Issues

Every Issue We’ve Ever Published

This page links to every issue we’ve ever published. Downloadable PDF versions of complete issues are available within six to twelve months of their Web versions being published. We’d like to offer e-book versions of past issues within the reasonably near future, too.


Issue #42: PICTURE THIS (available only in HTML)
Stories inspired by a photograph supplied by the contest–in this case, a photograph of a cluster of trees with white bark, and also some carvings in the bark that authors were free to use or ignore.


Issue #41: WHERE IS…? (available only in HTML)
Stories in which someone or something important to the story is apparently missing.

Issue #40: OBJECTS IN MOTION (also available in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters spend much of the story’s time in motion (just being on the Earth, which is spinning and moving around the sun, doesn’t count).

Issue #39: ARRIVAL (also available in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters arrive somewhere and find something unexpected… IN THE STORY’S FIRST SENTENCE.

Issue #38: MONSTER (also available in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which someone or something is perceived as a monster… but whether it really is, is up to the author. (Or maybe the reader!)

Issue #37: REPAIR (also available in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters try to repair something (either something tangible, like a toaster, or something intangible, like a relationship).

Issue #36: OOOOH, THAT SMELL! (also available in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which odor(s) or the sense of smell in general play an important role.

Issue #35: MORE THAN ONE (also available in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which there is more than one of something there should be only one of.

Issue #34: TRADITION (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which a tradition of some kind plays an important role.

Issue #33: HIDDEN (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which someone or something important to the story is hidden in some way. (Hidden from one or more characters in the story, not from the reader.)

Issue #32: NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which at least one character (not necessarily the main character, but an important one) almost dies, or at least is put in a situation where death is an expected outcome.

Issue #31: IT’S ON YOU (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which clothing plays an important role.

Issues 21 through 30

Issue #30: COMMUNITY (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which the idea of community plays an important role.

Issue #29: SPACE  (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which the idea of space (physical, emotional, or metaphorical) plays an important role.

Issue #28: DARKNESS (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which some kind of darkness, whether literal, metaphorical or both, plays an important role.

Issue #27: CHANGES  (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters are grappling with some kind of significant change, however small or large.

Issue #26: STRAIGHTFORWARD (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories which are told in chronological order, with no scenes set set before a previous scene (no flashbacks) and no scenes showing glimpses of the story’s future (no flashforwards).

Issue #25: LEARNING (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters try to learn something.

Issue #24: PROPERTY (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories which feature property, the idea of property, or the property of something as an important story element.

Issue #23: DECISIONS, DECISIONS (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories which feature one or more characters facing a difficult decision.

Issue #22: 21 UP! (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories which could use any premise from our first 21 contests.

Issue #21: INSTRUCTIONS (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which a set of instructions, or just one instruction, are an important story element.

Issues 11 through 20

Issue #20: INNER WORKINGS (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which the way someone, something, or some place functions is an important story element.

Issue #19: HOLIDAY (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which some kind of holiday (not the “vacation” kind) plays an important role.

Issue #18: TIME (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which time plays a much more important role than usual.

Issue #17: AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories which make readers laugh, and maybe do more than just laugh.

Issue #16: HOME (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which the idea of home, or at least some idea related to home, feature prominently.

Issue #15: MYTHS AND LEGENDS (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which a myth or legend features prominently.

Issue #14: NUMBERS, NUMBERS, NUMBERS (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which numbers are important somehow. Either specific numbers, or the concept of numbers, or maybe just one number.

Issue #13: QUESTION (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters try to answer an unusually difficult question of great importance to them.

Issue #12: STRENGTH (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters either exemplify strength themselves, or encounter someone, something, or some place that exemplifies any kind of strength.

Issue #11: MISUNDERSTANDING (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters misunderstand an important communication of some kind.

Issues 1 through 10

Issue #10: DELICATE (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters have to handle an object, person, or situation that they consider “delicate” (whether it really is or not).

Issue #9: THE PLAN (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters attempt to execute a specific plan, and the plan fails.

Issue #8: FIRST (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters encounter someone, something, or some place for the first time.

Issue #7: AGAIN (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters encounter someone, something, or some place from their past that they had good reason to believe they would never encounter again.

Issue #6: REVELATION (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters discover that something believed to be true is actually false.

Issue #5: FOUND (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters *unexpectedly* find one or more physical objects somewhere—objects that raise questions the characters want answered.

Issue #4: GOODBYE TO ALL THAT (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters face living without a person, place, thing, or idea that has had a powerful effect on their lives.

Issue #3: DISGUISED (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters use some kind of physical disguise to pretend to be somebody or something they’re not.

Issue #2: THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA, FOR INSTANCE (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters want to find a supremely capable detector—one that can discern something almost imperceptible. (Original title of premise was “Detector.”)

Issue #1: WRONG TURN (available only in downloadable PDF)
Stories in which one or more characters, for some reason, fail to arrive at an intended destination.