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Notes from Underground
Over the past year, one thing we've come to appreciate on The Literary Lab blog is the value of artistic freedom. To celebrate this freedom, we put together a collection of stories that were accepted before they were actually written. Our fellow writers gained entry into the anthology by impressing us with past work or proposals. From those early applications, we selected twenty-five of our favorite writers and told them simply that they had ten pages with which they could do whatever they want. We received poetry, artwork, and some amazing short stories that are both traditional and experimental.
Writers challenged themselves and only themselves to see what they could truly create when they weren't worried about rejection. In Notes From Underground readers will find a range of emotions and personalities that is as broad as the range of writers that frequent our great online community. We hope you enjoy this collection as much as we do!
Cee Martinez
Little Shark, Little Shark
Beth Overmyer
Mirror Image
Anne R. Allen
The Golden Age
No Happy Endings
Judy Croome
Whispers of Love
3 Triptych Poems
Anne Gallagher
Who Are You?
Taryn Tyler
Hellebore
B.A. McMillan
The Making of a Witch
J.B. Chicoine
Four Words
Erin Leigh Harty
Reflecting the Imperfect
Intermittent
Lisa M. Shafer
Voices From The Sidelines
Loren Eaton
The Apocalypse Closet
Jean Michelle Miernik
Notes From an Enchanted Castle
Summer Ross
Vanished Words
Nevine Sultan
The Smell of Closed Windows
Your Eyes Will Open
Candace A. Ganger
Before and After
Trade
Gone
Fumes
Yvonne Osborne
Maybe
Rachel Becker
The Truth of Her
Excerpts from Saving Throw, a young adult novel in progress
A Sedar Story
Little red riding hood undresses
Suicide at 90
Aerin Bender-Stone
TRAVELOGUE: AUSTRALIA 2002
Matt Zandstra
Competence
Simon C. Larter
The Return
And then the choir
Avoidance
R. Mac Wheeler
Hot House
C.N. Nevets
Terminal Instar
Lavanya Krishnan
Heat three spices in a pan
Susannah E. Pabot
Trees Without Trunks
Writers challenged themselves and only themselves to see what they could truly create when they weren't worried about rejection. In Notes From Underground readers will find a range of emotions and personalities that is as broad as the range of writers that frequent our great online community. We hope you enjoy this collection as much as we do!
Cee Martinez
Little Shark, Little Shark
Beth Overmyer
Mirror Image
Anne R. Allen
The Golden Age
No Happy Endings
Judy Croome
Whispers of Love
3 Triptych Poems
Anne Gallagher
Who Are You?
Taryn Tyler
Hellebore
B.A. McMillan
The Making of a Witch
J.B. Chicoine
Four Words
Erin Leigh Harty
Reflecting the Imperfect
Intermittent
Lisa M. Shafer
Voices From The Sidelines
Loren Eaton
The Apocalypse Closet
Jean Michelle Miernik
Notes From an Enchanted Castle
Summer Ross
Vanished Words
Nevine Sultan
The Smell of Closed Windows
Your Eyes Will Open
Candace A. Ganger
Before and After
Trade
Gone
Fumes
Yvonne Osborne
Maybe
Rachel Becker
The Truth of Her
Excerpts from Saving Throw, a young adult novel in progress
A Sedar Story
Little red riding hood undresses
Suicide at 90
Aerin Bender-Stone
TRAVELOGUE: AUSTRALIA 2002
Matt Zandstra
Competence
Simon C. Larter
The Return
And then the choir
Avoidance
R. Mac Wheeler
Hot House
C.N. Nevets
Terminal Instar
Lavanya Krishnan
Heat three spices in a pan
Susannah E. Pabot
Trees Without Trunks
209 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 2011
1 person is currently reading
59 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 12, 2011
I am going to get right into the action with this one. I mean, what exactly does the title mean? Here you go:
“Over the past year, one thing we've come to appreciate on The Literary Lab blog is the value of artistic freedom. To celebrate this freedom, we put together a collection of stories that were accepted before they were actually written. Our fellow writers gained entry into the anthology by impressing us with past work or proposals. From those early applications, we selected twenty-five of our favorite writers and told them simply that they had ten pages with which they could do whatever they want. We received poetry, artwork, and some amazing short stories that are both traditional and experimental.
Writers challenged themselves and only themselves to see what they could truly create when they weren't worried about rejection. In Notes from Underground, readers will find a range of emotions and personalities that is as broad as the range of writers that frequent our great online community. We hope you enjoy this collection as much as we do!”
I asked a question of these people,” Who are you people?” and this is how they responded:
“You asked about the editors. They’re a group of 3 writers/editors who run The Literary Lab.
About The Literary Lab Anthologies and The Lit Lab Blog, here is more about them personally:
ABOUT
The three writers here share a love for literary fiction, an art form that has sadly become associated with stuffy and inaccessible writing. Our hypothesis is that classical literary techniques will make any writing better, and the best popular fiction can also be the best literary fiction.
So grab your lab coats and safety goggles. We'll be creating some fantastic experiments. But only with your help. Interactive is our goal. Leave comments. Discuss. We'll do the best we can to answer questions and help everybody, including us, refine our craft.
Domey Malasarn- Domey is a writer from Los Angeles, CA. In 2008, he was a PEN Center USA Emerging Voices Fellow. He has been a finalist for Glimmer Train's Very Short Fiction Contest, first runner-up in Opium Magazine's 500-word Memoir Contest, and two of his stories were nominated for Pushcart Prizes. He is also a staff editor at SmokeLong Quarterly. Selected works online: God In Frogs, Dolores
I Am Waiting for My Dogs to Die, Display.
Scott G.F. Bailey - is a writer, musician and art-school dropout. He studied literature and political science at university and his short stories and essays have been published here and there. He's older than he looks, which bothers him a lot. Scott also blogs here and he is awfully fond of jam.
Michelle Davidson Argyle-Michelle is a stay-at-home mother, wife, and author who loves peanut butter and tomato sandwiches. You may think it's gross, but you should try it. She graduated from Utah Valley University with a BA in English/Creative Writing in the winter of 2002. To date, she has completed five novels, and has published several short stories. Her thriller novel, Monarch, will be released by Rhemalda Publishing in September of 2011, and her omnibus, Bonded, which consists of three fairy-tale themed novellas (Cinders, Thirds, and Scales), will be released Fall of 2012.”
To say that I enjoyed this is an understatement. The freedom that the authors, poets, and artists enjoyed are apparent in the works they created. It is very refreshing to get a read on something like this. Each piece is different, no two the same, and the way it is put together just flows. This one is a keeper, go for it and don’t look back; look forward to having some fun, without bounds. They knew none, neither should you.
What are you reading today? Have you checked out our new blogtalk radio show The G-ZONE? Check us out and become our friend on Shelfari, The Novel Spot &Twitter. Go to Goodreads and become our friend there and suggest books for us to read and post on. Did you know you can shop directly on Amazon by clicking the Amazon Banner on our blog? Thanks for stopping by today; We will see you tomorrow. Have a great day. http://www.gelatisscoop.blogspot.com
“Over the past year, one thing we've come to appreciate on The Literary Lab blog is the value of artistic freedom. To celebrate this freedom, we put together a collection of stories that were accepted before they were actually written. Our fellow writers gained entry into the anthology by impressing us with past work or proposals. From those early applications, we selected twenty-five of our favorite writers and told them simply that they had ten pages with which they could do whatever they want. We received poetry, artwork, and some amazing short stories that are both traditional and experimental.
Writers challenged themselves and only themselves to see what they could truly create when they weren't worried about rejection. In Notes from Underground, readers will find a range of emotions and personalities that is as broad as the range of writers that frequent our great online community. We hope you enjoy this collection as much as we do!”
I asked a question of these people,” Who are you people?” and this is how they responded:
“You asked about the editors. They’re a group of 3 writers/editors who run The Literary Lab.
About The Literary Lab Anthologies and The Lit Lab Blog, here is more about them personally:
ABOUT
The three writers here share a love for literary fiction, an art form that has sadly become associated with stuffy and inaccessible writing. Our hypothesis is that classical literary techniques will make any writing better, and the best popular fiction can also be the best literary fiction.
So grab your lab coats and safety goggles. We'll be creating some fantastic experiments. But only with your help. Interactive is our goal. Leave comments. Discuss. We'll do the best we can to answer questions and help everybody, including us, refine our craft.
Domey Malasarn- Domey is a writer from Los Angeles, CA. In 2008, he was a PEN Center USA Emerging Voices Fellow. He has been a finalist for Glimmer Train's Very Short Fiction Contest, first runner-up in Opium Magazine's 500-word Memoir Contest, and two of his stories were nominated for Pushcart Prizes. He is also a staff editor at SmokeLong Quarterly. Selected works online: God In Frogs, Dolores
I Am Waiting for My Dogs to Die, Display.
Scott G.F. Bailey - is a writer, musician and art-school dropout. He studied literature and political science at university and his short stories and essays have been published here and there. He's older than he looks, which bothers him a lot. Scott also blogs here and he is awfully fond of jam.
Michelle Davidson Argyle-Michelle is a stay-at-home mother, wife, and author who loves peanut butter and tomato sandwiches. You may think it's gross, but you should try it. She graduated from Utah Valley University with a BA in English/Creative Writing in the winter of 2002. To date, she has completed five novels, and has published several short stories. Her thriller novel, Monarch, will be released by Rhemalda Publishing in September of 2011, and her omnibus, Bonded, which consists of three fairy-tale themed novellas (Cinders, Thirds, and Scales), will be released Fall of 2012.”
To say that I enjoyed this is an understatement. The freedom that the authors, poets, and artists enjoyed are apparent in the works they created. It is very refreshing to get a read on something like this. Each piece is different, no two the same, and the way it is put together just flows. This one is a keeper, go for it and don’t look back; look forward to having some fun, without bounds. They knew none, neither should you.
What are you reading today? Have you checked out our new blogtalk radio show The G-ZONE? Check us out and become our friend on Shelfari, The Novel Spot &Twitter. Go to Goodreads and become our friend there and suggest books for us to read and post on. Did you know you can shop directly on Amazon by clicking the Amazon Banner on our blog? Thanks for stopping by today; We will see you tomorrow. Have a great day. http://www.gelatisscoop.blogspot.com
April 1, 2011
Ever felt that the stories you’re reading are the same ho-hum? Nothing new, nothing interesting? Well, that reading malaise will vanish when you settle down with this anthology of short stories by twenty-four authors.
The Literary Lab’s latest offering "Notes from Underground" is a cornucopia of diverse voices. No story is the same as any other; each author has a distinct imagination, wonderfully reflected in the story they tell.
The contrasting styles are clearest when reading the gentle poignancy of Yvonne Osborne’s “Maybe” and the passionate anger of Nevine Sultan’s “The Smell of Closed Windows.” Both stories deal with grief and loss, yet are utterly different in tone and characterisation.
This variety of style and content continues throughout the anthology. From the precise humour in Lisa M Shafer’s “Private Family Memoirs of Mr George Wingrave” to the exotic tapestry of life in Lavanya Krishnan’s “Heat Three Spices In A Pan”; from the romantic wanderings of Simon C Larter’s “The Return” to the vengeful lover in C N Nevet’s “Terminal Instar”; and from the dawning wonder of discovery in Aerin Bender-Stone’s “Travalogue: Australia 2002” to the sad losses in Susannah E Pabot’s “Trees Without Trunks”, there is a story for everyone.
Whether you like the fantasy (with a quiet emotional kick) of B A McMillan’s “The Making of a Witch” or the post-apocalyptic desolation of Matt Zandstra’s “Competence,” you won’t be disappointed. If you’d prefer more a gritty reality, then you may enjoy the hard-hitting brothers in R MacWheeler’s “Hot House” or the madness of Marion in Erin Leigh Harty’s “Reflecting the Imperfect.”
Authors Rachel Becker and Candace A Ganger explosively explore a variety of issues from death to sitting around the seder table in their collections, while Summer Ross and Anne Gallagher keep the reader guessing right until the end. The enchanted worlds of Taryn Tyler, Beth Overmeyer and Jean Michelle Miernik were fascinating, while Anne R Allen tantalised with excerpts of her current novel.
Anthologies run the risk of being a mixed bag. “Notes from Underground” was particularly risky, because the author’s stories were accepted before they were written. The Literary Lab editors chose authors who had impressed them with previous work and, in an experiment celebrating artistic freedom, invited the authors to submit whatever they wanted to.
The editors were well-rewarded for their gamble. The Literary Lab has done a highly commendable job of compiling twenty-three individual stories of high quality into one slim volume. The twenty-fourth story is my own, and all I can say is that I’m privileged to be a part of this anthology. I enjoyed every story I read, and I enjoyed the adventure of not knowing quite what to expect when I started a new one.
All the stories moved me in some way, whether it was a child’s tormented regrets in JB Chicoine’s “Four Words” or an uncle’s betrayal in Cee Martinez’s “Little Shark, Little Shark.” But one story did become my favourite: Loren Eaton’s clever and imaginative “The Apocalypse Closet” was simply superb. When you read this anthology, I’m sure that you’ll find your own personal favourite too. And I can guarantee that, from the first page to the last, you won’t ever be bored!
The Literary Lab’s latest offering "Notes from Underground" is a cornucopia of diverse voices. No story is the same as any other; each author has a distinct imagination, wonderfully reflected in the story they tell.
The contrasting styles are clearest when reading the gentle poignancy of Yvonne Osborne’s “Maybe” and the passionate anger of Nevine Sultan’s “The Smell of Closed Windows.” Both stories deal with grief and loss, yet are utterly different in tone and characterisation.
This variety of style and content continues throughout the anthology. From the precise humour in Lisa M Shafer’s “Private Family Memoirs of Mr George Wingrave” to the exotic tapestry of life in Lavanya Krishnan’s “Heat Three Spices In A Pan”; from the romantic wanderings of Simon C Larter’s “The Return” to the vengeful lover in C N Nevet’s “Terminal Instar”; and from the dawning wonder of discovery in Aerin Bender-Stone’s “Travalogue: Australia 2002” to the sad losses in Susannah E Pabot’s “Trees Without Trunks”, there is a story for everyone.
Whether you like the fantasy (with a quiet emotional kick) of B A McMillan’s “The Making of a Witch” or the post-apocalyptic desolation of Matt Zandstra’s “Competence,” you won’t be disappointed. If you’d prefer more a gritty reality, then you may enjoy the hard-hitting brothers in R MacWheeler’s “Hot House” or the madness of Marion in Erin Leigh Harty’s “Reflecting the Imperfect.”
Authors Rachel Becker and Candace A Ganger explosively explore a variety of issues from death to sitting around the seder table in their collections, while Summer Ross and Anne Gallagher keep the reader guessing right until the end. The enchanted worlds of Taryn Tyler, Beth Overmeyer and Jean Michelle Miernik were fascinating, while Anne R Allen tantalised with excerpts of her current novel.
Anthologies run the risk of being a mixed bag. “Notes from Underground” was particularly risky, because the author’s stories were accepted before they were written. The Literary Lab editors chose authors who had impressed them with previous work and, in an experiment celebrating artistic freedom, invited the authors to submit whatever they wanted to.
The editors were well-rewarded for their gamble. The Literary Lab has done a highly commendable job of compiling twenty-three individual stories of high quality into one slim volume. The twenty-fourth story is my own, and all I can say is that I’m privileged to be a part of this anthology. I enjoyed every story I read, and I enjoyed the adventure of not knowing quite what to expect when I started a new one.
All the stories moved me in some way, whether it was a child’s tormented regrets in JB Chicoine’s “Four Words” or an uncle’s betrayal in Cee Martinez’s “Little Shark, Little Shark.” But one story did become my favourite: Loren Eaton’s clever and imaginative “The Apocalypse Closet” was simply superb. When you read this anthology, I’m sure that you’ll find your own personal favourite too. And I can guarantee that, from the first page to the last, you won’t ever be bored!
May 17, 2011
I thoroughly enjoyed this eclectic mix of stories. There's something for everyone here, all well written, well crafted. Kudos to all the authors and also to the editors for choosing the stories and assembling them into such a great read.
March 9, 2011
I think this is a wonderful collection, and not just because two of my stories are in it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews