In the mythical town of Odette County, Wis., hard-working citizens face the trials and tribulations of rural life in a series of compelling tales. Farmer’s Almanac: A Work of Fiction is a collection of short stories by Chris Fink that

A sequel always comes with heightened anticipation for readers and Queen of America, a continuation of the 2005 bestselling novel The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea, is a follow-up that stands alone

 Fans of H.P. Lovecraft will recognize the author’s face in Paul Peart-Smith’s illustrations for “He,” a story drawn from the horror master’s unhappy sojourn in New York. Volume II in the project of transforming Lovecraft’s...

Here's another publication by a fellow alum of mine, David Atkinson. I don't normally brag, but I'd just like to point out that the University of Nebraska-Omaha's MFA program grads are doing really well for themselves. This particular work is a little weird, a little "experimental," if you will. But you know what? I think we've reached a point in the literary canon where it's totally acceptable to...

I wanted to share a link with you on narration because I know a lot of people who regularly check out this blog are writers themselves. It comes from the Echo Ink Review, which is doing a couple of really neat things right now, including a free writing workshop (which is literally worth its weight in gold). Not only that, they're actually PAYING people who contribute. How crazy, I know! In add...

I thought it'd be cool to show off some of the writing coming from one of the smaller universities because it's sometimes amazing where good fiction ends up. It's another example of just how much good stuff is out there, and how sometimes you need to really look to find it. So I'm proud to have found this piece in the slick little mag called Convergence Review. From "A Natural History of the B...

I don't normally provide links to excerpts, but I really enjoyed reading the first part of this short story published in the Sycamore Review and I encourage readers to check it out. If you like it, buy a copy of the magazine to read the rest of the piece. Here's a short excerpt: We are at the tip of the thumb of Michigan. The sky threatens sun, so John has reluctantly left the water an...

Palooka Literary Journal is doing a lot of great things. And while I think the term "underdog" hardly applies to a journal of this high caliber, I'm more than happy to play along. If you're an aspiring writer, you should be reading this journal. Why? Because the editors at Palooka know what they're doing.   I'd like to share my fave story I've read recently just to give you a better idea of ...

There's nothing I love better than shamelessly promoting my former classmates from the University of Nebraska-Omaha's graduate writing program. One of the coolest things about getting your MFA is establishing life-long connections with the friends you make and now, with the advent of this strange device called a "computer," combined with these tubes that make up the "Internet," following their acc...

I thought I'd share this short story with you, primarily because I really enjoyed it. Obviously, right? Well, my brain is a little fried from playing Dragon Age II for so long this past week and now everything I say seems obvious. It might be destroying my brain cells. From "The Old Mill," by Kathryn Scanlan:   When we party by the old mill, we have to walk through pine woods and d...