THE LOGOS FICTION CIRCULAR is a weekly series which collects independent fiction from around the web so as to treat the works to a wider audience. Recommendations for new author/publisher inclusions are welcome.
§00. Editor’s note: Links affixed to author/publisher’s name (if any) will redirect to author/publisher social media; links affixed to story/article titles will redirect to a relevant site whereupon the named piece is archived. The ‘authors’ section focuses exclusively on individuals who author and publish their own literary work; the ‘organizations’ section focuses exclusively on independent presses (lit-mags, e-zines and other literary outlets comprised of more than one person) who publish fictive work of (at least) more than one author. Lastly, the ‘literary ephemera’ section focuses on non-fiction work, including (but not limited to) certain poems, such as news articles, reviews, interviews and critiques. All author/publication names arranged by alphabetical order (including ‘the’ and ‘a’).
§01. Editor’s note on criteria for inclusion: A publication is considered ‘independent’ if it does not rely upon the staff, organizational prowess, or financial backing, of one or more large corporation, academy, government or other large institution. For example, Sink Hollow Litmag will not be included in the circular, not due to the quality, or lack thereof, of their work, but rather, because they are supported by Utah State University (and thus, are not independent); Thin Air Magazine, likewise is supported (in part) by university funding and hence, will not be included.
§02. Editor’s note on timing of publication: All works included are those read by the editor during the week of publication; their inclusion does not mean that they were written / published the same week as the circular containing them.
AUTHOR (FICTION)
From Jane Dougherty, Ambush.
“… if I sit here much longer I’ll be so old I’ll have forgotten how to string a bow.” (J. Dougherty, Ambush)
From Jeff Coleman, The One That Got Away.
Giles has the man right where he wants him. He’s not a man, of course—at least on the inside—but something much worse… (Jeff Coleman, The One That Got Away)
From Little Fears, Be Someone.
“Is that another Sprite?” asked Cuttle.
“I think so,” sighed Parrotfish. “It’s depressing. They pass on so fast. They barely have time to figure out who they are.”
“I don’t care,” replied Cuttle. “When I was young, my mum said I could be anyone I wanted.”
“Isn’t that called identity theft?” asked Parrotfish. (LF, Be Someone)
From Shantanu Baruah, Whimsical—A Flash Fiction.
She was a mystery, no one knew where she came from. (S. Baruah, Whimsical)
From The Dark Netizen, the microfiction, Beast.
Its appearance disturbed the quiet of the forest.
The legendary beast was as beautiful as it was ferocious. It made quick work of most of the party. I was enthralled by its presence as it chewed up my last remaining partner. I did not want to harm it.
It didn’t resonate with those thoughts… (Netizen, Beast)
ORGANIZATION (FICTION)
From 101 Words, Exist To Nowhere by Lauren Everhart-Deckard.
We ripped the doors off my rusty mustang, Joni and I. They came off easy, like moth wings. (L. Everhart-Deckard, Exist To Nowhere)
From Aphotic Realm, Sherrick And The Train by Dan Maltbie.
A single BOT stood before the executive area with its blaster mechanically trained on the bounty hunter as a swarm of cleaning drones sprayed and tidied the offices beyond. When Sherrick neared, an electronic croaking emerged from the dingy security robot.
“HALT! Bounty hunter!” (D. Malbie, Sherrick & The Train)
From Crystal Lake Publishing, Shallow Waters Vol.1: A Flash Fiction Anthology (Kindle Edition) edited by Joe Mynhardt.
Shallow Waters—where nothing stays buried.
With twenty-two dark tales diving beneath the surface of loss, love, and life. (Amazon promo synopsis for Shallow Waters Vol.1)
From Horror Sleaze Trash, The Night I Drank With Bukowski’s Ghost by Benjamin Blake.
I took a sip of whiskey, and started playing air guitar along to the bluesy track coming over the speakers. (Benjamin Blake, The Night I Drank With Bukowski’s Ghost)
From Jellyfish Review, Repeat Visitor by Rachel Wagner.
he runs down the hill away from the green monster and steps down its steps to rescue his toys from the car. (R. Wagner, Repeat Visitor)
From Literally Stories, Beneath Your Skin by Rose Banks.
You weren’t yourself, that night. (R. Banks, Beneath Your Skin)
From Milk Candy Review, Bodily Fluids by Marissa Hoffmann.
Nicole Kidman says she doesn’t kill spiders or even ants. I wonder if that’s because she has people to do that for her? (M. Hoffmann, Bodily Fluids)
From New Pop Lit, Jerusalem by Zachary H. Lowenstein.
The air was crisp and cool. The scent of pine was wafting and the Earth continued to exist despite anyone’s desires. (Z. H. Lowenstein, Jerusalem)
From Reflex Press, Hagstone by Chloe Turner (excerpted from her book, Witches Sail in Eggshells).
She’d thrown off last night’s childish panic; had woken calm, absolved, a greedy hunger in her belly. The answer would come from the stones. (C. Turner, Hagstone)
From Short Prose, Bones (excerpted from Glass Lovers).
“This city lost its compass, I am telling you, Miguel. Bones. This city is filled with bones.” (Excerpted from Glass Lovers)
From Spelk, The Promise Of Science by Tim Love.
Mathematicians love finding connections between once unrelated topics.
Descartes connected geometry and algebra. He had less luck with body and mind — as different as time and space, he wrote. Einstein created space-time but couldn’t connect gravity with quantum mechanics.
Meanwhile entropy and aging took their toll, random mutations accumulating with each cell division, not all bad. The strongest survive. (T. Love, The Promise Of Science)
From The Cabinet Of Heed, Suppose by B. Lynn Goodwin.
Suppose Hannah, age 9, closed her eyes and announced, “I have windowless eyelids”? Would she be creative or silly? (B. L. Goodwin, Suppose)
From The Drabble, Spittin’ by Maura Yzmore.
After Mom turned the house into a shrine, with Father’s photos everywhere, his college graduation portrait spat on me from the windowsill. (M. Yzmore, Spittin’)
From The Fiction Pool, Suvvern Cabman by Tommy Sissons.
The occasional hedonistic partygoer, donned in the macabre, or barely donned at all, was passed out on the yellow lines, dreaming of fluidity – ex-partners and money. Slews of drunken plague doctors, Pennywises, Day of the Dead señors, mime artists, brash women with demonic and celestial get ups bustled into pools of human jungle at every doorway. (T. Sissons, Suvvern Cabman)
From Story Shack, The Lone Pine by Martin Hooijmans (with art by Lars de Ruyter).
In his grief he did not notice that the square had filled up with people, all looking up at him in expectation. When an amplified voice started speaking he noticed though. He also noticed that no one was laughing at him. Then, one by one, lights started flicking on in the buildings surrounding the square, and that’s when he saw. His fellow trees, all decorated as well, surrounded by people laughing happily, brightened the numerous rooms of the buildings. When they saw ‘Lone Pine’ in the middle of the square, he could swear many of them began to glow even more. His heart lifted. (M. Hooijmans, The Lone Pine)
LITERARY EPHEMERA (NONFICTION)
From Alina Hansen, Ceramic (poem #417).
From A Maldivian’s Passion For Romance, a review of Before Jamacia Lane by Samantha Young.
From Cajun Mutt Press, A Perceived Shift by Jonathan Hine.
From Cristian Mihai, Do You Want More Readers? Write Like Yourself.
From David A. Estringel, the poem AI! AI! AI! (A Tartarus For Youth) at Blood Moon Rising Magazine(Issue #77).
From Examining The Odd, Lord Dunsany (Edward Plunkett).
From Human Pages (Tim Miller), My Mother’s Sister by C. Day-Lewis.
From Jaya Avendel, the poem Inside The Heart.
From Joanna Koch (Horrorsong), Clutch.
From JPC Allen, a writing prompt for those seeking to try their hand at historical fiction.
From Okay Donkey, the poem Wound Study by H. E. Fisher.
From Søren Gehlert, the poem I Care Beneath The Alcohol.
From The Mystique Books, a review of The Farm by Joanne Ramos.
From The American Sun, a rumination on American culture as reflected in the nation’s fiction in Quiet Desperation is the American Way.
And lastly, from Thoughts Of Steel, The Crucible.
/////Logos Literature 