March 05, 2010 | Toasted Cheese - March 2010
We have a surprise for you this issue, so be sure to check it out!
TC 10:1 features poetry by Ariana Cisneros & Ryan Quinn Flanagan; flash fiction by Vicki Wilson, Kristi Denke & Lori Volante; fiction by Joseph LoGuidice & Anne Greenawalt and creative non-fiction by Andy Shalek.
Also look for Dead of Winter Writing Contest winning stories by Lana Thiel, Tamara Eaton & Erica L. Ruedas.
This issue's Best of the Boards winner is Amy Gantt.
Congratulations to all & happy reading!
Posted by The Editors at 10:17 AM in Literary Journal
February 22, 2010 | Columns from TC 9:4
Best of the Boards
"The Stiff" by Kirk Becken
Sandra looked at the lifeless form in front of her. A few minutes ago, he had been alive. Very alive, in fact. But apparently she had misinterpreted his last few cries. Pleasure and pain could be quite close in Sandra's experience, but never had that concept been quite this clear. She didn't know how long it took a body to become stiff after death, but one particular part seemed intent on leading the way there. Amazing. Suddenly Sandra felt a wave of embarrassment and covered him with the sheet, then immediately felt foolish as she looked down at the little tent he made.
The Snark Zone: Letters From The Editors
"Pattern Recognition" by Theryn "Beaver" Fleming
As I was putting together this issue, I realized that we have six repeat contributors this time around. Five of those are appearing for their second time: C.L. Bledsoe, Kate Gibalerio, Kimberley Idol, Charles D. Phillips and Janice D. Soderling. Two of those writers (Gibalerio and Phillips) have pieces in different genres than they did in their first appearance in Toasted Cheese. One (Bledsoe) is returning after a four-year absence. From an editor's perspective, both of these things are rewarding to see.
Posted by The Editors at 11:46 AM in Literary Journal
February 15, 2010 | Contest Winners from TC 9:4
Gold: "Dante's Grid" by Liz Mierzejewski
When I first met Dante I was still in college. I was in my junior year attempting to earn my degree in English Lit. At that time I was planning on becoming a teacher. "You know what they say," Dante would tell me back then. "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." He would laugh at his own joke, and at first I would get all insulted, but to be honest, I was never much of a writer. So eventually, when he'd tell that joke, I would have to agree. After all, I wasn't the creative one. Dante Benedict, future world-famous inventor, was the creative one, and I loved him then even as I love him now.
Silver: "Tech Support" by Ari Susu-Mago
Albert Woodler had been poring over ancient volumes of text for nearly three days when he finally found what he was looking for. It was almost dusk, and the dusty light that filtered through the workroom window pooled on the long worktable as Albert thumbed through the heavy books before him. His vision was beginning to blur even with the help of reading glasses and he paused to rub his eyes and glance over at Julia, who was once again settled on her perch with her head tucked under her wing. Lucky bird, Albert thought. He sighed and took a swig from his water bottle, managing to slop a sizable amount down his shirt and jeans in the process.
Bronze: "Prisoner's Potion" by Dixie Sorensen
The prison door banged open, and my eyelids flew apart. I scrambled to the door in surprise and peered out of the small barred window as two guards and a soldier walked down the rows of cells. I frowned. Meal time was not for another three hours.
I slipped back to the corner of my dark cell. Their arrival couldn't have anything to do with me. I hadn't had a single visitor in the eight years I'd been a prisoner.
Posted by The Editors at 09:00 AM in Literary Journal
February 08, 2010 | Editor's Picks from TC 9:4
Boots's Pick * "Infidels" by Jim Harrington
The photon blast rocketed past my ear and hit the metal wall behind me. Fiery tendrils exploded from its core like fireworks on the Fourth of July. I uncovered my eyes in time to see the heel of Zorton's boot disappear down the hallway leading to the crew's quarters.
I paused when I reached the junction of the two passageways and snapped my head around the corner and back. No Zorton. I edged into the hallway and was greeted by a waving Nolander. He wore a purple and yellow tunic. His hair sprouted from his head like the branches of a willow tree. The thump, thump of a cane tapping the floor preceded him down the hall.
Baker's Pick * "Meegan Kissinger Wore White" by Amanda Viviani
In my opinion, weddings are just a pissing match for girls. You get 100 of them in one over-priced, floating-candle and gardenia-bedecked banquet hall, and the hidden agenda becomes whose five-inch heels and $90 celebrity knock-off commands the most attention. The rest of the evening is spent taking bets on which member of the Sex and the Single Girl set, sloshed with champagne and teetering around on her gold spikes, is going to fall into the decorative fountain or drip rivers of cocktail sauce down her purple silk frock.
When we aren't going to weddings, we work at them. The Old Man makes food for apple-cheeked, hand-holding young couples, wanna-be hipster brides, white-trash family barbecue nuptials and politically correct lesbian faux-ceremonies.
Ana's Pick * "One Last Storm" by Chris Yodice
The snow was relentless that year—and surprisingly consistent. The first storm came on a Friday. It lasted three days, leaving ten inches at the shallowest point and drifts that threatened to consume whole houses like ocean waves. It had been twenty-four hours since anyone in my family could see out the windows; we knew it had ended only because we were told by the woman on the radio.
She was the one we really listened to. The television weatherman appeared once every few hours; through a practiced smile, he spoke of satellites and radars and air masses. He was unaffected; he could have been talking to us from anywhere. His suits—he wore a different one for each appearance—were unwrinkled. His hair was perfect. This woman, though, seemed to stay with us the whole time. If she slept, I don't know; she must have, I suppose. But I am sure she didn't go home. And as the hours wore on, her tired voice only grew more intimate.
Posted by The Editors at 10:35 AM in Literary Journal
February 01, 2010 | Creative Non-Fiction from TC 9:4
"Muse at Work" by Kate Gibalerio
You need to write something. Anything. Emails don't count. We've gone over this. The same for tweets, texts, and Facebook chats. Just say ciao to your cousin from Rome and log out. Peek at Google News, if you must, but limit yourself to one article about swine flu—you're on deadline. You need to write something for this evening. Get your venti latte, then sit, and start writing—anything—to share at Writers Night.
Posted by The Editors at 08:48 AM in Literary Journal
January 25, 2010 | Fiction from TC 9:4
"Stowaways" by Kimberley Idol
Catholic girls who fail their families learn to lie to their loved ones and tell the truth to strangers. My grandmother shared her secrets with cast offs and drifters who bunked at her place, pawned her knick-knacks, and forgot to let the dog out until it shit on the carpet. She lived in that kind of company because finding caretakers for aging addicts is a grueling chore. She would drink all day then drive through town in her big blue Thunderbird looking for spies or dead husbands or houses she no longer owned. If we hid the car she called the cops and blamed her minder. The cops didn't respond, but the calls made them testy.
"Cotton-Eyed Joe" by Charles D. Phillips
I spent week after week clearing my land in west Texas. Hour piled on hour in an avalanche of brain-stunning heat, gnarled cedars, thorny mesquites, chainsaws, pickaxes, and long-handled shovels. My four-wheel-drive pickup never left first gear. Its engine growled, and then it howled with all its wheels spinning as we fought for possession of stumps welded to the dry ground.
Sunburned shoulders, crackling knees, and tortured muscles incessantly reminded me this was work for younger men or for men with bodies stripped and then rebuilt strand on hard strand by years of killing heat and unending labor. The once-sharp lines of my own body were now blurred. Decades of wielding little more than a keyboard and wrestling with nothing more substantial than recalcitrant software had taken their toll.
"Louvre Is All U Need" by Jason D. Schwartz
The rabbit's neck bulged where the fence cut in. The fur around its new double chin blushed with blood. Its ears pointed to heaven and its grey body stretched straight back in the air like dry papier-mâché that would crumple if touched.
Ari felt the grass soaking through his white cotton socks. He could taste the rabbit's creamy, rotted breath. He took a step forward. The trees whispered.
A fly landed on the rabbit's left eye. Ari watched it dip its legs into the black bead and scrub itself. When it was clean, it buzzed away, weaving through the fence's rusty rectangles.
"Midnight at the Oasis" by Melodie Starkey
It's not that Dad tries to be a loser. He just doesn't even seem to realize it. Like last summer: we went to Boston for our annual road trip. I wanted to see the aquarium and drive to Springfield to see the Basketball Hall of Fame. He took me to tour Emily Dickinson's house. Maybe there are lots of fourteen-year-old boys who would consider this the high life. It gets worse: at Emily Dickinson's house, the old lady tour guide showed us the original manuscripts of some stuff, and asked if anyone wanted to read a poem. Now I'm about 100% sure she meant, "Do you want to look at these and read them silently to yourself?" But not my dad. He picked one up and proceeded to give a dramatic public reading of it, complete with the hand turning gestures my sisters make so much fun of. The other people in the room just stared at him, including the guide lady.
I died.
Posted by The Editors at 02:13 PM in Literary Journal
January 18, 2010 | Flash Fiction from TC 9:4
"Scraps" by Ethel Rohan
The waitress brings Elizabeth a glass of water with lemon. She wants red wine. It's too early for wine. She returns to her book—The English Patient, which only adds to her longing—and waits.
He arrives at the restaurant dressed in a yellow raincoat. She checks the sky; it won't rain for hours yet. If he can look like that then she can have wine. She signals the waitress. He places his keys on the white tablecloth, and gives her that disapproving look. Her gaze jumps to his germ-laden keys, and back to him. His face is milky pale and eyes cold. She recalls him sucking her nipples, and looks away. He doesn't remove his raincoat, yellow as mustard.
"The Repairman" by Janice D. Soderling
What she said was that she'd had an unhappy childhood and I was supposed to fix it. I can't fix it, I said.
"Punctuation" by Andrew S. Taylor
Your face is always the same sentence, but the punctuation keeps changing. Around your eyes and mouth, quotation marks appear, like weather patterns of localized irony. Above the bridge of your nose, sometimes I find ellipses, and other times marks of exclamation.
Posted by The Editors at 02:09 PM in Literary Journal
January 11, 2010 | Poetry from TC 9:4
"The Bank" by C.L. Bledsoe
Dad said there was no future in farming
so he sent his sons off to bag
groceries, stock produce, flip
burgers while his brother and the bank
carved up the farmland and kept
the white meat. We knew fish
and cattle, rice fields and soybeans.
Five Poems by Paul Hostovsky
"Survivor"
The first time we kissed
you turned away, saying:
"Not on the mouth. Not yet. I'm
sorry. There are things
I haven't told you…"
I didn't understand.
But I understood enough
to gather your hands
in my hands,
to rest my cheek
against yours,
and to kiss
your cheek,
your temple, your
eyebrow, and then
only the side
of your mouth,
its corner. It was
a sort of lateral kiss,
like looking a little to one side
of something to see it better,
like with stars,
or with poems,
or like the truck that carries the glass
on its side,
because of the nature of its cargo.
"Hunger" by Rae Spencer
I confess them
These bodily hungers
All satisfied, every need met
By the luxury of my living
Posted by The Editors at 12:15 PM in Literary Journal
December 02, 2009 | December 2009 Toasted Cheese
TC 9:4 features poetry by C.L. Bledsoe, Paul Hostovsky & Rae Spencer; flash fiction by Ethel Rohan, Janice D. Soderling & Andrew S. Taylor; fiction by Jim Harrington, Kimberley Idol, Charles D. Phillips, Jason D. Schwartz, Melodie Starkey, Amanda Viviani & Chris Yodice and creative non-fiction by Kate Gibalerio.
Also look for Three Cheers and a Tiger Writing Contest winning stories by Liz Mierzejewski, Ari Susu-Mago & Dixie Sorensen.
This issue's Best of the Boards winner is Kirk Becken.
Congratulations to all & happy reading!
Posted by The Editors at 04:33 PM in Literary Journal
December 01, 2009 | Pushcart Nominations
TC's 2009 Pushcart Prize nominees are:
Congratulations and good luck!
Posted by The Editors at 04:18 PM in Literary Journal
November 26, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "The Voice of the People" by Amanda Marlowe
As I was leafing through my copy of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth, I came across two letters. I knew what they were, of course. I had heard the story behind them more than once, and read them, but it was still a thrill to find them tucked inside the book.
One letter was a copy of a letter my mother had written Mr. Wilder when she was sixteen:
(A note on it indicated it was copied from a scratch version in 1949 and had been sent sometime in May 1947)
Posted by The Editors at 12:03 PM in Literary Journal
November 22, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Gramps's Record Player" by Mark Paxson
It was Gramps's old record player that did it. In the end, it almost ripped us apart, which would have been ironic. In the end, it brought us back together again.
My first memory of the record player was from a day my parents left me with my grandparents. Back in the mid-seventies when I was probably five or six years old. My grandparents were supposed to watch me while my parents shopped for a car. Mama had wrecked the car the week before and Daddy was none too happy about having to buy a new one. The last thing he wanted was for "the sniveling little brat" to come with them.
Posted by The Editors at 05:06 PM in Literary Journal
November 18, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Always Date an Honest Drug Dealer" by Amy Rideg
My landlord planted corn last summer where he had previously envisioned putting a hot tub. He mused that he had planted the seeds too closely together but thought they would grow just the same. Before this, the most he ever tended the yard was to give it a mow when the weeds got waist high in areas visible to the neighbors. That yields some pretty hearty weeds considering he stands at about six-foot-three. I figured if he grew corn the way he grew weeds, we would have a fine harvest.
Yuki1 was his garden inspiration. He said she could plant what she wanted in his yard if he would be able to eat some of what she reaped. I wondered how the deal worked as I watched him tending to the patch of ground he had hoed, where he had planted corn seeds too closely together, and that she had only visited a handful of times. I figured it didn't matter as long as the weeds were being whacked at more regular intervals.
Posted by The Editors at 05:24 PM in Literary Journal
November 14, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Gym Bag Steak" by Timothy L. Marsh
When I knew Conrad he was a sick old man who drank too much and couldn't walk anymore. He watched cooking shows and World War II documentaries and occasionally listened to Johnny Cash records. He lived with one of his daughters in a house he'd built with his own two hands in 1957 when whiskey cost a dollar and Newfoundlanders still did things like build their own houses.
Posted by The Editors at 04:23 PM in Literary Journal
November 10, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "After Seven Long Years" by Sheela Jaywant
It must have been around three in the afternoon, because my son had already had his lunch and had sat down to do his homework. His school-timings were from seven in the morning till one, and by the time he took the rickshaw home, it was 1:30. My dog and I, we usually waited for him outside the compound. It was maybe 49 degrees Celsius, probably even higher in the direct sun that day, for I distinctly remember we stayed in the shade of the khejdi tree that stood sentinel at the gate. I observed the sunflowers, drooping, yet facing stoically upwards: the stalks were nearly seven feet high and the blooms six inches across.
My maid, who watered the garden, had commented but a few weeks ago, "Madam, we haven't had such lovely flowers for nearly seven years now."
"Touch wood," I reacted.
Posted by The Editors at 11:23 AM in Literary Journal
November 06, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Survival of the Fittest" by Tamara Adelman
I'm forced to relax when I arrive on the island before my bike and bag. So, I head to the beach with my book, Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. At first I balked at the subtitle, Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. After all, it's just an Ironman: a hopefully safe race that happens by choice. I mean, you do sign up for these things.
The book is not about Ironmans—although swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112, then running 26.2, a full marathon, might kill some people—it's about how fighter pilots learn to override their emotions and their instincts at crucial moments, how they focus so supremely that at times, they don't even know who their mothers are. It's helping me to develop the proper mindset for my fourth Ironman race, becoming a sort of bible that comforts me from my bedside table, and I'm grateful to my friend back in LA who recommended it.
Tears come to my eyes the next day when I go back to the airport and my bike box is there; partially I'm relieved, but now I have no excuse to get out of doing the race.
Posted by The Editors at 01:32 PM in Literary Journal
November 02, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Disappearing" by Robert Wexelblatt
Uncle Richard rubbed his hands together and looked benignly down on us. "Good. You're here. Now, what'll it be? Gin with your tonic, or vodka?"
I turned toward Bonnie.
"Vodka," she said eagerly.
"And for you?" asked Uncle Richard with a kindly smile.
"Same's fine."
He started toward the kitchen then turned back. "Lime?"
We both nodded, good little guests side by side on the white couch.
Posted by The Editors at 02:07 PM in Literary Journal
October 30, 2009 | Fall 3 Cheers Winners!
Toasted Cheese Literary Journal is pleased to announce the winners of
the Fall 2009 Three Cheers and a Tiger Writing Contest:
Gold: "Dante's Grid" by Liz Mierzejewski
Silver: "Tech Support" by Arielle Susu-Mago
Bronze: "Prisoner's Potion" by Dixie Sorensen
Our thanks to all who entered. You can read the winning stories in the
December issue of Toasted Cheese.
Toasted Cheese's next contest is Dead of Winter, which opens on Sunday, November 1.
Posted by The Editors at 04:44 PM in Literary Journal
October 29, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Boxes of Junk" by Alex Myers
When they turned off the interstate and were on the familiar suburban lanes that led to Dan's parents' house, he began the litany. "Don't let my mom bully you about the wedding," he said, his eyes locked on the road. "And don't agree to any of her ideas. And don't promise her anything because she never forgets."
Rachel nodded, though she wasn't sure Dan could see her. In truth, she liked to hear his frustration about his parents. It made her feel like a conspirator, like it was us against them, like Dan was hers.
"My dad wants to help with our move, even though I've told him a dozen times that we don't need help," he went on.
Posted by The Editors at 07:19 PM in Literary Journal
October 25, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Life's Routines" by Cheryl Lynn
When my father fell down the stairs, I decided not to help him. I was sitting in a recliner watching Jeopardy when he landed just a few feet away in a crumpled mass of arms and legs, skin and bones. He mouthed something, his eyes bulging with terror and I casually wondered, my pulse never breaking eighty, if he had broken his neck.
After taking in the sight before me and committing it to memory, I turned back to Jeopardy and tried to ignore the strange gurgling noises that came from his mouth. I realize that may seem a bit cold, but you have to understand the situation before you pass judgment on me.
Posted by The Editors at 03:06 PM in Literary Journal
October 21, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "When the Trees were Bare" by Carol Lynn Grellas
I would have held a single leaf
between my own two fingers
outside her bedroom window
Posted by The Editors at 01:23 PM in Literary Journal
October 17, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Elephant Nannies" by Diana Dominguez
At the elephant orphanage in Kenya,
dozens of gentle men
mother the elephants
made motherless by poachers,
exploding the myth
that maternal instinct
belongs to women only.
Posted by The Editors at 03:36 PM in Literary Journal
October 13, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "The Ceasefire Symphony" by Rebecca Stonehill
Some people call me a traitor; others regard me as a hero. Yet I am neither. I am simply a musician doing what I know and love best.
The first time I ever held a violin in my hands was when I was seven years old. We were visiting my grandfather in Janin. He had played folk violin all his life and when we went to his house a few times each year, we would listen to him play. On this particular occasion, all my family were napping in the afternoon heat, but I couldn't sleep. I tiptoed out of the bedroom and that's when I saw it: grandfather's violin lying in its half-closed case. Carefully, I lifted the instrument out and crept outside where I sat under the shade of a tree, staring at it. I wasn't sure what to do, but thought of my grandfather and the way he positioned it under his chin and brought his other hand round, placing the bow on the strings. I did the same, drawing the bow back and forth until I was able to produce a familiar sound.
I don't know how long my grandfather had been standing in the doorway, but when I stopped and turned, there he was, silently watching me.
For a while, he didn't say anything and I thought he was angry. But then he walked towards me, smiled and said 'So, you want to learn violin, Wasi?'
Posted by The Editors at 01:16 PM in Literary Journal
October 09, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "We're Not Common" by Tara Kenway
Plunk.
Keeping her eyes fixed on me, my mother let the sugar drop into the cup. It sunk to the bottom with a small splash, a few bubbles gasping to the surface, and finally I understood.
That Sunday morning I had been cutting up soldiers for Violet, my daughter.
"One soldier, two soldiers, three soldiers," we counted, my daughter giggling. "Frrrreeeee soldiers," was accompanied by a little saliva shower for her piece of military bread.
The phone rang and I left Violet in her high chair to smear butter on her hand.
Posted by The Editors at 11:59 PM in Literary Journal
October 05, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "The Painful Art of Wrestling" by Simon Barker
John sat in a pew in the Catholic church with his brother and sister and watched his mother get married for the second time. The service was conducted by Father Patrick who carried the stub of a hand-rolled cigarette wedged behind his ear. John's uncle, Sid, was giving away the bride. Sid was a detective sergeant and he was wearing one of the shiny suits he normally wore to work. Sheila, the bride, was dressed in white. Sid had insisted she wear white because her first wedding had been in the registry office and she'd worn a brown suit. Sid hadn't forgiven her. This time would be different. As the service progressed John noticed his mother inching further and further away from Roger, the man she was being married to. Roger was wearing his police uniform.
John sat very still. Next to him his little brother, Greggie, giggled and during one of the hymns undid the buttons of his fly. Normally John would have punched him. But before he had a chance the baby started screaming and his sister, Chrissie, had to push past him to carry it outside where its scream wouldn't compete with Father Patrick's emphysemic voice.
Posted by The Editors at 04:57 PM in Literary Journal
October 01, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Foolish Creatures" by Frank O'Connor
When the war was over and all the shelling stopped, Dan Barley set up a balloon animal zoo in a broken chemical factory. He displayed them on carefully labeled shelves: a fine translucent African elephant in blue, a red and green giraffe, infinite sausage dogs. He kept them tethered with string and fed them regular doses of helium from a baby bottle. Pins, knives and all other sharp objects were banned.
Posted by The Editors at 02:38 PM in Literary Journal
September 27, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Mumbai Local" by Ajay Vishwanathan
My nose sweat dangled long
under the scorching Mumbai sun
till I puffed it away
with a tired heave
when I finally saw a train
that didn't have people
suspended from window bars,
simmering from crammed doors
like an over-boiled frothing vessel
of fat-free milk,
Posted by The Editors at 12:39 PM in Literary Journal
September 23, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Halloween, 1996" by Ryan Quinn Flanagan
Some girl at the Halloween party
asked me if I had come
as an unemployed bum,
and I commended her on her costume
and the bravery it took
to come as someone who couldn't
have kids.
Posted by The Editors at 02:04 PM in Literary Journal
September 19, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Downpour" by Terri Kirby Erickson
He's there every morning:
under a bridge, by the curb,
on the sidewalk. You ignore him
like a pile of old rags you keep
Posted by The Editors at 02:54 PM in Literary Journal
September 15, 2009 | From TC 9:3 - "Mea Culpa" by Tyler Cummings
To the pens
with dried up points
or unclicked tails.
To the mothers and fathers of mine,
to the siblings I never call, and
the things I was doing
while I wasn't around.
To the people I see but don't talk to, and
the words that are a better fit
but take too much time to think of.
Posted by The Editors at 06:35 PM in Literary Journal
September 02, 2009 | September issue of Toasted Cheese!
TC 9:3 features poetry by Tyler Cummings, Diana Dominguez, Terri Kirby Erickson, Ryan Quinn Flanagan, Carol Lynn Grellas & Ajay Vishwanathan; flash fiction by Frank O'Connor; fiction by Simon Barker, Cheryl Lynn, Tara Kenway, Alex Myers, Rebecca Stonehill & Robert Wexelblatt and creative non-fiction by Tamara K. Adelman.
Also look for A Midsummer Tale Writing Contest winning stories by Sheela Jaywant, Timothy L. Marsh & Amy Rideg.
This issue's Best of the Boards winner is Mark Paxson.
Congratulations to all!
Posted by The Editors at 03:28 PM in Literary Journal
August 25, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "#writerwin" by Stephanie Lenz
I snatched the opportunity to do this month's SnarkZone not knowing what I would write about. Would it be my experience participating in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition? Would it be about the aftermath of #QueryFail? Would it be about the fact that my five-year-old is asking me to take dictation while she "writes stories" aloud? Or how about the fact that Castle was renewed and how many portrayals of writers do we get on TV these days, much less ones as smokin' hot as Nathan Fillion?
After a few moments—and some research of images of Nathan Fillion—I thought, "There must be some way to tie these things together." So while listening to my daughter tell the story of horses escaping the bloodthirsty, hippocidal skeleton that has followed them to Candyland, I came up with a solution: Success.
Posted by The Editors at 09:54 AM in Literary Journal
August 20, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Portrait of a Home" by Aaron M. Wilder
Your cross-beams sway in the wind now. That once stood so defiant to God. Shingles splintered and thrown to time. Weathering to male-pattern baldness. When I see you again will this roof be shaved? Doors hanging by one hinge? Elements and that run-down phrase—"it’s just the wind"—making themselves at home?
Posted by The Editors at 10:15 AM in Literary Journal
August 15, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Lady Fingers" by Amanda Divine
"Holy crap. Look at this." Taj set down the book and stared at the photograph. "I always want to find money in books, not fingers."
"How can you find a finger in a book? Seriously," said Lana, shutting the cash drawer and waving goodbye to a customer.
"Well, not a finger. But a picture of a finger. Is this for real?" She handed Lana the picture and rubbed her eyes. "Tell me that's not a finger."
Posted by The Editors at 12:23 PM in Literary Journal
August 10, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Stuck in the Middle" by Brian Behr Valentine
Occasionally in a movie someone lurches awake, sitting up wide-eyed with shock. I have claimed this in my own personal anecdotes but it never really happened, not really, until last night. Remembering an old box of books I'd just purchased yesterday, or more importantly, a realization about one particular book had awakened me. One used book and what I had found inside of it.
I'm a bibliophile… a book lover, and a yard sale addict. I'll run a grandma off the road and drive through a flowerbed for a hand-written sign tacked to a light pole. I cruise the better neighborhoods Saturday mornings with a thermos of coffee and a box of donut holes, red-eyed and looking for a fresh intellectual kill.
Posted by The Editors at 05:27 PM in Literary Journal
August 05, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "The J" by Nathaniel Tower
The other day I was reading a book I had purchased online a few years back. It was Ulysses, by Joyce. I was finally on the last chapter, the one with no punctuation, the one from the woman's point of view—not sure if those two ideas are related or not, but I guess it makes sense.
So I had just started the chapter, a glass of wine, a Pinot Grigio, in my hand. I didn't really have a clue what was going on, but I kept reading anyway because I was once told that the most intellectual accomplishment a human being could achieve in this day was to read Ulysses cover-to-cover. There I was, on the brink of achieving some intellectual brilliance that I didn't fully comprehend but was proud of anyway, when I accidentally tipped my Pinot, sending the swirling liquid in a waterfall to my newly planted carpet.
Posted by The Editors at 11:13 PM in Literary Journal
July 30, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "In the Footsteps of Robert Running Bear"
Jimmy, my cousin, is lanky for a twelve-year-old, but not awkward. Once he clobbered a baseball so hard it sailed clear over the fence in the park. He always says, You're a scrawny runt for ten. I've never hit a home run or come close. Our mothers like to dump us off at Grandpa's farm on weekends 'cause it's a convenient way to get rid of us. Whenever Aunt Betty sees me, she squeezes my cheek to put a dimple in it. Then Grandpa hangs onto both of them 'til I look like a bloodhound. I don't like being called cute or being squeezed and poked, but I guess that's the way relatives are.
Today Grandpa is riding the tractor to break up and turn over soil. Worms and bugs are everywhere. A swarm of seagulls has flown in from the coast and follows the tractor wherever it goes. The birds squawk and dive down to pick up the quivering insects in their beaks. A red pickup turns off the road and kicks up a stream of dust as it heads toward the barn. Grandpa stops the chugging tractor and climbs off. He says, "That must be Robert Running Bear."
Posted by The Editors at 12:05 PM in Literary Journal
July 25, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Search, Rescue" by Andrew Minnick
Two hours after the walk began the dog was lost. The master had set off in the mild cool of a warm February day with light gloves and a pocket full of old steak. A gentle motion and a quiet word, a "go," or "off," or "run," released the beast from obsequence to instinct and the master watched the dog run through the cluster of aspens into the pine forest beyond.
It had been so warm that day, the odd cloudless sky offering the land to the sun. Now it grew cold. The treacherous flame of life leaving open the door to darkness and the chill it spoke. No movement in the pine, no sight of the dog. The master slid his hands into his coat pockets and kept on.
Posted by The Editors at 06:30 PM in Literary Journal
July 20, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Withdrawal" by Adam Poltrack
I wring you,
Like a fresh squeezed citrus fruit,
Empty you like a piggybank,
Leaving only pulp and pennies.
Posted by The Editors at 10:29 AM in Literary Journal
July 15, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Cane Island" by Paul Silverman
The Cane Palace brochure said nothing about swarms of Portuguese Man of War in the waters of their very expensive private beach. Yet there was the official sign, posted not ten feet from where Ray Ryan was interrogating the towel boy on what the sign actually meant. "Your sign says Portuguese Man of War hazard December through May," Ray said. "So what are those people doing out there?"
The towel boy kept on folding, kept on setting out the bottles of Cane Palace water and the little paper cups of complimentary sunscreen. He looked odd performing these fey activities, because he was cut like a linebacker. Ray read his behavior as sullen, as though he didn't consider Ray's question worth answering. "Your sign," Ray said, pointing. "What does it mean? Is it correct?"
"The sign is correct," the towel boy said, his native island face blank as the sand.
Posted by The Editors at 03:16 PM in Literary Journal
July 10, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Two Suns in the Sunset" by Andrew Rivas
1
The whole fucking mess was Jonesy's idea. Six weeks ago, he came to me with his bag filled with pills, higher than God, but still he convinced me in spite of his shot-blood eyes, slurred speech, smoke pouring out of his nose and mouth. Six weeks ago, he convinced me to take this fucking road trip, convinced me that we'd be famous, convinced me that I'd get my book published, convinced me that he could drive in spite of the light blue oxys, the white vikes, the also white Quaaludes. His rainbow-streaked bag of drugs. The hashish, the marijuana, the PCP, the uppers and downers which Jonesy used to call quicks and slows, the Ketamine, LSD, and Xanax, more painkillers which were always Jonesy's weakness, the psilocybin mushrooms which were Marks', and more psychedelics depressants stimulants than I could name if my life depended on it.
Which it might; I am not completely sure about that yet. Writing is hard in spite of the vikes, which dull the pain but can't eclipse it completely, can't block out the red spires of pain that muscle into my vision when I move even the slightest bit, which keep me trapped here in this metal cocoon encompassing.
I should rest. This is going to take a lot out of me.
Posted by The Editors at 12:07 PM in Literary Journal
July 05, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "The Taste of Blood" by Walter Kraut
He liked the taste of blood. It was as simple as that. Some people like good wines, others single malt whisky, Peter liked nothing better than a good glass of tasty blood, no ice, no water, just pure, freshly poured from a popping vein. It wasn't an addiction though. He could do without it for weeks, months even if he had to—and sometimes he did have to, because supply was uneven and he wouldn't settle for just any blood, which to him proved he wasn't a bloodoholic like some of the people he knew.
Posted by The Editors at 11:47 AM in Literary Journal
June 30, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Painting Naked" by Kimberley Idol
"Look, look, look." The boyfriend turned to show me a strip of masking tape attached to his dick.
"Don't get primer on that," I replied. I think I have painted more than a hundred rooms in my life. I attack the task as I do all tasks, like line drives. Painting in the nude was the best way to avoid washing acrylic off another T-shirt, even if I have dozens. If you travel to Amsterdam and you can not afford the Renoir or the Natchez triple dresser, a T-shirt emblazoned with green people boffing doggy style can substitute as a souvenir. Plus, I run in a lot of 10Ks. This activity nets you shin splints, free orange juice and free T-shirts. Allison and I run them once a month. We go to class together, bar hop together and run together. Last week we entered the Santa Anita Run. Someone miscalculated the length, the race was .75 miles longer than it should have been. When you strategise for 6.2, 6.95 takes a toll. You've spent all you had before the last mile and so you dodder along in the end, like a rented pony. They still owe you the T-shirt however, no matter how late you cross the finish line.
Posted by The Editors at 09:27 PM in Literary Journal
June 25, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Words" by Caroline England
The searing heat of righteousness kept Mrs H company through the night, at least until the early hours, and even then the feeling of having been wronged, indefinable though it was, still burned in her dreams.
During her waking moments, she tried to identify the cause, to concentrate on the nub, but her mind was in spasm, convulsing with thoughts, moments and memories but unable to focus on any one thing. Archaic, antiquated. No longer of relevance, she thought. Mrs H closed her eyes and recounted the books from the well-stocked library of her childhood home.
She slept again, eventually, and woke at dawn feeling thirsty and vaguely bereft. Getting herself out of the lofty bed was more of an effort than usual, and she averted her eyes from the looking glass as she always did. She had been almost beautiful once and didn't need to be reminded of a face consumed and robbed by lonely old age and secret obsession. She cleaned her teeth for longer than usual, focusing on nothing except the swirl of blood in the bowl when she spat.
Posted by The Editors at 10:09 AM in Literary Journal
June 20, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Voice on the Water" by Louis M. Abbey
"How can you say you'd like one? You don't know anything about boats," I said. My father sat on a kitchen chair, a Time magazine on his lap.
"Don't know exactly, but I feel it," he answered, distracted. The Red Sox were on the radio. The commentator's staccato monotone crackled over the hoarse breath of the crowd.
"Feel it. What do you mean by that, Dad?"
"I feel it, David, right here," he punched the center of his stomach. "When Williams smacks a homer, he doesn't feel contact, his gut just knows. Same as me about a boat, I know I'd love one—you would too, holding the wheel, wind in your hair, it just feels right, doesn't it?"
Posted by The Editors at 12:22 PM in Literary Journal
June 15, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Anniversary" by Michael Zapata
My parents are dancing. Their steps are Venn Diagrams, permanently looped into the oak-wood flooring. Their bodies are concentric hemispheres. They are rocking back and forth and my mother's heels are clicking like Amtrak wheels...
Posted by The Editors at 02:23 PM in Literary Journal
June 10, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Hubris" by David Fulton
Pollock was down to his last two Lucky Strikes
and no one was going out for more wine
and the last of Coleman Hawkins was fading
into a silence like static, like too much
coffee and trying to sleep.
It was day three and the artist
had the shakes. Maybe it was time for lunch.
Posted by The Editors at 12:50 PM in Literary Journal
June 05, 2009 | From TC 9:2 - "Confirmation" by Gale Acuff
In this issue of Lois Lane I rub
her blouse off with my eraser and she's
naked above the waist. I draw circles
for nipples and a couple of Us for
bosoms and she looks like a real woman
now, not that she wasn't before, even
though she's just a comic-book character.
But I'm thirteen and in the seventh grade
Posted by The Editors at 11:28 AM in Literary Journal
June 01, 2009 | Summer Reading from Toasted Cheese!
TC 9:2 features poetry by Gale Acuff, David Fulton & Adam Poltrack; flash fiction by Michael Zapata & Andrew H. Minnick and fiction by Louis M. Abbey, Caroline England, Kimberley Idol, Walter Kraut, Andrew Rivas, Paul Silverman & Ron Arnold.
Also look for Three Cheers and a Tiger Writing Contest winning stories by Nathaniel Tower, Brian Behr Valentine & Amanda Divine.
This issue's Best of the Boards winner is Aaron M. Wilder.
Congratulations to all!
Posted by The Editors at 10:46 PM in Literary Journal
May 28, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Carpe Diem" by Theryn Fleming
Last month, after the editors finalized their selections for the March issue and the notifications were sent out, we received word that one of our authors had died in December. This was sad news for us, as Homer had submitted to us several times over the past four or five years, and while we hadn't published everything he sent us, we had always been entertained by his work. We are sorry that "Buzzards in the Projection Booth" is the last story we will see from him.
My first thought after I'd had time for the news to absorb was that I was sorry that he hadn't got his acceptance before he died. Almost as quickly came a second thought: but isn't it great that he went out the way every writer presumably wants to—writing and submitting until the very end?
Posted by The Editors at 12:13 PM in Literary Journal
May 23, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Iraq" by Matthew David Curtis
Creased hands blocking sun,
the old men watch as we ride
down the Phlegethon.
Posted by The Editors at 01:05 PM in Literary Journal
May 18, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Bridging Christmas" by Kristi Petersen Schoonover
My eight-year-old sister Kelly says that Santa doesn't come to Salisbury.
"That's ridiculous," I say. The latest in a string of ridiculous things in this nowhere village. Like the football team only plays against itself and I have to be up making breakfast at 5:30, because our school's an hour away and the bus, according to the guys, takes even longer in the winter on account of the plow attached to its grill. "Santa goes everywhere."
"How do you know?"
"Because I'm eighteen."
"You're wrong, Graham. He doesn't come here," she insists. "Ask your nickelback friends."
Posted by The Editors at 01:12 PM in Literary Journal
May 13, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Merry and Monroe" by Shannon Schuren
She keeps it hidden in a box under the bed.
She only keeps the bed—the same uncomfortable one she's slept on since childhood—because it is high enough to house the box, which fits snugly beneath the tarnished frame, which holds the coiled springs, which lie beneath the torn mattress, all of it covered by the quilt hand-sewn by her grandmother.
She takes comfort in these layers. They are all that muffle the voice when it calls. Teasing, pleading, wounding. She tries to ignore it, has faced the sofa in the opposite direction so she doesn't have to look at it. Still, the loft is sparsely furnished. It is easily heard or seen from anywhere in the apartment.
She used to worry that visitors would ask questions.
Luckily, no one has ever come.
Posted by The Editors at 05:20 PM in Literary Journal
May 08, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Ice Under the Bridge" by Ryan Peterson
It was a classic dare among children in the small town of Amethyst, Wisconsin—a rite of passage by which they tested the waters of urban legend each winter to see who was the bravest. Most of all, it was for the thrill of a good scare.
Press your ear to the ice under Blood River Bridge. If you listen closely, you can still hear them trying to scream as the freezing water rushes into their lungs. You can still hear their tiny fists pounding on the bottom of the ice, and their fingernails scratching at it. If you stare through the ice long enough, you might see their faces—black, dead eyes—gaping mouths. But don't freeze with fear…they might break through and pull you in with them, pull you all the way down to the bottom of the icy river, where it's pitch black forever.
Posted by The Editors at 12:26 PM in Literary Journal
May 06, 2009 | Congratulations to Amber Cook
Amber's story "Little Mother" will be featured in Best of the Web 2009 anthology. Congratulations!
Check out the complete list of authors, titles and journals (& pre-order your copy!) at Dzanc Books.
Posted by The Editors at 06:20 PM in Literary Journal
May 03, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Do Not Go Gentle" by Richard Wolkomir
(1)
"What'd your cat say?" Elroy asked.
No response.
They stood down there on the dock—the man, dog, and cat—staring up at his house, their skiff bobbing beside the dock where the lanky man just tied it. Elroy figured he must be a crabber from across the river in Old Cootchicalla. He had that sun-bleached look—unkempt yellow hair and mustache, both faded to straw.
Now the short-legged dog plopped down onto the dock, yawning in the Florida sunshine. Probably a Welsh corgi, Elroy thought, except its eyes seemed preternaturally bright. It gazed genially at Elroy. But the black cat and the crabber exchanged another long stare.
Elroy knew a conference when he saw one.
Posted by The Editors at 03:19 PM in Literary Journal
April 28, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Strike" by Casey Hill
We should go bowling sometime
when it's nice outside
and everyone's happy
feeling the grass
sway like an April kite
in the wind between their toes.
I love how they love springtime
and only springtime days
when the sun shines down on them
alone to keep them company.
Posted by The Editors at 10:04 AM in Literary Journal
April 23, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "The Oaten Hands" by Nathaniel Tower
His hands were made of oats.
It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't been a horse whisperer.
His hands were like that when he was born. No one really understood why. Neither of his parents had any body parts made of oats. Neither of them had even eaten any oats the morning the conception took place. But sure enough, when Edwin MacGrain was born on that windy November night, he slid out, covered in all the embryonic goo, with hands made out of thousands of sturdy oats, all clumped together in the exact shape of normal looking hands.
Posted by The Editors at 01:00 PM in Literary Journal
April 20, 2009 | Congratulations to Kate Gibalerio
Kate's story "Malicious Acts" is one of the storySouth Million Writers Award Notable Stories of 2008. Congratulations!
The top ten stories of the year will be released May 15th, with the public vote for the top story beginning then.
Check out the rest of the notable stories here.
Posted by The Editors at 06:33 PM in Community , Literary Journal
April 18, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "A Requiem for Javier" by Dave S. Shearer
Colin stood at the top of the bridge looking out over the bay in the moonlight. His dark hair flipped and fluttered and his jacket ripped loudly in the breeze. The bay stared back at him, a sea of living ink, churning and crawling in the night. Somewhere down below lay the body of his best friend Javier Ruiz. He had lain in a sunken grave for exactly one year to the day.
Colin stared at the water, watching the way the moonlight played off of the waves. He tried not to imagine the body of his friend beneath the water's darkness, but the images came anyway. He saw a skeleton covered in barnacles, crabs scurrying back and forth across fish-eaten bones. He forced himself to push the image away and after a moment he saw Javier again as he had been, dark eyes shining within his deep olive complexion, handsome and bold, an image of youth and vigor. Colin looked back at the water. "There are worse places to be buried," he supposed. "At least it's quiet…"
Posted by The Editors at 01:01 PM in Literary Journal
April 13, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Dead Cat" by Melanie Summers
She sets the cardboard box on the countertop right in front of you, her fingers still fondling the Chiquita Banana logo on the box. She looks exactly how you imagined a female trucker would look: five-foot-two, stout belly, greasy hair peeking out from under a black ski cap, and Roman numerals tattooed onto her knuckles. A metal chain swung from her wallet as she walked through the glass doors of Park Hill's Animal Hospital, hugging the cardboard box. It is her red nose, rubbed raw from the used Kleenexes stuffed in the pockets of her faded black jeans, that throws you off.
The counter separates the two of you like the Plexiglas wall in bad prison movie: prisoner, visitor; receptionist, client. You hand her a clipboard with the appropriate paperwork trapped under a plastic clip. The word Rimadyl is tagged across the clipboard along with most everything else in the office, pencil cup holders, staplers—all the latest freebies from Addison Pharmaceutical Company. The trucker takes the paperwork gently, as if the mere strength of her hand would shatter the hard plastic, but, then again, she may have just been tired. Her slow scribbling lulls you to sleep until the scent of stale piss and feces seeps through the cardboard box.
"His name is Andy."
Posted by The Editors at 12:19 PM in Literary Journal
April 08, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Already Gone" by A.M. Riley
Each day as I get ready for work, I look in the mirror, questioning the stranger, that guy shaving his three-day-old five o'clock shadow, who dares stare back at me with such a steady gaze. I hate him. Sickened by the shake in his hand, it's hard not to notice the liver spots and stray dark hairs that have begun to creep along his hands and arms, a quiet warning that time is against him. The razor left on the counter, a touch of water and blood still there, marks the beginning of the day.
The sound of pebbles crunching under the tires of the heavy Chevy Nova is the cue to grab my faded blue work jacket and get going. I can barely make out Jerry's face from the fog that surrounds him. The sweet smell of weed slaps me as I slide across the cold leather seat catching for a moment, as I do every morning, on the sharp edges where it is ripped and torn. I accept the joint, cradling it comfortably between my fingers. Jerry and I say five or six sentences during the twenty-minute ride. I thank him for dropping me off on his way to work. He nods and cranks up Zeppelin as he screeches bald tires across the newly paved parking lot.
Posted by The Editors at 02:29 PM in Literary Journal
April 03, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "The M.A.A.T." by John Riha
Good morning. The Moral Ambiguity Aptitude Test is designed to measure deviation from the national norm established by the landmark research of Dr. Richard Hancock and Dr. Yi Taguchi in 2006. The test will take approximately one hour, although some of you may finish in as little as five minutes. Be sure to read each question or statement thoroughly and complete the test in the allotted time. If possible, check your answers. There are no right or wrong answers, but some answers may be more significant than others. Good luck!
Posted by The Editors at 11:54 PM in Literary Journal
March 29, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Buzzards in the Projection Booth" by H.H. Morris
Tornado, population 937, the largest town in Walnut County, Missouri, was abuzz this Monday with theories about Gil Corbin's weekend disappearance. Corbin taught math at Walnut County Consolidated High School, located on the eastern edge of Tornado. The most prevalent rumor said he'd run from or been caught by a father, husband, brother, uncle, or male cousin of one of the many girls who'd passed algebra or geometry only because she scheduled unclad tutoring from her teacher. Other gossip suggested that one of Corbin's failed business adventures had him leaving town with only a short lead over bankruptcy judges and creditors.
Jon Staggers avoided adding his own theories to the mix, choosing instead to listen over lunch at Janet's Highway Café—one of several businesses in which his grandfather had left him a silent interest. If no one was around, Janet didn't collect his check. Today he'd pay and consider a greasy cheeseburger and fries an investment in more than cholesterol. He'd inherited the weekly Tornado Independent, Walnut County's only surviving newspaper, from his father almost five years ago, and as publisher and editor-in-chief he had to figure out what to write about Corbin's unexcused absence from work and family life. He couldn't say what he thought—that based on what he'd experienced and observed while a student in high school, Corbin's disappearance improved the educational environment.
Posted by The Editors at 03:43 PM in Literary Journal
March 25, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Schadenfreude" by Clare Hughes
Schadenfreude: Scha.den.freu.de. From the German, meaning to take malicious joy out of the suffering of other people.
She studies her feet and for the first time Mr Supergenius there finally notices she's missing a shoe. Her eyes are red and there are bruises up and down her arms. She can't be more than eight years old.
He looks at this little girl, so wide-eyed and vulnerable. The poster girl for charity cases. And God knows the streets are no place for a little kid, but she's got that wide-eyed vulnerability that tourists open their wallets for and, this is how screwed up this guy is, for a minute he almost wishes he was that little girl.
Posted by The Editors at 01:30 PM in Literary Journal
March 21, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Existentialism at the God Rodeo" by Diana Goble
Blood-coated Cheerios slid down the white porcelain like a slow-motion avalanche. I watched the red whirl into the water, creating a smoky tie-dye pattern. I didn't remember eating coffee grounds, but the former contents of my stomach seemed to suggest otherwise.
Posted by The Editors at 07:23 PM in Literary Journal
March 18, 2009 | Million Writers Award Nominations
Toasted Cheese's nominations for the storySouth 2009 Million Writers Award are:
"Malicious Acts" by Kate Gibalerio
"Fireglass" by Jacob Strunk
"Things Difficult to Say" by Alan Averill
Best of luck to you all!
Posted by The Editors at 11:23 AM in Literary Journal
March 17, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "Shadow" by Aaron M. Wilder
When he gets home from college it'll be that time of year. The Millers' old lab won't move from under the withered pines lining their property. They let him lie in the shade all day, bringing him kibbles in stainless steel trays. Wondering when the sun will cool so he can play like he did in spring.
Posted by The Editors at 01:06 PM in Literary Journal
March 13, 2009 | From TC 9:1 - "When a Porn Star Steals a Poet's Name" by Natasha Kochicheril Moni
The poet with her shirt
off, again, boils
water for hot cereal she will eat
in her bra. And apple. A pink lady,
she slices, blanches,
adds to the sugar
oats whose only redeemer
is the organic seal.
Maybe you wanted her
Posted by The Editors at 10:39 AM in Literary Journal
March 02, 2009 | March 2009 issue of Toasted Cheese!
TC 9:1 features poetry by Natasha Kochicheril Moni, Aaron M. Wilder & Casey Hill and fiction by Diana Goble, Clare Hughes, H.H. Morris, John Riha, A.M. Riley, Melanie Summers, Dave S. Shearer, Nathaniel Tower & Richard Wolkomir.
Also look for Dead of Winter Contest winning stories by Ryan Peterson, Shannon Schuren & Kristi Petersen Schoonover.
This issue's Best of the Boards winner is Matthew David Curtis.
Congratulations to everyone. Happy reading!
Posted by The Editors at 08:09 PM in Literary Journal
January 07, 2009 | Submission Reminder!
This is a reminder to read the Submission Guidelines prior to submitting.
In particular:
* submissions must be sent to SUBMIT@toasted-cheese.com not to any other address;
and
* submissions must include the word SUBMISSION in the subject line.
These two steps are necessary so that ALL of the editors receive your submission and so that your submission does not get lost (mistaken for spam).
Submissions that do not follow the guidelines are not read.
We want to read your submissions so please follow the guidelines! Thanks!
Posted by The Editors at 01:19 PM in Literary Journal
December 03, 2008 | Pushcart Prize Nominations
Toasted Cheese's 2008 nominations for the Pushcart Prize are:
Good luck to all the nominees!
Posted by The Editors at 03:39 PM in Literary Journal
December 02, 2008 | Toasted Cheese 8:4 is now up!
TC 8:4 features poetry by Jai Britton; flash fiction by Tai Dong Huai & Geraldine Walsh; fiction by Alan Averill, Farha Hasan, Peggy Newland, Michael B. Tager & Krystal Columna and creative non-fiction by Mary Evans Zbegner.
Also look for Three Cheers and a Tiger Writing Contest winning stories by Scott Springer, Damon Shaw & Amanda Divine.
This issue's Best of the Boards winner is Niaz Khadem.
Congratulations to everyone. Happy reading!
Posted by The Editors at 10:37 PM in Literary Journal
December 01, 2008 | December issue...
...will be up tomorrow (Dec. 2nd). Our apologies for the delay.
Posted by The Editors at 11:15 PM in Literary Journal
September 10, 2008 | Best of the Web Nominations
Toasted Cheese's nominations for the Dzanc Books Best of the Web 2009 print anthology are:
Best of luck to all the nominees!
Posted by The Editors at 01:08 PM in Literary Journal
TC's nominations for the 2008 Best of the Net Anthology are:
Good luck to all the nominees!
Posted by The Editors at 01:07 PM in Literary Journal
September 01, 2008 | Toasted Cheese 8:3
TC 8:3 features poetry by C.P. Dotson; flash fiction by Merle Drown; fiction by Beth Labonte, Jacob Strunk & Amber Cook and creative non-fiction by Gretchen Clark & Byron J. Flitsch.
Also look for A Midsummer Tale Writing Contest winning stories by Dena Riggs Hein, Joe Kraus & Chelsea Heath.
This issue's Best of the Boards winner is Katelyn Kiley.
Congratulations to everyone. Happy reading!
Posted by The Editors at 01:48 PM in Literary Journal
August 20, 2008 | Anthologies!
Toasted Cheese Literary Journal nominates for the following awards/anthologies. If you're looking for something to read, do check them out!
The storySouth 2008 Million Writers Award for Fiction
Pushcart Prize XXXII: Best of the Small Presses
Posted by The Editors at 12:34 PM in Literary Journal
June 01, 2008 | TC 8:2 June 2008
TC 8:2 features poetry by Maggie Ethridge, Amber Norwood, Brittany Ober & Kathryn Jacobs; flash fiction by Kirsten Reinking & Liz Nazer; fiction by
Traci Chee, Hillary Elser, Kate Gibalerio, Tara Kenway, Gwen E. Kirby & Neil Weilheimer and creative non-fiction by Amanda Borozinski & Vivian Wagner.
Also look for Spring Three Cheers and a Tiger Writing Contest winning stories by Melynda Sylvestre, Shannon Schuren & Beth Sawicki.
This issue's Best of the Boards winner is Vela Damon.
Congratulations to everyone. Happy reading!
Posted by The Editors at 11:55 PM in Literary Journal
March 24, 2008 | Million Writers Award
"The purpose of the Million Writers Award is to honor and promote the best fiction published in online literary journals and magazines during 2007."
Toasted Cheese's nominations for the storySouth 2008 Million Writers Award for Fiction are:
"The Path to Mental Health" by Brandy Langenwalter
"Jumping the Tracks" by Margo McCall
"The Year Michael Got His Own Page in the Yearbook" by Nick Seagers
Congratulations and good luck with the competition!
Posted by The Editors at 02:56 PM in Literary Journal
March 01, 2008 | March issue of Toasted Cheese
TC 8:1 features flash fiction by Charles D. Phillips, Wayne Scheer, Janice D. Soderling & Meg Pokrass; fiction by Karen Carlson, Jessica Smartt Gullion, Howard Waldman & Sarah Yost and creative non-fiction by Arwen Dewey & Erin M. Pushman.
Also look for Dead of Winter Writing Contest winning stories by Kristi Petersen Schoonover, Robert T. Knight, Fay Bouman & Tara McDaniel.
This issue's Best of the Boards winner is Steve Krause.
Congratulations to everyone. Happy reading!
Posted by The Editors at 09:53 PM in Literary Journal
January 08, 2008 | Submissions
Just a reminder for those submitting to the literary journal: we never open attachments. Please include your submission in the body of your email, as per the submission guidelines.
Also, if you are re-submitting after receiving a notification, please do not send your new submission to the editor who sent you the notification. All submissions must be sent to submit -at- toasted-cheese -dot- com. This ensures that all the editors receive your submissions.
Finally, please make sure that your subject line includes the word Submission, along with the genre of your submission. We receive hundreds of spam messages each day and this allows us to easily sort the real submissions from the spam.
Thank you.
Posted by The Editors at 01:57 PM in Literary Journal
December 01, 2007 | December issue of Toasted Cheese
TC 7:4 features poetry by Linda King, Candy Shue & Liz Dolan; flash fiction by Aubrey Rose Murrin; fiction by Heather MacPherson, Mike Malloy, Rich Seeber, Brandi Wells & Devin P. Bates and creative non-fiction by Kim Morris & Francine Marie Tolf.
Also look for Three Cheers and a Tiger Writing Contest winning stories by Liz Mierzejewski, Jessica Colomb & Laura Magalas.
This issue's "Best of the Boards" winner is Jennifer Justice.
Congratulations to everyone. Happy reading!
Posted by The Editors at 12:43 PM in Literary Journal
November 01, 2007 | 2007 Dead of Winter Writing Contest Now Open!
The 7th Annual Dead of Winter Writing Contest is now open.
Dead of Winter is a fiction contest (any genre) for stories with supernatural elements or themes. This year's theme is: Urban Legend.
Deadline for entries is December 21, 2007.
Posted by The Editors at 12:45 AM in Literary Journal
October 04, 2007 | Submission Tips
Send your submissions to our submissions address (submit -at- toasted-cheese -dot- com). Submissions sent to other addresses (at least the ones that we catch!) will be asked to re-submit to the correct address.
Put the word submission (not submit) in your subject line followed by the genre of your submission (fiction, flash, cnf, poetry). Avoid putting anything else in your subject line (e.g. the title of your submission) because that increases the likelihood that your submission will be caught by a spam filter.
We look forward to reading your work!
Posted by The Editors at 04:15 PM in Literary Journal
September 11, 2007 | "Best of the Web" Nominations
Beginning in 2008, Dzanc Books will publish a Best of the Web anthology each spring. "This print anthology will be the first serious attempt to represent in book form the best literary writing online magazines have to offer."
Toasted Cheese's nominations for the Best of the Web 2007 anthology (for fiction, non-fiction, and poetry published in 2007) are:
"Thirty-two Suns" by Rebecca Nazar.
"Pas de Deux" by Claire Rudy Foster.
"This Teacher Talks Too Damn Fast" by Megan Stielstra.
Posted by The Editors at 02:20 PM in Literary Journal
September 02, 2007 | The September issue of TC is here!
TC 7:3 features poetry by Kristine Ong Muslim & C.C. Thomas; fiction by Brandy Langenwalter, Margo McCall, Michael G. McLaughlin, Matthew Purdy & Farha Hasan; and creative non-fiction by Lindsay Tang.
Also look for A Midsummer Tale Writing Contest winning stories by Dena Riggs Hein, Mary Wuerth & Jinevrah Aljín.
This issue's "Best of the Boards" winner is Liz Mierzejewski.
Congratulations to everyone. Happy reading!
Posted by The Editors at 12:32 AM in Literary Journal
August 02, 2007 | Best of the Net Nominations
The Best of the Net Anthology, published by Sundress Publications, "strives to promote the diverse and growing collection of voices that are choosing to publish their work online, a venue that still sees little respect from such yearly anthologies as the Pushcart and "Best American" series. This collection will hopefully help to bring more respect to this innovative and continually expanding medium."
TC's nominations for the 2007 Best of the Net Anthology (for poetry and fiction published online between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2007) are:
Posted by The Editors at 03:52 PM in Literary Journal
June 01, 2007 | Toasted Cheese 7:2 is now online.
TC 7:2 features poetry by David Michael Wolach, Teresa McLamb Blackmon & J.R. Salling; flash fiction by Claire Rudy Foster & Danielle Vermette; fiction by Nick Seagers & Michele M. Feeney; and creative non-fiction by Megan Stielstra & Jacoba Mendelkow.
Also look for Three Cheers and a Tiger Writing Contest winning stories by Jennifer Ruddock, Laura Magalas & Christopher Glenman.
This issue's "Best of the Boards" winner is Alan Walkington.
Congratulations to everyone. Happy reading!
Posted by The Editors at 03:41 PM in Literary Journal
May 09, 2007 | Congratulations to Gina Sakalarios-Rogers
Gina's story, "Pillaged," has been selected as one of the Notable Stories of 2006 in the Million Writers Award competition. Congratulations!
The top ten stories will be announced May 23, 2007. Voting on the top story of the year will begin May 23, 2007, and will end June 23, 2007.
Check out the rest of the notable stories here.
Posted by The Editors at 10:15 PM in Literary Journal
April 07, 2007 | Million Writers Award Nominations
Toasted Cheese's nominations for the 2007 storySouth Million Writers Award are:
"Desert Creatures" by Anna Evans
"Pillaged" by Gina Sakalarios-Rogers
"Roller Coaster" by Terri Moran
The Million Writers Award honors and promotes the best fiction published in online literary journals and magazines. Last year, TC was delighted to have "Cravings" by Trish O'Brien-Edwards, published in Toasted Cheese 5:3, selected as one of the Million Writers Award Notable Stories of 2005.
Readers can nominate their favorite stories too! Anyone can nominate one story. You have until April 15 to make a nomination.
Best of luck to all the nominees and thank you for contributing to Toasted Cheese.
Posted by The Editors at 01:07 PM in Literary Journal
March 30, 2007 | Tips for Email Submissions
TC responds to submissions in a timely fashion. If you do not receive notification of your submission's status as outlined in our submission guidelines, then either (a) we never received your submission or (b) our response was eaten by your spam filter.
Here are some tips to ensure you receive responses to your submissions:
1. Get a web account to use solely for your submissions. If you're not using it for anything else, you shouldn't get too much spam, therefore it's less likely that you'll miss out on real mail that ends up in your spam/junk folder.
2. Avoid using AOL (AOL blocks a lot of stuff as spam that isn't). Avoid using a work account (work email systems generally have serious spam filters that you have no control over).
3. Set up filters/message rules in your email to flag messages based on keywords (like SUBMISSION) that you use in the subject lines of your submissions.
4. Check your junk/spam folders on a regular basis.
5. For submissions to TC, add beaver at toasted-cheese dot com (substituting @ for at and . for dot, of course) to your address book/safe list.
6. If you think you should have received a response and haven't, you can always post at the forums and ask. Damage from Hail is open for non-members to post.
Finally, if the issue you submitted for has gone up and your work is not in it, then you can assume your submission has been rejected. We don't hold over submissions.
* March issue: selected from submissions received October 1 – December 31
* June issue: selected from submissions received January 1 - March 31
* September issue: selected from submissions received April 1 - June 30
* December issue: selected from submissions received July 1 - September 30
Posted by The Editors at 01:27 PM in Literary Journal
March 19, 2007 | Submissions March 14 - 18
Due to an issue with an overzealous spam filter, we did not receive much mail between the afternoon of March 14th and the morning of March 18th. If you submitted during this time period, please resend your submission.
Posted by The Editors at 12:14 AM in Literary Journal
March 01, 2007 | Toasted Cheese 7:1
Toasted Cheese 7:1 is now online.
TC 7:1 features poetry by Lyndsey Aho, flash fiction by Rebecca Nazar, fiction by Margot Miller & Charity Tran and creative non-fiction by Linda C. Wisniewski.
Also look for Dead of Winter Writing Contest winning stories by Lark Lucente, Kristi Petersen & Laura Magalas.
This issue's "Best of the Boards" winner is Emma Steinfeld.
Congratulations to all and happy reading! As always, we encourage you to let the authors know if you enjoy their work--you'll make their day!
Posted by The Editors at 10:06 PM in Literary Journal
December 01, 2006 | Pushcart Prize Nominees
Toasted Cheese's nominations for the Pushcart Prize are:
Best of luck to all the nominees.
Posted by The Editors at 10:37 PM in Literary Journal
The December issue of Toasted Cheese is here!
Toasted Cheese 6:4 is now online.
Thank you to all who submitted and congratulations to this issue's authors.
As always, we encourage you to contact authors of work you enjoy and let them know--you'll make their day!
Reminder! Our deadlines have changed. The deadline for submissions for the March 2007 issue of Toasted Cheese is December 31, 2006. Submissions received in January will be considered for the June issue.
Posted by The Editors at 10:28 PM in Literary Journal
TC 6:4 features poetry by Diane Tucker, flash fiction by H. Lovelyn Bettison, fiction by D.R. Bertholdt, Robert Ewing & Terri Moran and creative non-fiction by Angela Marie Graziano.
Also look for Three Cheers and a Tiger Writing Contest winning stories by Liz Mierzejewski, Cynthia Wilfert & Behr Valentine.
This issue's "Best of the Boards" winner is Alan Walkington.
Congratulations to all and happy reading!
Posted by The Editors at 08:07 PM in Literary Journal
September 22, 2006 | Change to Submission Periods
Starting with Toasted Cheese 7:1 (March 2007), submission periods will close one month earlier than they do at present, i.e. two months prior to the publication date. This change will allow us to read submissions one month earlier and give us some much-needed extra time to set up each issue.
The switch will be effective November 1, 2006. Submissions received to October 31, 2006 will be eligible for TC 6:4 (December 2006); submissions received from November 1 to December 31, 2006* will be eligible for TC 7:1 (March 2007).
We will continue to short-list at the end of each month. Final notifications will be sent one month prior to publication. Full details here.
(*The shortened submission period will be for this one issue only, as we make the transition.)
Posted by The Editors at 02:10 PM in Literary Journal
September 01, 2006 | The September issue of TC is up!
Toasted Cheese 6:3 is now online.
Thank you to all who submitted and congratulations to this issue's authors.
As always, we encourage you to contact authors of work you enjoy and let them know--you'll make their day!
Once again, a reminder that all regular submissions published this year are eligible for nomination for the Pushcart Prize. We will also be nominating for the storySouth Million Writers Award again in 2007.
Posted by The Editors at 11:59 AM in Literary Journal
August 01, 2006 | A Midsummer Tale Contest Winners
Toasted Cheese is pleased to announce the winners of the 2006 A Midsummer Tale Writing Contest:
1st: Debby Katz, "Dreams from the Dust Bowl"
2nd: Sheela Jaywant, "Annual Ritual; then Alone Again"
3rd: David Scott, "Theorem"
Thanks to all who entered. You can read the winning stories in the September issue of Toasted Cheese.
The 2007 A Midsummer Tale Writing Contest opens May 1, 2007. Toasted Cheese's next contest is Three Cheers and a Tiger in September. Details on all our contests can be found here. Submissions to TC are welcome year-round.
Posted by The Editors at 12:37 AM in Literary Journal
June 01, 2006 | New Issue of Toasted Cheese!
Toasted Cheese 6:2 is now online.
Thank you to all who submitted and congratulations to this issue's authors. A reminder that all regular submissions published this year are eligible for nomination for the Pushcart Prize. We will also be nominating for the StorySouth Million Writers Award again in 2007.
As always, if you particularly enjoy a piece of writing, we encourage you to take the time to tell the author.
Posted by The Editors at 11:59 PM in Literary Journal
April 02, 2006 | Million Writers Award Top Ten Stories of 2005
The Million Writers Award top ten online short stories of 2005 have now been selected and voting on the top story of the year has begun. Voting will run through the end of the day on April 30, 2006.
Posted by The Editors at 01:26 PM in Literary Journal
March 14, 2006 | Congratulations to Trish O'Brien-Edwards
Trish's story "Cravings" has been selected as one of the Notable Short Stories of 2005 in the Million Writers Award competition.
Congratulations, Trish!
"The top ten stories of the year will be released on April 1, with the public vote for the top story also beginning then."
Posted by The Editors at 09:27 PM in Literary Journal
March 01, 2006 | March issue of Toasted Cheese
Issue 6:1 (wow!) of Toasted Cheese is online.
Congratulations to this issue's authors. Once again, we really appreciate the thank you notes. Thank you! (Check out our new kudos page.)
This year, for the first time, Toasted Cheese will be nominating for the Pushcart Prize. Only nine months to wait until nominations are announced ;-) Stay tuned.
Readers: If you like a story or poem, don't forget to let the author know!
Posted by The Editors at 11:59 PM in Literary Journal
February 20, 2006 | 2006 Million Writers Award for Fiction
Nominations for the storySouth 2006 Million Writers Award for Fiction are being accepted until March 1.
"The purpose of the Million Writers Award is to honor and promote the best fiction published in online literary journals and magazines during 2005." Stories must be at least 1000 words to be eligible.
Readers may each nominate one story (Rules). Vote for your favorite story here.
Toasted Cheese's editor nominations are:
"Musee Mecanique" by Terri Brown-Davidson
"Refuge" by Anna Evans
"Cravings" by Trish O'Brien-Edwards
Posted by The Editors at 04:37 PM in Literary Journal
January 18, 2006 | No Autoreply?
If you've submitted to the literary journal and haven't received an autoreply, don't panic!
It is extremely rare for us to have not received a submission. 99% of the time, the autoreply has been caught by your spam filter. (To avoid this happening, add submit [at] toasted-cheese.com to your safelist before submitting.)
We might not have received your submission if a) you sent to the wrong address or b) your subject line has a typo in it (e.g. submisssion). If you are sure that neither of these things apply to you, then there is no need to resend your submission.
We know it's tempting, but please try to hold off inquiring as to whether we've received your submission. It defeats the purpose of having an autoreply when we have to answer numerous "I didn't get an autoreply. Did you get my submission?" inquiries.
If we have received your submission, you will hear from us within approximately one month (when we short-list). If you have not heard from us by the 15th of the month following when you submitted, then you can assume we didn't receive your submission and you are welcome to resend it.
Posted by The Editors at 05:20 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
December 02, 2005 | Reminder / Request
For all writers who are re-submitting after receiving a notification letter:
Please send your new submission to submit at toasted-cheese.com -- just as you did for your first submission.
In other words, don't just hit "reply" on the notification letter you received. If you do that, only the editor who sent out the letters will get your new submission. Remember, we edit as a collective; all the editors need to see your submission, not just the one who handled the correspondence.
Thank you!
Posted by The Editors at 11:48 AM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
December 01, 2005 | December issue of TC!
The December issue of Toasted Cheese is now online.
Thank you to all who submitted; we enjoyed reading your submissions. Special thanks to all of you who sent thank you notes--we really appreciate those.
Remember, writers live for compliments. If you particularly enjoy a story or poem, please take a moment to tell the writer. It's the best present you can give a writer, and it's absolutely free!
A big thank you from us to all of our readers and writers for your support this year. Happy holidays!
Posted by The Editors at 06:03 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
September 01, 2005 | September issue of Toasted Cheese
Issue 5:3 of Toasted Cheese is now online.
Please do take a moment to pass on your appreciation to the writers when you read something you like. They'll love you for it!
Posted by The Editors at 06:21 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
June 01, 2005 | June Issue of Toasted Cheese
The June issue of Toasted Cheese is now online.
Special thanks to everyone who sent us an acknowledgment in response to the notification letters. We really appreciate it!
Congratulations to all the writers who appear in this issue and happy reading!
Posted by The Editors at 08:56 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
March 10, 2005 | Submissions Update
Starting with the current submission period, we've instituted a "rounds" system of vetting submissions.
Each month, two of the editors will look over the subs that have come in. At the end of this preliminary round, we'll send out notifications to all who have submitted during that month. The notification will tell you one of three things:
Final decisions will be sent out as per usual during the week prior to the new issue going up.
We've instituted this new system to reduce our workload during our reading periods, but we hope that writers will find the earlier notifications of benefit as well. The first round of preliminary notifications went out last week.
Speaking of which... one writer withdrew a submission after receiving his preliminary notification because the story had been accepted elsewhere. He asked if he would be penalized for doing so, noting that he submitted prior to our change in policy re simultaneous submissions. The answer is no. Only submissions from March 1st onward are subject to the new policy.
Posted by The Editors at 03:22 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
March 01, 2005 | Simultaneous Submissions - Policy Change
Toasted Cheese has changed its policy with respect to simultaneous submissions.
As of March 1st, 2005, TC no longer accepts simultaneous submissions.
For more about the reasons behind this change, read Beaver's editorial.
Posted by The Editors at 08:23 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
The March issue of Toasted Cheese is now online, featuring some new and some returning authors.
If you particularly enjoy a story or poem, please take a moment to tell the author either via email or at the forums. Thank you!
Posted by The Editors at 08:18 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
January 13, 2005 | TC Welcomes New Editors
We are pleased to announce that long time forum hosts Ana George, Rhia Perkins (KittleKatt), and Steve Simpson (Macfisto) have joined the literary journal editorial staff. They will join the existing editors in reviewing submissions starting with TC 5:1.
Posted by The Editors at 01:30 AM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
December 08, 2004 | Note for AOL users
If you submit from an AOL email address, you might not receive a confirmation email from us. AOL is currently bouncing emails from Toasted Cheese.
We have no problem receiving emails from AOL addresses.
Be aware that when the time comes to notify you of your submission's status, we may need to send your notification to you from an alternate address (i.e. not a toasted-cheese.com address), to ensure you receive it.
Posted by The Editors at 02:44 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
December 01, 2004 | TC Issue 4:4
The December issue of Toasted Cheese is now up for your reading pleasure. Congratulations to all the authors, and thanks to all who submitted. We are now taking submissions for the March 2005 issue.
If you particularly enjoy reading a story or poem, e-mail the author or post at the forums and let them know. It'll only take a moment, and it'll be the best present they receive this year, guaranteed!
Posted by The Editors at 03:39 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
September 01, 2004 | September Ezine
The September issue of Toasted Cheese is up and it's a big one. Congratulations to this issue's authors, and our thanks to all who submitted.
If you enjoy reading something in this issue, please take a moment and leave a comment for the author. Thanks!
Posted by The Editors at 02:21 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
August 01, 2004 | A Midsummer Tale Contest Winners
The winners of the 2004 A Midsummer Tale Contest are:
1st – Every Single Thing Matters by Loretta Mestishen
2nd – On: Frozen Foods, Fresh Produce and Young Love by Katherine Vondy
3rd – R.A. by Richard C. Harrison
Honorable Mentions go to Sandra Coker for Roadhouse Soda and Laurie Seidler for The Change.
Congratulations to all of you. Look for the winning stories in the September issue of Toasted Cheese.
Posted by The Editors at 02:58 AM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
Toasted Cheese Literary Journal has been assigned International Standard Serial Number 1551-4064.
Posted by The Editors at 03:11 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (1)
Best of the Boards winners are published in the Literary Journal.
If you'd like to participate in Best of the Boards, read the rules, then be sure to check out the new exercise at A Pen in Each Hand.
When you're done, don't forget to post your work at the forums!
Posted by The Editors at 03:01 PM in Community , Literary Journal | Comments (0)
Just a note to acknowledge all the writers who sent thank yous when they found out they'd be published in the latest issue of Toasted Cheese. Thanks for taking the time to write; we appreciate it!
Posted by The Editors at 06:45 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)
June 01, 2004 | June issue of Toasted Cheese
Whew! The June issue of Toasted Cheese is now online. Many thanks to all who submitted; you made our selection process a challenge this time. Beaver is off to take a nap now...
Posted by The Editors at 04:01 PM in Literary Journal | Comments (0)