Fantasy: Lay it on thicker

An astonishing number of magazines invite short stories that are fantasies or science fiction, genres at which I’ve never been very good.

But the idea came to me one day of a shy older woman who moved into a retirement community such as the one in which I live, hesitant about getting to know the place, but is given a boost by an ancient aunt who unexpectedly arrives. In describing her, I made her sound a bit like Mary Poppins.

In the ensuing weeks, I got no nibbles, so I tweaked it a bit, making the aunt explicitly a Mary Poppins figure. That did it: “Aunt Carrie” is out now in Commuter Lit, a Canadian e-zine that specializes in short stories that can be read on the way to or from work, and welcomes “sci fi, fantasy, horror, mystery, romance . . ..”

You can read it => online

 

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