Roi Fainéant Press SUBS CLOSED FOR NOW

“What are you doing? Don’t touch my things!” Aurelia was incensed. Other than her student’s wet computer tablet, she had never handled anyone else’s belongings in the office. Besides, her bag contained vials of an extremely acidic substance from the lab where she worked that could result in acute illness or even –

Sharing space with someone you love can be difficult. Being forced to share space with someone you don't even like can be impossible. Even the kindest, most generous person might be pushed over the edge. Check out "Office Hours" by Erica W. Weems.

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bone broth vapor overlays an outdoors crisp with oxygen grease blankets settle bogged with eye ache banks burst by the salty raw carry clutter towards downpour-wounded valves

It's Friday Eve! Perfect time for a Poetry Party! And this party has not one, not two, but SIX poems by Nathaniel Calhoun for your reading pleasure! Check out this taste of "illness and receiving care" and then go to our 94th edition and enjoy the rest!

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as they wave me on at the front desk to the jungle room you see, they know me here but this ain’t graceland

I have been known to pass out when faced with needles for tattoos & piercings, but never from a blood draw. And never in a place as cool as the jungle room! Please grab your cookies & juice & enjoy "bloodworks" @osageorange.bsky.social. Live now in issue 94!
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It wasn’t so long ago that her mother suggested she stream, as a way to make some extra money. She was always playing those games, anyway. Always alone on the computer. And there was a time when she could convince herself that it would last. That she could make the small sacrifices without making the big ones.

In the society we've built, money is a necessity. How you come by it is up to you. How far you are willing to go to keep it coming in is also up to you. This is "Subathon" by Kellan Jansen. It's live, right here, right now 👇

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/subatho...

The book is part sci fi, part magic realism, part crime story, part romance and an all-encompassing read that will have readers staying up late into the night to get through one more chapter.

Looking for a little escapism but can't decide which flavor? Check out this review of @barbarabyar.bsky.social’s "In the Desert" by our own
@melissacuisine.bsky.social The novel is coming in March from @cowboyjamboree.bsky.social, but the review is live now!👇
www.roifaineantpress.com/post/byar-s-...

She shivered with anticipation when he juggled jagged daggers, invited her for pizza in the park, twirled her like Ginger Rogers.

Pressed for time on a busy Monday? Just need a quick break to destress? Take a couple of minutes & feed your soul with this brief but beautiful love story, "Up in the Air". It's half a 2-pack of micros by @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social out now in issue 94!
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The mundane collects itself. The room continues breathing. Life moves, quietly, whether I do or not.

With all the things that really suck right now, Mondays have fallen way down on my list. But, starting one with a Poetry Party still feels like it will help it suck even less. This is "Still life, a random day", one of 6 amazing poems by Kamki. Live now!

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We do our best! 💙

Yes! Great way to celebrate issues 94! 💙💙💙

And, to my team - @kelkel.bsky.social @skybarett.bsky.social @melissacuisine.bsky.social @maybemargot.bsky.social - thanks for holding it down even when I'm off screaming into the void. Love y'all!

…Kellan Jansen, Nathaniel Calhoun @osageorange.bsky.social
Erica W. Weems - we couldn't have done it without you, and we ❤️you!

As always, RF would like to thank their super duper talented list of contributors to this issue - Kamki @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social @melissacuisine.bsky.social for @barbarabyar.bsky.social …

Bonjour.

The shortest month of the year deserves the smallest and mightiest issue of the year. Tell your local short king.

www.roifaineantpress.com/blog

#writingcommunity

Only a little cleavage when the timer gets low. And if that donator asks for those pictures, she shares them just for him.

We live in the strangest of timelines. Money is obviously king and connections are tenuous. The question, is it worth it? Read “Subathon” by Kellan Jansen in the 94th edition of the press out on 2/23.

Philip pictures Jenny at home throwing up, thinks he might too.

Happy Year of the Horse to all who celebrate! Don’t have time for a long sit with a story? Try the two micro’s we have in the next edition by @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social This taste from “Retrograde” should tempt you sufficiently! Sunday 2/23!

Lies tasted sweet for a while, but sweetness spoils. It wears off. It shows its rot.

We do what we can here at RF to provide you with the most lit poetry party we can muster. Tuesday be damned! Read “ I Learned It From a Song”, one of six poems penned by Kamki on Sunday and take the next day off for self care. They’ll blow you away. 2/23!

lost in a saxophone riff, i’m several bars deep before the stinging slap, a crimson rorschach

After that freak-show of a Valentine’s Day we could all use a poetry party. Enjoy the mash-up of experiences (blood draws and elusive Colombian mosquitos) “bloodworks’ by J. R. Wilkerson @osageorange.bsky.social. YOU are what’s on the menu. It is in the 94th out Sunday 2/23.

The story opens with Raphael, running, in danger, and readers get little clue as to what or who is after him.

We are thrilled to bring you a review from our very own, and the hardest working woman in publishing, @melissacuisine.bsky.social ! Check out her take on
@barbarabyar.bsky.social ’s book scheduled for a March release “In the Desert”, published by @cowboyjamboree.bsky.social . Read it, Sunday 2/23!

Woo hoo! RF merch out in the wild! 💙💙💙

And it would be a lie to say the relationship was anything more than “just cuz.” We met because, in a city of transients, we were two people far from the same home. I avoided his type in high school but ignored the red flags in a new location. I wanted someone who didn’t spend sixty hours a week on campus, someone who didn’t need me to review their essay, someone who didn’t think I drank too much.

Let's end our rewind of 93 & Me with our old pal, CNF. Shall we? "Engagement, April 2010" by @allisonwrites.bsky.social explores ideas about love & relationships, a universal topic if I've ever heard one. Take a moment for your own exploration & read it now!
www.roifaineantpress.com/post/engagem...

Once loved chicken, especially drumsticks. Until we killed Redcomb. Redcomb, who crowed every dawn, fought rats, guarded chicks, strutted around the yard, head high, proud. Ma raised the cleaver. I stood nearby.

Sometimes, there is an obvious reason we don't like certain foods. Sometimes, the reason is not quite as obvious and has nothing to do with the food itself. This is "If You Want to Know Why I Don’t Eat Chicken" by Huina Zheng and it's live now.

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/if-you-...

Jolowat dug through the box of half-priced items, pulling out a glass-fronted rectangular object. “What’s this?” she asked the Elder running the sale.

The future is unknown. We don't know what comes next in terms of technology. Or what's next for humans as a species. Head over to issue 93 & take a peek at "Conversation Piece" by @immcarvalho.bsky.social if you'd like to read one, uh, interesting prediction.
www.roifaineantpress.com/post/convers...

Item. Item. Item. I sigh. At last, something I can agree with. I am an object—but not a thing to possess. I am a vision: untouchable, like a flame too dangerous to play with.

People always talk about the "objectification of women". This work of fiction from Garima Chhikara feels a bit like a play on that but with a powerful twist. Check out "Listen, You Object" in our 93rd issue, live now!

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/listen-...

By dinner, their parents have yelled themselves out and retreated to opposite sides of the table. They shoot glances, furtive and furious and calculating and despairing, across four feet of shellacked wood, toward anything but each other. Sophie and Marian trade okapi facts and acting tips, pretending their way toward normalcy. Reminding their parents they’re still there.

Children can be naive about the world around them & wise beyond their years at the same time. Take, for example, these sisters in "Enter Stage Left" by lindseyjameswrites.bsky.social. This touching story is out now in 93 & Me. Go read it now!

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/enter-s...

So he will be so ecstatic to have heard from his daughter that he hasn’t seen since she was eleven and wore velcro Twinkle-Toes. He was not.

"The Grief Wand at Wells Fargo" by Shreya Dharavath is a moving essay that touches on some common themes, like rejection and divorce, but in the most personal way. It's featured in our 93rd issue and you should definitely check it out!

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/the-gri...

Over time, through dint of hard work, love for my babies, and my complete adoration of all things "nature", I had created Eden. My Eden. My perfect, happy place. Just me, my dogs, my oranges and roses, and a honeysuckle vine right outside my bedroom window

This beautiful CNF by Erin Noble paints a brilliant picture of her own personal paradise, shares the devastation of losing it, & leaves us with some hard-earned words of wisdom. "On the Occasion of True’s Passing" is live now in issue 93.

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/on-the-...

I pull up my Prius alongside a white van outside Tool Planet. I swap my Birkenstocks for Caterpillars and light a ciggie. Three tokes are enough for the odour to stick to my fingers and chore jacket, which I got second-hand when I was in Philly, so yeah, bonafide Rust Belt. Unlike Freddie’s. I know he buys his Carhartts at Flex.

It's amazing the trouble some people go through to keep up appearances, even more so when it's all for the benefit of complete strangers! Check out "Glossy acrylic latex paint" by @beetleholloway.bsky.social in issue 93. Live now, right here 👇

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/glossy-...

What if we don’t care about unconventional facial hair? Why does your masculinity so easily

No matter what you may be struggling with today, & I know, there is A LOT to choose from, take a much-needed break and join our poetry party. It may not fix anything, but it might soothe your soul. This is "Mutton Chops" by Shreya Datta. It's live now!

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/my-divo...

- we couldn't have done it without you, and we ❤️you!

And, to my team - @kelkel.bsky.social @skybarett.bsky.social @melissacuisine.bsky.social @maybemargot.bsky.social - Ever onward. Love y'all!

As always, RF would like to thank their tremendously talented roster of contributors to this issue -Shreya Datta @beetleholloway.bsky.social Erin Noble, Shreya Dharavath @lindseyjameswrites.bsky.social Garima Chhikara
@immcarvalho.bsky.social Huina Zheng @allisonwrites.bsky.social…