On the Premises – November 2009

This literary magazine holds a contest every four months with a theme. The contest is free to enter but has a number of prizes, the first prize being $140. This is obviously a great bargain, and consequently, the editors receive plenty of entries. I don’t know of another deal like this on the internet.

This literary magazine holds a contest every four months with a theme. The contest is free to enter but has a number of prizes, the first prize being $140. This is obviously a great bargain, and consequently, the editors receive plenty of entries. I don’t know of another deal like this on the internet.

The November issue theme revolved around one or more characters attempting to execute a specific plan, and the plan fails. The winner, by Bonnie McCune, was “Heart Of My Heart, Saint Teresa,” a realistic tale of two Hispanic, unwed teenagers who leave work early to do a little partying. Their characters, lives, and expectations are grimly revealed as they pick their way through the rubble of their environment.

Another story I liked, and an honorable mention in the contest, was “Oldest Plan in the Book” by Mark West. This is an absolutely delightful tale about three bumbling burglars and a lively cast of characters with names like Two-Fingers, Tupac, and Big Papa. We are taken on a number of twists and turns in the tale, one of the most refreshing aspects of it being that it is told almost entirely with the use of dialogue, and most of the participants emerge as three-dimensional figures.

Scrolling back to the July issue, I came across “All That Matters,” by Paul Klein, a diary of the apocalypse in which a young man and his mentally retarded brother flee to a lake outside of Detroit and wait as cities throughout the world are leveled by nuclear explosions. Harking back to On The Beach (1959), the radiation now begins to spread and infect everything, and the two must struggle to survive. The ending is predictable but touching.

This lit mag also runs a mini-contest with a fifteen-dollar first place prize. For December, 2009 the requirement was to create an entire story just by showing a short “sticky note” by one character to another. I absolutely loved this one written by Devan Goldstein:

Mom,

Took the car. Headed west, with Ralph. I told you he was trouble the first time you brought him home.

Julie

This is a unique website that is nicely laid out and easy to maneuver ones way around. They are coming up with new ideas and engaging stories all the time, and certainly deserve a good readership.
[www.onthepremises.com/]