Called “one of the innovators of the short short story” by Publishers Weekly, Peter Cherches has published three volumes of short prose fiction with Pelekinesis since 2013, most recently Whistler’s Mother’s Son (2020). His writing has also appeared in scores of magazines, anthologies and websites, including  Harper’s, Bomb, Semiotext(e), and Fiction International, as well as Billy Collins’ Poetry 180 website and anthology. His latest book is Things (Bamboo Dart Press, 2023). He is a native of Brooklyn, New York. Reading Tonight One afternoon I was walking down East Fourth between Second and Third when I saw the sign, in front of KGB, the literary bar that has been an … Continue reading Peter Cherches

I am based in Leeds, UK, and recently self-published a novel (An Unpleasant Hole to Fill – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C6BFB72N). Writing is very meaningful to me and a great way to allow my conscious and subconscious minds to forum with each other. This story forced its way out of me in one day, I woke up needing to write it and I didn’t go to sleep until it was finished. The Universe Machine The machine I found in the forest, the rain falling and causing me to find shelter, I dove deeper into its heart. And the whirring and distortion roused my … Continue reading Bradley Lister

Hello, I am G.M.H. Thompson. I have been published in a number of different publications that few people have read or even heard of. I have a chapbook out entitled Yard Sale at the Devil’s Petting Zoo that perhaps 30 people have leafed through. I was nominated for a Pushcart once, but didn’t win it. I was born in Cleveland, Ohio. When I was eight, I moved with my family to St. Louis, Missouri. I then received my Bachelor’s at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where I learned little. Then I learned how to play guitar in empty rooms … Continue reading G.M.H Thompson

Had four kids but now just three.  Zen and Love. Continue reading Richard Hanus

Gary Beck has spent most of his adult life as a theater director and worked as an art dealer when he couldn’t earn a living in the theater. He has also been a tennis pro, a ditch digger and a salvage diver. His original plays and translations of Moliere, Aristophanes and Sophocles have been produced Off Broadway. His poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in hundreds of literary magazines and his published books include 39 poetry collections, 14 novels, 4 short story collections, 2 collection of essays and 8 books of plays. Gary lives in New York City. I Like … Continue reading Gary Beck

Nolo Segundo, pen name of retired English/ESL teacher [America, Japan, Taiwan, Cambodia]  L.j Carber, became a published poet in his 8th decade in over 170 literary journals in 13 countries. A trade publisher has released 3 collections in paperback on Amazon: The Enormity of Existence [2020]; Of Ether and Earth [2021]; and Soul Songs [2022]. These titles reflect an awareness he’s had for over 50 years since having an NDE whilst almost drowning in a Vermont river: That he has—IS—a consciousness that predates birth and survives death, what poets since Plato have called the soul. A Morning’s Walk My wife … Continue reading Nolo Segundo

Diego Alejandro Arias is a lawyer, writer, and former diplomat from New Jersey. He has been published in The Acentos Review and Revista Cronopio. He served three tours of duty abroad for the U.S. government and worked on the evacuation of US citizens from Wuhan, China in 2020 and Kabul, Afghanistan in 2021.  He currently works as a civil rights attorney and lives in New Jersey with his wife and three cats. He is in the process of completing a memoir titled Rolling Out of Cars.  Chacón in G Minor 1. Lina took a glass of wine from the gentleman … Continue reading Diego Alejandro Arias

Lori R. Lopez is an offbeat hat-wearing speculative author, illustrator, poet, and songwriter residing in Southern California.  Her prose and verse have been published in a number of anthologies and magazines including California Screamin’ (the Foreword Poem), Dead Harvest, Impspired, The Sirens Call, The Horror Zine, Weirdbook, Spectral Realms, Space & Time, JOURN-E, Dreams & Nightmares, Altered Realities, Bewildering Stories, Aphelion, Oddball Magazine, multiple Rhysling Anthologies and H.W.A. Poetry Showcases.  Book titles include The Dark Mister Snark, Leery Lane, An Ill Wind Blows, The Fairy Fly, and Darkverse:  The Shadow Hours (nominated for an Elgin Award).  Seven of her poems … Continue reading Lori R. Lopez

Dance the Night Away Chapter 1 It was a crystal-clear September afternoon in Amsterdam. Days reminiscent of summer still spawned within Western Europe, and our priest, once finishing his duties at the church, arrived at Vondelpark for his daily stroll of fresh air. Our priest, Henri, a Parisian, who had been a scholar at heart, taking up his studies in Rome upon becoming a divine fisher of men, spoke French, English, Dutch, Spanish, and Italian. Henri, a pious man, read from the Bible each day, like most priests: Henri also tended to spiritual issues and concerns of morality with members … Continue reading Domonique

Benjamin Bennett-Carpenter, PhD, MA, teaches at a public university in North America and consults/coaches at Sollars & Associates and independently.  Bennett-Carpenter is the author of Death in Documentaries (Brill, 2018) and Explaining Jesus (Lexington / Rowman & Littlefield, 2019).  He co-edits Cruel Garters, a contemporary poetry publication.   Away and Off Days tick. Away and off. If you count them. Our days are, after all, numbered. One way or another. Choose your system or it chooses you. It is said in some places that one must be funny or die. Funny places. This isn’t one of them. Are you laughing? See, that’s what I mean. Hey, this is … Continue reading Benjamin Bennett-Carpenter