Nancy Stohlman is the featured writer for mid-April with two stories as multi-dimensional, memorable and dynamic as the writer herself. “Prodigal” allows us to infiltrate Palestine through a conversation between a taxi driver, the narrator, back in his country after a 40 year hiatus, and the tense visuals of the passing landscape. “The Wager” gives us a potent snapshot of a couple getting ready to leap into those deeper waters of familiarity. Enjoy Nancy’s video reading of “The Wager.”

I have added a special edition to the Fiction column this month. A book review and interview with Susan Tepper and Gary Percesepe, followed by three micro-fiction pieces, “Um-hm,” “Sleep” and “Chia” by Susan and “Offering,” a story by Gary. Their collaborative high-octane novel deals with the intricacies of a relationship between Jackson Pollock and a fictional character, Dori G through letters.

Their novel will be available on Amazon soon, but you can order a copy through Cervena Barva Press now!

James Joseph Brown takes us on a journey to Russia in his extraordinary novel excerpt, “Perestroika.” We are given a chance to drift into another place, this time through the eyes of a foreigner who struggles with his conscience. Will he remain faceless like those around him or step out?

Anna Jaquiery smuggles us to Russia as well, in her unforgettable story “Baptism in the Volga,” yet gives us an insider’s Gogolesque flavor through the eyes of a 95-year-old woman’s inimitable voice.

 

Foster Trecost transports us with his two indelibly etched stories, “Like Yesterday” and “Brick Walls.” Both take us to that boundary-less place where the past invades the present and distorts time and place.

 

Sheldon Lee Compton masterfully delivers us with his poetic prose in three flash pieces, “Riumotchnaya is Shotglassery,” “Helen and All Her Properties” and “Souvenir,” into the passion of place and ferocity of love.