LITTLE FICTION | BIG TRUTHS

Hey there. We're LITTLE FICTION | BIG TRUTHS, a digital publisher of short fiction and nonfiction singles. #shortstoriesrock

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Happy 5th tumblr birthday to us!

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New stories June 1, 2016

Download them for free, starting June 1, 2016.

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“E Ticket” by Lori Sambol Brody — coming June 1, 2016 to Little Fiction | Big Truths.

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Coming June 1, 2016 to Little Fiction | Big Truths — Amanda Miska’s short story, “Weightless And Hysterical” 

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Our latest trailers.

Up next, our first Big Truths singles since April of last year… check out the trailers below for “27,000 Breaths” by Trevor Corkum, “The Cyclist” by Rob Taylor, and “Father, Father, Holy Ghost” by Victoria Fryer.

27,000 Breaths by Trevor Corkum

The Cyclist by Rob Taylor

Father, Father, Holy Ghost by Victoria Fryer

The stories go live May 4, 2016.

In the meantime, you can read more at littlefiction.com

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Up next at Little Fiction | Big Truths

We’re turning things over to our nonfiction side of things in May, with personal stories from Trevor Corkum, Victoria Fryer, and Rob Taylor. Here’s a sneak peek at the covers…

Trevor Corkum

Victoria Fryer

Rob Taylor

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Coming April 6, 2016

Brand new stories from Mallory Tater and Kelsey Robbins Lauder. Check out the covers and trailers below.

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My 10 Favorite Lit-Film Performances

By Vanessa Christensen

I love books and movies, and I especially love when the two overlap to create brilliant, unforgettable characters. Here’s a list of my ten favorite quintessential literary performances, matchless and inimitable. This list is purely subjective, influenced heavily by my affinity for the epic and romantical. I’d love your feedback—even your rabid assertions why Edward Cullen should be on the list.

10. Robin Williams as Peter Pan (Hook)

One of my favorite movies as a kid, Hook is based on Peter Pan, one of my all-time favorite stories. Robin Williams is perfection in this movie—only he can make the turn so convincingly, and to our sheer delight, from stodgy grown-up to swashbuckling, smack-talking Pan. Bangarang.

9. Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones (Bridget Jones’s Diary)

Because it is refreshing to see a gorgeous Hollywood star looking like a normal. The story is about honesty—mainly, honesty with oneself—and so calls for an un-touched-up performance. Thank you, Renee: we like you, just as you are.

8. Peter O’Toole as T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)

Based in part on Lawrence’s autobiographical work The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Lawrence of Arabia is consistently rated one of the top films ever made, garnering O’Toole wins at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs, as well as an Academy Award nomination (he was beat out by Gregory Peck, who played Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird—another significant literary role). O’Toole’s clear-eyed depiction made Lawrence a legend and O’Toole a star.

7. Cate Blanchett as Galadriel (Lord of the Rings)

“The sound of her footsteps was like a stream falling gently downhill over cool stones in the quiet of night.”—J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

6. Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes (The Complete Sherlock Holmes)

I am nearly three-quarters of the way through the entire Sherlock Holmes collection, so I feel like I’ve gotten to know the guy quite well. Holmes is arch, eccentric, extraordinary; a genius, alternately waggish and morose. I’ve come to realize that whether he’s raising an eyebrow or throwing a punch, RDJ is Sherlock Holmes (sorry, Benedict).

5. Kate Winslet as Ophelia (Hamlet)

Devastating.

4. Christopher Plummer as Captain von Trapp (The Sound of Music)

Love is the theme of Maria Augusta Trapp’s book, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers; it pours from the pages, just as the song “Edelweiss” pours so lovingly, so sweetly from the Captain’s lips. This scene isn’t found in the book, but the film’s creative license is justified here because it so abundantly captures the book’s theme, perhaps more than any other scene—with Plummer to thank for this pivotal performance.

3. Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya (The Princess Bride)

Hello.

2. Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)

King.

1. Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara (Gone with the Wind)

Queen.

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March 2, 2016

Coming up next at Little Fiction | Big Truths…

Watch the trailer

Watch the trailer

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“I just want to burn up hard and bright”

A story-by-story playlist for Steve Karas’ debut story collection.

“This is Americana in all its buzzing splendor — the reaching and breathing and believing and hope. [Karas’] writing is brilliantly tight even when his characters are restless and wandering. Kinda Sorta American Dream is observant and thoughtful, and I have no doubt this is his first of many books.”     — Leesa Cross-Smith, author of Every Kiss A War

STORY: AIN’T LIKE THE MOVIES SONG: “WHITE RABBIT” BY JEFFERSON AIRPLANE We start the collection with a song by an American rock band from one of the all-time great American films, Platoon. The movie is playing in the background during the climax of this little story. And, though to a much less dramatic degree, “Ain’t Like the Movies,” like Platoon, explores themes of change, passage into adulthood, loyalty, and moral integrity.

STORY: TO ABDO, WITH LOVE SONG: “99 RED BALLOONS” BY NENA “To Abdo” follows the relationship of an Army Colonel’s daughter and her Syrian pen pal, and her attempt to reach him via a note tied to a balloon. “99 Red Balloons” is an anti-war song, and even though it’s from the 80s, the lyrics can easily be about the conflict in Syria or any other across the globe: It’s all over and I’m standing pretty / In this dust that was a city / If I could find a souvenir / Just to prove the world was here. And the image of Nena standing in this awesome black leather vest over a white sweatshirt and letting go of one red balloon in the wake of fiery devastation is a nice visual for this story.

STORY: SCULPTING SAND SONG: “CASEY JONES” BY GRATEFUL DEAD “Sculpting Sand” is about the father of a young man, Casey (who was named after the Grateful Dead song playing when his parents met), and Casey’s three-year-old daughter who has a heart defect. Casey has sunk into drug abuse and trouble with the law, and his dad wants to warn him, You better watch your speed, but there comes a point where there’s only so much a father can do to help his boy finally become a man.    

STORY: KINDA SORTA AMERICAN DREAM (READ IT HERE) SONG: “SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN” BY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN There were a lot of Christmas songs to choose from for this story about an unemployed auto worker who’s sent by his mother-in-law to Santa Clause School. I couldn’t pass up this holiday classic by The Boss, though, and his gravelly voice over the sound of sleigh bells. Americana at its finest.  

STORY: IT TAKES A VILLAGE SONG: “TRYIN’ TO REASON WITH THE HURRICANE SEASON” BY JIMMY BUFFET This story follows a young couple who has moved to Florida to start fresh after a string of miscarriages. The couple learns that, as paradisiacal as Florida can be (and you can imagine them sipping on margaritas as you listen to this song), there’s no way to avoid the hurricanes. Squalls out on the gulf stream / Big storms coming soon.

STORY: HOLD ON   SONG: “TOUCH ME” BY THE DOORS Come on, come on, come on, come on / Now touch me, babe. No better lyrics for a story that takes the reader into a futuristic snuggle house for the lonely and disconnected.

STORY: THE UNCOUNTED SONG: “ALL THESE THINGS I’VE DONE” BY THE KILLERS This story is about the mother of a lost Marine, and explores the burden families have to carry (mothers, wives, children) when soldiers go off to war. When Brandon Flowers screams out, Yeah, you know you gotta help me out, it guts me. There’s also a part in the story where the mother recalls her son talking to her about all the horrible things he’d seen and done during his tours in Afghanistan. “The son you knew died over there,” he tells her. If you can hold on / If you can hold on, hold on.

STORY: 1600 CLOSEST FRIENDS SONG: “BLUE FEAR” BY ARMIN VAN BUUREN This is the perfect “cool” song for a dude who isn’t all that cool anymore and who may never have, in fact, been cool. In this story about Facebook and a reunion between old friends, the protagonist, Sam, digs this CD out to play at his backyard barbeque in hopes of impressing his still-hard-partying chum.

STORY: RED CLAY SONG: “BIG MONEY BIG CARS” BY KILLER MIKE Meera, a young Indian-American woman, listens to Killer Mike through her earbuds as a private taxi drives her through the lush Mexican countryside to the ranch of her married boss/lover, Gustavo. I can imagine her rapping, I make big money, buy big cars, everybody know me, like I’m a movie star, and feeling like quite the bad ass, on her own in a foreign land, even though deep down she’s completely freakin’ out.    

STORY: KINGDOM COME   SONG: “PART-TIME LOVER” BY STEVIE WONDER “Part-Time Lover” by Michigan’s own Stevie Wonder makes a cameo in this story about the hard-luck owner of a failing Motown hotdog joint.

STORY: TOYS IN CLOSETS SONG: “PINK HOUSES” BY JOHN MELLENCAMP “Pink Houses” by the all-American John Mellencamp is a song about the American Dream and economic inequality. In a Rolling Stone interview, Mellencamp described it “as really an anti-American song,” adding that, “The American Dream had pretty much proven itself as not working anymore.” I thought it was fitting for a story about a Ukrainian immigrant who’d struck it huge by posting toy unboxing videos on YouTube and a Latino single mom toiling away as a nanny to three white kids. Ain’t that America, home of the free, yeah.

STORY: BLUE SONG: “FUCK THA POLICE” BY N.W.A. This song from 1988 is one of the original protest songs against racial profiling and police brutality. Quite apropos for the year 2015, and for this story, “Blue,” about a young African-American cop/new dad and the police shooting of an innocent black kid in Chicago.  

STORY: CATCHING FIRE SONG: “FIRECRACKER” BY RYAN ADAMS This flash piece was inspired by my old college roommate who lost his life prematurely. His philosophy could be perfectly summed up by Ryan Adams’ lyrics: Well, everybody wants to go forever / I just want to burn up hard and bright.

STORY: SAVIOR SONG: “IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT” BY R.E.M. “Savior” is about a middle-aged IT specialist’s attempt to build a survival community in preparation for the Mayan Apocalypse. On a deeper level, it’s about mortality and growing old and having meaningful relationships in this life. What better song to ring in the end days? And I feel fine.  

Buy the book here.

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Coming in February

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So,

Got an email from fellow Little Fiction-eer Steve Karas a couple weeks ago, letting me know he was getting ready to release his first novel: Kinda Sorta American Dream. 

I’ve known Steve for a few years now, mostly through his work at The Review Review. (But he also said nice stuff about me on his blog once—yes, I notice this stuff.) He lives in Chicago with his wife and two kids, and he’s published his work in a variety of print and online anthologies. But this is his first full-length book.

Asked him if he’d been willing to answer a few questions, and he was game.

#1. I read the title story of your collection, “Kinda Sorta American Dream”, when it was first published on Little Fiction in 2013. That story strikes a careful balance between humour and melancholy, between nihilism and hope. Your main character, the sad-clown Santa from Detroit, struck me as a cross between The Sopranos’ Bobby Baccala and Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa.

What drove things home emotionally for me was the desperation this character feels when he finds out his son has been acting out, getting into trouble with the law etc., the powerlessness and anger he feels. I think you really captured the emasculation and shittiness of the economy’s crash and the personal toll it took on families, but you also give us hints of resiliency and hope.

I’m curious to hear about your process while writing this story. Is it based on personal experiences at all?

Thanks a lot for the kind words. 

The story is actually based on a real Santa Claus training school in Midland, Michigan, which claims to be the world’s oldest. I saw a segment about it on 20/20 or some other news program, and it got me wondering what would inspire someone to want to become a Santa. Kids crying on you and peeing on you, questioning whether or not you’re really Santa, the liability. I actually did quite a bit of research on it.

With two kids of my own, fortunately I haven’t had to deal with losing a job. But as a dad and husband, I tried putting myself in that situation: what it would be like, how it would feel to be jobless with a family depending on you. Those feelings of desperation, powerlessness, and emasculation were exactly what I imagined the protagonist experiencing. I also work as an adolescent psychologist by day, so I know kids whose parents lost their jobs, families that had to downsize from mansions to tiny apartments, parents who cracked under the stress (especially when the economy was really bad here a few years ago). 

It was important to me to add levity and hope to this story, though—two ingredients I think are important for surviving any life crisis.  

Keep reading

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Kicking off 2016

Coming Jan. 6 to Little Fiction…

Watch the trailer for LAWN MAN »

Watch the trailer for KOMODO 90210 »

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Pushcart Nominations

Drum roll, please… it is with great pleasure (and difficulty in narrowing our choices down to only six titles), that we give you our nominations for next year’s Pushcart Prize. Enjoy!

READ THE STORY

READ THE STORY

READ THE STORY

READ THE ESSAY

READ THE STORY

READ THE STORY

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So,

Trevor Corkum first appeared on my radar with his story “You Were Loved” in The Malahat Review. Intense piece, eventually shortlisted for the Journey Prize. I’ve read a bunch of his work since, and we had beers at Gus’ Pub with that crowd while we were both living in Halifax.

A while back he announced he’s landed a novel deal. Saw it on Twitter, figured I’d check in for an interview. Though he’s ultra-prolific (he’s got a new story coming in Prairiefire and he’s just wrapping up this interview series with the Governor’s General award winners) and I’m sure crazy busy, he took the time to answer my questions. 

Much obliged.

#1. Okay, so last I heard you were putting the finishing touches on a short fiction collection, Beautiful Birds are Flying All Around You, with the help of your mentor Zsuszi Gartner. Your short stories, like “You Were Loved” in The Malahat Review, “Thursday Night Karaoke” in Little Fiction and “Gail is a Punk” in Grain, have been popping up all over the place and getting nominated for all kinds of awards.

But now I hear you’re skipping the whole collection step and going full-hog with this new novel The Electric Boy, which you just signed a contract for at Doubleday. (So hyped for you.) I’m curious about your decision-making process, and about when I’m going to see all your stories in print.

Thanks, Will. I’ve been working on the novel alongside the collection for some time. It just seemed intuitively the right move to lead with the novel at this point in my career.

The collection has also been evolving as I continue to write and publish new stories. It’s a perpetual work-in-progress as some of the newer stories are swapped in. Have no fear, a complete collection will make an appearance in the world at some point!

#2. The protagonist in The Electric Boy, Hunter McQuaid, is the son of an emotionally scarred Canadian veteran of Afghanistan. How important is this aspect of the narrative? And with urgent global crises like the refugee situation in Syria ongoing and commanding our immediate attention, what role do you think writers of novels (an admittedly “slow” medium) can have on the discourse surrounding military missions like these?

Hunter’s dad, Cal, is a veteran of Canada’s war in Afghanistan. This is a central pillar of the novel—both Cal’s experiences during the war and his re-adjustment once he returns home. The novel is told through Hunter’s point of view, and looks closely at how the war impacts Cal, Hunter, and Sasha, Hunter’s mom.

In terms of your second question, all novels explore conflict of some sort—internal/external, private/public, micro/macro. War is an extreme form of conflict. Essentially, when we explore conflict at the individual level—our capacity as humans to hurt, cause harm, inflict wounds of all sorts on ourselves and each other—we’re exploring the seeds that cause war and larger-scale conflicts.

On the flip side, our ability to feel and experience deep love, and to practice compassion and forgiveness on an individual level, are the same qualities that can lead to establishing peace on a broader scale.

Keep reading

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Announcing our next two fiction singles, premiering October 7 at Little Fiction | Big Truths: Claire Lombardo’s I Only Want To Talk About The Nice Things and Happy Year by Ana Crouch. 

Both stories take unique and engaging looks at families and relationships, and the things that can bring us together / tear us apart. 

Stay tuned for more. 

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On August 5, Paul Carlucci makes his return to Little Fiction with The Highrise In Fort Fierce, an epic story about family secrets and rising tides, while J.E. Reich makes her Little Fiction debut with The Werewolves of Anspach, a short and not so sweet story about fearing the things you believe in. We can’t wait. 

Until then, you can catch up with our latest fiction here.