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The Falling Marbles Bimonthly
An every-other-month offering of and about fiction from the premier publisher of literary fiction in the State of Texas
ISSUE III (Nov/Dec ’25)
featuring a poetic look at love in the time of foggy grime, the second day of a classic’s rebirth, the final part of a tale of two universities, and much more
“Cascading worth, one work at a time”
Stories
THE BALLAD OF EDMUND TUPPENCE, CANTO THE THIRD by Mark Gullick
The third of four cantos in The Ballad of Edmund Tuppence, a look-in at the state of love in postmodern London
THE HATCHLINGS OF FALL ’08: A TALE OF TWO UNIVERSITIES by Stewart Berg
The final part of the novel The Hatchings of Fall ’08, the story of two Tacoma-area institutions of higher learning and a group of friends who find themselves at the center of the two schools’ traditional rivalry
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A Decisive Afternoon
CHAPTER TWELVE
A Precarious Evening
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Available with Paperback release
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Available with Paperback release
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Available with Paperback release
NO PIER ONE by Michael Long
A chapter from Michael Long’s Not Just A Job, a novel following young Gary Thorpe into his service with the US Navy in the 1970s West Pacific. A quartermaster, his job is to steer and navigate the ship, but he learns quickly that being in the US Navy entails much more — and much less — than advertised. Authored by a former Navy quartermaster, Not Just A Job is sure to relate to anyone who has ever found himself in a situation less than he imagined.
POT’S WITH THE KETTLE by Shay Martin
A story of what is being passed on, in the vein of Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle.” Where that work concerns a father and son’s similarity in generational aloofness, this is about the same between mother and daughter
ROAMIN’ IN THE GLOAMIN’ by Stewart Berg
An ode to evenings in Austin, in the vein of Harry Lauder’s “Roamin’ in the Gloamin’.” Where that work concerns walks about the river Clyde, this is about walking the streets of that Texas city
THE PENTAMERON, DAY TWO by Mariah Ashe
Day Two, including the second ten stories, of The Pentameron; or, The Five Days of Fifty Stories, as Told by a Group of Friends Escaping the COVID Pandemic, a reworking of the 15th Century work “Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles.” First translated into English in 1899 by Robert Douglas, this collection is now, for the first time, elevated to the level of Boccaccio’s Decameron and the Heptameron of Marguerite de Navarre with a frame story fitting for it.
O GODDESS CLIMATE by Shay Martin
A plea to power, which contains a simple demand, in the vein of The Chordettes’ “Mister Sandman.” Where that work concerns a nighttime request for the best of dream, this is about a lifetime demand for the daily
On Stories
A “NOVEL” APPROACH TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF EVIL by Stephen Paul Foster
An author’s continuing thoughts on the theme behind his novel Fatal Friendship, a book in which the age-old Rousseau-Hobbes debate is solved, merely requiring a grisly murder (or two)
