you – audio works from Jack J. Ward’s Electric Vicuna Productions, Kennedy Phillip’s “Magus Elgar,” M. “Josh” Donnelan’s “Six Cold Feet,”…

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July 1, 2019

Breaking News at The Fictional Cafe

Posted by in Member Writing & Art, News
Breaking News at The Fictional Cafe

We’d like a few moments of your time to share some special Barista News with you. Even though we’re 100 percent volunteer, non-commercial, and free for everyone to submit and read, that doesn’t mean there aren’t people working hard to bring Fictional Cafe to you. So we want to introduce several people who are making, and have helped make, Fictional Cafe what it is today. Every creative work submitted to FC is juried by two or three baristas. In the beginning, six years ago, all of that work fell on two baristas’ shoulders – Jack’s and Caitlin’s. What’s truly wonderful is that we have attracted talented people in all of our creative categories who have a voice in choosing what we publish. They all appear on our Baristas page. The people you’re about to meet…

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