Stories from
January, 2015

He gave the order to destroy me, but the monster fed on love I no longer had.

Maddie Bernard overstays her welcome.

I could hear her whispering through the anaesthetic haze. She said she loved every part of me. I wondered if she knew how much was missing.

Vicky Hinault (@vickyhinault) is a true word obsessive and is happiest when scribbling in her notebooks, usually about the underdog.

There’s a new very short story anthology coming out later this year. It’s called Best Small Fictions, and this year it’s edited by Tara L. Masih and Pulitzer-prize winning author Robert Olen Butler(!). Pretty neat.

The five nominations from last year’s Nanoism lineup (in order of publication):

• 587 by Derek Dexheimer (@dex3703)
• 590 by Stephen Orloske
• 592 by Saladin Ahmed (@saladinahmed)
• 599 by Trevor Pyle
• 609 by Jennifer Brush

As an editor, I’ve often been remiss in my efforts to promote the wonderful writing I receive in my inbox every day for anthologies, awards, etc. While one of our tiny tales making it all the way for Best of the Web etc will always be an uphill climb due to their (very) brief nature, I want to thank the thousands of authors who have submitted and the hundreds of authors I’ve published for their writing. It’s an honor and pleasure to read and present your work.

Finally, silence predominated, except for the sound of fingers on glass and the vibration of love letters euthanized by satellites.

Sometimes Sarah Vernetti has a hard time coming up with clever, pithy bios.

Said the man overseas: “Have I met your needs today, sir?“

Said the man at home: “Yes, but do you have to go? No one here asks me that.”

Christian Hayden is a necessary evil, I suppose.