Two Fic Tuesday

Welcome!

I've been in a place where I'm seeking out stories with a punch. Both of these have some weight to them that, while strong, are still something I felt I needed. Both of them are stories that hit me in weird but resonant ways, and I appreciated that in a way I can't quite articulate.

Recs

My flesh, my beating heart, a willing meal that refuses to remember the danger of being eaten - Deanna J. Valdez - Flash Fiction Online
Oomph, this was rough. At first I thought it was going to hit me one way, but then it did a curve and got me in another instead. Watching this story come together is lovely, if not a little painful. Exploring the different ways you can see the character hurting is a lot, but also effective. This ending really hit home a lot more than I anticipated, but I love it for that.

A House With Good Bones - C.J. Subko - Flash Point SF
This makes me have so many feelings. I will know women in my life whose life circumstances will probably turn out to be like the realistic version of this, and I know they'd fight tooth and claw against this sort of fate coming to pass. But there's something about following a character who accepts it, who finds comfort in the idea, that is heartbreaking and makes this story sit so much heavier, and yet also makes me understand how a world like this could happen..

Updates:

Nothing too exciting this week. Did some submitting, got (very nice) rejections, and am continuing to steadily move forward.

This year I told myself I was going to get back in touch with both writing and putting my work out there, and I've been doing that. Even when things have been weird and rough, I came back to this, and I'm proud of that.

I hope you've done things, even/especially small ones, that you can look back on and be proud of as well.

Be well, take care, and I hope you read something lovely this week.

-- Vale

PS: If you want to find me elsewhere, I'm on Bluesky at @howsweetthewords and I have a Ko-fi and Patreon where I post prompts, more personal/writing updates, micro-fiction, and miscellany. Tiers start at $1, but there is the occasional free post as well.