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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 49m

Happy to announce that we've acquired "The Firelight" by Conner Martin for FF#31! Conner's work has also appeared in Cryptic Frog Quarterly.

The Firelight by Conner Martin: time loops / the approaching end / the moments that touch us

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Check out Sheldon's collection Where the Pavement Turns to Sand from @malarkeybooks.bsky.social here: malarkeybooks.com/store/pavement

Sheldon Birnie is a writer, dad, and beer league hockey player from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is the author of the short story collections Where the Pavement Turns to Sand (2023) and More Strange Visions (forthcoming), both from Malarkey Books.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Saros SF #6 story preview! The issue kicks off with "Wristwatch" by @badguybirnie.bsky.social where, in between ginos and apples and filthy dangles, the boys happily sign their humanity away for the latest gadgets. Our hero feels differently. sarossf.com/issue-6/

"Wristwatch" by Sheldon Birnie: beer league hockey / everything's computer / touching grass

Me, I don’t say anything. Not at first, anyhow. Just shake my head, raise my eyebrows to my buddy Neil sitting next to me, which gets a laugh. Ernie and Max, though, they don’t pay no mind. They’re geeking out over their biometric wristwatches like they’re the best things since sliced frickin bread. With the data they’re collecting, the behaviour they’re modifying as a result of the information the computer’s feeding back to them, they’ll live forever.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

One last preview for FF#28 and it's time to play Match the Quotes from @arielmarkenjack.bsky.social's reviews of @escapepod.org stories in this issue's From the Archives column. Which is which? Stories by @keffy.bsky.social Alex Dally MacFarlane @natania.bsky.social @kijjohnson.bsky.social!

Quote 1: “This story is as rip-roaring a good time of a genre mashup as a fundamentally tragic tale can be.”

Quote 2: “This is a deliciously and deliriously strange story, in which advertising and eroticism intertwine in ways I would never have dreamed.”

Quote 3: “The writing is lovely, clear and forthright and wholly sympathetic to the existence of someone who, by the accounting of everyone else in the story, should not have ever come to exist.”

Quote 4: “It feels phenomenally strange to list these various death-mat ing rites as potential works of art, and there is something so lingering about that way of framing these pictures.”

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

September's over and it's also Bandcamp Friday today (where you can buy most of these) so some shoutouts to the albums I had playing the most last month while working on FF#29 and Saros #7.

Albums on repeat at FF HQ:

#1. Cinephile - Ten
#2. Chelsea Wolfe - The Dark
#3. Velvet Two Stripes - Sugar Honey Iced Tea
#4. Rose Windows - Rose Windows
#5. Greylag - Greylag
#6. All Them Witches - House of Mirrors
#7. Just Mustard - Heart Under
#8. Nico Vega - Make It Out Alive EP
#9. Hana Vu - Romanticism
#10. John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Saros SF #7 is nearly here! Release date coming soon, so get ready for stories by @adamdelrey.bsky.social, Alexandra Nyx, Mir Rainbird, Mathew Lebowitz, Becks Simpson, and @kirkvanderbeek.bsky.social. Edited by @thompsinator.bsky.social, this issue features cover art by @chpearcewrites.bsky.social!

The cover of Saros #7 shows a woman on her phone, while faces peer at her. A small wormy caterpillar type insect emerges from her mouth.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Let the writers of FF#28 pile your TBR stacks even higher! Find out which of these books was called "Surreal, deadpan, and marvelously truthful" and which had a "big shimmering horrible emptiness" and which was *garbage truck noise*. Read all about these recs at: www.fusionfragment.com/issue-28/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Inside the issue, you can also find links to Francis's work in @ergot.bsky.social and CRAFT Literary, as well as notes on why they think you should check out work by Mariana Enríquez and E.Y. Zhao.

Francis Van Ganson is a bookseller, organ donor, and fiction writer. Their writing explores violence in movies, sex on tv, and what grief, trauma and mental illness do to narrative. They live in Chicago. Follow @boooooks or @fire.motif on Instagram or visit francisvanganson.com.

Francis Recommends:
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez
Underspin by E.Y. Zhao

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

FF#28 Story Preview: "Iso E Super" by Francis Van Ganson Are you up for a story about an actor playing a robot girl while also in real life dating someone who's been put into a robot body? This one was love-at-first-read for me, hope it is for you, too! www.fusionfragment.com/issue-28/

"Iso E Super" by Francis Van Ganson: bespoke perfumes / dating the robot girl vs. playing the robot girl / but how can you be sure?

I’d explained the movie’s plot in broad strokes, how it’s a classic robot movie with a horror twist: a group of scientists covertly monitor a robot girl who thinks she’s human to decide if she passes the Turing Test.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The cover for FF#29 by @caitlinxfowler.bsky.social has arrived! Official release date coming soon, when you can read work by @louisinglishall.bsky.social, Sarah M. Saif, Escher McDonell-Maulsby, Natasha Ali, @breewernicke.bsky.social, @pintsncupcakes.bsky.social, and @elliottgish.bsky.social!

The cover of FF#29 shows a woman in black veils pondering an orb. In the background, two pillars frame a sun-ish light.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Happy to announce that we've acquired "understanding/familiarity incongruity pain causation" by @aimeeogdenwrites.com for FF#31! Aimee's been nominated for Ignyte, Nebula, and Locus Awards, co-founded Translunar Travelers Lounge, and has been published in I think every spec fic mag out there!

"understanding/familiarity incongruity pain causation" by Aimee Ogden: [horse] / investigating the end of life / finding meaning

This text is overlaid on a graphic of a crystal horse against a black background

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

A little over an hour from now! My very first time being on a panel! (I'm not nervous, you're nervous.)

Flights of Foundry schedule. Saturday, Sep 19th 12 PM - 12:50 PM Eastern.

Short Fiction Magazine Structure

A Humphrey Lanham, Cavan Terrill, Jeffery Reynolds, Joseph Colby Bernert, Rebecca Treasure, and Stephen Granade

Short fiction magazines now come in many forms, from monthly issues that are freely available to read all at once, to paywalled issues that then release some stories over time, to those that send stories directly to subscribers' inboxes on a regular cadence. Readers can encounter stories, poems, and articles through social media, separating them from the larger context of an issue. How do magazines structure themselves in light of this? In what ways does the concept of a "monthly issue" still hold?

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Happy to announce that we've acquired @amaholla.bsky.social's novelette "The Silent Ambassadors" for FF#31! Amanda's previously been published in Augur, Diabolical Plots, F&SF, and had work reprinted in Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy and named to the Locus Recommended Reading List.

"The Silent Ambassadors" by Amanda Hollander: philately / guilt picks your punishment / post-collapse community

This text is overlaid on a background of a Chagall painting that features a pair of faces, the moon, some flowers and fruit.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The production of FF is powered by early mornings, late nights, and turning up the volume on some great music to drown out the world. Here are the albums that were playing most frequently in August here at FF HQ. (And hey look, that's TVam in top spot for 3 months in a row! Great album!)

Albums on repeat at FF HQ

1. TVam - Ruins
2. Fazerdaze - Morningside
3. Cinephile - Ten
4. French 79 - Olympic
5. Becca Mancari - The Greatest Part
6. All Them Witches - House of Mirrors
7. Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation - Mirage
8. Bass Drum of Death - Six
9. Velvet Two Stripes - Sugar Honey Iced Tea
10. Eliza Mclamb - Going Through It

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Inside the issue, you can find links to Claire's work in @apexmag.bsky.social and @clarkesworldmagazine.com, as well as notes on why she thinks you should check out work by @kmfajardo.bsky.social and @maigadoocy.bsky.social

Claire Jia-Wen is a speculative fiction writer originally from the 626 and has work published or forthcoming in khōréō, Clarkesworld, Nightmare, Apex, and more. A Viable Paradise and Clarion alum, she is currently a PhD student studying human-computer interaction. She is represented by Allegra Martschenko at Bookends Literary Agency. Follow @clairejiawen on Bluesky or Instagram, or visit clairejiawen.com.

Claire Recommends:
Local Heavens by K.M. Fajardo
Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

FF #28 Story Preview: "In the Wake of Whales" by @clairejiawen.bsky.social Are you up for a story about wondering what's real and also navigating parental disappointment and also environmental restoration with robot celebrities? www.fusionfragment.com/issue-28/

"In the Wake of Whales" by Claire-Jia Wen: the dead, revived by AI / environmentalism / is it him?

Smiling for the hovering drone-cams broadcasting this across multiple systems, you step forward and embrace the Double in the shape of your dead friend. He’s warm; his hand is uncertain against your back. You didn’t hug much when he was alive, so you suppose this ghost-facsimile doesn’t know exactly how to touch you.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Happy to announce that we've acquired "Prodigy" by @sounfiction.bsky.social (go say hi, he's just joined Bluesky) for FF#31. Mason's previously had work published in Horrific Scribes.

Prodigy by Mason Soun: talent transfer machines / giving part of yourself to the community / familial devotion

This text is overlaid on a graphic of a person seated at a piano with a spotlight shining on them

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

34. The Vegetarian by Han Kang (translated by Deborah Smith) casting off one's life / becoming a tree / the unknowability of others

The cover, on a background of red, is a silhouette of a woman from the neck up. Below the neck, she turns into roots and plants.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Inside the the issue, you can find links to Sophie's work in Passengers Journal, The Australian Writers Center, and Independent Magazine, as well as notes on why Sophie thinks you should check out work by Ling Ma and David Mitchell!

Sophie Casarico is a Boston-based writer and 2024 graduate of Emerson College’s Creative Writing MFA program. Her short fiction has previously been published by Passengers Journal and The Australian Writers’ Centre. She hails from the maybe-haunted city of St. Augustine, Florida, and requests that you do not hold this against her. Follow @sophiecasarico on Instagram, Substack, or X.

Sophie Recommends:
Bliss Montage by Ling Ma
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

FF#28 Story Preview: "Diet Tips for the Apocalypse" by @sophiecasarico.bsky.social Are you up for a fantastic story about the world falling to pieces around you while you remain oblivious because man oh man did your Mom ever really mess you up? www.fusionfragment.com/issue-28/

"Diet Tips for the Apocalypse" by Sophie Casarico: disordered eating / dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships / Boston under siege

I’ve skimmed enough motivational literature to know the way. It’s easy. It’s about being single-minded in pursuit of your goals, and focusing so deeply on what you want that the dream becomes true by virtue of your fixation. If you don’t have what you want, you don’t want it badly enough. Excellence requires sacrifice.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The reading period for Saros SF #8 draws near! This issue, edited by bioengineer and writer Owen Leddy (previously published in FF, Analog, GigaNotoSaurus and more!), is after your 1k-15k word biopunk stories. Full guidelines at sarossf.com/submissions/

Saros SF Reading Period: September 14th - October 14th
Theme: Biopunk
Pay: $25 CAD for original fiction
Length: 1000 to 15000 words
Edited by Owen Leddy

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

33. Sodom Road Exit by Amber Dawn haunted amusement parks / surviving trauma / going home again

The cover features an old rollercoaster underneath a cloudy sky.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Name your favourite Disney princess (wrong answers only)

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

32. The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies the Chinese-American experience, throughout time / the gold rush / adoption

The cover is a woman in a long red dress, viewed from behind, with a yellow parasol obscuring her head. She's walking down a street, but it's rendered in vague silhouettes, and the whole scene is gold.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Inside the issue, you can also find links to Audrey's work in @strangehorizons.bsky.social, @lightspeedmagazine.com and @pseudopod.org, along with details on why she thinks you should check out work by Simon Jimenez and @naominovik.bsky.social!

Audrey Zhou is a Chinese American writer from North Carolina. Her short fiction is published in Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, and PseudoPod, among others. She is a 2025 graduate of the Clarion Workshop. Follow @aud_zhou on X, @audreyzhou on Bluesky, or visit audreyzhouwrites.com.

Audrey recommends:
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

FF#28 Story Preview: "(Non)deterministic Finite Automata" by @audreyzhou.bsky.social Are you up for a multiverse doomed-romance well but not actually romance but, well, kind of and look we just want the right thing from the vending machine. www.fusionfragment.com/issue-28/

"(Non)Deterministic Finite Automata" by Audrey Zhou: searching for survival in the multiverse / soulmates / "I know you"

The universe where Chen and Ranyi were born, research progressed enough to identify convergence points, where the same threads aligned. The game became: here are versions of the same situation. Here are the choices you can make and all the new possibilities that spawn off from each split, each divide. Find the one where you win.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

An FFer Giveaway is live on our Patreon! I'm doing 3 draws (including 1 for free-tier members) and you could win your choice of prizes. We've got books by FFers and anthologies and magazine issues containing FFers up for grabs! Plus check out a ton of great stories! www.patreon.com/fusionfragme...

The Drowned Man's Daughter - C.J. Lavigne
The House of Illusionists - Vanessa Fogg
Twin Tides - Hien Nguyen
Uncertain Sons - Thomas Ha

A Chorus, Divergent - ed. C.G. Aubrey
Enter Here - eds. C.J. Subko & M. Stevenson
Small Wonders - Aug-Dec 2025 issues
Radon Journal Patreon Membership

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Editor @thompsinator.bsky.social has finalized the TOC for Saros SF #7! The "Terminally Online" issue will have fiction from Becks Simpson, @kirkvanderbeek.bsky.social, @adamdelrey.bsky.social, Alexandra Nyx, Mir Rainbird, Mathew Lebowitz, and cover art by @chpearcewrites.bsky.social. Stay tuned!

Saros Speculative Fiction Issue 7: Terminally Online

Table of Contents

Edited by K. Thompson
"Haunted Rocks" by Becks Simpson
"The Pieces" by Kirk Vanderbeek
"reLEASEYA" by Adam DelRey
"GalatAI 2.1" by Alexandra Nyx
"Late Online" by Mir Rainbird
"The Museum of the Now" by Mathew Lebowitz

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

31. Heartbreaker by Claudia Dey cult towns frozen in time / a person is many things / of the blood

The cover is mostly purplish, with what looks like asteroids or shooting stars in the sky, and the side view of an 80s sedan in the foreground.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

The production of FF is powered by early mornings, late nights, and turning up the volume on some great music to drown out the world. Here are the albums that were playing most frequently in July here at FF HQ. (And btw it's Bandcamp Friday today, just sayin')

Albums on repeat at FF HQ:

1. TVam - Ruins
2. New Candys - The Uncanny Extravaganza
3. Becca Mancari - The Greatest Part
4. Cinephile - Ten
5. Mars Red Sky - Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul)
6. José González - Against the Dying of the Light
7. French 79 - Olympic
8. Black Pumas - Black Pumas
9. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Don't Get Lost
10. St. Vincent - Masseduction

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Inside the issue, you can find links to Tuesday's work in @thecoloredlens.bsky.social and @archiveoftheodd.bsky.social, along with details on why she thinks you should read work by the Katherines Paterson and Rundell!

Tuesday Pil is a speculative writer whose work has appeared in The Colored Lens, Archive of the Odd, and more. Originally from the Philippines, she is interested in writing about Filipino folklore and the Filipino-American diaspora. She is currently an MFA fiction candidate at North Carolina State University, and is represented by Andie Smith of Creative Media Agency for her middle grade work. Follow @tuesday_writes on Instagram or visit tuesdaywrites.wordpress.com.

Tuesday Recommends:
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

FF#28 Story Preview: "u last saw hana in the mageverse" by @tuesdaywrites.bsky.social There's nothing I love more than a dark-but-hopeful story, and this one, about othering and self-discovery and grief and illness, is exactly that. www.fusionfragment.com/issue-28/

"u last saw hana in the mageverse" by Tuesday Pil: immersive MMORPGs / battling mental illness / why did you choose the slime?

Why exactly is it that you play as a slime? Is it because it’s quirky? Unexpected? Is it just because it’s the least-chosen MageVerse race for a player character? Is it because you were ten when you first made the account?

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

30. Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson RFP fulfillment / time travel / ecological surveys

On the cover, an old-ish woman in a white tank top with robot tentacles for legs wades through water. She's surrounded by black mechanical orbs with red lights.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Sorry to change things up on everyone, but I'm cancelling the September reading period--I don't think I'll be a properly attentive reader during that time. Hoping to be back to our regularly scheduled reading periods in November!

2026/2027 reading period Update

Due to family health issues, I’ve decided to cancel our previously scheduled September reading period.

At this time, our next batch of reading periods will be:
November 1 - November 30, 2026
January 1 - January 31, 2027
March 1 - March 31, 2027

Apologies for the change, but I look forward to reading your work in November!

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Print editions of FF 28 and Saros SF 6 are now available for purchase! Skull and cobwebs not included! sarossf.com/issue-6/ www.fusionfragment.com/issue-28/

Copies of Saros #6 and FF#28 perched on a mantle next to a skull (and a melted candle which is all cobwebby).

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

29. The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott the making of a spy / Doctor Zhivago / The Lavender Scare

The cover is an image of a woman in a green dress. A star separates her from a slash of red background, where the title is written.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

28. Uncertain Sons and Other Stories by Thomas Ha horrific creatures / uncertain fathers (OK, well a couple of them have some certainty) / sharing whiskey with the woman-thing

The cover shows some humanoid heads against a red backdrop. But the heads are filled with dark....something. Wires? Bones? Chitinous materials?

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Inside the issue, you can find links to Allison's work in @lastsyllablelit.bsky.social, @crowkeys.bsky.social, and @exposedbonemag.bsky.social (among others). You can also find out why she thinks you should read work by Mervyn Peake and Susanna Clarke!

Allison Wall is a queer, neurodivergent writer whose work explores deconstruction, self-discovery, and belonging. She has published short fiction, poetry, and book and film reviews, and works as a dissertation editor. Follow @awritingwall on Bluesky or Instagram, or visit allison-wall. com.

Allison recommends:
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

FF#28: "Chutes, Slides, and Ladders" by @awritingwall.bsky.social This one knocked our socks off by going all-in on its Lord-of-the-Flies style premise featuring a group of children battling for control over a world of Chutes & Ladders. www.fusionfragment.com/issue-28/

"Chutes, Slides, and Ladders" by Allison Wall: surviving the board game world / opposing ideologies / the other place

Strut and his kids’re coming. I can tell it’s them from far by the light glinting off ’em. It’s evil, what they did. Pulled up metal from chutes and slides and wrapped it around their heads, chests, arms, legs, for armor. Ripped ladders apart and sharpened the pieces, for spears and swords. They tore up part of the world to do that.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

27. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone love letters / red vs. blue / altering the many timelines

The cover is two birds, mirroring each other, one red and one blue, with some glitching.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

26. The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff researching family trees / fictionalized James Fenimore Cooper / lake monsters

The cover is the title/author, embedded in a bunch of what appear to be fish scales.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Some Associate Editor Henry for your Thursday.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I mentioned a while back that FF#24 was poised to overtake FF#20 as our bestselling issue of all-time and, well, it happened! But suddenly FF#20 moved a bunch of copies and now we're tied. So, which will catch your eye? www.fusionfragment.com/issue-20/ www.fusionfragment.com/issue-24/

The image shows the covers of FF#20 and FF#24, with a Vs. in the middle. The text reads FF Issue Showdown and Bestseller Battle!!!!!

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Inside the issue, you can also find links to work by Corey in @thedeadlands.com and @strangehorizons.bsky.social (among others), and find out why Corey recommends work by @juliaelliott.bsky.social and @thomasha.bsky.social!

Corey Farrenkopf is a writer and librarian living on Cape Cod. His work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Fantasy, Nightmare, The Deadlands, Three-Lobed Burning Eye, and elsewhere. He is the author of the novel, Living in Cemeteries, and the short story collection, Haunted Ecologies. Follow @coreyfarrenkopf on Instagram or Bluesky, or visit coreyfarrenkopf.com.

Corey recommends:
Hellions by Julia Elliott
Uncertain Sons by Thomas Ha

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

FF#28 Story Preview: "Grave Bells" by @coreyfarrenkopf.bsky.social Are you after a zombie story that's also a cli-fi story that's really a family story about a mother who's had to survive raising a son who wants more than just survival? Then this is your jam! www.fusionfragment.com/issue-28/

"Grave Bells" by Corey Farrenkopf": family footsteps / post-apocalyptic communities / the rising water and the rising dead

The brass bell sang a single note. I released the twine running through the shepherd’s hook into the freshly packed earth. The grave had been filled hours ago. I tied the knots before the casket closed, one looped around each dead finger.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Was out for a ramble in town during a day off and popped into Mill Street Books (my local indie!) for a browse. And, lo and behold, a couple of books by FFers @lynnhutchinsonlee.bsky.social and @mahmudelsayed.bsky.social were stocked on the shelves! Obviously I had to bring them home.

Two books on a mantle against a stone wall with a gold snake candle holder. A little squiggly line points from Lynn Hutchinson Lee's Nightshade to a cover image of FF#19. Another little squiggly line points from Mahmud El Sayed's The Republic of Memory to a cover image of FF#12.

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Saros SF #6 has arrived! Edited by @chalicotherex.bsky.social, it contains stories by @badguybirnie.bsky.social, Susan R. Morritt, David Kloepfer, and @marisca.bsky.social, plus cover and interior art by @finnmattfour.bsky.social! Get your copy (for free!) right here: sarossf.com/issue-6/

Saros SF Issue 6 Table of Contents:

Edited by Adam McPhee

“Wristwatch” by Sheldon Birnie: beer league hockey / everything’s computer / touching grass

“I’ve Got the Sauce, If You’ve Got the Pasta” by Susan R. Morritt: industrial agriculture / cesspit / afterbirth

“Lacuna” by David Kloepfer: invasive procedure / half-remembered dreams / atomization and alienation

“All Our History Begins At the End” by Marisca Pichette: space stations / dreaming / the end of things

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

The production of FF is powered by early mornings, late nights, while I bobble-head along to some great music. Here are the albums that were playing most frequently in June here at FF HQ.

Albums on repeat at FF HQ

#1: TVam - Ruins
#2: Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens
#3: Bleached - Ride Your Heart
#4: Liz Lawrence - The Avalanche
#5: Beach Bunny - Emotional Creature
#6: New Candys - The Uncanny Extravaganza
#7: Emily Wolfe - Emily Wolfe
#8: Liela Moss - My Name Is Safe In Your Mouth
#9: Hana Vu - Romanticism
#10: Mitski - Puberty 2

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Inside the issue, you can also find links to stories by Erin in @lunastation.bsky.social and Dark Matter Magazine (among others) and find out why Erin recommends work by @nalohop.bsky.social and Molly Gloss.

Erin Strubbe is a writer, editor, and educator based in the Pacific Northwest. She received an MFA from the University of Washington, and her work has appeared in Luna Station Quarterly, Dark Matter Magazine, and others. Follow @estrubbe on Bluesky or visit erinstrubbe.com.

Erin recommends:
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
The Dazzle of Day by Molly Gloss

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

FF#28 Story Preview: "Birdguts" by @estrubbe.bsky.social Are you after a queer coming-of-age story where characters challenge long-held societal norms about the whether it's even necessary to feed rocks to the birds that live in our stomachs? Then this is your jam! www.fusionfragment.com/issue-28/

"Birdguts" by Erin Strubbe: speculative biologies / eating stones / maybe the norm isn't the norm

He kisses sweet chalcedonies into my open mouth. The stones click against my teeth, sliding cool against my tongue, and my birdgut roils in pleasure. Rustles its feathers and hiccups softly at each dewdrop pebble until the stars above me start to sway.

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