Good morning, everyone. I hope these final days of the year are bright ones for you.

It was a light week for us, but we did publish Mia Carroll's review The Way You Want to Be Loved by Aruni Kashyap, from Gaudy Boy. We're grateful to publish Mia's work for the first time.

We'll bring you our first story of the year next week.

Our next submission period will open on January 1, for stories exploring the theme of "Return":

What does it mean to turn back towards something or someone? A return can be a homecoming, a homegoing, or a gesture of affection (as in returning a hug from another). In literature, Odysseus returned after a long absence and sea voyage; for Penelope, who went to her loom to undo the day's prior work, returning happened in the smallest of gestures. Balls are returned in sports; juries return judgments. People, money, and objects come back to us. We return unwanted or defective purchases. We come back, again and again, to ourselves and to the places we have tried to leave.

Full details will be visible on Submittable when the time comes. Regular submissions will be closed for that period. And other upcoming submissions periods will be February 15-March 15 for our annual flash fiction summer series, and April 1-30 for our October spooky series.

Finally, if you're looking to kick off the year with a goal or plan for your writing, on Friday, January 3, Joy Baglio will offer a free online workshop through Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop on "Setting Creative Intentions."

Thanks for reading, and I hope the transition from one year to the next is all that you want it to be.

Steve Himmer