Just look at the low-life characters in all those books you’ve published. There’s Tom, a commitment-phobic who sees women as disposable pleasures. There’s Pomeroy, a raunchy oaf with no more finesse than a caveman. And Sam the Poontang man—my god. Just his name says it all.… More
American Girlfriend
Fiction by Christina MarableWe danced on that empty dance floor, and she grinded her luscious hips onto mine and I fell in love–not the cheap tawdry version but the pinnacle of idealization. Love, after all, involved misunderstandings and messy endings, and now, I loved this woman how I wanted to love all women!… More
Casual Friday
Fiction by Zeke JarvisSo Bob knew that some people would give a groan or roll their eyes when they saw the t-shirt, but he wasn’t quite prepared for the frowns and headshakes that he got when he got off the elevator and headed to his desk. There was a lot of muttering, too. Bob started to feel uncomfortable, not casual at all, because he wasn’t sure what the source of everyone’s disdain was. Eventually, Jesse stopped by his desk. Quietly, Jesse said, “Dude, you didn’t see the headlines?”
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Three Stories
Fiction by Kevin NovalinaMy father died of heart failure the same Chinese New Year girls began to draw my eye instead of ire. I wasn’t present for his death but figured it even since he wasn’t present for my life.… More
THREE ESSAYS
Essay by Brendan TodtHe has so much knowledge, and also he has none of it. He drives backcountry Minnesota where his father once lived. Because his father once lived—before he killed himself.… More
Merging
Fiction by Katrin GibbPaul had pointed out my mother’s belongings to her when we first arrived—her needlepoint pillowcases, her porcelain figurines. I couldn’t say if she’d been fooled, but I wasn’t. When we got outside, it was a relief to breathe fresh air.… More
Popping Cherries
Fiction by Taylor ArnetteThe daughter was an anxious thing. She thought ghosts with massive cocks lived in her shower. She didn’t know how sex worked. An older boy down the street kissed her. She thought this made her pregnant. She thought she’d been had.… More
The Eulogist
Fiction by Dan LeachPhilosophers wonder about the tree that falls in the forest with no one around to hear it, but writers carry their own dilemma–mainly, is a story still a story if you never share it? I thought about this in the years that followed. Aside from being an alcoholic and working one worthless job after another, thinking was about all I could manage during those years.… More
Little Rambo’s Fang
Fiction by Brodie LoweHis parents called him Little Rambo because he liked watching Stallone manhandle the bad guys on an old VHS tape. He rewound the tape over and over until he copied Rambo’s posture the right way and shot his own little arrow through the air into mimosa trees lining their property. He ran through the woods and jumped over fallen pine, charging after imaginary enemies, calling out and telling them that he was coming for them.… More
Easy Money
Fiction by Eliot TreichelWith Alfie, sometimes you had to let him run himself out, the same way you did those big trout that used to choke the streams around here. Pull back too hard and it’s over. Better to let them go. Sometimes, though, you let a fish run like that and it means you’re going on a run yourself… More
