Friday Five: Q&A with Tiffany M. Storrs, Roi Fainéant editor-in-chief

Where “knockoff Wes Anderson meets snarky pinup girl”

In recognition of Women’s History Month, I’m devoting each Friday Five this March to shine the spotlight on women who are doing cool stuff in literature these days. This celebration begins with Tiffany M. Storrs, the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Roi Fainéant Press (RF for short). This online literary magazine, established in 2021, publishes a diverse range of voices in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and it is one of the most enjoyable online litmags I’ve discovered over the past year.

Photograph of Tiffany M. Storrs, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Roi Fainéant Press
Tiffany M. Storrs, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Roi Fainéant Press

If you’re curious about the litmag’s name, Roi Fainéant is French for “lazy king” or “do-nothing king.” It refers to the seventh- and eighth-century kings of France’s Merovignian Dynasty — kings who didn’t have much power given the way things were going in that country at that time, according to Wikipedia. On the RF website’s about page, Tiffany refers to herself and co-founders Kellie Scott-Reed and Marianne Baretsky Peterson as “3 lazy kings living the best of their worst lives.” Judging from the quality of their litmag and the works they publish, however, I would not take that description seriously. No doubt the three of them sift through scores of submissions to find just the right pieces for their publication. But as the name, the site design, the accompanying artwork, and overall vibe suggest, RF is a platform where irreverence, playfulness, and a broad range of literary voices and styles can thrive. (I’m honored to have two pieces published in RF: “Narcissus on the Deck” and “No Point.” If you’re looking for a home for your work, quirky, irreverent, or otherwise, I suggest you give RF a try.)

Read on for Tiffany’s take on RF, her suggestions for writers, her sources of inspiration, and more.

Continue reading “Friday Five: Q&A with Tiffany M. Storrs, Roi Fainéant editor-in-chief”

Friday Five: Q&A with MoonLit Getaway founder and editor Brandon Nadeau

‘We are a doom-scrolling alternative. A mixed bag of mixed metaphors where … the only common denominator is quality.’

As I and my fellow Missourians emerge from the vicious grip of a polar vortex from the north, where heartier types deal with these sub-zero temperatures and wind chills more frequently (and where thermometer readings are even lower, thanks to the Celsius scale), it seems fitting that today’s Friday Five highlights the work of a writer from north of the U.S. border, Brandon Nadeau, and the phenomenal literary magazine he launched last fall, MoonLit Getaway.

MoonLit Getaway founder and editor Brandon Nadeau

Brandon is a veteran of the Canadian Army (twice deployed to Afghanistan) originally from northern British Columbia, where he “snowboarded, played guitar in a metal band, and got bad grades in school.” He now lives, writes, and edits in Edmonton, Alberta. He serves as executive editor and fiction editor for MoonLit Getaway, which publishes fiction (including flash), poetry, and visual artwork every two weeks. He and his editorial team also publish book reviews and interviews with featured authors and artists on the website’s blog.

Continue reading “Friday Five: Q&A with MoonLit Getaway founder and editor Brandon Nadeau”