“The bus was a support group on wheels. Kurt’s idea. Every huge life event should be marked with a party and cake. Especially divorce.” By Nathan Tavares
Fiction
Velour
“‘I used to play a good person,’ Leo said. ‘I’m afraid I’ve been typecast.’” By Dallas Hudgens
The Curse of the Bastard Sons
“Nora did not tell her son many stories about his father. She preferred not to mention him at all, adhering to what she referred to as “the thumper principle” after the rabbit in Bambi: if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” By Emily Kiernan
The Heart of My House
The home has long been a powerful metaphor, and for good reason. The place where we live comes to represent us. But here is a story I haven’t seen before, where the homeowner cannot seem to see his house as it is. Where he can’t stop seeing it as a metaphor. —Matt Salesses, Good Men Project…
Shank Generation
Bereft of language, youths will express themselves with a knife, a fist, or a gun.
The Isle of Khería
An excerpt from Robert Cabot’s new novel, The Isle of Kherîa.
Study for the New Fictional Science
“After all, Peter Parker became Spiderman by accident. Bruce Banner made the best of his terrible growth spurts and temper spasms. You, too, can turn trouble around and become a small god.” By Amber Sparks
First Look: KINO, by Jürgen Fauth
They’d been back for three days now and the marriage was off to a rocky start. The reception had been a disaster, the honeymoon was ruined, and Mina was beginning to resent the long hours at the hospital. This was not how she had envisioned her new life.
One More Medal for Scout
Bomb threats had been out of vogue for some time. Only minor thugs with bad imaginations – too many hours of Die Hard reruns and not enough love as a child – would stoop to something as pedestrian as “phoning in a blast.” Such enervated acts of terror were yawns, handled by a single old…
First Look: MY ONLY WIFE, by Jac Jemc
This excerpt and the mounting advance praise for Jac Jemc’s My Only Wife has me excited for April 10th. “Ten years ago the narrator unlocked the door of a wrecked apartment, empty of any trace of his wife. As stunning as her disappearance is his response. He freezes on the facts of her, haunting his recollections.…
March Madness: The Fiction Special
Carlton Suede is about to dunk the ball. Without an ounce of grace — his mutt of a mother used to call him “our clubfooted son” — he is rising through the lower ether. Above the marshmallow-thick white soles, higher than the tense, ribbed socks, surpassing even the shiny mesh culottes of his despairing opponents.…
//||””: The Growing House :””||\\
Mike Meginnis is doing something you will love. It’s called, EXITS ARE. He’s recreating those old text adventures (think Apple IIe), in real time, with authors of note. Remember: “Exits are… (N, S, W, E)”?
Crows Eat Well
“The day I get out on parole, Toby picks me up in Kingston. He’s two hours late.” — Andrew F. Sullivan lets us into the dark parts of his soul.
Sustainable Practices
“The whole world’s going broke, and it’s because we’re importing water”—he glared at her—“from Tahiti. But whatever makes you happy, baby.” By Vanessa Blakeslee
First Look: FORGOTTEN COUNTRY, by Catherine Chung
A first look at the novel, FORGOTTEN COUNTRY, by Catherine Chung, out March 1 from Riverhead Books.
Two from HARD TO SAY, by Ethel Rohan
“An Irish daughter struggles with her relationship with her mother, who drinks, beats, goes blind, loses her sanity. The stories in this aptly titled book are relentless, full of terror, frighteningly true. Ethel Rohan’s rhythms will get inside you.” —Matt Salesses, Good Men Project Fiction Editor