Top in Fiction is the place where fiction lives, but it’s also the place where a community of fiction writers and readers come together every week to share in our mutual love (and respect) of fiction. Please read the guidelines as some things may have changed and check HERE for further explanation on these guides, if needed.
OPEN FEBRUARY 7 - 8
Guidelines:
Only fiction shared between February 1st - February 7th on Substack!
This post will be open from NOW until 9pm EST on Saturday, February 8th.
Self-promotion of your fiction is welcome!
Use the TEMPLATE FOR RECOMMENDATION below when submitting a story.
Submit NO MORE THAN 2 stories! This is a strict rule that will be enforced.
TEMPLATE FOR RECOMMENDATION
Copy/Paste in the Comments Section. Anyone who does not use the template will be passed over for selection.
Story Title: Writer: [Name on Substack] Publication Name: [Substack Name Ex.: Erica Drayton Writes] Genre: [Choose 1 ONLY] See List Here Category: [Choose 1: Comic/Cartoon, Poetry, Micro/Flash Fiction, Short Story, Short Serial, or Serial] URL: [Must be a Substack URL] Extra: Tell us about your story in three sentences or less.
Tune in to the next TiF Weekly, Live! on Monday, February 10th! You never know what new gems you’ll discover. All we ask in return is that you share Top In Fiction to your email list and Restack the post on Monday in Substack Notes.
Extra: Starlight Cove is a cozy world where the unexplained is never discussed, it is accepted. Until a physics student decides magic is quantifiable. Magic and physics are oil & water, and the old magic comes out to play.
Extra: His job is simple—push the button. It pays well, and he wants to do it right, but something about it lingers, bitter and wrong. A brutal story in a brutal world.
Extra: After a murder of one of her subordinates occurs after the previous nights banquet, Victoria hatches a vengeful plot against Count Mornay and his associates. Who will still be alive when the dust settles?
Extra: Mia is still on the run from Meatball Ron and his associates when she is rescued by Lily, a mysterious Latina woman on a mission to save her. Mia learns that she is a target of the Urban Hunt, and why her persuers are going through such length to find her.
Extra: The sentence passed by a judge should be a logical function of the inputs: law and facts in, appropriate punishment out. Is that something we can turn over to a machine?
Extra: Determined to save her dying mother, Ley must test her special abilities and become the best fighter in the Games of Station 2-14. Chapter 2 sees Ley race to register for the Games.
Extra: A group of heart transplant patients discuss their mechanical hearts and the advancements in technology, revealing personal experiences with their life-saving devices.
Extra: A woman, driven by resentment and ambition, arranges a hit on a man who betrayed her, only to pause and question the consequences of her revenge before ultimately going through with it.
Extra: A fantasy story about letting go of the past and finding new strength within yourself, entirely inspired by the music of “Be Water, My Friend” by Rob Luft.
Extra: The horn signaled the start of another holy war. James and his fellow conscripts leave their home to conquer the Magog and take their rightful place in The Holy Land. It is the latest crusade in 2000 years of trying, and the deaths of 75% of them are certain.
Extra: He kept telling himself that for a man like himself, what he was doing wasn't wrong. It was only natural. Nature decided to tell him otherwise...
Let me know if the post doesn't specify this as best as it should, but essentially:
- Share any fiction story that you've either written yourself OR read from someone else in the last 7 days (the dates are listed in the post). That would be from February 1st - February 7th for this post.
- Use the "Template for Recommendation" when sharing a story.
Extra: A young woman has a networking night so bad she breaks her neck- but everything happens for a reason, and she finds newfound success as an adult fetish model named "Necro-Chan". Charisma-vacuums need representation too.
Extra: Yellow journalism, the fiction of fiction, tell-alls that silence, and promises instead of prose; it all circles back to Washington Square as literary gumshoe Philly Giordano concludes his investigation.
A story that takes place during the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria in the 30's, it's a three-fold narrative for lack of a better explanation; you know, someone telling someone about someone else...after the fact.
Story title: Liturgical
Writer: Oscar Ruto
Publication: Oscar’s Newsletter
Genre: Literary Fiction
Category: Short story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/oscarruto/p/liturgical?r=1of53q&utm_medium=ios
Extra: Is this innocence, guilt, or insanity?
https://substack.com/@devocarpenter/note/c-91425943?r=54va7z&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Story Title: Joy
Writer: Devo Carpenter
Publication name: Manic Musings
Genre:Horror
URL:see above
Extra: Clarice loves the people in her building so when one of them is murdered she takes it personally.Let justice be served.
Title: "Fine Mendelian Stuff"
Author: David Perlmutter
Publication Name: Made From What's Not Real
Genre: Science Fiction
URL: https://davidperlmutter.substack.com/
Extra: A juvenile delinquent is adopted by a society with use for her talents.
Story Title: Full Bloom
Writer: Matthew Gerrity
Publication Name: Bluebird Fiction
Genre: Poetry
Category: Free Verse
URL: https://bluebirdfiction.substack.com/p/full-bloom
Story Title: Eldred's Farm/White Horse Remix
Writer: B.B. Inglis
Publication Name: The Jolly Carper
Genre: Poetry
Category: Poetry
URL: https://thejollycarper.substack.com/p/white-horse-remix
Extra: A imaginative metrical poem based loosely off of Chesterton's "Ballad of the White Horse" exploring Eldred's sadness leaving his home.
Story Title: The Poisoners' Garden
Writer: B.B. Inglis
Publication Name: The Jolly Carper
Genre: Spec-Fic
Category: Flash Fiction
URL: https://thejollycarper.substack.com/p/the-poisoners-garden
Extra: An offender against the "Clean Communities Act" is forced to tend the poison plants that doom her.
Story Title: Test Run
Writer: A.P. Murphy
Publication Name: The Strangeness Kit
Genre: Sci-Fi
Category: Flash Fiction
URL: https://thestrangenesskit.substack.com/p/test-run
Extra: Lolly goes for a screen test
Story Title: The Making of Ms Rayven Sinclair
Writer: Maryellen Brady
Publication Name: Magical Musings with MeBrady
Genre: fantasy
Category: short story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/mebrady/p/the-making-of-ms-rayven-sinclair-9d8?r=tox79&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Extra: A physics student wants to quantify observable glimpses of magic with science.
Story Title: Trouble Visits Starlight Cove
Writer: Maryellen Brady
Publication Name: Magical Musings with MeBrady
Genre: fantasy/sci-fi
Category: Short Story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/mebrady/p/trouble-visits?r=tox79&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Extra: Starlight Cove is a cozy world where the unexplained is never discussed, it is accepted. Until a physics student decides magic is quantifiable. Magic and physics are oil & water, and the old magic comes out to play.
Story Title: Sky
Writer: Rolando Andrade
Publication Name: Outside the Therapy Room
Genre: Fiction
Category: Poetry
URL: https://rolandoandrade.substack.com/p/sky
Extra: A Love meditation
Story Title: Best Suit
Writer: Daniel O'Donnell
Publication Name: Dans Deliberations
Genre: Horror
Category: Micro Fiction
URL: https://danielodonnell.substack.com/p/best-suit?r=2bfxud
Extra: Taking a walk at sunset
Story Title: A Developing Story
Writer: Gerard DiLeo
Publication Name: The FRICTION SECTION
Genre: Humanism
Category: Microfiction
URL: https://gmdileo.substack.com/p/a-developing-story
Extra: Memories captured for posterity.
Story Title: Ca(ClO)2
Writer: Gerard DiLeo
Publication Name: The FRICTION SECTION
Genre: Humanism
Category: Microfiction
URL: https://gmdileo.substack.com/p/caclo2
Extra: How smells unlock forgotten memories.
Story Title: She Says She Needs Me
Writer: Egor Korneev
Publication Name: Blue Planet Stories
Genre: Literary Fiction
Category: Short Story
URL: https://www.blueplanetstories.com/p/she-says-she-needs-me (it is a Substack url)
Extra: A solitary man’s detachment is challenged by an old man's need for connection.
Story Title: King Roibarb's Feast
Writer: Matthew Gerrity
Publication Name: Bluebird Fiction
Genre: Fiction
Category: Short Story
URL: https://bluebirdfiction.substack.com/p/king-roibarbs-feast-short-story
Extra: A comedic short story about a king attempting to find out who is loyal to him.
Story Title: Reanimated
Writer: WS Ribelin
Publication Name: A Star Led Astray
Genre: Horror
Category: Micro/flash fiction
URL: https://wendopolis.substack.com/p/reanimated
Extra: When the world ends, what will 3k give you?
Story Title: Beady Black Button Eyes
Writer: WS Ribelin
Publication name: A Star Led Astray
Genre: Horror
Category: Short Story
URL: https://wendopolis.substack.com/p/beady-black-button-eyes?r=3ngv5r
Extra: Frosty goes visiting
Story Title: Push the Button
Writer: Aurelius Thaddeus Ashmore
Publication Name: Tales of Grit and Sin
Genre: Horror
Category: Micro/Flash Fiction
URL: https://talesofgritandsin.substack.com/p/push-the-button
Extra: His job is simple—push the button. It pays well, and he wants to do it right, but something about it lingers, bitter and wrong. A brutal story in a brutal world.
Story Title: Goats of Gaza
Writer: Aurelius Thaddeus Ashmore
Publication Name: Tales of Grit and Sin
Genre: Literary Fiction
Category: Micro/Flash Fiction
URL: https://talesofgritandsin.substack.com/p/goats-of-gaza
Extra: A soldier has a tough job in Gaza. He’s exhausted, and the damn goats aren’t helping.
Story Title: Grey pools
Writer: Kathrine Elaine
Publication Name: Kathrine’s substack
Genre: romance
Category: flash fiction
URL: https://kathrineelaine.substack.com/p/grey-pools?r=2rhgsy
Extra: A clean, weird flash fiction. Nerd love.
Story Title: The Diabolical Revenge of Victoria Morrows: A Banquet of Death
Writer: Maya Westerly
Publication Name: Deviant Worlds
Genre: Fantasy
Category: Serial Part 8 of 8
URL: https://restlessquill21.substack.com/p/the-diabolical-revenge-of-victoria-83f?r=52hxjd
Extra: After a murder of one of her subordinates occurs after the previous nights banquet, Victoria hatches a vengeful plot against Count Mornay and his associates. Who will still be alive when the dust settles?
Story Title: The Quinquagenarian
Writer: Maya Westerly
Publication Name:Deviant Worlds
Genre: Science Fiction
Category: Serial Part 6 of 8
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/restlessquill21/p/the-quinquagenarian?r=52hxjd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Extra: Mia is still on the run from Meatball Ron and his associates when she is rescued by Lily, a mysterious Latina woman on a mission to save her. Mia learns that she is a target of the Urban Hunt, and why her persuers are going through such length to find her.
Story Title: The Face That Darkened the Sun
Writer: Dr. Jan Schlösser
Publication Name: Stories About Love and Death
Genre: Psychological Fiction
Category: Flash Fiction/Micro Fiction
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/storiesaboutloveanddeath/p/the-face-that-darkened-the-sun?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2lj6x
Extra: After killing a shell-shocked enemy, a soldier suffers the psychological fallout of killing another human being.
Story Title: The Mermaid
Writer: Jessica Neal
Publication Name: The Reading Practice
Genre: Folklore
Category: Poetry
URL: https://jessicaneal.substack.com/p/the-mermaid
Extra: The gradual loss of belonging to a place or a state of being and not being able to return because time moves inexorably on.
Story Title: The Sparrow & The Raven - The Creation of Dawn & Dusk
Writer: E. H. Lau
Publication Name: Lotis Heroes Musings
Genre: Narrative Poetry
Category: Poetry
URL: https://ehlau.substack.com/p/the-sparrow-and-the-raven-the-creation
Thank you for your time and consideration! 🙂
Story Title: Keepers of the Veil
Writer: Nancy Waddell
Publication Name: Nancy Waddell
Genre: Sci-Fi
Category: Short Story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/nancywaddell/p/keepers-of-the-veil?r=1qpj5d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Extra: Is this place real? Have you ever felt like time is buffering? What’s the nature of reality? The Keepers of the Veil know.
Story Title: 84 Pounds
Writer: Benjamin Richter
Publication Name: Ben There, Done That
Genre: Literary Fiction
Category: Short Story
URL:
https://open.substack.com/pub/btrichter/p/84-pounds?r=27q98k&utm_medium=ios
Extra: A story examining how hope develops amidst the stultifying banalities of middle class existence.
Story Title: Proxy Judge
Writer: Karl K. Gallagher
Publication Name: Karl K. Gallagher's Stories
Genre: Science Fiction
Category: Short Story
URL: https://gallagherstories.substack.com/p/proxy-judge
Extra: The sentence passed by a judge should be a logical function of the inputs: law and facts in, appropriate punishment out. Is that something we can turn over to a machine?
Story Title: Why Teach? - Chapter 16
Writer: Peter Shull
Publication Name: lower midlist
Genre: Literary Fiction
Category: Serial Fiction
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/pshull/p/why-teach-chapter-16?r=2ler3z&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Extra: Lauren West visits William in his classroom to ask for advice as the state reading tests loom.
Story Title: Station 2-14
Writer: Cameron Scott
Publication Name: Verse
Genre: Science Fiction
Category: Serial
URL: https://cameronscott.substack.com/p/station-2-14-chapter-two
Extra: Determined to save her dying mother, Ley must test her special abilities and become the best fighter in the Games of Station 2-14. Chapter 2 sees Ley race to register for the Games.
Story Title: Hoarder
Writer: E.K. MacPherson
Publication Name: Ether Nothings
Genre: Fantasy
Category: Micro/Flash Fiction
URL: https://ekmacpherson.substack.com/p/hoarder
Extra: Monster, myth, legend.
Story Title: Mechanical Heart
Writer: Jim Minns
Publication Name: Reality Dispatch
Genre: Science fiction
Category: Short Story
URL: https://jimminns.substack.com/p/mechanical-heart
Extra: A group of heart transplant patients discuss their mechanical hearts and the advancements in technology, revealing personal experiences with their life-saving devices.
Story Title: Return Serve
Writer: Jim Minns
Publication Name: Reality Dispatch
Genre: Mystery
Category: Short Story
URL: https://jimminns.substack.com/p/return-serve
Extra: A woman, driven by resentment and ambition, arranges a hit on a man who betrayed her, only to pause and question the consequences of her revenge before ultimately going through with it.
Story Title: The Lighthouse
Writer: Rostislava Pankova-Karadjova
Publication Name: Airings
Genre: Literary Fiction
Category: Flash Fiction
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/rostislava/p/the-lighthouse?r=zcxsb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Extra: A fantasy story about letting go of the past and finding new strength within yourself, entirely inspired by the music of “Be Water, My Friend” by Rob Luft.
Story Title: The Way of St. James, Episode 5: The Borderlands, where it all went wrong
Writer: Renni Grier
Publication Name: Spirit in Motion Press
Genre: Fantasy
Category: Serial
URL: https://spiritinmotion.substack.com/p/episode-5-the-borderlands-where-it?r=3i19cd
Extra: The horn signaled the start of another holy war. James and his fellow conscripts leave their home to conquer the Magog and take their rightful place in The Holy Land. It is the latest crusade in 2000 years of trying, and the deaths of 75% of them are certain.
Story Title: Tarsa
Writer: A.M. Ward
Publication Name: Heaven and Earth: The Heshra Chronicles
Genre: Fantasy
Category: Serial
URL: https://byamward.substack.com/p/14-tarsa
Extra: It's time for Hal to answer the call of destiny.
Story Title: Rolling Gallops
Writer: Sue Meredith Mann
Publication Name: On the Road to Jericho
Genre: Literary Fiction
Category: Serial
URL: https://ontheroadtojericho.substack.com/p/36-cairo-1996-rolling-gallops
Extra: In which Eleanor rides. Some intended. Some not.
Story Title: Recalibration
Writer: Sue Meredith Mann
Publication Name: On the Road to Jericho
Genre: Literary Fiction
Category: Serial
URL: https://ontheroadtojericho.substack.com/p/37-pretoria-1997-recalibration
Extra: In which Eleanor reconsiders family dynamics.
Story title: Fresh Sea Air
writer: Nick Winney
publication:The why and the why not.
genre: dystopian horror.
category: short story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/nickwinney/p/fresh-sea-air?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2fhpll
Extra: a stream of consciousness exercise from @EDITH BOW'S workshops and inspired by prompt words Fish Sail Pew. Aaaaargh me hearties!
Story Title: Force Majeure
Writer: It Could Be Miles
Publication Name: Penrose Gulch
Genre: Greek Tragedy
Category: Flash Fiction
URL: https://penrosegulch.substack.com/p/force-majeure
Extra: He kept telling himself that for a man like himself, what he was doing wasn't wrong. It was only natural. Nature decided to tell him otherwise...
When you say "share", do you mean new material or does reposted things count?
Let me know if the post doesn't specify this as best as it should, but essentially:
- Share any fiction story that you've either written yourself OR read from someone else in the last 7 days (the dates are listed in the post). That would be from February 1st - February 7th for this post.
- Use the "Template for Recommendation" when sharing a story.
- The story link should be to one on Substack.
Eazy peazy. Lemon squeezy.
Story Title: Why You Should Never Try to Write Through Writer’s Block
Writer: Blueshift
Publication Name: Infuriatingly unfinished stories (and some finished ones?)
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Category: Short Story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/nothingpretentious/p/why-you-should-never-try-to-write?r=xk5v7&utm_medium=ios
Extra: A writer experiencing writer’s block goes overboard with their font choice, accidentally triggering a cosmic event.
Story Title: Cold Hard Sex
Writer: Ava Sophia Brown
Publication Name: Fat Rabbit
Genre: Literary Fiction
Category: Short Story
URL: https://fatrabbit.substack.com/p/cold-hard-sex
Extra: A young woman has a networking night so bad she breaks her neck- but everything happens for a reason, and she finds newfound success as an adult fetish model named "Necro-Chan". Charisma-vacuums need representation too.
Story Title: The Writer
Writer: Chris J. Franklin
Publication Name: Tales of the Zeitgeist
Genre: Humour
Category: Micro/Flash Fiction
URL: https://chrisjfranklin.substack.com/p/the-writer
Extra: Hi everyone! This is a quick little story, featuring some fun humour about the writing life. Have a great weekend... 😎
Story Title: Bear and Bella
Writer: Caro Henry
Publication Name: Caro’s Writing Perspectives
Genre: Literary Fiction
Category: Short Story
URL: https://www.caroehenry.com/p/lost-and-found
Note: A tale exploring adventure, perseverance, and the unbreakable bond between pets and their families.
Story Title: “Who Killed Storytelling?” (Conclusion)
Writer: Michael Arturo
Publication Name: Michael Arturo
Genre: Meta-Fiction
Category: Short Serial
URL: https://michaelarturo.substack.com/p/who-killed-storytelling-conclusion
Extra: Yellow journalism, the fiction of fiction, tell-alls that silence, and promises instead of prose; it all circles back to Washington Square as literary gumshoe Philly Giordano concludes his investigation.
Story Title: Episode 6: The Pegasus
Writer: Chris Lynch
Publication Name: The Amazing Adventures of Tortoise & Gecko
Genre: Fantasy
Category: Serial
URL: https://tortoiseandgecko.substack.com/p/episode-6
Extra:
Tortoise meets Penny and learns more about the Pegasus.
Story Title: Butterfly
Writer: Virginia Neely
Publication Name: Virginia's Scribbles
Genre: [Choose 1 ONLY] Sci-Fi
Category: Micro/Flash Fiction
URL: https://myscribblings.substack.com/p/butterfly
Extra: recreating a lost beauty in a forbidding world
Story Title: Afterwards: The Girl
Writer: Cade Robinet
Publication Name: Afterwards: The Zombieverse
Genre: Horror
Category: Short Story
URL: https://open.substack.com/pub/caderobinet/p/afterwards-the-girl?r=4ldfnm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Extra: An Indigenous man guarding his community is haunted by loss from the before-times.
Good morning, Erica, I hope you're doing well. Today's fiction is from Throwback Thursdays.
ST. FREDA
BEN WOESTENBURG
SCRIBBLER -- A PORTAL TO FICTION
HISTORICAL FICTION
SHORT SERIAL
https://open.substack.com/pub/benwoestenburg/p/throwback-thursday-a9f?r=254e8w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
A story that takes place during the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria in the 30's, it's a three-fold narrative for lack of a better explanation; you know, someone telling someone about someone else...after the fact.