Category: micro fiction

Friday Five: Q&A with ‘Short Story, Long’ founder Aaron Burch

‘ I often feel happiest and most fulfilled when I read a submission and fall in love with it …’

You might call Aaron Burch a serial literary magazine founder.

His journey into the litmag world began in 2001, when he founded Hobart. He spent over two decades editing that journal, and toward the end of his tenure there he co-founded HAD, an online journal focused on publishing microfiction. Soon after that, he founded Words & Sports Quarterly, a sports-oriented literary magazine that is currently on hiatus.

Two years ago this spring, he launched his latest literary project, Short Story, Long, as a place for longer fiction — stories in the 2,000- to 8,000-word range, although stories of 3,000 to 5,000 words hit the publication’s “sweet spot.” (Read more about the publication and submission guidelines.)

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The obligatory end-of-year wrap-up post you’ve been waiting for

The year in writing, recognition, loss, and life

If nothing else, 2024 for me was a year of transition and disruption. And — I hope — a year I learned to be more grateful and empathetic.

After 40 years of full-time work, much of it in academia, I entered a new phase of life last January. Some call it retirement, but it has hardly been that. My pursuit of creative writing and some freelance work has kept me busy enough. In addition, my wife and I and our cat had a couple of health scares that made us reevaluate our values and gave us greater insight into the workings of the U.S. health care system, the good, bad, and ugly of it. We also mourned the passing of a few friends from our church family and continue to honor their memory.

In other words, a lot of life happened in 2024. Here are some highlights from the year:

Continue reading “The obligatory end-of-year wrap-up post you’ve been waiting for”