Hi folks. Here's what we've been up to at Necessary Fiction:

Sarah Holloway joined us again, this time to review Hidden River by Sara Lippmann (Tortoise Books). Sara has also written for us in the past.

Then this week's story, the next in our summer flash fiction series, was "Saltwater Proof" by Khayelihle Benghu. We're glad to see Khayelihle in our pages for the first time.

Congratulations to contributor Elizabeth McCracken, recipient of the 2026 PEN/Bernard and Ann Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story. If you'd like to benefit from her wisdom, I highly recommend her recent craft book A Long Game: Notes On Writing Fiction.

And if you're a writer who is interested in but intimidated by using Scrivener, friend of NF Jaime Green is again offering her online workshop Scrivener for Creative Writers, on July 12 at 1:30pm ET. Student discounts are available.

Thanks for reading,

Steve Himmer