“Motorsports!” Flash Fiction Draw Challenge Story for April 2025, from Mike Mayak. (A.K.A. Jeff Baker.) April 9, 2025

Posted on April 9, 2025 by jeffbaker307
Photo by Digital Buggu on Pexels.com

Motor Sports

by Mike Mayak

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The draws for the April 2025 Flash Fiction Draw Challenge were: a Caper Story, set at a Racetrack, involving a pair of leg irons. I’d just done a racetrack story about a month ago, so this is a sequel. Enjoy! —-mike

“Okay,” Patrick said. “How much money was taken?”

“None of it,” Riley said. “They didn’t even try to get into the safe. What they did take…” Riley shook his head. “You know those little cardboard boxes we give the customers for the hot dogs?”

“Yeah?” Patrick said.

“Every last one of ‘em. Gone!” Riley said.

“I finished talking to the cops,” Joel said, walking into the office. “At least they made out a report.”

Joel was 23, sandy-haired, tall and lean. He was one of Riley’s cousins that Riley had inherited a share in the racetrack with months ago. Riley and his husband Patrick had moved to Kansas from New Jersey to run it and so far everything had run smoothly.

Patrick had said that was probably because while the headline in the Wichita Eagle had said “Gay Couple Takes Over Local Racetrack” nobody read newspapers anymore.

They watched as Joel walked out of the back office of the racetrack attached to the snack bar.

“You know, if we’d just caught the guys, I still have that set of leg irons we got that one year…” Patrick began.

Riley blushed. The shackles had been a gag gift. Just then, Joel rushed back into the office, holding up his cellphone.

“I just called this guy I used to work with. He knows a private detective. He’s coming over here to investigate!”

Riley and Patrick glanced at each other.

“And you’re paying him,” Patrick said.

“Right.” Riley said.

“Right.” Joel said.

Riley sighed. What’s next?

The detective, a nondescript-looking guy in his thirties showed up the next day; introduced himself as “Keller” and inspected the storeroom, the office, the safe and the snack bar up front.

“You really ought to have a security system,” he told Joel, Patrick and Riley.

“Yeah,” they all admitted. Keller handed them a business card.

“These guys are pretty good,” he said.

The security people came out on Monday when the track was closed.

Wednesday night, Patrick and Riley were awakened by a phone call.

At the racetrack, they met with two police officers who had arrested the two men they recognized as their security people. The police had been after this bunch for a while. The perps weren’t even local. They had the caper set up with the “detective.” They installed “security” and came back later to steal the cash. Nobody would think anybody was breaking into a safe where security had been installed if the security system wasn’t going off. And they were the ones who had stolen the hot dog containers.

That was how they did it. Scared folks into calling Keller, then did the phony installation. Joel’s friend had been ripped-off the same way.

When the cops left with the thieves, Riley grinned at Patrick. “Glad you called the police and told you how suspicious you were.” Riley said.

“Yeah,” it helped that I used to date a guy who was a genuine paranoid,” Patrick said. “That taught me a few things.”

“Tomorrow WE are going to get REAL security installed,” Riley said.

“And Joel is paying for it!” Patrick said with a broad smile.

—end—

Here’s that first story “Hot Rod.” https://authorjeffbaker.com/2025/03/07/ride-the-hot-rod-for-friday-flash-fics-from-mike-mayak-march-7-2025/

Posted in Fiction, Kansas, LGBT, Monthly Flash Fiction Draw Challenge | Leave a comment

Flash Fiction Draw Challenge Draws for April 2025! Capers, Leg Irons and Racetracks!

Posted on April 7, 2025 by jeffbaker307
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Here’s the draws for the April 2025 Flash Fiction Draw Challenge. Followed by my usual long-winded explanation:

A Caper Story

Involving A Set Leg Irons

Set at A Racetrack

Now, on to the details.

Hi! I’m Mike Mayak, I also write as Jeff Baker and I’m the current moderator for the monthly Flash Fiction Draw Challenge, which was started by ‘Nathan Burgoine a few years ago and carried on by Cait Gordon and Jeffrey Ricker. It’s a monthly writing challenge mainly for stress-free fun that anyone can play.

Here’s how it works: the first Monday of every month I draw three cards; a heart, a diamond and a club. These correspond to a list naming a genre, a setting and an object that must appear in the story. Participants write up a flash fiction story, 1,000 words or less, post it to their website and link it here in the comments. I’ll post the results (including, hopefully, one of my own!) on the blog.

As I’m no good making videos I did the drawing offstage. So, the results were the Three of Hearts (a Caper Story), the Nine of Diamonds (a Racetrack) and the King of Clubs (A Set of Leg Irons.)

So we will write a caper story, set at a racetrack involving a set of leg irons.

We’ll have the results here in this same space around Monday April 14th, 2025.

So, get to writing and I’ll post the results next week! And I’m putting the 2025 Flash Draw sheet at the end of this message, again! (* indicates those have been used.)

Thanks for playing, and I’ll see you in about a week!

And have fun!

——mike

Here’s the list:

Flash Draw Sheet for 2025 (“*” indicates prompt has been used.)

Clubs

A A Rusted Knife

*2 A Set of Stereo Speakers

3 A Spare Tire

4 A Moldy Wig

5 A Clown Costume

6 A Bowl Full Of Jelly

7. A Circus Poster

*8 A Bottle Of Poison

9 A Director’s Chair

10 A Bicycle

*J A Hair Sofa

Q A Crystal Ball

*K A Set of Leg Irons

Hearts

A A Mystery

2 A Fairy Tale

*3 A Caper Story

4 A Horror Story

5 A Fantasy

6 Science Fiction

7. A Comedy

*8 A Paranormal Story

*9 A Shaggy Dog Story

10 A Western

J A Romance

Q A Cyberpunk Story

*K Historical Fiction

Diamonds

A A Swimming Pool

2 A Pool Hall

3 A Space Station

4 An Olympic Stadium

5 A Palace

6 A Trolley

*7 A Synagogue

8 A Library

*9 A Race Track

* 10 A Line Outside a Theater

J The Empire State Building

Q A Convenience Store

*K The Australian Outback.

Posted in 'Nathan Burgoine, Cait Gordon, Jeffrey Ricker, Mike Mayak, Monthly Flash Fiction Draw Challenge | 2 Comments

A Post For Hands Off Day, April 5th, Twenty-Twenty-Five from Jeff Baker.

Posted on April 5, 2025 by jeffbaker307

Wichita, KS Sedgwick County Courthouse

Wanted to find a way to reply to my friends who are protesting all over the country. These words I wrote for a story a few weeks ago say it better than anything new I could come up with.

“Hey,” Kenny said. “You’ve been around on Earth a few years, right?”

“A few hundred, yeah.” Hank said.

“The stuff that’s going on right now. Back home, I mean.” Kenny said. “You think we…the country will make it through it okay?”

“Depends,” Hank said, staring at the rock. “If people sit around and do nothing, no. If they lose interest after a couple of weeks or get discouraged because of time or roadblocks in the way nothing will change. But one person can make a difference by speaking out or even posting online, writing a letter to the editor…One person’s effort could be seen by one other person who it changes. Then they go and affect someone else.” Hank looked over at Kenny.

“One person matters.” Hank said.

They kissed for a few moments standing there in the desert.

Posted in Hands Off, Jeff Baker, Politics | Leave a comment

A Tale Of Dread for Friday Flash Fics: “Dewey Decimal,” by Jeff Baker (April 4, 2025)

Posted on April 4, 2025 by jeffbaker307

Dewey Decimal

by Jeff Baker

“Okay. It’s not here. Upstairs, quick!” Hal pointed at the library stairs. Mack would rather have used the elevator.

“You checked the card catalog? You know, the computer files?” Mack asked.

“First thing I did after asking at the reference desk. Geez!” Hal said, an expression that might have been seriously inappropriate considering the nature of what they were looking for.

As they raced up the stairs, Hal muttered under his breath: “How could they lose it? How could they lose it?”

The ancient, crumbling book he and Mack had acquired (at great personal cost) had been accidentally put in the downtown Library’s “return” slot by mistake. They’d watched through the window as the old book went up the conveyor belt and into the big room where the staff would sort out the books and later shelve them.

Hal and Mack reached the second floor and stood catching their breath by the big picture book in its glass case.

“It has to be here,” Hal said panting. “I can feel it.”

“Yeah, but where in the name of Carcosa is it? And it isn’t the Library’s book, how could it have gotten shelved?”

“Remember, the Lypodecht isn’t an ordinary book,” Hal said. “It has its own purposes. Its own means.”

“I know, Hali, I know.” Mack said.

“Hal, remember?” Hal said. Mack nodded.

“Okay, let’s tryyyyy Research.”

The two of them walked into the big room with low filing cabinets full of flat drawers and rows of bookshelves full of volumes that smelled old. It took an hour but they walked through every aisle, checking for the spine of the ancient tome.

“If somebody else finds it,” Hal muttered.

“I know, I know.” Mack said.

The two of them plopped down at a small table with a sign on a plastic stand reading NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THE RESEARCH AREA DUE TO THE FRAGILITY OF THE MATERIALS.

“Fiction area next?” Hal said.

“Yeah,” Mack said nodding. Then he stiffened and pointed. “Look!”

Hal turned. Behind him was the glass partition separating the rare books room from the research area. On the glass was a sign identifying it as SECURED STORAGE. Taped beneath it was another sign reading DEFINITELY NO FOOD OR DRINK. Below that, in front of a row of bookshelves was a cart with books, doubtless to be shelved. On the top shelf of the cart, right next to a brown, crumbling book labeled “Biographical History, Central Kansas, Volume II” was an almost identical crumbling brown book with a name in archaic characters on the spine in a faded color that hurt the eyes to stare at.

“That’s it!” Hal said. “Found it!”

Hal jumped up and pulled the handle of the glass door. Locked. It wouldn’t budge. They rushed over to the Librarian at the desk.

“Uh, ma’am,” Hal said. “We accidentally returned a book that belongs to us here and we just saw it on that cart in that other room over there. It’s ours.”

“Yeah, it’s ours,” Mack said.

“Okay,” the Librarian said. “What’s the name of the book.”

“It’s called The Lypodecht.” Hal said.

“Author?” asked the Librarian, scrolling through the computer files.

“Ummm…probably Tiabbas.” Mack said. “Known as the Lord Of Ice.” He paused as the Librarian looked up. “Pen name, I think.”

“Okaaaaay…” the Librarian said. “It’s not in here. I gotta get the research librarian if we want to open that door.”

The Librarian walked into an office. Hal and Mack looked at each other.

“Do you get the feeling the book doesn’t want to be found?” Hal asked.

“I’m not sure, I…” Mack froze and pointed at the computer screen behind the desk.

On the screen, lines were being printed over and over:

Lypodecht, The by Tiabbas, He Who Is Lord Of Ice And Master Of This World

Call Number: R TIABBAS

Available: Here

Lypodecht, The by Tiabbas, He Who Is Lord Of Ice And Master Of This World

Call Number: R TIABBAS

Available: Here

Lypodecht, The by Tiabbas, He Who Is Lord Of Ice And Master Of This World

Call Number: R TIABBAS

Available: Here

“It’s own purposes, it’s own means,” Mack said.

“I am Hali, Servant of the Great One…” Hal began to say over and over as the sky outside darkened and the air became very cold.

—end—

Posted in Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Friday Flash Fics, Friday Flash Fictions, Horror, Short-Stories | Leave a comment

Ride the “Hot Rod” With Mike Mayak (a.k.a. Jeff Baker) for Rainbow Snippets, April 4th, 2025.

Posted on April 4, 2025 by jeffbaker307

April 5th, 2025

Every week we post six lines from a work of ours, a work-in-progress or published or a recommendation of someone else’s work with at least one LGBT character. Posted at Rainbow Snippets here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/963484217054974

For my latest occasional snippet, we meet Riley and Patrick. Taking a spin on a local Kansas racetrack that Riley has inherited.

Riley took another lap around the track and slowed the car to a stop by the closed snack bar.

“You aren’t going to be racing are you?” Patrick asked.

“Hell no!” Riley laughed.

“Good! I’d divorce you if you did!”

The two men laughed. Then they sat in the car silently, enjoying the warmish Spring weather.

Okay, a little more. Can’t cut off in the middle of the scene!

“You sure you want me to do this?” Riley asked. “Take this place over?”

Patrick grinned broadly. “I’m very sure. Because it’s not just what you want, it’s what I want too.”

They kissed there in the car.

“It’s what we want,” Riley said. They kissed again, lingering this time.

“You know, I loved that internet headline: Local Gay Couple Re-Opens Local Speedway.” Patrick said.

“Yeah, except I’m Bi not Gay,” Riley said. “Don’t know how all the locals will take it. This isn’t Grove Street back in Jersey.”

Here’s a link to my Flash Fiction story “Hot Rod.” (as by “Mike Mayak.”) https://authorjeffbaker.com/2025/03/07/ride-the-hot-rod-for-friday-flash-fics-from-mike-mayak-march-7-2025/

Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back with more later!

—-jeff

Posted in LGBT, Rainbow Snippets | Leave a comment

Rainbow Snippets With All the Bells And Whistles from Jeff Baker. (March 30, 2025)

Posted on March 30, 2025 by jeffbaker307

Every now and then I post on the weekly Rainbow Snippets page https://www.facebook.com/groups/963484217054974 where we post six lines from a work of ours, published or in progress, or a recommendation of someone else’s work that has at least one LGBT character. From my story “All The Bells And Whistles,” https://authorjeffbaker.com/2025/03/14/all-the-bells-and-whistles-friday-flash-fics-from-jeff-baker-march-14-2025/ we meet Steve, Horacio and Corby. Lifelong buddies now in their twenties, hanging out in Steve’s family garage like they did when they were in school.

Steve had invited them to lunch with Lance the day before. It had gone well, Steve had introduced Horacio and Corby as “My straight best bros,” and they had hit it off. Steve had been nervous as hell, but everything had been fine, even the burgers.

Steve looked around the garage again and smiled. “I really can’t believe we’re doing this.”

“Doing what?” Horacio asked. “Getting hitched?”

Steve looked over, surprised. “It’s written all over my face, isn’t it?”

“You two were holding hands under the table,” Corby said.

Here’s just a little more (okay, here’s more snippets going over the six-line thingie again.)

“Yeah,” Steve said with a grin. “We got a license and were planning on this coming fall. Big wedding. Reception. All the bells and whistles. But we decided, you know, we’d better speed it up. We wanna do it next weekend.” Steve took another deep breath. “My folks are gone, and my cousins live out in California so would you two be there? Kinda best men, family, standing up for me, witnesses kind of thing?”

“Hell, yeah” Corby said.

“Same here, bro” Horacio said. “Whad’ you think, we wouldn’t want to be there?”

Over the limit, but what the hey, it’s worth it. I consider little stories like this even for my little audience a form of protest. As a friend of mine said, visibility is protest.

See you next time. ——-jeff

Posted in LGBT, Rainbow Snippets | 2 Comments

“The Cats Of Mars.” Friday Flash Fics by Jeff Baker. (March 28, 2025)

Posted on March 28, 2025 by jeffbaker307

The Cats Of Mars

by Jeff Baker

The Tortoiseshell cat was sunning herself on the wooden floor by the front door when Petro walked up and set his overnight bag down.

“Well, Kit,” the young man said. “Here I go. I’m seventeen. I always thought that when I left home I’d be going to University. But I guess not.”

Petro bent down and scratched the cat behind the ears. She opened her eyes partway then closed them, a seemingly blissful smile on her face.

“You’re lucky, Kit,” Petro said. “Like me you have a place to stay. Food. Warm house. I saw something online the other day about all the cats in Kiev who have no place to go now. Orphans of war.”

Petro glanced outside at the sunny street and the distant hills. “You know, Kit, you inspire me. You always do what has to be done. Raising kittens, guarding the house from mice, playing and keeping us happy and making us feel warm in here.” He tapped his chest.

“And that’s what I have to do,” Petro said. “I have to go after the mice…only they aren’t mice.” He took a deep breath. “Invaders who represent a bear. I have to go fight. I have to be like a cat. One of the Cats of Mars, the Roman God of War.” Petro sighed again and then stood up, patting his leg nervously.

“So that’s it, Kit. I don’t know if they’ll take me and let me fight but I’m going anyway. I’ve been pretty sheltered. It’s time I went outside.”

Petro picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “And I do know how to shoot,” he said. “Father taught me a few years ago, out in the woods. He and mother aren’t happy about this but our allies have deserted us so I don’t think there’s any choice. Other than just sitting around.”

He put his hand on the door handle.

“Wish me luck, Kit. I’m off to get some mice.”

And Petro walked out the door.

—end—

Posted in Cats, Fiction, Friday Flash Fics, Friday Flash Fictions, Short-Stories | Leave a comment

“A Silver Bow…” Friday Flash Fics (as by Mike Mayak) March 21, 2025.

Posted on March 21, 2025 by jeffbaker307

A Silver Bow New Bent In Heaven

by Mike Mayak

“Crazy going to a car wash at night,” Artie Beechcroft said.

“Yeah,” Ferdie Ridgeway said. “But it’s not night yet, it’s just around seven-fifteen.”

“Town I grew up in, car wash and convenience store might be the only places open on Saturday night.” Artie said.

“Yeah,” Ferdie said. “To be twenty-something, and out on our own on a Saturday with nothing to do.”

“Except maybe a term paper back at the dorm,” Artie said. “Gotta love Spring. Hey, there’s the car wash.”

They’d driven down West street after leaving Saturday evening Mass at the College and were doing their usual bit of driving around in Ferdie’s beat-up ‘74 Mustang, stopping at the mall, grabbing something to eat and staving off boredom.

“Looks like they got a line,” Ferdie said pulling in behind several cars at the automated car wash.

“Yeah, and you just drive up, punch in a few buttons and swipe your credit card,” Artie said. “Gotta love all this Jetsons stuff.”

“Yeah, and if we get stuck in the car wash we blare the horn,” Ferdie said.

“Hey, what the hell?” Artie breathed.

There were two cars ahead of them, one with a customer paying for their wash. From the car right behind the paying car someone snuck out, crouched down and ducked between the cars. In another minute, he slipped back into their car and Ferdie and Artie could see him clutching a license plate.

“That guy just stole that…” Artie said.

“Yeah, I saw,” Ferdie said. “Hang on.”

Ferdie opened the armrest and to Artie’s amazement pulled out a car phone. In another moment he had dialed a number.

“Mom and Dad and my Grandparents went in on this,” Ferdie said. “They didn’t want me to be stuck somewhere. Sometimes it’s nice when your family still thinks you’re in grade school and…hello? Yeah. I’d like to report…”

Ferdie gave them all the information he had and then pulled out of the line to tell the owner of the ripped-off car when he came out of the wash and had Artie run into the office to tell them.

Then Ferdie drove he and Artie down the street to the convenience store to be a safe distance away when the police arrived.

“Yeah, another dull Saturday Night!” Ferdie said as they sat in the car munching cheap convenience store tacos.

“Yeah,” Artie said. “Hey, look!”

He pointed at the western horizon. Clouds had moved and they could just see a thin sliver of Moon in the Western sky.

“Like to a silver bow, new bent in Heaven,” Artie quoted. He grinned. “Glad we read Shakespeare!”

“Yeah, but he never wrote about a car wash!” Ferdie said laughing.

—end—

AUTHOR’S NOTE; Title is from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” —-mike

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February/March Progress Report from Jeff Baker. (March 20, 2025)

Posted on March 20, 2025 by jeffbaker307

Progress Report, February March 2025

First off, I finished a longer story (one I started maybe a year or so ago!) Sent it off to the Saturday Evening Post where I’ve received encouraging rejections in the past. It’s one of a series of stories and I am working on another in the series. (I’ve been lazy but I’ve been working on it!)

Wrote at least one poem and started on another (maybe more.)

Wrote or finished a few of the Queer SciFi columns I’d started last month. I feel better having a few “at the ready” for the next couple of months.

Got ideas for and plotted out (half-assed) a few longer stories.

Wrote the weekly flash fiction stories and the monthly one as well.

I am slipping into that stereotype of the guy who watches videos all night instead of getting the writing done. Need more discipline; I’m kind of slipping.

And as I was readying this post I found the story I sent to the Post was rejected (nicely!) so I sent it off somewhere else!

That’s progress!

That’s about it for now!

—-jeff baker, March 20, 2025

Posted in Progress Reports, Writing | Leave a comment

February/March 2025 Reading Report from Jeff Baker. (March 20, 2025)

Posted on March 20, 2025 by jeffbaker307

Reading Report February/March 2025

Got two anthologies by Ardath Mayhar, who I’d heard about but never read (after a post on Keith West’s blog https://adventuresfantastic.com/ for her birthday; he had met Mayhar!) And I’ve been on a Mayhar jag, I don’t know if I’d read her stories before. Read “Aunt Dolly” and “The Creek, It Done Riz.” Both in “100 Menacing Little Murder Stories.” Very dark fun!

Also read two stories out of her collections: “The Affair Of the Midnight Midget,” a Sherlock Holmes (really Mrs. Hudson!) story from “Crazy Quilt, the Best Short Fiction Of Ardath Mayhar.” Mrs. Hudson is perfectly in character; she doesn’t suddenly show Holmes’ deductive abilities. Also read the title story in “Slewfoot Sally And the Flying Mule.” Both great fun! Also read her story “The Weapon,” in the “Best of…” collection.

Also on my Mayhar jag I read “A Night In Possum Holler” which is in “100 Fiendish Little Frightmares.” Those “100 Little…” anthologies are a treasure trove of new/old stories. (Okay, new in the 90s!)

Speaking of the “100 Little…” anthologies, I read some Edward D. Hoch stories for his birthday: “Twine” and “The Man Who Was Everywhere.” Both from “100 Menacing Little Murder Stories.” Also read Hoch’s “Traynor’s Cipher,” “Violet Crime” and “The Spy Who Did Nothing.” Those three in “100 Sneaky Little Sleuth Stories.”

I tried to read some of the non-Dickens stories in his anthology “The Haunted House,” taken from stories in one of his magazines, but I gave up on one and the other wasn’t worth it; just a waste of time joke story where it is all a dream brought about by the Ague. For the record, the stories were “The Ghost In the Clock Room,” by Hesba Stretton and “”The Ghost In the Double Room” by Gorge Augustus Sala.

I probably have the other stories by Elizabeth Gaskell and Wilkie Collins somewhere and I know I have the Dickens stories in a book.

Much more worthwhile was “The Switchin’ Tree” by Elwin Cotman. From his horror/fantasy anthology “Weird Black Girls.” Excellent!

Read some stories from the 19th Century writer Richard Garnett, from his only collection “Twilight Of the Gods.” Read “The Potion Of Lao-Tsze,” “The Wisdom Of the Indians” and “Abdallah the Adite.” Pretty good!

Read some of Clark Ashton Smith’s stories in “The Tsathoggua Cycle,” a Chaosium (publisher) book featuring Cthulu-esque fiction new and old. Read Smith’s “The Seven Geases,” where he’s having some fun with a fairy tale trope. Not the Smith of the later Xothique-type stories but fun to read! Also read “The Family Tree Of the Gods” (a Lovecraftian essay) and “The Testament of Athammaus.”

The real fun came with Smith’s “The Theft of the Thirty-Nine Gables,” set in a Howard-esque (I say “esque” a lot, don’t I?) medieval fantasy world. A fun caper story! It’s one of Smith’s later stories and I wish he’d written more about this thief.

Read Mack Reynolds’ “Posted,” in a Greenberg/Asimov/Waugh anthology “Flying Saucers. From same book read Thomas Burnett Swann’s “The Painter.” I hadn’t read Swann before I think. I stumbled across his name researching Richard Garnett. Read Swann’s “Night Of the Unicorn” in the Dann & Dozois anthology “Unicorns.” Excellent! A wonderful writer!

For Jack Kerouac’s March 12th birthday I read his story “Ronnie On the Mound” in the baseball fantasy/supernatural anthology “Field Of Fantasies.” Not much fantasy in the story except it was based on a baseball board game Kerouac invented when he was a kid. Sort of a fantasy league. Story is about pitcher Ronnie who is getting his big chance in a game. Story would probably have grabbed me more if I understood anything about baseball. There is a sweetness to it.

Read Stephen King’s new story “The Extra Hour,” in “Cemetery Dance” Magazine issue . First-person narration of a nightmare that gets bleaker and more surreal. King is still damn good. Maybe even better than when I read “Night Shift” in college.

And I’ve been reading stories in the aforementioned anthology “Flying Saucers.” Read Avram Davidson’s “The Grantha Sighting.” A sweet, funny and very telling story that’s not about flying saucers, it’s about the nature of people. Read Howard Fast’s “The Mouse.” A moving and perfect story from the author of “Spartacus.” (This is one of three sci-fi stories I know about mice and spaceships; I think the other two are by Frederic Brown.)

Of course I’ve been reading the regular flash fictions by Kaje Harper and E. H. Timms, as well as the fine serial by J. Scott Coatsworth “Down the River.” https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com/serial-down-the-river-chapter-thirty-nine/

And I read Volume Two of “The Justice Society,” collecting the stories from the 1970s and ‘80s about the world’s first superhero team. When I was in High School and College I read the original comics (“All-Star Comics” and “Adventure Comics,”) mainly for the fantasy and fun but now I appreciate the stories. They hold up.

And I was floored that one story has a climactic scene taking place atop Gotham City’s Twin Towers. Yes, THOSE towers. A character even falls to their death from one of them. This was about 1980…

And Gay author Felice Picano died this past week, so I’m reading stories in his collection “Tales: From A Distant Planet.”

But I didn’t even read a word of the Henry Kuttner story I started on a month or so ago!

——jeff baker March 20, 2025

Posted in Avram Davidson, Books, Clark Ashton Smith, E. H. Timms, Edward D. Hoch, Henry Kuttner, J. Scott Coatsworth, Kaje Harper, LGBT, Reading, Reading Report, Stephen King | Leave a comment