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One of the better teachers I’ve encountered in the literary craft world (yes, we all know about John Gardner) is Rebecca Makkai, through Story Studio Chicago. Besides being one of the most limber, twisting and slouching participants on Zoom, she also is hilarious, making up completely quirked examples on the fly. There are several conceptual architectures she’s invented that at least seem truthful even if as complicated as a Mid-East Peace Plan. Let’s take one – her framework

Home Sweet Home We're serializing Alphabetic Karma, a short story originally published by Hawkshaw Press. This is our final posting. When we left Kim last, Kim and Tony had both been shot, and Kim had retired from truck-boosting. *** When I turned twenty Uncle Zach and I had to tap into our hard-way gains. I hired a woman in the trailer park to watch over Zach while I worked at the garage. He was on his own in the evenings while I held down a job as a cashier at the market. I

Kim Goes Full Auto (Shop) Over the next few weeks, we're going to serialize Alphabetic Karma, a short story originally published by Hawkshaw Press. Sign in every Wednesday and Sunday to get the next paragraphs. When we left Kim last, she was busting her knuckles under cars, learning auto repair, and feeding Zack green mac'n cheese. *** The first summer was killer and not in a good way. On Sundays, Iʼd sit outside with Uncle Zach as he smoked and told me lies about his glamor

Serialized Short Story Alphabetic Karma Over the next few weeks, we're going to serialize Alphabetic Karma, a short story originally published by Hawkshaw Press. Sign in every Wednesday and Sunday to get the next paragraphs. When we left Kimmie last, she's conned her way into Uncle Zack's trailer to avoid sleeping on the street. *** Uncle Zach joggled my foot as I lay in the rocker-recliner scrolling my phone. “Hey, Iʼm gonna roll on down to the corner market. Want to come?”

Over the next few weeks, we're going to serialize Alphabetic Karma, a short story originally published by Hawkshaw Press. Sign in every Wednesday and Sunday to get the next paragraphs. When we left Kimmie last, she's been thrown out of her McMansion home again and has travelled by bus across town to Uncle Zacks's trailer, to seek refuge. *** Zach peered at my face, dropped his gaze and brought it back up. “Huh. So thatʼs how it is. You better come in.” He rolled backwards int

Over the next few weeks, we're going to serialize Alphabetic Karma, a short story originally published by Hawkshaw Press. Sign in every Wednesday and Sunday to get the next paragraphs. When we left Kimmie last, she'd just avoided being shopped for 4 days of smack. *** I hitched back across town. For a half hour, I begged my father to forgive and forget, there on the front stepʼs Italian stones. Gave it my best shot. “My best friend out here is an addict. Do you want me to end

Over the next few weeks, we're going to serialize Alphabetic Karma, a short story originally published by Hawkshaw Press. Sign in every Wednesday and Sunday to get the next paragraphs. When we left Kimmie last, she had been dumped in a downtown park by her father. ****** . . . She slumped on the other end of the bench, stared out over the park, and asked, “Are you in some kind of trouble?” “You could say that.” She was in her mid-twenties go

Over the Next Few Weeks, we're going to serialize Alphabetic Karma, a short story originally published by Hawkshaw Press. Sign in every Sunday to get the next paragraphs. ****** The second time my parents threw me out, I already knew the streets couldnʼt work for me. Iʼd learned enough the first time. I needed to stay with a relative somewhere. My moments of revelation in my first journey into the badlands still burned. My father went so far

Bereaved The last nephew has spoken his eulogy: the minister leads a prayer then closes the fat book shrouded in a black binding. Against...

A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making...

Loch Marie and Ben Slioch, With No Particular Link To This Article Be extremely patronizing about alcohol distilled from barley. It's not...

Bruno Schulz Self Portrait Bruno Schulz, an art teacher and painter in Drogobych, Poland, scribed three literary works of art and then...

Another Take on Writers and LLMs

The Moth continues to scuffle up readers who get the book. I particularly liked this review -- Ryan put a lot of work into it. What if...

Dubliners take Joyce's Ulysses as it is, and on this day, read it aloud, on the street, cover to cover. Outsiders are less kind. From the...

This reader gets the ethos of the Moth: " I could not help but root for The Moth." Hard Neighborhood for an Insect, Even A Death Head...