There’s something about Juan Vandendorp’s writing that reminds me of Hemingway.  His sentences are spare and plain.  He describes what the narrator is thinking from moment to moment without a bunch of flowery sentiment. The action may include a flashback, but it feels linear. And there’s not always a happy ending.  [...]

To commemorate the last day of our A Dish Called “Wanda” contest – and there are still a few hours remaining, by the way! – the inimitable Peggy Dobbs sends us this poetic tribute to those bold writers who have taken up our challenge. If you’re one of the authors, you’ll [...]

(If that doesn’t make any sense to you, well, you haven’t been properly initiated into our loose, bendy, flex-it-to-the-limit-and-make-a-pun-out-of-it-even-if-it’s-a-bit-obscure way with language.  If it DOES make sense to you, you’ve either been reading too much T. S. Eliot, or been in a lot of bars, or perhaps both.)

This is just [...]

Most of us have moments of deeply spiritual wonder, glimpses of eternity, a nanosecond where all mysteries are revealed and we feel thoroughly alive and connected to every beautiful thing on the planet.  It’s not unusual to feel this way after a narrow escape – say, when you’re pulling onto the [...]

Here is prolific contributor Peggy Dobbs’ second entry into our A Dish Called “Wanda” contest.  She examines complicated family ties, the push and pull of filial love, and the responsibility which falls heavily on the shoulders of children who feel an uncomfortable reversal of roles as they care for those who [...]

As I was reading Mac Eagan’s second entry for our A Dish Called “Wanda” contest, I couldn’t help but hear The Eagles’ Hotel California playing in my head:  “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”  Don Henley & the boys made it sound like a [...]

I don’t know, but it had better be real agreeable-like. Anyhow, it’s funny you should ask that question, because Dave Fisher just sent us a short story that touches upon this theme. Dave’s swaggering protagonist narrates this highly readable tale, and you can’t help but want to swagger along with him. [...]

Peggy Dobbs, that Flower of the South, does it again in this entry – steeped in local flavor – for our A Dish Called “Wanda” contest. What happens when you introduce a small-town gal to big-time stakes? Maybe a tall tale, maybe a true story . . . either way, what [...]

Mac Eagan’s eminently readable entry into our A Dish Called “Wanda” contest makes me glad of many things:  First, that I don’t need a haircut.  Second, that Mac’s Wanda is fictional, although perhaps based on a real, live person, because I’m pretty sure I saw her at Wal-Mart the other day.  [...]