We are delighted to announce the winners of Lucent Dreaming’s 2021 Flash Fiction contest. The winning stories appear below, and will be published in our upcoming 10th issue next month. Highly commended stories will appear in issue 10 of Lucent Dreaming which is available to preorder. 1st Place Jeffrey Skinner, ‘Mission Creep’ 2nd Place Julia Clayton, ‘Dacre Must Fall’ 3rd
We are delighted to announce the winners of Lucent Dreaming’s 2021 Poetry and Short Story contests. The winning poems and short stories will appear below, and in our upcoming 10th issue. We would like to thank everyone who entered this year’s poetry and short story categories. We had a very difficult job narrowing down our top pieces in both categories.
Lucent Dreaming issue 9 has arrived at Lucent HQ and we think it’s our best one yet. Subscribe today from only £20 to purchase your copy. Issue 9 features prose and poetry inspired by fairytale and folklore. And, to celebrate our upcoming third anniversary of issue 1 this April 28th, we’ve gone all out with a foil cover for our
After one of the toughest judging periods in our 3+ year history, we are proud to announce the winners of Lucent Dreaming’s 2020 Poetry and Short Story contests. Read the winning poems and short stories below, and in our upcoming 8th issue. Our winning pieces comprise the judges’ unforgettable favourites, often timely, some dark, and some that bring us close
What is a ‘good’ business model when it comes to publishing? Are submission fees all bad? And what part does public funding have to play? In this post, I share my thoughts on indie publishing, public funding and submission fees. Before we get to the main-meal of this, let me be clear that my personal views on business shape what
Pinocchio and Thumbelina are sitting down to supper. It’s the first thoroughly cooked fish in days, but neither of them are very hungry. They need to feed themselves with something, though, or they’ll go crazy. So, they have a misery contest to chew on. “I’m breakable—my bones won’t heal back,” says Pinocchio proudly. “I’m misplaceable. I almost got baked into
They were born from a flower deep in the pine forest of the Highlands, hiding in the earth, gasping for air. Angry from years of imprisonment, they pushed the stem above ground, erupting rough through mud like air from a geyser. We called this flower the creeping lady’s-tresses, and its flowers spiral around the shoot like stairs, itching to feel
I yawn and my eyesslowly kill the lightlike a doll I shut down this body is likea sleeping bagone size fits all when it falls asleepI wander for hoursin a different world sometimes a dogis chasing mebut mostly I fall with my legscaught in somethingand then I’m down stretching myselfto fit insideagain Buy issue 9 today. Lucent Dreaming is an
I sit with my back to the wall and stare at the last spot of dying light on the floor. I follow its path as it creeps like the spiders, moving with the sun as it hides for another day. The shadows in the room finally chase out the last rays, and I am once again shrouded in darkness, seeking
There has been a heatwave for days. The dog lies with its nosein the air conditioner’s face.The blinds are shut against the blazefingering the windowpanes. But no need to worry,we’ll be fine, as long asthe power stays on,and the groceries are delivered. (Although, the site is now a spinning ball, and I don’t have a number to call.) The water
I am a good person. This realisation didn’t dawn on me quickly, it was a lengthier process than that, slow and drawn-out. I suppose I always knew. Though it took longer to come to the surface, and only when I had more to compare with did I get clarity. I was probably the best person I knew. I don’t mean
Celebrities bemoan the drawbacks of being rich and famous but being poor and famous is far worse. Derek Mackintosh had, for a few years, been the former and was now very much the latter. That was why he was standing outside Costcutter, waving his arm at an approaching W7 bus to Finsbury Park, rather than hailing a taxi. As the
