by Alessandra Harris Short Story Set in the 1950s My toes sunk into the hot grains of sand as I darted along the beach in Santa Cruz. I tried to ignore the lump in my throat and enjoy the day. Not worry. I found an open space on the...
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When I first started to work for Harper & Row after grad school I was ushered around the floor of our college division by Phil Leininger, the dean of all publishing English editors at the time. The building at 10 East 53rd Street had 38...
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by Karen Winters Schwartz “These here look to be your size,” said Mrs. Carson, after running her eyes up and down Linda. She handed Linda a plain white one. “I don’t know why I have to buy one of these things when women have been ripping them off...
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by Barbara Conrey Ever wonder what happens when an editor suggests a scene be deleted from a manuscript before it becomes the book you hold in your hands? Sure, sometimes those scenes are never heard from again. But sometimes, they resurface...
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by Claire Matturro (previously published at New Verse News) Maybe it started with that woman— the one in the fake Tudor—guiding her Escalade with Greenpeace stickers through the drive-thru in her fit of fury hunger on her way home from her...
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by Claire Matturro Harold slumped in a red vinyl chair at the kitchen table, his cool cup of coffee shaking in his hands. “Careful, Hon,” his wife Rose said as she took the cup from him. She stuck a finger in it to be sure it was cold, then...
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by Shawne Steiger Things that happen fast: Micah. His first steps. First word: Pretty. Turning three. Screaming, kicking, hitting while you try to breathe, try not to want to kill him, wonder what you are doing wrong. Outgrowing the...
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The Hymns We Used to Sing by Claire Matturro (previously published at Topical Poetry) We were civilized as we walked.The food we’d taken with us, mostlyCheese, bread and dried meats, we shared.There was water, and as we moved along,Some of...
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A fictional short story inspired by Rachael Maggio...
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