Tag: Becky Fine-Firesheets

Episode 53 – Stargazing

Our first story transports us to Lake Sunapee on a summer afternoon. Sounds peaceful enough, right? Except, once there, we find the narrator and his brother plotting over how to bait a porcupine (read: wild turkey hunter). The afternoon of googling best practices for said task leads to an examination of fear and how similar we actually are to our furry, or spiky, friends.

Today’s podcast is a #throwbackthursday to 2015 and our inaugural show at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s summer MFA creative writing residency. Read for us here by his story partner Becky Fine-Firesheets, give a listen to “Ascension” written by Cory Johnston.

We are thrilled to share that Cory’s story was recently published by the Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review.

Click here to read along.

Stargazing Storytellers

Right: Cory Johnston; Left: Becky Fine-Firesheets

Switching it up, our second tale considers a different type of stargazing in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. A not-so-glam neighborhood is overrun with Boardwalk Empire and Girls extras, leading our narrator to dream of how her messy, poop-dancing, newly adopted boxer Bear could become a dog legend. As nostalgia for a neighborhood not to return increases alongside her rent, she strives for happiness in spite of the big city working against its own residents.

Cory Johnston reads “A Bear is Born” written by Becky Fine-Firesheets.

Happy Birthday to Becky!! As well as a big congratulations for being awarded a 2020-2021 Pen Parentis fellowship for her story, “2021.”

“Ascension” and “A Bear is Born” were directed by Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons.

Alum Fun Update: What Doesn’t Kill You

What Doesn’t Kill You: An Anthology of YA Short Fiction features talented No, YOU Tell It! alums including Eliot Schrefer, Tiffany L. Berryman, Hayden Bergman, and Becky Fine-Firesheets among a group of two-dozen distinguished writers from all over the United States and Canada who claim to have survived the harrowing passage of their teenage years—but sometimes just barely! They hope these stories will help you survive too—since they know being a teenager often feels like an impossible task, like it’s trying to kill you for no apparent reason.

The characters in these pages have gone through some stuff—and are still going through some stuff as their stories unfold. (After all, what doesn’t kill you sometimes just keeps trying until the job is done, right?) They’ve been tricked out of money, given up their innocence before realizing what might be lost, and even ended up accidentally traveling through time with the Devil. They’ve thought they’d killed people—and even actually done it. They’ve come out, struggled with eating disorders and OCD, and even had to take on parenting responsibilities all by themselves.

If you’ve ever felt like the world’s out to get you, then this book’s for you. Buy your copy of What Doesn’t Kill You on Indomita Press or by visiting indomitapress.com/our-books