Journal

THREE QUESTIONS: Gabrielle Contelmo

Maggie Slater

In the lead-up to the release of Hope: The Thing with Feathers, I’m going to be posting mini-interviews with my fellow ToC-mates! You can pre-order Hope: The Thing with Feathers here.

“What We Had Left” is a beautiful story about finding connection when all else in the natural world fails. Audrey finds Tara as she searches her apartment for lingering survivors after a cataclysmic event in the oceans releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Together, they head inland, away from the seas and the clouds of gas that will smother life. While Audrey and Tara grapple with the reality of the Sixth Mass Extinction, they also find hope in human connection against all odds.

Writing can be a tough profession, and authors of all stages tend to get “no” more often than “yes.” How do you cope with rejection?

Once my original project is out the door, it’s basically dead to me. I still love it and I hope it finds a home, but it’s out of my hands at that point. Sure, the “nos” still hurt, but the sting is diluted if I direct my energy towards a different project. Focusing on something new also takes up too much brainpower for me to ruminate on the fate of the submitted piece.

What piece of writing advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time to when you started writing?

Be Persistent. I thought I’d achieve “success” (whatever that is) quickly; in hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t. I had a lot to learn about the craft and the business. Statistics say it takes years for many traditionally published authors to get a book deal, with most writing multiple books before they’re published. Imagine giving up on the first book or story you ever wrote? I took this to heart and just keep marching steadily ahead. Now, a slew of my short stories have been published in anthologies and literary magazines and I have a romance novel out on submission to publishers.

There are hundreds and hundreds of books on writing out there. Do you have one that you especially cherish? 

I really enjoyed Stephen King’s On Writing, but my go to writing resource has to be Jane Friedman’s The Business of Being a Writer (Second Edition!). Jane has so much information for writers of every kind; her book, website, and newsletter(s) are invaluable.

What’s the best SF short story you’ve ever read? What about it really spoke to you?

Several have stuck with me, to the point that I think about them years later. But by far my favorite is “Pig Son” by Sequoia Nagamatsu. It’s speculative more than sci fi with themes of grief, ethics, and animal agency and I recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in short stories. “Pig Son” is weird, funny, heart-wrenching and makes me feel deeply every time I come back to it.

What’s your favorite non-writing hobby?

I’ll dabble in just about anything creative. I’ve done a lot of fine art like oil painting, pencil drawing, and digital art, and fiber arts like crocheting, knitting, sewing, and (briefly) bobbin lacemaking. My favorite craft recently has been making pop up books for my young nieces (apparently this is called “paper engineering”). It is so fun to figure out little mechanisms that will work for the story I’m trying to tell. I thought I was going to make just one book as a special gift, but I’ve finished three already, and have way too many ideas for more.

What was/were the best book(s) you’ve read in the last year (or the one you always recommend to everyone you meet)?

The Immortality Thief by Taran Hunt! (and its sequel, The Unkillable Princess.) The moment I finished reading, I turned it around and started again. The Immortality Thief takes place on an abandoned spaceship where several different groups are trying to find valuable data before the others. It’s action-packed, deliciously spooky, and you’ll fall in love with the characters instantly..

Gabrielle Contelmo spends her time writing short stories, which often feature monsters with a twist, and character-driven romance novels, which always feature kissing. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in What Lurks: A Cryptid Anthology, 3Elements Literary Review, NECKSNAP, and Grim & Gilded, among others. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Learn more about her work at gabriellecontelmo.com.

Journal

FRIDAY FLASH: The Eastern Feral House Spouse – Presented by David Attenborough (800)

Maggie Slater

The Eastern Feral House Spouse: Presented by David Attenborough

A short, silly flash by Maggie Slater

It begins with a wail. 

The shrieking cry, although terrifying, is the House Spouse’s offspring, awakening to yet another dawn. The Eastern Feral House Spouse stirs, its hair matted, its eyes red from a bit too much whiskey the night before. Unlike its domesticated cousin, the Domestic House Spouse, the Feral House Spouse is an unpredictable creature, driven by whims only it and its mate understand. 

The offspring are young. The Feral House Spouse, clawing herself from beneath twisted covers that are never laid orderly upon the mattress, lurches down the hall in the pre-dawn darkness, her ears finely attuned to the wail of her offspring. Bad dreams. The Feral House Spouse clambers into the nest of the young, burying herself under the vaguely sweat-smelling blankets that desperately need a wash. But where a Domestic Spouse would routinely wash their young’s bedding, the Feral House Spouse does not. She is not bothered. Her young snuggles close, before sleep once more slips its veil over them both. 

Dawn. Post-dawn. The Feral House Spouse is not an early riser, but her offspring rarely remain in bed beyond the first glow of sunlight. Its kicking and wriggling stirs the Feral House Spouse. She bares her teeth, a mild show of irritation that makes no impression on her young. The Feral cub bounds out of bed. The Feral House Spouse drags herself upright. 

While the Domestic Spouse might maintain finely tuned routines, their minds bred for reliability and passivity, the Feral House Spouse is largely unregulated. Mornings begin with an infusion of caffeine, likely too much, leaving the Feral House Spouse on the verge of a panic attack. The young sates its hunger on bowls of cheerios and cow’s milk, leaving a film of debris across the typically cluttered dining table. It will be some time before the Feral House Spouse awakens enough to rectify the mess. 

The Feral House Spouse lives in borderline squalor. Her den is her haven, her safest of places, and within its walls are the remnants of a dozen obsessive hobbies, now long forgotten. Unread books are the most common hoarded item in the Feral House Spouse’s abode and stand in unstable piles she occasionally sifts through. Unlike the Domestic Spouse who might use only the prettiest books as decor, the Feral Spouse fills her shelves to bursting with everything from used paperbacks to beautifully produced Kickstarter graphic novels. Her hunger for knowledge and art is insatiable. 

On this particular morning, as her young curls up in the laundry piled on the couch, the Feral Spouse turns her attention to cooking. There are old vegetables in the fridge, and frozen homemade broth, and these she puts together in a medley that will eventually become something akin to soup. Her offspring, frustrated by the odiferous project, flees outside. Unlike her domesticated counterpart, the Feral Spouse gives her offspring a great deal of leeway, though she does, from time to time, freeze by the window to observe and assure safety. 

The young has found his bicycle. 

While the soup simmers, the Feral Spouse has become absorbed in her cell phone. She scrolls. Time passes. A wailing from her offspring draws her attention, abrupt and alert. She rushes for the front door and finds her young on his side beneath his bicycle, having failed an especially unwise trick. The Feral Spouse, while wild and unpredictable, is nevertheless a fierce and devoted caretaker. Scooping up her offspring, she carries him into the safety of her den and there, tends gently to his wounds. They are not serious. Within moments, her offspring is running and shrieking with delight once more. 

The Feral Spouse refills her mug with coffee, despite knowing she does not need more caffeine. This is a drama that plays out every day. The Feral Spouse, while generally intelligent, never learns her limit. 

Their days continue much the same. The Feral Spouse engrosses herself in a task or a project; the offspring makes a mess or has an accident, requiring her attention. By suppertime, the Feral Spouse is showing signs of fatigue. 

Domestic Spouses are well known for their regimented bedtime strategies and sleep schedules, however the Feral Spouse favors simplicity in all things. Teeth are haphazardly brushed. Pajamas are optional. The only indisputable requirement is that the young empties his bladder before making himself comfortable within his nest. The Feral Spouse has peeled off too many wet sheets in the early morning hours to tolerate such a risk. 

Bedtime. The Feral Spouse crawls into the next of mangled blankets and menagerie of stuffed animals along with her young. Her eyes are already closing. Her young shifts and wriggles for some time yet. But before very long, the Feral Spouse and her offspring are asleep, curled up close together, sharing dreams. 

Rare Photo of an Eastern Feral House Spouse in her Den

Hi there! If you don’t know me, I’m Maggie Slater. I write speculative fiction of a variety of stripes ranging from outright horror, sci-fi, and fantasy to strange, humorous literary stuff. My work has appeared in genre mags like Apex Magazine, Metaphorosis (and even got translated into Mandarin for Science Fiction World), as well as in literary magazines like Redivider and The Core Review.

If you enjoyed this story, please consider donating a buck to my Ko-Fi or following me on Instagram (if you enjoy notebooks, books, movies, and occasional art journaling). I’m also loosely on Bluesky and Substack. Or subscribe to this blog for any and all updates of flash fiction, general writerly nonsense, and periodic interviews with fantastic authors!

Journal

THREE QUESTIONS: Chloe Smith

Maggie Slater

In the lead-up to the release of Hope: The Thing with Feathers, I’m going to be posting mini-interviews with my fellow ToC-mates! You can pre-order Hope: The Thing with Feathers here.

In “The Letter Writers” two part-human, part-bird children, born of a hawk larger than a man, are rescued from hunters by a cold-eyed man. But he has his own designs, and uses their blood and feathers to serve him as tools for writing letters for the patrons of his great city. But how much can the narrator’s brother sacrifice to protect her, and what of their own hopes for escape from captivity? This story is probably one of my favorites in this collection, and will appeal to anyone with a soft spot for Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities or the surreal magic of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.

Writing Question: Writing can be a tough profession, and authors of all stages tend to get “no” more often than “yes.” How do you cope with rejection?

Is it too on-brand to say that it’s a matter of keeping up hope? JK, JK. Actually, my goal is not to put too much energy into hoping for the eventual “yes,” since there’s no guarantee that will ever come… That sounds very defeatist, but I don’t mean my response that way. It’s more that recognition (in the form of story sales, or positive reviews, or just someone else complementing my work) is something outside of my control. Working on my fiction, finishing stories, even sending them out—those are all things that I can act on, but whether anyone likes my writing… well, it’s amazing when it happens, but I can’t center my relationship to my work around the chance of getting that rush. The act of writing, creating worlds and stories that I can disappear into, engaging in craft study and practice—that’s what I try to make my goal, in-and-of itself, so that my work feels meaningful to me, first, before I look for any outside validation. That’s the idea, anyway. I don’t always achieve that level of equanimity, but I keep trying.

Spec Fic Question: What’s the best SF short story you’ve ever read? What about it really spoke to you?

My personal favorite favorite is “An Important Failure” by Rebecca Campbell . It’s a heartbreaking story about luthiers and climate change and making peace with impossible dreams. I cry every time I read it. Despite that, and despite the grim vision of the future it paints, I think it’s a powerfully hopeful story, highlighting the way that humans can persist and find new ways to support each other, even as the world burns around them. It’s also stunningly written, and it folds in history and detail I never knew I wanted to learn about the science of building musical instruments. 

Oddball Questions & Hope-related: Any life hacks you’ve learned that you couldn’t live without?

I’m not sure this this is a life hack, per se, but something I’ve particularly appreciated recently is my connection to a community of fellow writers. I really value the mutual support, encouragement, and understanding that comes from knowing people engaged in the same struggles, especially as it counterbalances the inherently isolating nature of writing and the anxieties that come from trying to carve your strange imaginings into coherent words.

Chloe Smith’s short fiction has appeared in Haven Speculative Fiction and Bourbon Penn, among other places. Her debut novella, Virgin Land, came out from Luna Press Publishing in 2023. She is a graduate of Your Personal Odyssey 2024 and a member of the Clarion Writers Workshop class of 2025. When she’s not writing, she works as a middle school teacher librarian. In past incarnations, she’s been a classroom teacher, a proofreader for Locus and Fantasy magazines, a barista, and a ballet dancer. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. You can find more information about her work at https://imaginaryresearch.wordpress.com/, and she is semi-active on Bluesky @chloehsmith.

Journal

THREE QUESTIONS: Anna Orridge

Maggie Slater

In the lead-up to the release of Hope: The Thing with Feathers, I’m going to be posting mini-interviews with my fellow ToC-mates! You can pre-order Hope: The Thing with Feathers here.

“The Lay-by-rinth” is a tale of a future that has taken as many twists and turns as a labyrinth. Matt works along the old M25 making food stops and Waypoints with Avi, a wanderer from America. Avi’s Waypoint ideas are mystical and intricate, not unlike the feather vein fungus that has consumed and crumbled the old cities. But what meaning will these Waypoints of old ruined tech give the pilgrims who walk the cracked asphalt, or to Matt, still seeking someone to call home? 

Writing can be a tough profession and authors at all stages tend to get “no” more often than “yes.” How do you cope with rejection?

I tend to approach submissions with the spirit of a keen but inexperienced player lobbing balls at a basketball net. So each miss is just a prompt to try again, but I make sure I indulge in unbridled ecstasy when I get a slam dunk. I find sharing rejections with fellow writers in a spirit of hangdog humour helps too. 

What’s your go-to strategy to feel better when life or the state of affairs gets you down?

As a sustainability professional who often has to look at the climate crisis in the face without blinking, this is a regular challenge. I often reflect that the future is always uncertain, which means that doom is never a foregone conclusion, any more than the perfect outcome. 

What book or books have changed your life or the way you see the world?

Four Ways To Forgiveness by Ursula K. LeGuin. It’s such a sophisticated and deeply moving take on redemption, and the many forms that can take.

Anna lives in London and works for an environmental charity. Her short horror fiction has appeared in Mslexia, the Gothic Nature Journal and the anthologies ‘Rock Band’ and ‘Rewired’, published by Ghost Orchid Press. Her essay, Bihexuality in The Craft, is published in the Off Limits Press anthology ‘Divergent Terror’. In 2022, she won a poetry competition hosted by Hot Poets, a project which pairs poets with scientists to create work that transcends the doom and gloom of climate change, and focuses on mitigation and solutions. ‘The Moon Doth Shine’ won the 2023 XR Solarpunk showcase. Her eco-horror novella ‘Phengaris’ is now out with Nefarious Bat Press.

Learn more about Anna at annaorridge.com.

Journal

FRIDAY FLASH: Domestic Black Holes (690)

Maggie Slater

Domestic Black Holes

A dark flash by Maggie Slater

Mauri had never seen a black hole, even a pinprick-sized one, and she immediately resented it. For one, the light-sucking darkness and emanating sense of dread was out of keeping with her home office’s new dusty pink and grey wallpaper she’d been so excited about. For two, it was ever-so-slightly off center which drove her crazy. For three, as she should have expected, her husband Ray had walked right into it without thinking, and now stood stuck. Ray, it should be noted, with his sweatpants and faded Patriots t-shirt, was also not in keeping with the room’s aesthetic. 

            “Seriously, I can’t move.” He grimaced as he tried to shift his weight again, and let out a little cry of pain. “Shit, it hurts. It’s like I’m nailed in place!”

            Mauri tried not to roll her eyes. Ray was notorious for thinking his pain was worse than everybody else’s. She wished she could have seen him push a nine pound baby through his hips. 

            “Just go fast, a quick yank. Maybe it’ll hurt a bit, but you can’t stay here.” 

            In my space, she didn’t say. This was the only room in the house that was hers, all hers, not shared with Ray or the kids or the toys or his disorganized hunting gear, hers. And now Ray—because of course he had—had wedged his way in. 

            Ray was hyperventilating, screwing up what little courage he had. But just when she thought he might give it a proper go, he sagged and gasped, “I can’t, Maur. I can’t.” 

            The sense of dread she’d thought had come from the tiny black hole seemed to have shifted to encompass all of Ray. Just looking at him made her sick to her stomach with rage. He wasn’t even trying. 

            “Yes, you can,” she said, grabbing for his arm. 

            Ray recoiled, screaming louder than anyone she’d ever heard outside of a horror film. “Stop! Maur! No! It hurts! Oh my god…” 

            “I didn’t even pull!”

            Tears streamed down Ray’s face. One eye had busted a blood vessel, making him look vaguely possessed. “Just…gimme a sec…” he huffed.

            Mauri sucked in a breath to settle her nerves. She’d asked for one afternoon for Ray to take the kids out to a park, or a MacDonald’s play place, anything, so she could have a couple hours to herself, and a part of her was sure, absolutely sure, he’d gotten himself stuck in her little office on purpose to get out of it. 

            The kids’ footsteps thunder upstairs, and something thumped hard enough to shake the walls. A moment later, the wail of the youngest stabbed into her chest, gravitationally yanking her towards the door.

            But she hesitated. If she went now, there would be no break. She’d get sucked into fetching snacks and kissing booboos and finding socks, none of which she minded ninety-five percent of the time, but she’d been looking forward to this break all week, had had to twist Ray’s arm to get one, just one out of hundreds, afternoon off-! 

            The wail grew louder. 

            “Are you going to go handle that?” Ray asked, sweat slicking his brow. The pinprick black hole sat right at his left shoulder. It wasn’t that far from getting dislodged. “I mean, I can’t, so…”

            Mauri glared at him, the blood rushing to her ears. Why had he come into her space to ask her about how to get the kids ready? He was their father! He should know!

            Ray was the black hole. He sucked up all her energy, all her time, all her autonomy, her identity, her life force. Sucked it all up into the pit of his selfishness. If it wasn’t about him, it didn’t exist, and heaven forbidanything cause him any discomfort!

            “Mom!” Jake’s voice rang through the ceiling. “Petey hurt himself!” 

            Ray stared at her, innocent, like she should have foreseen this happening. 

            “What are you doing?” he cried as she grabbed his arm again. “Maur! Stop!”

            But this time, she didn’t, even when he shrieked, even when the bones cracked and red spattered across that pretty new wallpaper.   

Screenshot

Hi there! If you don’t know me, I’m Maggie Slater. I write speculative fiction of a variety of stripes ranging from outright horror, sci-fi, and fantasy to strange, humorous literary stuff. My work has appeared in genre mags like Apex Magazine, Metaphorosis, and even got translated into Mandarin for Science Fiction World, as well as in literary magazines like Redivider and The Core Review.

If you enjoyed this story, please consider donating a buck to my Ko-Fi or following me on Instagram (if you enjoy notebooks, books, movies, and occasional art journaling). I’m also loosely on Bluesky and Substack. Or subscribe to this blog for any and all updates of flash fiction, general writerly nonsense, and periodic interviews with fantastic authors!

Journal

THREE QUESTIONS: Lisa Fransson

Maggie Slater

In the lead-up to the release of Hope: The Thing with Feathers, I’m going to be posting mini-interviews with my fellow ToC-mates! You can pre-order Hope: The Thing with Feathers here.

“For All That Is and Still Lives” is a quiet story of yearning for things already lost and the hope of appreciating what exists before it’s gone. On the tail end of a dud-date with a supposed nature-lover like herself, Marissa finds herself searching the familiar woods for the crow she befriended over the years. When all she finds is a single dark tail feather and a mysterious man of the wilderness, Marissa must decide if the well-beaten path is the right trail for her life, or if she desires something less predictable. 

Writing Question: Writing can be a tough profession, and authors of all stages tend to get “no” more often than “yes.” How do you cope with rejection?

I cope with rejection through exposing myself to it. During 2025 I’ve set a goal to receive a hundred rejections. It’s now June and I’m only at twenty, but I’ve got quite a few stories out there waiting for responses, and I’m always writing and submitting. The good thing with this project is that I occasionally get acceptances too. The story in this anthology is the second one I’ve had accepted this year, and I’ve also had a picture book manuscript in my native Swedish accepted for publication. Of course some rejections will hurt more than others, and for me the worst ones are the near misses. Recently a story a mine was short-listed among several hundred submissions, but then it fell at the last hurdle, and those are the hardest to accept.

Hope-related Question: What’s your go-to strategy to feel better when life or the state of affairs gets you down? 

Our lives in these times are so fragmented, so one thing I do is to always have notifications and sound switched off on my phone. This gives me control over my time and I try my best spend one dedicated hour per day to reply to messages and check in with my Substack community. But phones are built to be addictive so I don’t always succeed. After trying to market myself as an author on Instagram and Facebook, I stepped away earlier this year. I found they were trying to lure me into an endless feedback loop, but which only made me feel inadequate and unhappy. The final thing I’ve done is to stop reading and watching the news. This doesn’t actually sit well with me as I like to know what’s going on in the world, but again the aim of news reporting seem to be to always keep us in a state of fear and I chose to step away from that. All of these actions have given me more time to write stories, as well a longer concentration span. My choice is to engage with the world through writing.

Oddball Question: If you could meet one fictional character, who would it be and what kind of venue would you meet at? 

Without a doubt, Dr Marinus, the involuntary immortal of author David Mitchell’s universe, who has no obvious superpowers, but who wakes in the body of a child 49 days after dying, alternating between living inside a female and a male host. Dr Marinus is a calm and benevolent being who occurs in several of David Mitchell’s books, but who makes his first appearance as a man in The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, which is on my list of top ten books ever. With regards to venue, I’m expecting to see them every day, at the bus stop, in the coffee shop, at the hospital, either whenever I most need them, or just for a passing chat.

Lisa is a bilingual writer living on the south coast of England. In her native Swedish, Lisa is an award-winning children’s author, while in her adopted English she’s a writer of short fiction and novels. Her first novel, The Shape of Guilt, is a piece of literary fiction with streaks of magical realism published by époque press. She also works as a literary translator and a mentor of young writers. You can follow Lisa’s writing on https://lisafransson.substack.com .

Journal

THREE QUESTIONS: Louie Sullivan

Maggie Slater

In the lead-up to the release of Hope: The Thing with Feathers, I’m going to be posting mini-interviews with my fellow ToC-mates! You can pre-order Hope: The Thing with Feathers here.

“The Song Lives On” is a short tale set in a dystopian world of trash and barren ground, following Granna and her granddaughter Cora as they seek a bird once friends with the family. While the forests are long gone, will Granna be able to share the beauty that remains despite the devastation, and give Cora an opportunity to see their own world anew?

Writing Question: Do you tend to plan your stories before you write them, or do you write and just see what you discover in the process?

I’m a little of both. I like to have the broad strokes of a story in mind before I start it, but generally things can (and often do!) change along the way. My story Invert House, for example, starts with some rumors about what the house might be or contain — when I started writing it, even I wasn’t entirely sure what the kids were going to face when they got there! But I love that about writing; it’s actually one of my favorite parts, discovering the story along the road, and sometimes finding new twists and turns as the characters do!

Writing Question: What story (published or unpublished) of yours is your personal favorite and why?

This answer changes all the time! That said, I think at the moment it’s a story called Last Requests that I wrote for the upcoming Twisted Tales to Tell in the Night: A Halloween Anthology anthology for Death by TBR Books. I tried something different with the formatting of that one — it’s told almost entirely through dialogue, as though it’s a transcript of a radio broadcast — and I really like how it worked. It’s also got a neat antagonist, and I hadn’t really gotten to write a villain like him yet, so that was a blast too.

Writing Question: Is there any part of the craft of writing that you feel you struggle with? Is there a part of it that comes easily to you?

For me, the difficult part comes in when I know everything and haven’t actually written it yet. That’s part of why, as I mentioned before, I like to not know too much more than the broad strokes of my stories before I start to write them. If I feel like I’ve got everything figured out, it tends to become trickier to get it all onto the page, because to me, it all already exists. The fun part has happened already, and I get the sense that the story’s already told, even if it’s only to myself. Whereas if I still have room to play and explore a bit as I’m taking that journey, I find it much more interesting and rewarding. 

Spec Fic Questions: What other writer of speculative fiction do you feel everyone should read, at least once?

It’s actually two: Douglas Adams, and Terry Pratchett. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a masterwork, and I’m still working my way through the Discworld oeuvre — both Adams and Pratchett are godly in their talent for brilliantly blending memorable characters, humor, wordplay, and world building, while also delivering stories that keep the reader enthralled and entertained, and offering insight on humanity and the world at large. 

Spec Fic Questions: What draws you to writing speculative fiction? Do you lean more towards one genre (science fiction/fantasy/horror) more than others, or do you like to mix them together?

I tend to write horror, so this anthology was a bit of an anomaly for me! A line I love to use in my bios is “Louie writes what scares him, which is plenty.” It cuts to the heart of why I like to write (and read! and watch!) horror as a genre — because it allows us to delve into the darkness of the things that cut us to our core, the things that keep us up late at night jumping at shadows and hiding under the covers. It allows us to explore why we feel this way, and what we can do to overcome that fear. Actually, the whole “hope” angle may not have been as far off base as I initially expected…  

Oddball Questions: What’s your favorite non-writing hobby?

I’m an avid moviegoer, both current releases and retro films, and when the weather allows it, I love to catch a movie at the drive-in.

Oddball Questions: What are you currently reading?

I’m currently on a cryptid kick (possibly as research for something on the way), so I’ve got a TBR full of picks that were influenced by a recent roadtrip to West Virginia. Included are John Keel’s The Mothman Prophecies, Frank C. Feschino Jr.’s The Braxton County Monster: The Cover-Up of the Flatwoods Monster Revealed, They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers by Gray Barker (who happened to be around for pretty much every cryptid and UFO encounter), and J.W. Ocker’s The United States of Cryptids. Cryptozoology is one of my favorite side-topics; I’ve driven up to Vermont for Champ Day (celebrating the Lake Champlain monster, sort of a Nessie lite), read one of my short stories at Squonkapalooza out in Pennsylvania (if you don’t know about the Squonk, you’re in for a treat), and visited plenty of Bigfoot museums and fests. It’s a fun confluence of interest that hits right in the middle of being a sci-fi/horror lover and a fan of bizarre animals. 

Oddball Questions: What was/were the best book(s) you’ve read in the last year (or the one you always recommend to everyone you meet)?

I absolutely love Mark Dunn’s Ella Minnow Pea. I’d suggest going into it as blind as possible, but what sold me on it is that it manages to perfectly balance being a fun exercise in linguistic flexibility, while also offering satirical insights into much deeper (and unfortunately timely) topics. Highly highly recommend it. 

Another good one that I like to toss people’s way is Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven. It’s a horror novel told through interviews (the audiobook is incredible). covering the aftermath of a hurricane that left the mostly-teenage staff of a Florida amusement park stranded. Think “Lord of the Flies” but in a theme park setting. Fair warning, though, that one gets dark.

Louie Sullivan mostly writes about what scares him (which is plenty!), but decided to take a more positive turn for this one. He is a graduate of Fordham University and Saint Peter’s University, reads about a hundred books a year, and goes to the movies as often as humanly possible. You can find his work in the anthologies Doors of Darkness and Doors of Darkness II: Trick or Treat by TerrorCore Publishing, and in issues 62-64 of The Sirens Call.

Journal

FRIDAY FLASH: Printer Perfect (870)

Maggie Slater

Printer Perfect

a short spec-fic flash by Maggie Slater

Thank you for calling Printer Perfect, the Perfect Partner Printers! Your call is important to us. How may I help you today? Please state the reason for your call in a brief sentence.

Return policy.

I see. You would like to know about our return policy. Do you currently have an account with us?

Yes.

Great! Please enter the account number. 

04453-3321

Great! Our records indicate that you ordered NATHAN on June 15th of this year. Please state in a brief sentence the cause of your return query.

He’s not the One. 

I’m sorry to hear that. Adjusting to a new life partner can be challenging, even with a Perfect Partner! If you’d be interested in addressing adjustment issues with our certified marriage counselor, please say, “Counselor.” If this is not what you’d like, please say, “No thanks.”

No thanks…

I see. You do not want to pursue marriage counseling for adjustment issues. Is your return query due to erratic or dangerous behavior displayed by your Partner? If this is an emergency, please hang up and dial 911. If this is not an emergency, but you have behavioral concerns, please say, “Behavioral Concerns.” If this is not the reason for your return query, please say, “Not the issue.”

Not the issue.

Okay. Behavioral problems are not the reason for your return query. Is your interest in a return query-

Speak to a representative.

You said, “Speak to a representative.” Is this correct?

Yes!

Okay. Please hold. The next available representative will be happy to help you resolve your issue.

[Pleasant Muzak]

Hello, this is Irene with Printer Perfect. How may assist you today?

I’d like to make a return. 

Of a partner?

Yes.

Can I have your partner’s name and order date?

Nathan, on June 15th of this year.

Okay… All right, I see it. Can you briefly describe the problem you’re having with him?

He’s…he’s just not what I was hoping he’d be.

Did Printer Perfect fail to incorporate all of your specifications correctly?

Well…no. 

So, Nathan satisfies the profile checklist you completed for the order?

Yes, he does. I mean, he fits the order, but he’s not what I want. 

Are you dissatisfied with his appearance? 

N-no. No, it’s not that.

Are you dissatisfied with his behavior?

No… Look, he’s exactly what I ordered, but I realize now, living with him, that I got it wrong. I made a mistake.

I see. 

You don’t sound like you do.

Ma’am, I’m sorry. But I take a lot of these kinds of calls. It’s not uncommon for people to order up what they think they want, only to find it isn’t all they thought it’d be. It’s the number one complaint we get here at Printer Perfect. Unfortunately, not knowing what you really want isn’t the return policy terms and agreements.

You… you mean I can’t return him?

We can take him back, if that’s what you’re looking for. But we can’t give you a refund. 

Um… Wow, okay. Um, I may have to, to think about it… I spent almost all my savings on him, maxed out my last card… How can you get away with not taking returns?

Printed Partners are very specific, Ma’am. They’re designed and printed to love you and only you. When you return them, they inevitably fall apart. They blame themselves. Some commit suicide. A lot just grow despondent and bitter. Some actually get violent, depending on the personality profile you created, and have to be put down. We don’t have unlimited resources to store unwanted partners, and we can’t resell them. We did a mock fostering program a few years ago, but it was a total disaster. It’s more effective to just melt them back down and send their salvageable pieces to be repurposed in other industries. 

You… you mean you kill them? Just like that?

Ma’am, we don’t kill anything. Perfect Partners aren’t alive. They’re 3D printed puzzle pieces made to fit into your life. They’re not human. They have no backstories. No histories. They’re just synthetic skin and bone and whatever personality and interests you requested in your order… Ma’am? Are you still there?

Sorry, yes, it’s just… I wish I’d know that. Before ordering, I mean.

It’s there in the terms and conditions, Ma’am. Didn’t you read them?

(scoff) Who ever reads those things? They’re thirty pages of tiny legalize! 

I’m sorry, Ma’am, but there’s not much else I can do. Would you like to schedule a return pickup? I think our delivery team will be in your area…Thursday, July 9th. 

Oh. So soon? 

Would that date work for you? Ma’am? 

I- I need to think. 

I can issue you a support ticket number for future reference, if you would prefer to think on it and call back later. Any service representative would be able to schedule a pick up for Nathan.

Ma’am?

Ma’am, are you still on the line? 

Thank you for calling Printer Perfect, the Perfect Partner Printers! Our service representatives are standing by to help you. Please call anytime Monday through Friday, between the hours of 3pm and 11:47pm, and we will be glad to assist you. Goodbye!

Hi there! If you don’t know me, I’m Maggie Slater. I write speculative fiction of a variety of stripes ranging from outright horror, sci-fi, and fantasy to strange, humorous literary stuff. My work has appeared in genre mags like Apex Magazine, Metaphorosis, and even got translated into Mandarin for Science Fiction World, as well as in literary magazines like Redivider and The Core Review.

If you enjoyed this story, please consider donating a buck to my Ko-Fi or following me on Instagram (if you enjoy notebooks, books, movies, and occasional art journaling). I’m also loosely on Bluesky and Substack. Or subscribe to this blog for any and all updates of flash fiction, general writerly nonsense, and periodic interviews with fantastic authors!

Journal

THREE QUESTIONS: Rachel Ayers

Maggie Slater

In the lead-up to the release of Hope: The Thing with Feathers, I’m going to be posting mini-interviews with my fellow ToC-mates! You can pre-order Hope: The Thing with Feathers here.

“Queen of Crows” is a haunting story that follows the story of a girl named Mag who lives with three witches deep in the woods. After meeting the queen of crows one evening, Mag begins to chaff at her confinement and the witches grow more dangerous and desperate to keep her. This story will be an instant hit for anyone who enjoys Miyazaki-style fantasies mingled with Angela Carter darkness.

Writing Question: Writing can be a tough profession, and authors of all stages tend to get “no” more often than “yes.” How do you cope with rejection?

I have made a bit of a game out of it. For example, giving myself points for every rejection (more points for longer pieces!) and racing to get a few more submissions out before the rejections come in, so that I still have hope for the others out there when I do receive a rejection.

SpecFic & Hope Question: Is there a book, TV show, or movie you consistently return to because it just makes you happy? 

The Good Place. Such a funny, sweet ride, with an amazing cast and a satisfying series arc. The blend of philosophy, humor, and honest emotional moments works for me every time.

Oddball Question: What are you currently reading?

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi. Nothing like a good Scalzi novel to look at a truly stupid situation, feel some feels, and still get a good laugh out of it.

Rachel Ayers lives in Alaska, where she writes and hosts shows for Sweet Cheeks Cabaret. She has a Master’s in Library and Information Science, which comes in handy at odd hours. She dabbles with oil painting, knitting, and making burlesque costumes. Her fiction appears in Metaphorosis, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Electric Spec, and she is a regular contributor at reactormag.com. She shares speculative poetry and flash fiction (and cat pictures) at patreon.com/richlayers.

Journal

THREE QUESTIONS: B. Morris Allen

Maggie Slater

In the lead-up to the release of Hope: The Thing with Feathers, I’m going to be posting mini-interviews with my fellow ToC-mates! You can pre-order Hope: The Thing with Feathers here.

“A Bird Afraid of Feathers” is one of those lovely gems of storytelling that can do so much in such a short span of words. Written in an almost faux academia voice, this sweet tale examines the strange and mysterious lives of the barebird, an odd creature that lives in a desolate landscape and appears to have no feathers at all. But although they seem ugly little things, there’s more to them than meets the eye. 

Writing Question: What story (published or unpublished) of yours is your personal favorite and why?

It’s always tough to choose a favorite, so I’ll cheat a bit. “Start With Stones“, a story about finding magic and love (unfortunately not online), is the story in which I think I finally settled into what I now think of as ‘my’ voice. I still write in a variety of styles, but this sort of dreamy, romantic tone is where I feel most at home. “Dragons I Have Slain” a story about independence, is one that I think epitomizes what I was trying to do. And, more recently, I’m really proud of “Cupernicity” – about youth underwater on an alien planet – which accomplishes the same thing in a science fiction novelette.

Spec Fic Question: What’s the best SF short story you’ve ever read? What about it really spoke to you?

I can’t swear it’s the best I’ve ever read, but it’s certainly one that stuck with me – “Leaf, by Niggle” by J.R.R. Tolkien. When I was first encountering The Hobbit as a boy, I sought out Tolkien’s other books. The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were good, but “Leaf, by Niggle” was the story that stuck with me. An allegory about death, creativity, and morality, it’s also a beautiful, wistful story about dreams and hopes that makes you think without being (sic) ponderous. LOTR has its place, but when people talk about Tolkien’s writing, it’s this story they should be mentioning.

Hope-Related Question: What’s your go-to strategy to feel better when life or the state of affairs gets you down?

There’s nothing innovative about my approach, but I find you can’t go wrong with animals and nature. If you live with a companion animal, you already know how they can lift you out of depression and make you realize how much good there is in life. If you don’t or can’t have a companion, going to a dog park or a beach or a forest and just watching the animals or soaking in some natural space can do the same. When I don’t have access to any of that, I’ve got books and memories and cute cat pictures online. I get more of a lift from that than anything else I’ve tried.

Oddball Question: What book or books have changed your life or the way you see the world? 

There was a tide of books that made me think differently about animals and that helped my natural inclinations along their way. When I was about ten, I was reading a lot of James Herriott and Gerald Durrell, and that led in my early teens to authors like Farley Mowat, Rachel Carson, and Gavin Maxwell.  But it was Richard Adams that probably opened my eyes the most. First, of course, Watership Down, but much more importantly, The Plague Dogs, a beautiful, heartbreaking novel about dogs who escape from an animal testing facility. There’s no one moment or book that brought me to vegetarianism and then veganism, but The Plague Dogs certainly pointed me in the right direction. I re-read it just last year, and found it just as effective as I did many decades ago.

B. Morris Allen is a biochemist turned activist turned lawyer turned foreign aid consultant, and now retired. He has lived on five continents, but the best place he’s found is the Oregon coast. When he can, he makes his home there to work on his own speculative stories of love and disaster. He was the editor and publisher of Metaphorosis magazine for its nine year run.

Find out more at www.BMorrisAllen.com and on Bluesky @BMorrisAllen.com.