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Posts Tagged ‘free fiction’

Story for a Monday

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on December 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Emily Bressler is helping you recognize, reflect on, and reject hypocrisy with this story at McSweeney’s:

I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person

I love my job. I make a great salary, there’s a clear path to promotion, and a never-ending supply of cold brew in the office. And even though my job requires me to commit sociopathic acts of evil that directly contribute to making the world a measurably worse place from Monday through Friday, five days a week, from morning to night, outside work, I’m actually a really good person.

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Photo by Joeyy Lee on Unsplash

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A Mysterious Case

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on November 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Today, a free fiction short from Colby Devitt and the Grist Climate collection:

The Case of the Missing Lake

On the morning of April 8, 2200, Lake Ballona went missing. A pair of hikers ventured down from the Hollywood Hills on a day excursion into the Tongva Wetlands. Where the area’s largest body of freshwater met seawater to create a brackish habitat, they discovered an empty crater. Lake Ballona was gone. Vanished overnight. Only muddy puddles remained where the lake had swelled the day before. There were no signs of violence. 

Excellent opener. I hope you enjoy the rest!

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Photo by Wietse Jongsma on Unsplash

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Beautiful Things

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on November 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Today, a story by the excellent Arthur H. Manners. Dark, yes, but with a beautiful thread of hope.

Woodsong – Flash Fiction Online

It hit me last night, as a chorus of woodsong filled our hiding spot: we’re never getting out of here.

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Photo by Deric on Unsplash

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To: Anyone In the Memo Mines Today

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Today, a fun bit of free short fiction from Carrie Vaughn and Clarkesworld Magazine.

The Job Interview

She hit send and hoped that this would be the last she had to think of it. Engineering would get the work order, run the diagnostics, the glitch would get fixed, all would be well. She was also very aware that this would probably not be the end of it. She couldn’t tell if the cramping in her stomach was lunchtime hunger or simmering rage.

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Original Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

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Welcome to the School Year

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , on August 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

As the run-up to back-to-school time is starting up again, I’m thinking about students and teachers and technology.

With that in mind, I share this short in the tongue-in-cheek spirit in which it was written:

How I Learned to Stop Teaching and Love AI by Brian Michael Murphy

All students, for all assignments, should use ChatGPT to complete each task. Why would you waste your time writing a paper? We now have a tool that can do that for you. And all professors will save massive amounts of time and energy by using ChatGPT to grade all those papers. Isn’t that great? I mean, what an educational revolution.

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Photo by Lasse Jensen on Unsplash

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What Comes After? Or Before?

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on August 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Today, a little free fiction from Jo Jones, who writes speculative fiction and loves reading, history, writing and Star Wars. A woman after my own heart!

STDD CASE FILE RUS1896JM – by Jo Jones

“This is not the first time we have met Miss Michaels. But….. we are getting ahead of ourselves. Or maybe behind?” He shakes his head. “Even I can’t keep up! Anyway, where are you thinking of this time?”

Enjoy!

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Photo by Igor Flek on Unsplash

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Fun Free Fiction

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , on August 7, 2025| 1 Comment »

Howdy Readers! Today I’m happy to share a bit of fun free fiction from that master of humorous sci-fi David Hankins!

The Devil’s Footlocker by David Hankins – FREE STORY – Amazing Stories

Phil could sell anything to anyone. New Milwaukee, like most habitats orbiting Earth, was a moldering dump that smelled like rancid grease wrapped in locker room funk, but that was precisely why Phil had come. Suckers living in squalor made easy marks. The locals couldn’t get enough of his micro-transmat-powered Dust Zappers.

Enjoy!

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Photo by Cheng Shi Song on Unsplash

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Speculative Fiction, Fantasy Edition

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I talk about science and fiction here, but I also like fantasy, science and otherwise. What’s up in the world of speculative fiction, fantasy edition? The World Fantasy Awards shortlist, that’s what!

Here’s the full ballot, with links to the short fiction list where available:

Here Are the 2025 World Fantasy Award Finalists – Reactor

Short Fiction

“Our Best Selves” by Hiron Ennes (Weird Horror Magazine )

“Godskin” by CL Hellisen (Strange Horizons, March 4, 2024)

“The V*mpire” by PH Lee (Reactor, October 2024)

“Raptor” by Maura McHugh (Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology)

“Everything in the Garden is Lovely” by Hannah Yang (Apex Magazine , March 2024)

Do some of these look dark and scary and filled with content warnings? They do, but perhaps that’s your thing? If not, check out the other novels, novellas and more. 

Winners will be chosen and awards presented at the World Fantasy Convention in the UK this November! 

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Photo by Vitaliy Shevchenko on Unsplash

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Dear Author, Take My Money

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on May 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I don’t know about you but I have certain authors whose writing just fits. Ilona Andrews is one such writer. (Or two, really, since “she” is a pair.) 

I’ve mentioned them before but I’m going to do it again, because they are in the middle of another online story, published in installments.

Here’s the main page: The Inheritance.

Reader, if I could pay for it now and get the whole thing, I would. Instead, I look forward to new installments Mondays and Fridays. Now you can too!

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Photo by Timo Volz on Unsplash

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Aural Investigations

Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

My father grew up loving the Sherlock Holmes stories. He wasn’t the only one, of course, and Sherlock has remained a driving force in modern culture since he was first invented by Arthur Conan Doyle. 

Now that the books are in the public domain, there are a lot of new Holmes stories coming out, which is great. But if you want to go back to the originals and you enjoy audiobooks, consider this collection of 19 Sherlock Holmes short stories on the BBC, narrated by actor Hugh Bonneville: Sherlock Holmes Short Stories.

Sherlock Holmes Short Stories – Hugh Bonneville hosts new Sherlock Holmes series on BBC

His adventures have been enjoyed by audiences around the world for over a century with new generations discovering his thrilling tales through blockbuster films, television series, and even video games.

Now, the great detectives’ most famous mysteries are being brought to life in the new podcast Sherlock Holmes Short Stories hosted by Hugh Bonneville.

Enjoy!

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Photo by huan yu on Unsplash

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