Since its founding in 1997, Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction has published hundreds of brief nonfiction essays by writers around the world, each within that strict word count. Over the past 20 years, Brevity has become one of the longest-running and most popular online literary publications, a journal readers regularly return to for insightful essays from skilled writers at every stage of their careers. Featuring examples of nonfiction forms such as memoir, narrative, lyric, braided, hermit crab, and hybrid, The Best of Brevity brings you 84 of the best-loved and most memorable reader favorites, collected in print for the first time. Compressed to their essence, these essays glint with drama, grief, love, and anger, as well as innumerable other lived intensities, resulting in an anthology that is as varied as it is unforgettable, leaving the reader transformed.With contributions from Krys Malcolm Belc, Jenny Boully, Brian Doyle, Roxane Gay, Daisy Hernández, Michael Martone, Ander Monson, Patricia Park, Kristen Radtke Diane Seuss, Abigail Thomas, Jia Tolentino, and so many more, The Best of Brevity offers unparalleled diversity of style, form, and perspective for those interested in reading, writing, or teaching the flash nonfiction form.

    But is it a mistake, where does the money come from, and can Kitkat get through New Year's Day without its owner asking for the money back?This is a 7,000-word short story.

    Transmetropolitan combined black humor, political scandal, and moral ambiguity to look into the mind of gonzo journalist Spider Jerusalem and The City he inhabits. Aided by his embattled Editor and his two Filthy Assistants, Jerusalem blazes a path through a futuristic world of skyscrapers and technological wonders, dark alleys, and unspeakable depravity.Transmetropolitan: All Around The World is a lovingly crafted and designed tribute to a seminal work. Contributors include: Aaron Alexovich, Stephanie Buscema, Jim Calafiore, Stefano Caselli, Cliff Chiang, Richard C. Clark, Kevin Colden, Molly Crabapple, Camilla d’Errico, Kristian Donaldson, Ryan Dunlavey, Gary Erskine, Richard Friend, Dan Goldman, Cully Hamner, Lea Hernandez, Phil Hester, Rantz Hoseley, Matt Howarth, K Thor Jensen, Seth Kushner, Jonathan Luna, Milo Manara, John McCrea, Moritat, Dean Motter, Darick Robertson, Jimmie Robinson, Stuart Sayger, Tim Seeley, Fiona Staples, Bryan Talbot, Pete Woods, and many, many others.[text from http://cbldf.org/homepage/transmetrop... ]

    Robert Swartwood was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's possibly apocryphal six-word story—"For Sale: baby shoes, never worn"—to foster the writing of these incredibly short-short stories. He termed them "hint fiction" because the few chosen words suggest a larger, more complex chain of events. Spare and evocative, these stories prove that a brilliantly honed narrative can be as startling and powerful as a story of traditional length. The 125 gemlike stories in this collection come from such best-selling and award-winning authors as Joyce Carol Oates, Ha Jin, Peter Straub, and James Frey, as well as emerging writers.

    Within this collection, each setting is more strange and wonderful than the last, brimming with new technologies and beings. And yet, for all the advances in these futuristic lands, the people still must confront deeply human problems.With tales of friendship and revenge, plus two new stories from the Carve the Mark universe. Each story begins with a hope for a better end, but always end with a better understanding of the beginning.

    In this collection he explores the dark depths of the human condition, offering tales of death, disaster and - just occasionally - redemption.

    In “Vortex,” by Gregory Benford, astronauts find a once thriving microbial lifeform that carpets the caves of Mars dying off. A code monkey tracks down the vain creator of a pernicious software virus that people jack cerebrally in “RedKing,” by Craig DeLancey. In “Number Nine Moon,” by Alex Irvine, illicit scavengers on Mars are on a rescue mission to save themselves after one of their team members dies. A young girl’s thirst for vengeance becomes a struggle for survival when she is swallowed by a gigantic sea creature on an alien planet in “Of the Beast in the Belly,” by C.W. Johnson. In “The Seventh Gamer,” by Gwyneth Jones, a writer immerses herself into a MMORPG community to search for characters being played by real aliens from other worlds. A woman armed with a rifle stalks a herd of cloned wooly mammoths in British Columbia in “Chasing Ivory,” by Ted Kosmatka. In “Fieldwork,” by Shariann Lewitt, a volcanologist struggles with her research on Europa where both her mother and grandmother suffered dire consequences. A daughter pays homage to her mother with mega-engineering projects to deal with climate change over eons in “Seven Birthdays,” by Ken Liu. In “The Visitor from Taured,” by Ian R. MacLeod, a cosmologist in the near future is obsessed with proving his theory of multiverses. The citizens of a small town on a “Jackaroo” planet object to a corporation placing a radio telescope near local alien artifacts in “Something Happened Here, But We’re Not Quite Sure What It Was,” by Paul McAuley. And finally, in “Sixteen Questions for Kamala Chatterjee,” by Alastair Reynolds, a graduate student defends her dissertation on a solar anomaly that threatens humanity.

    Mysterious lights dot the night skies. A local farmer is found dead at the summit of a hill with no evidence as to how his body got there. Livestock is disappearing, only to be discovered later, dead and mutilated with precision-like wounds. And despite the coming of an enormous winter storm, odd men identifying themselves simply as 'federal agents' have converged on Edgar in government vehicles as if in anticipation of some greater event. Newcomer Lane Boyce, a recently divorced schoolteacher with a questionable past, believes there must be reasonable explanations for what is taking place, yet seems inexplicably tied to the events. Haunted by his own demons and drowning in loneliness and regret, Lane had hoped Edgar might be a quiet refuge and a place to begin again. Instead, there is madness here, an evil that is slowly making itself known. And as the snowstorm hits town, Lane finds himself trapped in his small house in the middle of nowhere, alone with his puppy...and something else. There, just beyond the trees, hidden in shadow, something watches, waits and whispers, ushering in a new age, a time of something else. Something other. Something close. Reality is no longer ours. It belongs to them. It belong to the LORDS OF TWILIGHT.

    He's never tolerated bullies, but this time it's personal. And no matter how many heads he has to bash to do it, Joe will find his man.Includes a sneak preview of Blood and Ashes, the exhilarating fifth novel in the Joe Hunter series.

    A book of very short stories that explores the spaces between light and dark and how we find our way from one to the other. From buffering Skype chats and the truth about beards, to fried chicken shops and the things smartphones make you less likely to do when alone in a public place, Fisher paints a complex, funny and moving portrait of contemporary British life.

     Hit the road with this anthology of trucking horror fiction!

    During her sabbatical from love, she finds healing in performing poetry at Ray's, a lounge located in the small town of Roseville. What started as an escape turned into a secret admiration for another performer and crowd favorite, Marquis Kent. Marquis Kent, a 28-year-old carpenter, and reformed preacher's kid is desperately in need of a fresh start, and moving from his hometown to Roseville was the first step to a new life. He too finds relief in performing acoustic covers of his favorite songs at Ray’s. His sultry voice paired with his southern charm made him a crowd favorite, including the person he least expected – Shiloh. To Marquis, Shiloh is the perfect woman who has it all together – a woman clearly out of his league. To Shiloh, Marquis is just another heartbreak waiting to happen, but she can no longer resist the temptation... A serendipitous encounter opens their eyes to the realization that they have more in common than what meets the naked eye. But are they willing to put their apprehensions aside and explore what could be? brown sugar is a novella

    They vow to keep in touch, pray for one another, and meet again at next year's conference. What happens in between is an absolute smorgasbord of changed lives, challenged faiths, new dedications and directions, and romantic twists that turn next year's conference reunion plans into reservations for

    Durrant, Roxie Voorhees, Spencer Hamilton, Carla Eliot, Cass Oakley, Christopher Badcock, Carmilla, Joe Clements, Marcus Hawke and Patrick Whitehurst.In this anthology, you'll find incredible stories from some of the freshest faces in horror: in 'My White Star', a bittersweet love story is told through the lens of a chilling spectral haunting; in 'The Violent Snow', a strange artefact summons more from the blizzard than bargained for; in 'Everyone to the Table', sickening wishes come true...Settle in for a cold one. These stories are hard to swallow...

    Now Daniel sets out for one final confrontation.