Some stories are available online; others in hard copy only; some appear in both formats. Follow the links to read the online stories. There are also links to the journals’ websites where you can order back copies of print issues and browse their other fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Literary journals are essential venues for writers and readers. Please help to support their efforts.
Title: Mom?
Publication: 50 Give or Take, July 28, 2024
Reflection: Every mother’s nightmare
Journal: 50 Give or Take
Title: Hand Me Ups
Publication: 50 Give or Take, February 08, 2024
Reflection: A testament to generations of women
Journal: 50 Give or Take
Title: Uncle Joe
Publication: Fifty Word Stories, January 10, 2024
Reflection: While readers will likely appreciate the punch line, the challenge for me as a writer was detailing what Uncle Joe hoped to impart to his nephew and niece.
Journal: Fifty Word Stories Brand new bite-sized fiction every day!
Title: Wrinkles of Disappointment
Publication: 50 Give or Take, August 16, 2023
Inspiration: Prompted by a remark my daughter made about the “disappointed” face of a woman in a theater lobby where we were attending a performance
Journal: 50 Give or Take
Title: Vintage Varmints
Publication: 50 Give or Take, December 22, 2022
Reflection: A chuckle, whether you prefer the newfangled or the old-fashioned
Journal: 50 Give or Take
Title: Famine
Publication: CultureCult Magazine haunted house anthology HAUS
Log line: In “Famine,” a single mother of Irish descent, worried how she’ll feed her daughter in the aftermath of the 2008 economic collapse, is visited by the ghosts of two immigrants who lived in her Bronx apartment: one whose daughter died in 1847 during the Irish potato famine and another who came with her daughter in 1970 during The Troubles.
Journal (Press): CultureCult Magazine and Press
Title: Accidentally
Publication: 50 Give or Take, October 06, 2022
Reflection: Words to ponder for those who ask, “What is she waiting for?”
Journal: 50 Give or Take
Title: What’s in There?
Publication: 50 Give or Take, September 13, 2022
Reflection: This piece is dedicated to all older siblings. (BTW – I’m a younger sib!)
Journal: 50 Give or Take
Title: Untitled Country Song
Publication: 50 Give or Take, July 15, 2022
Reflection: I hope this story provokes a teary-eyed chuckle. When I wrote it, I was taking a nostalgia trip to my country-western dancing and bar-hopping days of the early 1980s.
Journal: 50 Give or Take
Title: Feline Believer
Publication: 50 Give or Take, March 29, 2022
Reflection: Watching birds is instinctive for cats, who regard them as easy prey. Cats often “chatter” when they see a bird. Why? Experts theorize that cats make this chirping sound as a means to mimic their prey, entice it to come closer, or possibly even hypnotize it and make it easier to catch. Is it possible that the sound we hear is actually felines praying?
Journal: 50 Give or Take
Title: Housewidow
Publication: The Woven Tale Press, 2021, Vol. IX, No. 9
Log line: In “Housewidow,” set amidst the post-WWII housing shortage, a third-grader’s world is upended when her family is evicted due to her father’s uncharacteristic outburst against their demanding landlady.
Journal: The Woven Tale Press
Title: Death, Shmeath
Publication: North American Review, Summer 2021
Log line: In “Death, Shmeath,” set in 1932 Brooklyn and based on a real character, an Orthodox father struggles with his son’s worldwide fame as the first and only gay Jewish matador.
Journal: North American Review
Sidney Franklin. the gay Jewish matador from Brooklyn
Title: The Women of Tahiti
Publication: Jewish Fiction, Spring 2021, Issue 26
Log line: In “The Women of Tahiti,” an elderly man, convalescing after heart surgery, fantasizes the healing caresses of tropical beauties while recalling his troubled life as a cripple working for the Kosher Mob.
Journal: Jewish Fiction
Prominent members of the Jewish Mafia, a.k.a. the Kosher Mob
An English language journal of contemporary writing on Jewish themes
Title: Sophie’s Confession
Publication: Ramblr, 2020, Issue 3
Log line: In “Sophie’s Confession,” Sophie Tucker, The Last of the Red Hot Mamas, makes a surprising admission on her death bed and leaves the public to ponder its response to discovering the truth behind an illusion.
Journal: Ramblr https://ramblr.me/
Sophie Tucker: Grande Dame and Last of the Red Hot Mamas
Title: A Mule of One’s Own
Publication: Orca, 2020, Issue #3
Log line: “A Mule of One’s Own” is about a pack horse librarian who delivers books and hope to Kentucky’s rural families in the Depression while her own family falls apart because her job threatens her unemployed husband. (Read more about the history behind the story, including photos of these determined “equestrienne librarians,” on my BLOG dated 02/03/20.)
Journal: Orca https://orcalit.com/
Title: Over the Road Song
Publication: The Manhattanville Review, January 2020
Log line: In “Over the Road Song,” women truckers (CB handles mothertrucker2, Grannygears, and tankertopper) from three generations have a testy debate about the pros and cons of life on the road.
Journal: The Manhattanville Review website http://www.themvillereview.com
Of the 3.5 million truck drivers in the U.S., only 6.6% are women
Title: Poppies Journal
Publication: The Minnesota Review, November 2020, Issue 95 https://read.dukeupress.edu/the-minnesota-review/issue/2020/95
Log line: In “Poppies Journal,” a preschool teacher observes children at play. Is the troubling behavior she records in the classroom notes an indication of their disturbed minds, or hers?
Journal: The Minnesota Review website https://minnesotareview.wordpress.com/
“Poppies Journal” published in The Minnesota Review (November 2020, Issue 95)
Title: Blood and Sand
Publication: Blue Moon Literary & Art Review, 2019, Volume 13.
Log line: Set in the Capone era, “Blood and Sand” portrays a young girl’s confusion when she discovers that her adored “Uncle Al” is responsible for killing her best friend’s father, a death she might have prevented.
Journal: Blue Moon Literary & Art Review website http://www.bluemoonlitartreview.com
“Uncle Al” Capone
Title: A Fifth Way
Publication: Spank the Carp, May 01, 2019, Pond (Issue) 50, http://www.spankthecarp.com/issue50_epstein.html.
Log line: In “A Fifth Way,” set in 1922 West Virginia, a precocious young boy begs adults to help avert a tragedy he sees coming, but only the crazy old lady next door believes he is telling the truth.
Journal: Spank the Carp website http://www.spankthecarp.com/
Charleston, West Virginia in 1922
Title: The Eros Salon
Publication: CultureCult Magazine, Spring 2019, Issue 11, pp. 24-33.
Log line: “The Eros Salon” is inspired by the bonds forged between Jewish professors fleeing Nazi Germany and the historically black colleges and universities that gave them jobs. In this story, a professor creates a social justice forum where whites and Negroes argue whether, if fear fuels fascism, love can sustain democracy.
Journal: CultureCult Magazine website https://culturecultmagazine.wixsite.com/home
Title: It Ends With Cake
Publication: CultureCult Magazine, Winter 2019, Issue 10, pp. 22-31.
Log line: Told in the first person plural, “It Ends With Cake” draws readers into the meeting of a death café, where participants seek closure about their own notions of mortality while revealing deep fissures between them.
Journal: CultureCult Magazine website https://culturecultmagazine.wixsite.com/home
Title: Orphan Camp
Publication: Summerset Review, Winter 2019, http://www.summersetreview.org/19winter/orphan.html.
Log line: “Orphan Camp” examines how the resilience that allowed Jewish children to survive during WWII made them resistant to adoption afterwards. Although set seventy years ago, the story speaks to today’s many war orphans.
Journal: Summerset Review website https://www.summersetreview.org/
Title: Youngest Ever
Publication: Koan Literary Magazine (published by The Paragon Press), Summer/Fall 2018, https://issuu.com/theparagonjournal/docs/koan_magazine.
Log line: “Youngest Ever” reports the panel’s decisions about submissions to the Guinness Book of World Records in the category YOUNGEST, ranging from the humorous to the questionable to the horrific.
Journal: Koan Literary Magazine website https://www.theparagonjournal.com/koan-about
Title: Space Cat
Publication: Wilderness House Literary Review, Spring 2018, 8(2), https://whlreview.com/no-13.1/fiction/AnnSEpstein.pdf.
Log line: “Space Cat,” based on the true but unheralded story of Félicette, the first (and last) cat in space, is a cri de coeur for recognizing the important role of felines, and females, in science.”
Journal: Wilderness House Literary Review website: https://www.whlreview.com/
Title: Golo’s Transport
Publication: The Madison Review, Fall 2017, 40(1), pp. 80-93, https://issuu.com/themadisonreview/docs/the_madison_review_fall_2017_1.
Log line: In “Golo’s Transport,” an angry old man confronts the trauma of his parents sending him away on the Kindertransport from Germany to England on the eve of WW II. Soon after I finished the story, humanitarians suggested a “kindertransport” for children of Syrian refugees, adding to the manuscript’s timeliness.
Journal: The Madison Review website: https://www.themadisonrevw.com/
Title: Milkorno
Publication: Ascent, March 2017. http://www.readthebestwriting.com/milkorno-ann-s-epstein/
Log line: In “Milkorno,” a food scientist risks her job by enlisting President Roosevelt’s help to challenge the cheap, but tasteless, foods being foisted on the public, especially school children, during the Depression (recipes included).
Journal: Ascent website: http://www.readthebestwriting.com/
Title: Shoot the Chute
Publication: Saranac Review, 2017, Issue #13, pp. 40-54.
Log line: In “Shoot the Chute,” an obsessive woman, whose husband doubts her maternal fitness, is fixated on adopting the smallest “incubator baby” on display at Coney Island amusement park in 1937. (BTW – A real phenomenon; see BEHIND THE STORY.)
Journal: Saranac Review website: http://www.saranacreview.com
Title: Jamming
Publication: PRISM International, Fall 2016, pp. 48-61.
Log line: “Jamming” pits the journals of an overbearing husband against his stifled wife in conflicting versions of the founding of the first Women’s Institute in Wales during World War I.
Journal: PRISM International website: http://prismmagazine.ca/
Title: Ants
Publication: Earth’s Daughters, 2016, Issue #88, pp. 56-57. (The theme of this issue is EBB, defined as “cycles, rhythm, continuation, or cascades.” )
Log line: In “Ants,” an elderly resident in a nursing home defies the rules against bringing food into her room despite the consternation it causes her disgusted caregivers.
Journal: Earth’s Daughters website: http://www.earthsdaughters.org
Title: The Cannibal Hall of Fame
Publication: The Offbeat, 2016, Volume 16, Spring 2016, pp. 82-83.
Log line: “The Cannibal Hall of Fame” celebrates an apocalyptic future where Colossal Human Carnivores (ChuCs) discover that dexterity and strength, essential for survival, are best obtained by devouring their neighbor’s hands.
Journal: The Offbeat website: http://offbeat.msu.edu/
Title: Exploding Pyrex
Publication: Carbon Culture Review, June 2016. http://www.carbonculturereview.com/category/prose/
Log line: In “Exploding Pyrex,” Roger the Retro Chef decries the demise of his printed newspaper column due to the plethora of online recipes, and explodes several beloved food myths as a parting gesture.
Journal: Carbon Culture Review website: http://www.carbonculturereview.com/
Title: Newfangled
Publication: The Copperfield Review, Winter 2016, Volume 15, Number 1. http://copperfieldreview.com/?p=2900
Log line: The short stories that comprise “Newfangled” examine three inventions, created one hundred years apart, to illuminate enduring social class and gender divisions.
Journal: The Copperfield Review website: http://www.copperfieldreview.com
Title: Undark (Winner of the 2017 Walter Sullivan Prize for Rising Talent)
Publication: The Sewanee Review, Winter 2016, Volume 124, Number 1, pp. 79-98.
Log line: In “Undark,” a budding young artist paints her family’s denial, and eventually acceptance, of her older sister’s poisoning as a “Radium Girl” in the mid-1920s.
Journal: The Sewanee Review website: http://www.review.sewanee.edu
Title: The Epigenetics of Barbie
Publication: The Normal School Online, 12 November 2015. http://thenormalschool.com/the-epigenetics-of-barbie-by-ann-epstein/
Log line: “The Epigenetics of Barbie” straddles the line between real science and the fabulism of a five-year-old who develops the doll’s exaggerated characteristics.
Journal: The Normal School Online website: http://thenormalschool.com/
Title: Door
Publication: Tahoma Literary Review, December 2015, Volume 2, Number 3, pp. 94-106. Also online at https://tahomaliteraryreview.com/tlr-archives/volume-2-no-3/
Log line: “Door” is the late-life fictional biography of the midget who played the coroner in “The Wizard of Oz” and is summoned by Andy Warhol to appear in a movie at The Factory.
Journal: Tahoma Literary Review website: http://www.tahomaliteraryreview.com
Title: Bea and Bruce
Publication: The Long Story, March 2015, Number 33, pp. 92-108.
Log line: In “Bea and Bruce,” a British war bride has doubts about her hasty marriage to a Canadian soldier as she crosses the Atlantic in 1946 to begin life with a man she barely knows.
Journal: The Long Story website: http://www.longstorylitmag.com
Title: www.metroperpetual.com
Publication: The NewerYork, August 01, 2014. http://theeeel.com/authors/ann-epstein/
Log line: A still-incomplete but already 800–word run-on sentence, “www.metroperpetual.com” is the website for people who can’t bring anything to closure and seek support in their fight against …
Journal: The NewerYork website: http://www.theneweryork.com
Title: Thirteen Adoption Stories
Publication: The NewerYork, July 25, 2014. http://theeeel.com/authors/ann-epstein/
Log line: “Thirteen Adoption Stories” challenges readers to a game in which families seeking to adopt a child are matched with those who have babies available. An answer key is provided.
Journal: The NewerYork website: http://www.theneweryork.com
Title: The Order of the Physical Universe
Publication: The William and Mary Review, 2011, Volume 49, pp. 47-58.
Log line: In “The Order of the Physical Universe,” a middle-aged Jewish woman tormented by her neighbor’s child, questions her decision not to have children in the aftermath of the Holocaust.
Journal: The William and Mary Review website: http://www.wm.edu/so/wmreview
Title: Elephant Angel
Publication: Red Rock Review, Fall 2010, Issue 26, pp. 12-20.
Log line: On the 75th anniversary of the Belfast blitz, a woman known as the “Elephant Angel” for keeping the zoo’s animal in her garden during the bombing, prays to remain anonymous.
Journal: Red Rock Review website: http://sites.csn.edu/english/redrockreview/
Title: Macaroni and Cheese
Publication: Passages North, Winter/Spring 2009, Volume 30, Number 1, pp. 169-170.
Log line: Told in the second person, “Macaroni and Cheese” is a four-year Head Start child’s simple but fervent wish that his drug-addled mother microwave him dinner every night.
Journal: Passages North website: http://passagesnorth.com
Title: Dumpling
Publication: Clark Street Review, 2005, Issue 42, pp. 8-9.
Log line: A woman with an eating disorder, dining at a Chinese restaurant with her domineering boyfriend, denies him the last “Dumpling” in a passive aggressive gesture to assert her control.
Journal: Clark Street Review website: http://www.geocities.com/coloradopoets/clarkstreetreview.html
Title: How They Died
Publication: Emrys Journal, May 2005, Volume 22, pp. 27-35.
Log line: In “How They Died,” an elderly obituary-obsessed woman begins to paint again after reading of the death of the friend who competed with, and betrayed her, seventy-five years ago.
Journal: Emrys Journal website: http://www.emrys.org