Excerpt from the Short Story, “Black Crater, White Snow”

Black Crater, White Snow, illustration from The Evolution of Reptilian Handbags and Other Stories

by Melanie Lamaga from the collection The Evolution of Reptilian Handbags and Other Stories,  now available from Amazon. Jade I slide to the barn on a skin of blue ice, sky layered rose and gray. Almost dawn. The wind, a white knife, cuts through my red down coat. Pinfeathers escape—a flock of tiny geese vanishing […] Read more »

Excerpt from the Short Story “What Kind Are You?”

"What Kind Are You?" illustration from The Evolution of Reptilian Handbags and Other Stories

by Melanie Lamaga This excerpt is from the collection The Evolution of Reptilian Handbags and Other Stories, available from Amazon.com in paperback and e-book format. WHAT KIND ARE YOU? “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” -William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark When I remember Dundalk, […] Read more »

Bird House

Bird House, collage by Melanie Lamaga, The Metaphysical Circus

Fiction by Melanie Lamaga It was a typical day for Michael—to the office by 7:00 a.m., coffee-fueled meetings, lunch with Dave, writing reports, out by six. Driving home from work in his convertible with the top down, Michael began to sing a wordless tune that filled him with exaltation. He felt as if he was […] Read more »

Sojourn with the Watercolor People

The Watercolor People, a collage by Melanie Lamaga, The Metaphysical Circus

Fiction by Melanie Lamaga The Watercolor people are angry with me. You may not think that sounds ominous, but believe me, they have a list of people they’d like to kill. They’ll go through with it, too, given the chance. Even the children can be vicious. Now you’re laughing. Perhaps you, like many others, have […] Read more »

Waking the Dreamer

A Short Story by Melanie Lamaga I have a story you won’t believe. No one does. And I planned it this way. I know what I look like now, after so many years alone in the woods. But once I was part of the hustle and flow, a regular man like you. True, I had […] Read more »

Briar Rose by Robert Coover, a Review

A Postmodern Fairy Tale with a Wicked Sense of Humor “He is surprised to discover how easy it is. The branches part like thighs, the silky petals caress his cheeks. His drawn sword is stained, not with blood, but with dew and pollen. Yet another inflated legend. He has undertaken this great adventure, not for […] Read more »

Medusa

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a short story by Melanie Lamaga This story appeared previously in Zahir magazine and anthology. After you left I turned to stone: white marble woman at kitchen table.  The cup of tea I’d been drinking when you looked at me for the last time cooled and began the slow process of evaporation. This is it, I […] Read more »

“Invisible Heist”

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 fiction by Melanie Lamaga This story appeared previously in “Fiction International #38, Sacred/Shamanic.” Imagine a bank teller.  You know the type: slender, blonde, luminously clean, except that her fingers are coated with invisible money-paste made of microscopic flecks of skin, mixed with dirt and oil. Still, she seems to shimmer pink and gold in the […] Read more »

“Glow”

Descent, illustration of "Glow" in The Tusculum Review

by Melanie Lamaga This story appeared previously in The Tusculum Review “Doesn’t my skin have a splendid glow in refrigerator light?” Aunt Jo asked. I told her it did. “It’s because this light is yellow, incandescent, not green like those goddamn fluorescents. Never use those Frankie! They’ll kill you.” Aunt Jo was sitting on the […] Read more »

Attracting Abundance, Part 1

Ask, Listen, Visualize, Feel There is a book out there called The Law of Attraction that may or may not espouse similar ideas to those I’m presenting here. I don’t know because I haven’t read it. Normally, I am a big advocate of research, but there is a time for research and a time for […] Read more »