September 16, 2024

Rachel Gonzalez’s New Story

Posted by in Featured Posts, Member Writing & Art, Writing
Rachel Gonzalez’s New Story

Rachel is our Fiction Writer in Residence, and she has written an outstanding new story for us, “Scrappy Metal.” It takes a very contemporary – and ironic – perspective concerning technology and its ever-encroaching desire (read between the lines: AI) to take over our human lives. It’s not only current but it’s also very funny. One of the most enjoyable stories we’ve published. Please let us know what you think of it in the Comments section at the end. Scrappy Metal Photo credit: IRobot.com I crushed another Cheez-It in my hand and sprinkled it on the floor. “God. Would you stop that?” My roommate’s shrill girlfriend, Molly, screeched at me. Although she was always here she didn’t actually pay any bills, so I didn’t have to listen to her. “Hey, I’m just feeding the little…

Continue reading →

June 24, 2024

“La Hacienda de Las Chismosas” by Rachel Gonzalez

Posted by in Member Writing & Art, Writing
“La Hacienda de Las Chismosas” by Rachel Gonzalez

*Featured image courtesy of Katsiaryna Endruszkiewicz on Unsplash* This week we are proud to present another piece by our Writer-in-Residence, Rachel Gonzalez. Rachel has put a lot of work into creating this story, and it has resulted in a truly beautiful piece of writing. They come to La Hacienda to ease their bodies and their minds.  It’s a resplendent house of generations that will always stand. The burdened, the troubled, the mischievous, all come for the caring touch from the hands of the hacienda. With more importance and reverence than any state building or diplomat’s home, it is the beating heart of this town. A home to all, if even for a moment. Halls of brightly-tiled walls and dimly-lit ways for privacy and peace. Cobblestone paths meander and lead into the heart of the hacienda….

Continue reading →

April 27, 2023

Our National Poetry Month Finale: Vera West

Posted by in Writing
Our National Poetry Month Finale: Vera West

Please welcome Vera West, The Fictional Cafe’s Poet in Residence, who shares her thoughts about our National Poetry Month celebration: chickadee  I’m not always angry but  I am mostly melancholy,  thinking about those  little potholes of memories   riddling a twisting road  of disappointment;  these memories jar me:  pancakes, carnivals,   front yard barbecues,   black fridays and   pastel pink egg hunts,  nicknames no one else called me;  these memories always jarred me,  they’re so different than   the standard of both  back then and now.   ** thinking of you Things you did right: encourage me to be authentic, drive me around town, instill independence, and push high expectations. [I want to be somewhere in the middle, between the good and the bad, between emotion and logic, but I’m stuck in extremes. either I miss you terribly or hate you…

Continue reading →

January 20, 2023

“Paper Dolls” by Rachel Gonzalez

Posted by in Writing
“Paper Dolls” by Rachel Gonzalez

A Short Story by Our New Writer in Residence He has a collection of paper dolls and a workshop dedicated to them. It’s a perfectly maintained and organized room filled with tools of his trade. Xacto knives and self-healing mats, tacky spray for stubborn pages, creasing tools for the ideal line. There are no unruly folds or crinkled edges in his workshop. He’s a sentimental man. His favorite paper dolls live in a box on the highest shelf.  Sometimes he pulls them out to admire them, or to take inspiration for his newest project. His process is very thorough: First comes the raw material. He can spot the potential of a page from a mile away. Be it the pattern or the texture or the pliability, he knows a good page when he gets his…

Continue reading →

December 31, 2020

Derrick R. Lafayette Is Our First Writer-in-Residence

Posted by in News
Derrick R. Lafayette Is Our First Writer-in-Residence

Announcing the newest position on The Fictional Café: the Writer-in-Residence. Our Editorial Team has awarded this role to longtime FC contributor Derrick R. Lafayette. Following a wonderful year of our first Poet-in-Residence, awarded to Mbizo Chirasha, we decided to expand upon this idea by adding a prose writer. Each Residency lasts two years. This staggering allows our members to greet a new face each year and allows us two full years of sharing each Resident’s work. As our Writer-in-Residence for 2021-2022, we will be publishing some of Derrick’s short stories, novel excerpts and perhaps some essays as well. He’s been featured on our site several times over the last three years. Each time, we’ve been impressed by his growth as well as his ability to create engrossing tales using both unique storylines and moments from…

Continue reading →