It's Free Fiction, Jim, But Not As We Know It

There's just too much free goodness today to name it all.  New issues of Beneath Ceaseless Skies and SQ Mag, and the start of a new fantasy serial at Paizo.  Mystery fans be sure to look at the "other genres" section as both Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines have posted new audio fiction. And there will be more today.  Be sure to check out Regan Wolfrum's free fiction links at SF Signal to get an advanced look at a few links I'm planning on stealing, bwaa haa haa haa haa haa.... [Lick my links indeed! I've eaten army food; nothing can gross me out.}





Fiction
• At The American Reader: "Especially Heinous: 272 Views of Law & Order SVU" by Carmen Maria Machado. Speculative Fiction. [via SF Signal]
     "'Sophomore Jinx': The second time the basketball team covered up a murder, the coach decided that he’d finally had enough."

• At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "Two Captains" by Gemma Files. Fantasy.

     "Parry cursed, volubly, inventively, the words triply profane between those lips; Rusk leant forward and watched, fascinated, as he strained to summon magic from his pores, sweating it out like blood while continuing to damn Rusk at every turn. It crept along every limb, polishing his sickness away, burnishing him 'til he gleamed like metal heated too high to touch."

• At Beneath Ceaseless Skies: "Else This, Nothing Ever Grows" by Sylvia Linsteadt. Fantasy.

     "He always let me lay down on his back as he walked, or sink my hands into his fur. I missed this when I lost him, more than the nights he would come right into my bed, with the bare body of a man. Those were slick and tender nights, nights of human lust and comfort and skin. But when he let me up on his back and took me to his berry patches—blackberry, thimbleberry, salmonberry, huckle and elder and mora—those afternoons I still long for. To be held by a bear—this made me feel as though I might belong."

• At Paizo: "Best Served Cold  Wednesday - Chapter One: Echoes of the Past" by Ari Marmell. Fantasy.
      "Rattling shutters and gaps between the wooden slats of walls allowed a faint breeze into the store. The establishment smelled of dust, mildew, and the acrid aroma of burning leaves that kept the ubiquitous mosquitoes and flies from riding the weather inside. It wasn't that much of a store, all in all; but then, it wasn't that much of a town, either."

• At SciFi Ideas: "Real" by Steve Kelly. Science Fiction. [via SF Signal]
      "Sure you could drink the stuff, if you could manage to get your mind past knowing how it was produced and your palate past the aftertaste of chemical. Mac found it preferable to head straight for the ready-mades if he was feeling thirsty. It was much easier to play the mind game if the final product was as much removed from its source as possible."

• Now Posted: SQ Mag #8:

"Better Than Everything" by Malon Edwards(Dystopian Sci-Fi)
     "I lift her black bebe tee shirt to her shoulder blades and press my index finger at the base of her neck. Digital numbers glow red on the middle of her back beneath her smooth, golden brown skin: 02:56:47. And counting."
"Blockbuster" by Rik Hoskin (Sci-Fi)
     "With a swelling of sound and fury, the skies broke with flashes of light, the deep rumbling of thunder shaking the witnesses to the depths of their stomachs. The two combatants leapt, inhumanly high, lances raised. And, in mid-air, ball lightning electrifying the atmosphere around them, they met."
"Born Again" by Nu Yang (Horror)
     "He folded the note and put his hands on his hips. 'Okay, tell your teacher I’ll meet with her tomorrow after school when I come pick you up.'"
"Serial Fiction: Intangible (Part 4 of 6)" by A.A. Garrison(Fantasy)
     "'I'm Doctor Mills. How do you do, Miss Tuttle?' he asked robotically. He was middle-aged and small—not so much short, just insubstantial. Like a sandwich missing the meat, Jeannie thought."
"Cattails" by A P Sessler (Fantasy, Novelette)
     "Accompanied by his brother Lincoln, the two boys walked across the long, open field that was their father’s land. Though their secluded farmhouse grew smaller and farther away, its comforting shadow remained only a few steps behind, growing longer and longer as the afternoon sun made its westward descent."

Flash Fiction

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Portal Worlds and Your Child: A Parent's Guide (With Examples)" by Matt Mikalatos. Fantasy. 
• At Nature: "All That Remains" by Shane D. Rhinewald. Science Fiction.
• At SQ Mag: "Trophy" by Jason Lairamore. Historic Horror.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Jimmy" by Duncan Shields. Science Fiction.

Audio Fiction
• At Classics On-the-Go: "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Chapter 6 - Pig & Pepper" by Lewis Carrol.  Children's Fantasy.
     "Things become ever stranger for Alice as she comes upon and house and two footmen. She also meets a baby...who looks like a pig"

• At 19 Nocturne Boulevard: "The House on Mulberry Hill" by Julie Hoverson. Horror.
     "Creeps meet creepy in The House on Mulberry Hill!"

Other Genres

• Audio at Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine: "Shadow People" by Rex Burns
• Audio at Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: "Whiz Bang" by Mike Cooper.
• Fiction at Project Gutenberg: "Walking Shadows" by Alfred Noyes. Mystery. Adventure.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "A Question of Murder" by Frances Pawley. Mystery.