It’s a holiday Monday in Canada . . .
Best wishes for a grand feast surrounded by friends and loved ones, for those who celebrate! From where I sit — at a temporary desk setup in my new, as-yet unpacked office — tantalizing aromas waft up the stairs, thanks to the efforts of my family members who do not catch things on fire when in the kitchen space. Mother Nature is showing off today — brilliant blue skies, about 14°C, spiderwebs dazzling in the daylight on nearby bushes and trees, a murder of crows having their own get-together in the huge yard outside my window . . . I have much to be grateful for. And I will be even more grateful when my tapestry of bruises heals and the aching joints and muscles settles. Moving house when one collects books, desks, and bookcases like it’s an Olympic sport is a brutal affair.
In my absence from penning these Monday dispatches, however, life has continued at Pulp Literature! Last week we welcomed Leo X. Robertson’s latest short story collection, Barhopping for Astronauts, into the world, and the ebook is available now direct from the Pulp Literature website or from your favourite e-retailer (Apple, Kobo, Amazon, and Everand are live as of this writing). If you’d like a paperback, those are en route as we speak. Order direct from our website or check the regular retailers in the next week or so as everything comes online.
As the terrific reviews filter in, I will be sure to share them so you don’t miss out on Leo’s talent:
Like the implanted hidden thoughts of HAL-9000, Leo X Robertson’s stories walk an intoxicating line between the soulfully humane and indefinably sinister. His skill is to draw you in to these shimmering new worlds and show you visions that are at once mind-bendingly fresh and intimately relatable. Reminiscent of a 21st-century Stanislaw Lem, or some Scottish Strugatsky third brother, Robertson weaves his futuristic landscapes in ways that not only incite genuine wonder, but also tap into the very nucleus of what makes us who we are.
– Tom Over, Splatterpunk and Wonderland Awards-nominated author of The Comfort Zone and Other Safe Spaces
Even though Leo’s book is now out in the multiverse, we are always eager for more reviews, so if you like reading free books and writing honest reviews, we’d love to hook you up. Click here to grab an ARC.
Another new release is imminent!
The Leacock Medal for Humour longlisted author Mel Anastasiou’s next novel, Stella Ryman and the Search for Thelma Hu, releases at the end of this month, and YES, you can preorder it now via our website. And again, if you’re a bibliophile who loves reading books and supporting authors and small presses by writing reviews, we would be over the moon to add you to our advance reader copy list. I have ARCs ready to go out, and trust me, you will fall in love with dear Stella. Sign up here!
Attention short story writers!
You still have time. The Raven Short Story contest closes October 15! Here are all the details:
Flash fiction and short fiction, 250 to 2500 words.
We Pulp Literature editors collect stories like ravens in the woods, swooping down on what catches our eye and bringing the treasures — sometimes sparkling, sometimes grisly, but always fascinating — home to our nests. Show us your most scintillating treasures in the form of short fiction up to 2500 words in length and you could be the one bringing home $300 to line your nest!
Contest opens: 1 September 2025
Deadline: 15 October 2025
Winner notified: 15 November 2025
Winner published in: Issue 50, Spring 2026
Prize: $300
Judge: Kelly Robson
Entry fee: $35
Early-bird fee (before 15 September): $25
Entry fees include a 1-year digital subscription to Pulp Literature
Editorial critique: $50
This contest is for previously unpublished short fiction between 250 and 2500 words in length. No simultaneous submissions. Multiple entries welcome. Total entries limited to 200.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER your story!
OK, I have more news to share, but this post is long enough. Have you signed up for the PulpFemme newsletter? This is a GREAT way to stay in the loop, and I am SO CLOSE to our first 100 subscribers. Sign up for my Thursday emails that include peeks behind the curtain of the growing novel branch of Pulp Literature. So much busy!
Have a wonderful week!
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