I’ve posted that these have been published, but I don’t know how many people subscribe to these fine literary magazines, so I thought I’d indicate what these stories are about.

december Literary Magazine is an American literary journal that’s been around since 1958. The particular piece published there is called ‘Stars’. It’s an older story for me, and got some praise from a few places, but had never been published. Simply put, it’s about a digital future where our mates are pre-selected by who-knows-what, and notified to us by the stars above the mate’s head, stars that only one person can see. You see a star above someone’s head one day, that’s your mate, and that’s the premise of the piece. It’s an unashamed love story, and for the protagonist, a difficult ordeal because that star does not appear above the head of the person he loves, but above the head of a person he never thought he would be able to love. Enter strife, confusion, desire, and understanding – basically all that love stuff. While the story sounds a bit like speculative fiction, it’s not. It’s about a relationship and how it unfolds. If you’re of a mind to get the issue in which the story resides, you can order it here.

As december magazine says, “In an example of expertly-crafted world-building, Trent Lewin’s story ‘Stars’ gives us a protagonist who is introduced, by the appearance of a star overhead, to his soulmate. But the love-match his body knows is true, his mind yet resists.“

FreeFall Magazine is a Canadian literary journal from Alberta. Its tagline is ‘Canada’s Magazine of Exquisite Writing’. I entered their fiction contest last year was fortunate enough to finish in both second and third place. ‘The Arms of Village’ is about, literally, a village of arms. Arms that had been taken. Lives that had been destroyed. But mostly it’s about the people who remain and how they proceed with their lives, how they love, how they forgive, how they transcend the blight of tragedy. I like to think that my fiction deposits readers into the worst of the muck but doesn’t allow them to stay there, that I’m here to yank them out of the mud to find the hope that propels us. I read this story out loud to an audience once, and it nearly broke me. Tough one to revisit. ‘Vestigial’ is a much more personal story about what it’s like to fall apart, piece by piece. I’ve often wondered, how many parts of your physical self can you lose and yet still be you? This story delves into that mystery through the eyes of a person that has unabashed love for a person who is in fact losing themselves one piece at a time. It’s a pointless existence, this world, isn’t it? But not for these characters. And not for us, either. If you’re of a mind to read these stories, you can find the issue here.

From judge Lauren Carter, some words on “The Arms of Village”: “This story starts with an absolute bang: ‘In a field of garbage, when you stoop to retrieve an aluminum can with your lips, you taste a little of what was once in there.’ Following the journey of Nnamdi from an unnamed city back to his village, the author effectively uses clipped language to describe the brutal event that Nnamdi and his fellow villagers have survived. By balancing fantastic dialogue with clarity of description and solid characterization, the story succeeds as an almost allegorical-seeming tale about resilience, survival, and strength in the face of human monstrosity.”

Some words from Lauren on “Vestigial”: “A strong, first-person voice comes to life in this story, narrated by Jenny. Vivid details are clearly viewed through her eyes, thus offering embodied characterization – ‘teenagers crowd around the cluster of boulders in the middle of the grass, pretending that they’re up to no good’ – and sentences plunge into the emotional truths of her relationship: ‘Mike is loud, but not when he’s in here. Sometimes, I wish he would be, that he’d translate some of his bluster into the dark spaces where we contend with each other.’ Woven through with the somewhat absurd plotline of Mike losing body parts that don’t seem to be in the right places, this piece is a poignant reflection on loving all of a person.”

I don’t know how many stories I wrote this year. It’s a lot. The ideas keep coming, triggered by anything, by everything, by nothing. I jot them down and save them, and when the time is right, they bug me to do something about it. Who am I to argue? I have a lot to say into the new year, and in ways I’ve never tried before. Far-flung places, odd premises, but really it’s all about the characters. Do they live? Do they breathe? Do they resonate?

Lots of stories, and work on two novels, with a third coming. I don’t have an agent, and perhaps am not ready for that, but I would like to think that I am on that journey. First, I’ve got to get these longer pieces to that point, the one where a reader is in the muck, and then lifted high above it. That’s what I seek to do.

Hey 2024, I’ll remember you fondly! My first ever real publication was in 2022, so I haven’t been at this for long, but it’s wonderful, and 2024 was really cool. Stories are wonderful. Hope to read yours, my friends. In the meanwhile, be well. Be good. Be kind. Be awesome.