A new kind of literary pulse

The cool breeze drifts in from the Pacific Ocean through the banana plant leaves. Shadows dance across the pastel pallet of the bedspread; the charcoal nude woman looks over her shoulder. Jesus... [+]

Across a wood-grain bar in southern Minnesota on the way to Buddy Holly roller coaster in slower Iowa, I lay a few dollars on the bar for the sixpack of Blatz (cheapest they got and straight from... [+]

Harold Gates slowed the snow-topped yellow taxi and edged it along the slushy curb to a stop where she stood, shivering in a tattered wool coat in a January blizzard on the steps of her unlit... [+]

Near midnight she pedals her rented bike past Checkpoint Charlie. Vacant, but suitably restored, the off-white, utilitarian guard box occupies the middle of the street, protected from a barrage of... [+]

This job is a grand. We’re supposed to deliver the piano from a suburban chateau into a self-storage facility. Why doesn’t matter. Pick-up address, how many floors down; delivery address, how... [+]

"She's a difficult pleasure," I said of my ex-wife. I was standing at the front door of her house, talking to her new partner, Sammy, a woman. My ex-wife, Lily, was not there.
We both took in... [+]

Straight out of high school Mick’s uncle landed Mick and me second-shift jobs at a textile factory. I asked Mick what the company manufactured. Gigantic rolls of something, he said. From three... [+]

At The Corner Bar read-in, a man wearing large work boots and with dark hair flopping over his forehead sits on a love seat, reading. A woman wearing a golden sweater hovers over him.
“Excuse... [+]

I’m writing about the witch in the woods for my social history project. Ms. Titian said to interview an elderly relative but mine all died before I was born, so I’m doing the witch. James Suggs... [+]

You know how people say “you can’t choose your relatives, but you can choose your friends?”
Well that may be true, but let me add that you can’t always choose your husband’s business... [+]

In front of him, for nearly every minute he was awake, there was a screen.
He tried to recall a time when it wasn’t this way. He couldn’t, so he watched old movies to try to remember.... [+]

Jada had a serious problem. The problem was named Kyle, a 5’6”, blond example of what happens when you give your kids too much praise when they’re young. Jada was our best friend, and despite... [+]