This week's Tuesday Taster is a bite of Deceptively Simple by Scott MacLeod. Sharp and twisty, we enjoyed its varying levels of deception. Read it now in Issue 7.

Appreciate the mention! 🖤

This week's Thursday Throwback is a touching glimpse of Pale Thumb by Owen Townend. Raw and poignant, we appreciated its use of mundane details to ground the piece. Read it now in Issue 5.

This week's Tuesday Taster is a segment of Female Patient C50.911, C78.00, C50.811, Z17.1 by Aerin Higginbotham. A striking take on the theme, we were drawn to its rawness and found it deeply evocative. Read it now in Issue 7.

This week's Sunday Snippet is a serving of The Last Supper by Katy Goforth. @katywrites.bsky.social A compelling take on the theme, we enjoyed the layers of deception and the way the story hides something unexpected inside a tale of everyday life. Read it in Issue 7.

All responses for Issue 8: FEAR have now been sent! If you haven’t found yours, please check your spam folder, and feel free to contact us at [email protected] with any questions!

What’s next? “I’m constantly writing; I don’t know what to do with it all. At the moment I have one novel called Binge Drinker which is basically about graduating into the 2008 recession as a millennial [...] I also have two novellas, two poetry collections..."

What inspired you to write 50 Reasons to Live? “I had been pretty depressed and anxious, needing time off work and I had just finished therapy. A few weeks after my last session I wrote the first draft in three weeks. It literally poured out of me, and really felt like I was shedding skin.”

Some of your favourite books/authors? “I have always felt more connected to American prose. I like the immediacy of it. For me, the words hit the page with more force. The beats were a big thing for me, especially Kerouac. His spontaneous prose approach to writing really shaped the way I write.”

What advice would you give to emerging writers looking to get published? “Experience something. It doesn’t even have to be dramatic. Just put yourself in different shoes and see what happens. That’s where the good stuff comes from.”

What do you think you’ve learned about yourself through writing that you might not have discovered otherwise? “That I am resilient and worthy of my own goals. It’s also taught me to trust myself.”

What do you hope your readers take away from 50 Reasons to Live? “That we are all just humans, trying our best to navigate and survive this fucked up world. It’s okay to be ill, to be overwhelmed, to be angry, sad & exhausted. But it is also okay to be happy, even in the face of so much heartache.”

Why do you write? “When I find a book that speaks to me in a personal way, it feels like the author is giving me their authentic selves and it makes me feel less alone in the world; writing is my way of trying to give someone else that same experience.”

What’s one thing about writing everyone should know? “You can leave your mark on the world in a way that other people can’t. You can say something that deserves the space on the page, and give others the gift of knowing, feeling and understanding something new about the world.”