Again with the "identify this short story." [more inside]
posted by ricochet biscuit on Nov 19, 2009 - 12 answers

Looking for a short sci-fi story that I read on the internet. It was about a police force who worked in the very risky highways of the future, where rocket cars zoomed around at hundreds of miles an hour. [more inside]
posted by chrisamiller on Nov 1, 2009 - 5 answers

What's your favorite online fiction site, and did you find what I'm looking for? [more inside]
posted by motsque on Oct 6, 2009 - 2 answers

Are there any examples of stories where a character is depicted as super-funny, and that actually comes through in practice? [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer on Sep 29, 2009 - 26 answers

What video game franchises in the current generation would be good to pick up for the first time? [more inside]
posted by Riki tiki on Sep 24, 2009 - 20 answers

Looking for a circa late 70's early 80's Children's Picture Book with faceless nuns. Hoping someone in the MeFi shared my same crazed childhood where aunts gave books for Christmas every.year [more inside]
posted by will wait 4 tanjents on Sep 22, 2009 - 4 answers

Identify a science fiction story about a giant, unfixable traffic jam. (spoilers inside.) [more inside]
posted by escabeche on Sep 16, 2009 - 25 answers

Please help me find this SciFi story I remember reading as a kid. [more inside]
posted by mahke on Sep 11, 2009 - 2 answers

Half remembered short story identification filter: A story in which scientists discover grids underground which might be the cities of beings who live at a greater density, and then at the end scientists from the underground city are looking through the documents, having wiped out humanity accidentally just by coming to the surface.
posted by Artw on Sep 7, 2009 - 5 answers

Inspired by a recent question about the Seven Basic Plots and so forth: Can you tell me what the origin of the "Creepy Little Town" or "Something's Not Right Here" story type is? I'm wondering if it's a uniquely American trope in origin. [more inside]
posted by Countess Elena on Sep 7, 2009 - 24 answers

Simple Mefi, simple! I just want to buy a replica of the Orin from the 80's fantasy film The Neverending Story. I'd like a nice one, but at this point.... [more inside]
posted by Bageena on Aug 12, 2009 - 5 answers

Recently I read a story that went along the lines of a man who offered to do a company's dry cleaning for $10, which they paid. Then the next week he charged $20 and they paid. Eventually he was charging loads for their dry cleaning. I can't for the life of me recall who the company was or where I even read about it. Does anyone have any info or perhaps recall reading the same story recently?
posted by Hates_ on Jul 31, 2009 - 7 answers

SF short story filter: I read this sci-fi short story a long time ago. It's fairly memorable...I'm hoping someone on AskMeFi knows of it. [more inside]
posted by diode on Jul 2, 2009 - 3 answers

Find me stories (books, movies, links, anecdotes) of how two ordinary, quiet, straight middle-aged people met, and learned to care for each other. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jun 27, 2009 - 14 answers

I'm reading the Sandman comic collections for the first time. It seems to me there's a missing love story for Morpheus. Help me locate it!? [more inside]
posted by wavejumper on Jun 25, 2009 - 11 answers

Seeking Richard Scarry book containing 'Farmer Junco' story. [more inside]
posted by Blackwatch on Jun 8, 2009 - 11 answers

I do lengthy reading to my daughter (6) every evening, and it's a valuable part of our day. Later this summer, she's going to be visiting her mother for a few weeks, which means no reading. I'd like to send her on this trip with some CDs or a memory stick full of pre-recorded stories, so I have a couple quick questions as to how to best accomplish this. [more inside]
posted by glider on May 31, 2009 - 11 answers

For a friend: Looking for a story, or possibly book, or possibly series of books. The only thing they remember is that at one point the protagonist(s) visit a wizard or magician for help. He has a stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling. [more inside]
posted by krisjohn on May 29, 2009 - 14 answers

Can anyone identify a short story or teleplay with the following plot or some variant thereof: A grandfather frequently tells his grandchildren about his experiences in the Revolutionary War, pointing to a general's portrait hanging over his fireplace as he sits in his rocking chair. He has one favorite grandson, who grows tired of the grandfather's story. [more inside]
posted by CarolynAMW on May 27, 2009 - 0 answers

Screenplay editing/ Script Development question. A friend has sent me a copy of his screenplay and is asking for some notes/ story editing commments. I have some questions about the style and format. Please see inside.... [more inside]
posted by cascando on May 8, 2009 - 12 answers

I would like to submit a short story to literary journals whose reading period ends April 30. Obviously, they will receive the story just before deadline. Am I wasting my time and opportunity doing this? Should I wait until the submission period reopens, usually September or October?
posted by uans on Apr 20, 2009 - 9 answers

Screenplay filter: Legal ramifications regarding "based on a true story" or "ripped from the headlines" films. [more inside]
posted by Oriole Adams on Apr 17, 2009 - 4 answers

Looking for independent news sites and journalists' blogs [more inside]
posted by reenum on Apr 16, 2009 - 8 answers

Trying to find a friend find a book she remembers reading as a child, fantasy genre, wizards, kids with magic, and it was a trillogy! Better description (kinda) inside [more inside]
posted by Syntoad on Apr 10, 2009 - 5 answers

Say I'm writing a story and I want to emulate the old practice of referring to proper nouns by initials: i.e. Dr. M— from the town of S—. Where and when did this start? Why did they do this? (It hides the person's name, but from the author's perspective, is it to give his story an air of veracity, as with Defoe and Cervantes's works?) Would some names remain hidden and others not? Do I hide the last name only? If a man came from Monte Cristo, would I write M— C— or simply M—? I want as much information on this as possible. The name of this practice, if there is one, might be useful.
posted by Busoni on Apr 7, 2009 - 13 answers

I am writing a short story and I would like to have one of the characters in this story quote a real historical figure. I do not have a specific quote in mind, but I have certain ideas about the character that dictate certain parameters for the quote. I would like to solicit the hivemind for suggestions, as my Google-Fu has thus far failed me in selecting something viable. If you accept this mission, you will find details below the fold. [more inside]
posted by kbanas on Apr 7, 2009 - 26 answers

I have an idea for a SF novel (/screenplay?), but I have the nagging feeling that it isn't at all original. Have you read or seen this concept before? [more inside]
posted by zardoz on Apr 3, 2009 - 36 answers

I'm looking for the title and author of a sci-fi short story about a man who dies creating a rogue black hole, which then falls in love with the man's wife. [more inside]
posted by pointless_incessant_barking on Mar 24, 2009 - 11 answers

Please help me remember this little zen-like "life-is-what-you-make-it" story about moving to a new neighborhood. [more inside]
posted by headnsouth on Mar 17, 2009 - 8 answers

Heard about a (short?) story that ends with a certain word that causes the reader to experience a creeping sense of horror as the rest of the story fits into place. Any ideas what story it could be?
posted by maryrosecook on Mar 3, 2009 - 31 answers

Need some help trying to find the source of this little quote. My memory is fading but I think it was from a stand-up show: "When I was a young man I wanted a girlfriend with big breasts. As I grew older I wanted an intellectual girl. In my thirties I wanted a girl to be the mother of my children. Now as an old man, I want a girl with big breasts." or something like that. Thanks Everyone !
posted by Sturdy on Feb 27, 2009 - 4 answers

"What science fiction short story is this?" filter. One story about body switching/different perceptions, and another about mindreading. [more inside]
posted by anthy on Feb 25, 2009 - 10 answers

Science fiction story, who wrote it? [more inside]
posted by Marky on Feb 24, 2009 - 7 answers

What story did I read in or around 5th grade? [more inside]
posted by DU on Feb 23, 2009 - 13 answers

Trying to find stories that begin and end in totally different genres/styles. [more inside]
posted by minkll on Jan 31, 2009 - 35 answers

I've been waxing poetic about AskMeFi for a while, and a coworker asked for help identifying a story about an experiment with dancing children. Save my co-worker, MeFites! [more inside]
posted by Gorgik on Jan 15, 2009 - 7 answers

Old sci-fi stumpers. Can you identify the writer/story? [more inside] [more inside]
posted by darkpony on Jan 12, 2009 - 8 answers

Please help me come up with a story twist! I need an idea for a highly valuable, secret cargo smuggled on-board an oil tanker. Difficulty: no warheads or drugs. [more inside]
posted by np312 on Dec 19, 2008 - 38 answers

What are some hip-hop songs in the form of a third-person narrative? [more inside]
posted by papayaninja on Dec 8, 2008 - 29 answers

Looking for the name of a story about a person who has the job of designing book lists customized to individuals to get them loving reading again. Sometimes the choices are counterintuitive. Some books I seem to recall on the lists: The Stand, Color Me Pretty. There may also be a romantic angle with one of the clients. Not sure if it's a novel or a short story.
posted by poetcop on Dec 7, 2008 - 0 answers

I'll be performing in next year's Vagina Monologues. How can I be awesome? [more inside]
posted by divabat on Dec 6, 2008 - 17 answers

I recently read the short story "Buried Talents" by Richard Matheson (of "I Am Legend" fame (Amazon link). What does it mean? Short summary: a strange man is uncannily successful at beating a carnival game; when he leaves, the man running the game (who had been getting flustered), appears very ill. [more inside]
posted by bangitliketmac on Nov 29, 2008 - 4 answers

I took a few bookbinding classes in university and really enjoyed them, but I stopped doing it after I had saturated the market (i.e. my friends and family) with blank books to use as journals, notebooks, photo albums, etc. I recently thought that it might be fun to make hand-printed and bound editions of novellas and short stories that are in the public domain. [more inside]
posted by cilantro on Nov 26, 2008 - 8 answers

ID That Story: novel (novella? short story?) in which a man is standing in line. Pretty much the entire story is his experience while waiting in line. It's a future/dystopia story. The man is waiting in line to make a complaint. He falls in love with the girl in front of him, though she's not allowed to turn and look at him. It's a parable about overpopulation. It was probably written in the 60s or 70s. That's all I remember.
posted by grumblebee on Nov 20, 2008 - 8 answers

YAWWTPCGQ (yet another "what was that PC game?" question) [more inside]
posted by Iosephus on Nov 14, 2008 - 5 answers

I'm looking for the title and author and anthology location (and url, if possible) of an amusing short story about a man who gives a cocktail party, and for whom the invited guests all have rhyming names. He spends the story answering the door, then introducing everyone to everyone else - which becomes an incredible tongue-twister. For example he finds Uma Thurman at the door,and is then forced to introduce her to assembled guests as "Uma, Irma; Irma, Emma; Emma, Alma.....etc, etc, etc." Does this ring a bell with anyone?
posted by eaglehound on Nov 12, 2008 - 5 answers

Short Story Suggestions: I need a short story for a specific lesson. Criteria inside. [more inside]
posted by gursky on Oct 25, 2008 - 10 answers

Short Story Filter. I remember a short story that I read in a sci-fi story anthology back in the mid 90's that I haven't been able to find since. There are a group of three boys, one of them substantially younger, who play out in a big field. One of the older boys tells the younger boy, as a joke, that if you look through the hole in the middle of a stone, you can see into another world of some kind. Mysterious circumstances then occur. [more inside]
posted by lockle on Oct 23, 2008 - 2 answers

Help me find the story about an upset kid who changed the outcome of an election. [more inside]
posted by Steph1en on Oct 20, 2008 - 3 answers

MusicFilter: I'm looking for ambient music that features short &/or fragmentary bits of monologue or narrative. [more inside]
posted by jammy on Oct 15, 2008 - 30 answers