Fiction

The Balcony Gardener and her beloved dog Teddy were enjoying a patch of late January sun that had wandered, briefly, into February’s jurisdiction. Teddy lay with his chin on his…

Photo by Coffee with Joshua   By December, the city had folded itself into its winter shape—narrower streets of light, colder breath rising from the river, and the faint metallic…

Photo by Tim Foster   The Balcony Gardener noticed the frost before she felt the chill. A silvery film on the railing, the kind that makes you pause before disturbing…

Photo by Aedrian Salazar   By October, the balcony was a patchwork of endings and beginnings. Tomatoes, sun-tired on thinning vines, sagged under the weight of their final fruit. The…

Photo by Saif Ali   It was the time of year when the Balcony Gardener used to make applesauce in California. An apple tree would never fit on her Paris…

A program priced at just $75 for teens interesting in writing is scheduled Friday, September 26 from 3 to 6 p.m. on the first day of the 2025 Central Coast…

Photo by Beth Macdonald.   This morning, the Balcony Gardener sat cross-legged on her folding chair, sipping garlic scape tea from a chipped porcelain cup that once belonged to someone…

Cash prizes and publication await the winners of the 2025 Golden Quill writing contest, an annual competition sponsored by SLO NightWriters in three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Deadline to…

[caption id="attachment_7088" align="alignleft" width="125"] Lee Herrick[/caption] The Coastal Dunes Branch of the California Writers Club is kicking off California Writers Week with an afternoon of literary exploration on Sunday, October…

The deadline to apply was May 5, 2023. Artists and cultural practitioners living and working in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Kern, or Ventura counties can now apply for California…