March 4, 2018

“Prisoners of the Multiverse” – A Short Story by Jacob M. Appel

“Prisoners of the Multiverse” – A Short Story by Jacob M. Appel

“Prisoners of the Multiverse” is taken from a story collection entitled The Liar’s Asylum, just published by Black Lawrence Press. It first appeared in the New Orleans Review. ~ The defining and indelible event of our pre-college years—for me and for my cohort of honors-level classmates at Laurenville High School—was the suicide, at age forty-two, of our twelfth grade physics teacher, Vance Rottman.  We wouldn’t have been surprised if dowdy Miss Ayler, who so worshipped Virginia Woolf, had filled her pockets with stones and vanished into the Rappahannock.  Or if the fastidious Latin teacher, Dr. Ismay, had fallen on a vintage sword like his defeated Roman generals.  But the image of Vance—for that was what we all called him—bolting himself inside his gear-packed office, where only months earlier he’d rigged a working model of the…

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March 2, 2018

Friday Night Audio: “The Red Panda”

Friday Night Audio: “The Red Panda”

Thanks to Ruby Fink, our Audio Arts Barista, for selecting the work of one of her storycasting heroes to launch our March audio/podio books. Gregg Taylor, an author and podcaster from Toronto, not only makes great stories, but he’s incredibly prolific, having been at it for about 15 years. From his website: “In the tradition of the great mystery men of radio, pulp fiction and the golden age of comics comes The Red Panda, famed protector of 1930s Toronto! “Hiding his true identity as on of the city’s wealthiest men behind a bright red domino mask, The Red Panda dispenses two-fisted pulp justice with strength, courage and eerie hypnotic powers. Joined in his quest by that Famed Fighting Female The Flying Squirrel, this Terrific Twosome holds high the lamp of justice in a dark time!”…

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March 2, 2018

Please Meet The Fictional Cafe Baristas!

Please Meet The Fictional Cafe Baristas!

Mike, Jack and Jason in a rare cross-country get-together – in a Boston coffee shop, of course. We’ve recently introduced you to several new Baristas here at the Fictional Café. To honor and recognize their talents and achievements, and to thank them for their selfless, unremunerated contributions to our iconoclastic and utterly nonprofit coffee shop, we’ve put up a new page where you can meet all ten of us. You’ll get to see what we look like, what each of our special art interests are, and learn a little about us. So without further adieu, please click on the BARISTAS tab on the menu bar, or click your mouse here to meet us. As always, thanks for being a member of the FC Coffee Club! (And if you’re not, here’s your chance to sign up.)

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February 28, 2018

So You Don’t Miss It: A March Calendar of Creative Events

So You Don’t Miss It: A March Calendar of Creative Events

Thanks to Creative Nonfiction Barista Rachael Allen, Marketing Barista Mike Mavilia and Visual Arts Barista Steve Sangapore for their collaboration, putting together the following brief but interesting art feature and calendar of literary and artistic events around the country. We kick it off [thanks to Mike and Steve] with an in-depth look at a photographically simulated expedition to Mars, which itself is a simulation. And while admittedly only a small sampling, Rachael hopes “So You Don’t Miss It’ stimulates you to be on the lookout for similar events where you live. One of the worst feelings is learning a George O’Keeffe exhibit or a reading by Kristin Hannah was in your town—yesterday. Lucky Bostonians will have an opportunity, starting tomorrow, to see the extraordinary photography of native New Englander Cassandra Klos. Entitled “Cassandra Klos: Mars…

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February 26, 2018

“Where Are The Bones?” – The Novel is Published!

“Where Are The Bones?” – The Novel is Published!

We’re pleased to announce that Harry P. Noble, Jr., has published his first novel, Where Are The Bones? This is a special event for a number of reasons, and if we sound proud of our involvement, you bet we are. Harry sent us the manuscript for Where Are The Bones about a year ago. It was a novella in length, and several of us baristas began reading it and couldn’t put it down. “In Where are the Bones?, Harry P. Noble, Jr. transports the reader on a fresh journey to Texas in 1843. Add mystery to a raw frontier, and you’re in for an intriguing adventure.” – James D. Best, author of the Steve Dancy Tales It turned out to be a fascinating tale, based in large part on true events that occurred in San Augustine, Texas,…

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February 21, 2018

‘Sceaux,” a short story by Salvatore Difalco

‘Sceaux,” a short story by Salvatore Difalco

We sat side by side in the quiet café, a stone’s throw from the Parc de Sceaux, famous for its Château. Outside it rained. A woman passing with a dark blue umbrella stopped and peered at us. For a moment I thought she was going to come and join us at our table. She looked familiar, her face somewhat twisted, possibly anguished. Clearly the battle to remain an individual in the angst-ridden city had taken its toll on her. “Do you know her?” you asked, staring at a spot left of my head. “I do not,” I said, turning to see what it was you stared at. The waiter. “Monsieur,” he said, clicking his heels and bowing his head. “A bottle of rouge, please,” I said. He stared at me for a moment, his eyes…

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February 20, 2018

Introducing Rachael Allen, FC’s Creative Nonfiction Barista

Introducing Rachael Allen, FC’s Creative Nonfiction Barista

Please join us in welcoming Rachael Allen as our first Creative Nonfiction Barista. Rachael is a long-time prolific FC contributor. She wrote an “expose” article about working in an Amazon bricks-and-mortar bookstore. She has written several times about her desires and doubts about pursuing a writing career. She and Barista Simran Gupta were pen pals, exchanging thoughts in FC blog posts while on their Study Abroad programs in Italy and France, respectively. Most recently, she interviewed Whitney Scharer, a million-dollar first-time author of the forthcoming The Age of Light. You can review all of Rachael’s contributions by clicking the Q at the far right-hand end of the blue menu bar and typing her name. When we met with Rachael  over coffee, of course – to discuss her baristaship, it came as no surprise that she…

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February 16, 2018

“Saratoga Noir” – The Thrilling Conclusion

“Saratoga Noir” – The Thrilling Conclusion

Here are the last chapters [15-20] of ZBS’s outrageous audio drama, “Saratoga Noir,” in which we finally learn if Danny Boyee, our fearless [and often, it seems, clueless] gumshoe is gonna stay out of Velma’s and Johnnie’s bars long enough to find that gol-danged cat. Or maybe find True Love with the sweet, high-spirited, named-after-the-orange Valencia? Listen, then . . .           If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve heard – and seen – please visit the ZBS website. They have loads of great stories to listen to for hours of inexpensive, high-quality audio pleasure. The best deal is the $5/month streaming.    

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February 14, 2018

Happy Valentine’s Day to All!

Happy Valentine’s Day to All!

Your baristas wish you and your loved ones a Happy Valentine’s Day! Each of us has chosen a V-Day message to share with you:   Caitlin: “Sometimes I think of you and I feel giddy. Memory makes me lightheaded, drunk on champagne. All the things we did. And if anyone has said this was the price I would have agreed to pay it. That surprises me; that with the hurt and the mess comes a shift of recognition. It was worth it. Love is worth it.” -Written on the Body by Jeannette Winterson:   (A little Valentine’s message for parents…) “Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”  -Elizabeth Stone, A Boy I Once Knew   “The brain appears to…

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