Author Archives: smellincoffee

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About smellincoffee

Citizen, librarian, reader with a boundless wonder for the world and a curiosity about all the beings inside it.

The Downloaded

Posted on February 20, 2024 by smellincoffee

In the 26th century, two groups of humans are awakening. The first are a group of scientists who think they’re on a spaceship headed toward Proxima Centauri, there to begin Earth’s first colony. The second are criminals who were part … Continue reading →

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Tuesday Teasing

Posted on February 20, 2024 by smellincoffee

I was starting to get the feeling there was a lot Sloane hadn’t told me. Blood pressure cuffs. Enchiladas. Tall, strange men who weren’t her fiancé. This was turning into a very intriguing book club. The Lonely Hearts Book Club, … Continue reading →

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404

Posted on February 18, 2024 by smellincoffee
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The Hidden Life of Deer

Posted on February 17, 2024 by smellincoffee

There’s a buck mounted in my living room, but it’s not a head: it’s a large photograph of one standing at a stream in the woods, dawn light softly illuminating the morning mist. I find deer, second to horses, utterly … Continue reading →

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The Lonely Hearts Book Club

Posted on February 14, 2024 by smellincoffee

Sloane is a librarian in her late twenties, idly drifting into a contented if wholly nondescript and unsatisfying life. One of the few things she genuinely looks forward to are visits by an old crank, Arthur, a verbose curmudgeon whose erudite insults … Continue reading →

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Valens is courage, not lust

Posted on February 13, 2024 by smellincoffee
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Top Ten Tuesday: Things in Stories I Love

Posted on February 13, 2024 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is a love freebie. But first, teases! “The Camptown ladies sing this song, doo dah, doo dah. Camptown racetrack’s five miles long, oh, doo dah day.” “Shut up, Kurtis. Do you hear me inflicting my perverted folk fetish on … Continue reading →

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A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories

Posted on February 13, 2024 by smellincoffee

I was introduced to Flannery O’Connor perhaps twenty years ago when taking English 101 & English 102 at the community college, and I have never quite forgotten the two stories we discussed — “A Good Man is Hard to Find” … Continue reading →

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The Eighth Continent

Posted on February 12, 2024 by smellincoffee

Nick is a commercial diver who, as a side gig, volunteers with a rescue organization to save people during flood disasters. There are a lot of those these days: rising waters, frequent hurricanes, and people who continue to build houses … Continue reading →

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Convenience Store Woman

Posted on February 10, 2024 by smellincoffee

Keiko has known since she was a little girl that she wasn’t quite normal. Her reactions were not like those of her peers, and they were different enough to cause her family alarm. Upon discovering a dead bird, her first thought was that … Continue reading →

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