Two Fic Tuesday (actually on Tuesday!)

Welcome!

So, as you might have seen the past few weeks, I've been really out of sorts. Sorry for that! October's been a wild month for me, but this week I'm back with my usual recommendations.

These two stories hit hard for me personally. I read both of them and had to take a second and sit with my feelings. They were both lovely, but struck me hard.

Recs

No Laughter in a Vacuum - Anna Clark - Flash Fiction Online
This one stuck in my heart a little. I know the feelings in this story, and maybe it won't hit the same way for everyone, but it did for me. I love the idea of this being something that you could get work for, but I love even more that the protagonist breaks away from that and tries to learn who she is.

City of One - Stephen S. Power - Lightspeed
Oh, this was rough to read. The format is wonderful for what's being done here, and the content was a punch. This is one of those stories I'm really, really glad was done in flash because I think it's perfect at this length. It's a sharp little thing that left me sitting back and wincing a little with how many feelings I had.

Updates:

October has been a rough month. Long term financial stress hit me, as well as people dealing with grief and hurt. I'm doing better than I have been, but not all the stressors are gone.

However, it's still autumn in Seattle, and the weather is beautiful. I'm here until some time in December, and I'm going to enjoy the weather and being around a lot of my people for as long as I can.

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.