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We love Fiction Potluck because the submissions are so much fun! Here are July's Fiction Potluck Finalists for the Sci-Fi Western challenge.
Look for the Finalist badge across social media to connect with these authors.
July Finalists
Alexis Ames
Alexis Ames is a speculative fiction writer with works in publications such as Pseudopod, Luna Station Quarterly, and Radon Journal. You can find more of their stories at www.alexisamesbooks.com.
Juliette Beauchamp
Juliette Beauchamp (@beau_juno on X) grew up reading everything she could get her hands on and is still usually reading two or three books at a time. She lives on a small farm in Virginia where she caters to a variety of animals and tries to keep up with her toddler.
Emily Brown
Emily Brown, in the words of her brother, "likes playing piano, pacing up and down, and then disappearing into her room for hours on end where no one really knows what she does."
She also has a singer/songwriter YouTube channel under the stage name Emmi Byrd.
Emery Denham
Previously from Arizona, Emery Denham is now a student journalist at Purdue, where they study Environmental Biology. A strong fan of sci-fi and deserts, they love thinking about planets, spaceships, and robots with sand stuck in their joints. You can find more musings on their Instagram @emeryducktie
WB Doran
WB Doran loves character driven stories of unique worlds, settings and surprise endings. He lives and writes from a small corner in Northern California. He is the proud father of one insane, bike-chasing Border Collie and an orange cat with one brain cell.
John Haas
John Haas is a Canadian author living in Ottawa with his two wonderful sons and equally wonderful girlfriend, who all give him plenty of motivation to succeed. His “The Reluctant Barbarian” trilogy is published by Renaissance Press, while his “Book of Ancient Evil” series is published by Wordfire Press.
Website: johnhaas.ca
Matthew Kasper
Matthew Kasper is a Baltimore native. He has an MFA in Fiction from Pacific University, and his work has appeared in Newsweek, Halfway Down the Stairs, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, and elsewhere. [This submission] is his first piece of Sci-Fi and he looks forward to publishing more in this genre.
Anne-Marie Kofoed
Anne-Marie hides in the magic between the pages of a book. An avid reader as a child, she soon began to write stories of her own. Though comfortable with the long form, she currently has fallen in love with flash and micro fiction, regularly competing in international writing contests.
Mark Mellon
Mark Mellon is a novelist who supports his family by working as an attorney. He writes two-fisted, hardboiled, blood and guts pulp fiction and has five novels and over a hundred short stories (many as reprints) published in multiple countries. More information about his writing is available at: www.mellonwritesagain.com.
Maura Morgan
Maura Morgan writes historical fiction and short stories. She graduated from Drexel University with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing and has been published in After Dinner Conversation, “The Zombie in the Bathroom.” Her story “PLaNT Man” is part of the anthology Best Climate Change Stories.
This quarter is officially sponsored by Duotrope; the first place winner of this quarter's challenge receives Duotrope service for free for two years
(valued at $100)!
Join us here on September 20 for Fiction Potluck Friday
to read the winning pieces!
We love our fantastic Guest Judge, R.A. Clarke!
Rachael Clarke (R.A. Clarke) is an author/illustrator living in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. When not writing, she's enjoying family time, acting in community theatre, or relaxing at the lake. Her multi-genre fiction has won international competitions such as the Write Fighters 3-Day Novella Challenge, The Writer's Workout's 'Writer’s Games', the Writers Weekly 24-Hour Contest, and Red Penguin Books’ Humour Contest. She was a 2021 Futurescapes Award finalist, a 2022 Dark Sire Awards finalist, and her children’s book The Big Ol’ Bike was a Hindi’s Libraries finalist in 2021. Her debut sci-fi western novel Race to Novus released in April, 2024. Visit: www.rachaelclarkewrites.com.