​A few months ago, I attended the book release of a new anthology of poetry called Woman Life Freedom: Poems for the Iranian Revolution, edited by Bänoo Zan and Cy Strom. This is a collection that exposes the darkest side of the lives of women worldwide, who are often regarded as second-class citizens with few rights and fewer options for escape or freedom.

For a full review of the book, check it out here at ScribesMICRO. This is a powerful anthology, emotional and heartbreaking to read. I highly recommend it.

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​At Play and other stories by Amita Basu delivers what the title promises: a sometimes playful, sometimes serious, set of short stories about a number of men and women living in modern India who have to tackle problems both big and small.

For a full review of the book, check it out here at ScribesMICRO. This is a book for anyone who’s looking to sink into a multitude of worlds featuring diverse and fascinating characters and come out the other side with a new appreciation of what it means to be human. It’s a masterful grouping of tales, and I’d highly recommend this short story collection.

D. X. Lewis's new novella in flash is A Life in Pieces, and it contains twenty-eight stories covering a wide range of styles, from pseudo-fairy tale to gritty realism, from song lyrics to children’s narratives. The changing prose and points-of-view kept me engaged and entertained throughout.

For a full review of the book, check it out here at ScribesMICRO. I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy fictional family narratives, as well as readers looking for something a bit off the beaten path and don’t mind some dark twists and turns.

It was lovely to meet author Rebecca Lowry Warchut in person when we were both in Vermont, and it sparked an intense interest in me about her novel Catastrophe Theory. It's a rollercoaster ride that takes the reader through an adventure with the main character, Vera, a teenager who has cancer and must undergo an emergency surgery down in Florida. But the timing of Vera's surgery coincides with a category 5 hurricane descending on the area, and she has to contend not only with her own personal demons, but a number of family secrets that emerge as her mom and she face the upcoming storm.

For a full review of the book, check it out here at Coffee Time Reviews. This is a book I’d highly recommend, and I'd love to someday see a sequel that takes us back to this fascinating experience and these amazing characters!

I'm a big fan of local publications and authors, and those of you who are familiar with my writing know that I also love flash fiction.  I recently came across Blink-Ink, a publication that combines these two enjoyments.  They publish 50-word (or fewer) stories in a themed quarterly print collection that is just the perfect size for a pocket.  On their "about" page: "It has been said that very short fiction conforms to modern short attention spans.  Originally that was intended as a joke, but it is true."  Their goals are: "To publish the finest in eclectic succinct short fiction, and to be inclusive of writers as well as readers."

I think that their goals are well met.  I read two issues, "One Eyed Jacks & Deuces Wild" (Issue # 27) and "The Enchanted Forest" (Issue # 28).  The stories have varied interpretations of the theme, from literal to metaphorical.  The tone of the stories range from humorous to serious, from poetic to sparse.  The genres are mostly literary to mainstream, with some forays into magical realism or speculative fiction.  In "Jacks," there is even a 3-part series of shorts by Linda Tyler, which were among my favorites of the collection, entitled "Escape 1," "Escape 2" and "Escape 3." These three stories show different ways a person can escape - from literal running away from an abusive relationship, to accelerating the death of an elderly parent, to provoking a fight in a relationship.

Blink-Ink is a fun little booklet with about 25-30 short shorts per issue, and it's easy to digest in one sitting. I hope you enjoy reading it.