Gripping New Speculative Fiction – The Bowl of Usefulness
Gripping New Speculative Fiction – My latest published long-format short story is The Bowl of Usefulness. This is a dark tale of a near-future dystopia in the former USA, where people are subjugated and separated by race and religion.
Read the Story Now!
First, a huge shout-out to the great editors at Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine. Penumbric is a heavy-hitter in the Speculative Fiction genre, so I’m hugely grateful to the editors for giving my story the thumbs up. The Bowl of Usefulness is my first piece to appear in this renowned ‘Zine but I’m hoping to become a steady contributor. Without further ado, mash the big button, and you will be whisked away to the strange world of Penumbric.
Is Speculative Fiction your thing? Zowie, you’re in good hands here, Friends! Penumbric has you covered for Sci-Fi, dystopian worlds, strange tales, and all things speculative. Better yet, Penumbric is a FREE online read. Show the editors some love, support an Indie Author (yours truly!), and all without forking over a dime. You can’t lose!
But wait, there’s more! Penumbric offers up a dark mix of all things eerie and otherworldly. New stories each month. Intrigued? You should be! Besides reading my story The Bowl of Usefulness (oh, yes please!) you can peruse the current issue of Penumbric here:
Tell them I sent ya, right? Not only did I get paid for this story, but I could also rack up writer karma points.
And… It’s August
The madness of July has come and gone, but things are still jumping here at MEF headquarters. Well, it’s a new month, Friends and Neighbors. Two new stories went live in as many days, and more are on the way. We had a brand new story submitted and accepted within the same week. Busy, busy, busy. In the meantime, there are still herds of accepted stories waiting to bust out of their respective corrals. How will you know when a new story breaks free? Glad you asked, Friends. Read On!
Meanwhile, don’t miss any upcoming stories. You can stay tuned for all the latest by following the MEF blog:
And before I forget, allow me to plug a book. What can I say? I need to pay the virtual rent and you need some summer reading. That said, how about a collection of flash fiction for short summer reads? That’s right, folks, it’s here! Broken Luggage awaits your hungry reader eyes:
Broken Luggage Collected Flash Fiction
Broken Luggage: Two dozen flash fiction tales of love lost and love found, of darkness at the end of life, and light at the beginning.
A man's life condensed into the broken luggage that will contain it. A young woman alone in the Sonoran Desert. Memories of dangerous eggs, thunderstorms, and a gunshot man. A character tours his self-made hell. Another steps from between the pages. Parables of sand and migration A labyrinth into new love, and the remembrance of love past. These two dozen flash stories tell swift tales of love lost and love found, of darkness at the end of life, and light at the beginning.
Marco Etheridge is a writer of fiction, an occasional playwright, and a part-time poet. He lives and writes in Vienna, Austria. His stories have been published in reviews, journals, and magazines in Canada, Australia, the UK, and the USA. Broken Luggage gathers twenty-four of his best flash stories into one collection. A man’s life condensed into the broken luggage that will contain it. A young woman alone in the Sonoran Desert. Memories of dangerous eggs, thunderstorms, and a gunshot man. A character tours his self-made hell. Another steps from between the pages. Parables of sand and migration A labyrinth into new love, and the remembrance of love past. These two dozen flash stories tell swift tales of love lost and love found, of darkness at the end of life, and light at the beginning. Unforgettable characters struggle against the tides and pressures of an impersonal world, and against the burdens they carry within. There is joy and despair, defiance and acceptance. The inhabitants of these pages learn who they are, and sometimes, who they are not. Welcome, Reader, to the world of Broken Luggage.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Marco Etheridge
Marco Etheridge is a writer of prose, an occasional playwright, and a part-time poet. He lives and writes in Vienna, Austria. His work has been featured in over one hundred reviews and journals across Canada, Australia, the UK, and the USA. His story “Power Tools” has been nominated for Best of the Web for 2023. “Power Tools” is Marco’s latest collection of short fiction. When he isn’t crafting stories, Marco is a contributing editor for a new ‘Zine called Hotch Potch. In his other life, Marco travels the world with his lovely wife Sabine. Website: https://www.marcoetheridgefiction.com/