All posts in Writing

December 3, 2024

Three Poems by Roger Singer

Posted by Malik White in Featured Posts, Writing

*Featured image courtesy of Michelle_Raponi on Pixabay* Hello FC readers! We’re coming back from the Thanksgiving holiday with three excellent poems from Roger Singer. Roger excels at writing immersive lines that really captivate the reader. Don’t just take my word for it, have a look below! MIDNIGHT DINER fogged windows low lights strangers in and out wooden booths aged vinyl cigarette stains on tables edge unmatched silverware yesterday’s coffee paper towel napkins ketchup fingerprints on the menu the waitress torn hairnet stained apron name tag upside down it’s a harbor for the lost and alone MOTEL ROOM #13 the key turned to the right the door knob to the left a strong aroma walked slowly out the door of the unkept room shattered sunlight coursed through a torn curtain the only window bandaged with black…

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December 1, 2024

Does Not Want the Hill to Die

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Featured Posts, Member Writing & Art, Writing

Featured Image photo courtesy of Mandana-r at en.wikipedia A Short Story by Fereshteh Rostami We’re pleased to introduce a new voice from Iran to our international Coffee Club membership. Fereshteh Rostami’s native language is Persian, but she wrote this transcendent story in English . . . with a little editorial help from her husband. “Does Not Want the Hill to Die” is a very contemporary narrative, yet one which explores some of the oldest and most fundamental issues humans confront: the nature of life, the delicacy of our relationships with other people, and our responsibility to the land on which we live. Does Not Want the Hill to Die Forestgirl knows that she is gnawed bit by bit; not just her, everything, from the time she was a little girl, she knew. That time things…

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November 19, 2024

Five Poems by James Cole

Posted by Malik White in Featured Posts, Writing

*Featured Image courtesy of Aaron Burden on Unsplash.com* This week we have James Cole in his first appearance on FC. James combines his unique style with clever and thoughtful word play. We hope to see more of his work in the future! What would you wonder if wondering was free? What would you wonder if wondering was free? Would you wander in widdershins with stark jubilee? Would you invest in smart rhetoric and declare no designs, and make certain statements your heart undermines? If wonder was easy and you could spare its expense would you wonder like Arp and eschew common sense? If wonder went on sale with a bright yellow tag could you wonder like bread in a shelf-stable bag? If you wondered with warranty and budgeted first would you save your receipts and…

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November 3, 2024

COUNTRY, CURATORS & CONSTABLE: Political Thoughts & the Fitzwilliam Museum – By Steve Sangapore

Posted by Malik White in Featured Posts, Member Writing & Art, Writing

Hampstead Heath | John Constable | 1820 | On Display at the Fitzwilliam Museum Steve Sangapore was recently featured on FC not too long ago, but with Election Day on the horizon for Americans, we felt like we needed to share this excellent piece as well. Like all of Steve’s previous pieces, he sparks a very insightful discussion on an incredibly complex topic. Take a look, and remember to vote if you haven’t already! I am a firm believer in the fundamental message of Dr. Martin Luther King. An individual’s character is the true measure of a human being, not our superficial branding that is a matter of the universe’s roll-of-dice like ethnicity, gender or place of birth. Our virtue, character and morality are what we have the power and freedom to control. Equally, I…

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October 28, 2024

“The Grays of Truth” A Novel Excerpt

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews, Guest Posts, Interviews, Writing

*Featured image courtesy of mumu limlim, https://openart.ai/@beautifulworld8?tab=creation* In Reconstruction-era Washington and Baltimore, city elites are turning up dead. It’s Tuesday once again and we would like to entice you to read the excerpt from a new novel, The Grays of Truth. Written by bestselling historical true-crime author Sharon Virts, it’s a gripping tale set in Washington, DC, and Maryland in the late 1860s, and is based on true events. In Virts’s hands, the settings in and around the nation’s capital and Baltimore come alive as she reveals the cruelty and cunning of various members of a rich and respected family, one death after another after another. After reading the excerpt below and the bio about Sharon, we think you’re going to want to learn the whole story by reading this novel, written by a master…

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October 23, 2024

“The Morality of Having Children”

Posted by Malik White in Member Writing & Art, Writing

My Responsibility as a Not-Yet Father, by Steve Sangapore *Featured Image courtesy of Ricky Turner on Unsplash* Steve Sangapore has returned! Steve always comes in with interesting and thought provoking pieces, but I think this is his best one yet. Don’t just take my word for it though, take a look and see for yourself! Birth, school, work, children, death. It’s just… what we do. Or at least what society expects of the average person. I was born, I went to school, and I have a career. So the next giant life milestone in this five-part existence is having children. Over the years I have done a great deal of thinking about the ethics of having children and how I can personally justify it. The central concept I’ve wrestled with most is whether or not…

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October 4, 2024

“A Life Lesson From Jimi” by Fiona Sinclair

Posted by Malik White in Writing

*Featured Image courtesy of Thomas Kelley on Unsplash.* It’s always a pleasure to see a returning writer on FC. Fiona Sinclair, an excellent writer who has published with us before, has written a new piece that is guaranteed to keep you interested from the beginning to the end. Tom first heard about it crouching over an illicit transistor built by an enterprising boy in tech class. It was breaktime, he and his mates were tucked behind the outer wall of the gym; their “secret” hiding place teachers turned a blind eye to.  Each band Radio Caroline announced was met with a choric wail by the boys, because most knew attending the festival was a fantasy.  Except for Tom. I could go, he thought to himself, tallying in his mind his not inconsiderable savings account, product…

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September 26, 2024

“Satan’s Shadow” by Thomas J. Misuraca

Posted by Malik White in Writing

*Featured image courtesy of Peter Forster on Unsplash* Today we have an excellent horror piece by Tom Misuraca. We don’t get a lot of horror, so this is a welcome treat on FC. Tom is also a prolific writer, so we hope to see more from him in the future! The decrepit station wagon sped out of town. Russell clutched the wheel, squeezing until his biceps bulged. Next to him sat his wife, Trudy, her flesh and clothes caked in mud. Her long, curly hair frizzed by the swamp humidity. Russell felt immaculate compared to her; only his boots were dirty. “It is done,” Trudy repeated over and over, rocking in her seat. They drove away from the sun and away from the evil presence that had haunted them. Russell feared they would never escape….

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September 18, 2024

Radio . . . What? RadioGAGA!

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Audio Arts, Featured Posts, Interviews, Member Writing & Art, Web Video, Writing

Philip Gabbard returns to Fictional Cafe with a new creative fiction project: a film treatment based upon a very popular song from the 1990s. Phil is a create-preneur of many talents and interests and we’re always interested in his work. He’s written creative nonfiction, THISday: Words for the Venerable and the Vulnerable, and Thrivation: The Everlasting Philosophy of Providence + Privilege. He penned (on his MacBook Pro) Every Saint, Every Sinner, a novel about his spiritual experiences. He produced and directed an extraordinary video based on the life and death of an archetypal Hispanic woman called La Llorona. Phil is beholden to Freddy Mercury and Queen for the inspiration to write about radio. More specifically, the rise and nowadays the fall of radio broadcasting. With the rise of television, its demise was probably inevitable. TV…

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September 16, 2024

Rachel Gonzalez’s New Story

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Member Writing & Art, Writing

Rachel is our Fiction Writer in Residence, and she has written an outstanding new story for us, “Scrappy Metal.” It takes a very contemporary – and ironic – perspective concerning technology and its ever-encroaching desire (read between the lines: AI) to take over our human lives. It’s not only current but it’s also very funny. One of the most enjoyable stories we’ve published. Please let us know what you think of it in the Comments section at the end. Scrappy Metal Photo credit: IRobot.com I crushed another Cheez-It in my hand and sprinkled it on the floor. “God. Would you stop that?” My roommate’s shrill girlfriend, Molly, screeched at me. Although she was always here she didn’t actually pay any bills, so I didn’t have to listen to her. “Hey, I’m just feeding the little…

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