finding the literature: vol. 2

reviews of Substack fiction

Welcome to finding the literature, where I share the fiction I’ve been reading and enjoying on Substack.

I’m not sure if I plan on posting this weekly, but there was so much I found this week that I couldn’t help but put one out there. The feedback from the first one was very positive, and so this seems a worthy endeavor and I thank everyone for engaging. Together, we will uncover the lit.

I have a few thoughts on the necessity and meaning behind restacking fiction on Notes in the Substack fiction community that I might include in the intro of the next finding the literature. But I wanted to keep this intro shorter for this edition and focus more on the works.

Without further ado — here’s vol.2 —

I’ll start with someone I’ve read for a long time who I don’t think has enough subscribers — maydayhobby.

Mayday always blends the poetic and the prosaic so well. I liked this story because I think it tells a particularly American tale about an aging couple that could be so many couples of the Midwest, trapped in their own ways and sticking with the devil they know, ensnared in the throes of tradition.

Mayday also posts a lot of poetry, so if you are into that, subscribe to her for those as well. (Warning though, sometimes they can be a little… ‘spicy’ in the best possible way!)

One thing I have always struggled with on Substack is making the distinction between lit-fic and personal essays/creative non-fiction/memoir and the like. There is a lot of the latter on Substack (it’s certainly more popular) and my entire Substack persona is kind of a reaction to that dichotomy. I really do enjoy most of the nonfiction I read on here, but I am trying to stick to strictly fiction for these posts. Right now, I am willing to call some of the more ambiguously fiction posts decisively fiction unless I am told otherwise.

Which brings me to H Blake, a discovery this week I am particularly proud of. Their first-person piece about the complexity of what makes life living contained some brilliant prose, with a wonderful cadence to the pacing of the sort I aspire to.

Check out their other pieces as well. I’m really excited about this writer so curious as to what you all think.

Will Boucher is one of my favorite ever finds on Substack. His combination of storytelling and energetic, creative prose makes him one of my favorite fiction authors on Substack. I think this one was extremely relatable to all creatives. It’s about that moment when you sort of ‘give up’ on the big dream of dreams and settle into a life that forgoes those dreams on some level, watching as your friends hopefully (or hopelessly) carry on.

A cool thing about this story was the title and how it relates to the narrative, but those words never actually appear within it at all.

As it turns out, Will and I have similar influences, which might be why I like his writing so much. Will is someone who, when he writes something, inspires me to be better.

I love coming-of-age stories. I love young romance. Meg Oolders is always finding new ways to artfully combine the two. In this short story, Meg takes us to a familiar trope that she has deftly coopted for her own purposes. I was brought back to my own teenage swimming hole and how I was always afraid to make the jump. We’re all afraid to make the jump, for so many reasons — insecurity, fear, uncertainty. All you can do is remember what makes the jump it worthwhile; and usually, that’s love.

(Wait, maybe this also works as an allegory for posting fiction on Substack!)

I’d define Meg as a ‘fiction Substack stalwart’ and someone who has done a lot of great work to build the fiction community here. Check them out at Fictionistas as well.

Sara is another new discovery of mine who you should definitely check out. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about the importance of nature as a sacred place and Sara captured that spirit in this piece perfectly. There’s an element of magical realism here, particularly in the ‘I’ of the narrator. Maybe I missed it, but I found myself wondering who the ‘I’ of the narrator was and whether they were a spirit or otherwise, but in the end it didn’t matter and the effect was marvelous.

Sara posts somewhat frequently and I’ve restacked a few of their stories before, so I hope you check them out. They capture so well the poignancy of the small moments in life.

That’s a wrap on vol. 2! I’ve already got some in the Saved column that might make it to vol. 3, hopefully next week, but we’ll see. I’ll leave you with this: