"An Analysis of Some Troublesome Recent Behavior"
Alix Ohlin
3rd person
From Babylon

I started this, abandoned it and came back when I realized it was about the couple from "The Swanger Blood." I like it better than that story - it looked at the situation from the husband's POV. It was a totally different view of him; in the other story he was very ( Read more... )

"The Swanger Blood"
Alix Ohlin
3rd person
From Babylon
Orig. From: Southwest Review

I liked this story, but the end left me wanting. It was going in such a good direction - then bam, it was tied up and done before I was ready. I liked the opening, non-kid person Gayle describing the tantrum of her sister Erica's troubled son:

The kid was ( Read more... )

"Ghostwriting"
Alix Ohlin
3rd person
From Babylon
story for 8/19

Karin's son Marcus is heading to college, so it's empty nest time:

The next morning she started a journal, having read in magazines about the cathartic power of self-expression. Who am I? she wrote on a piece of lines paper. An ex-wife, a part copy editor, a mother in an empty ( Read more... )

"Local News"
Alix Ohlin
1st person
From Babylon
orig. published in Backwards City ReviewJoanne is a small-market news reporter with bigger ambitions, covering a story about a fire at waterbed store. She reminds me of one of my favorite theater friends, a woman with her eyes on the prize, with no biological clock lagging and guilt bullshit for ( Read more... )

"The Tennis Partner"
Alix Ohlin
1st person
From Babylon
orig. published in One Storystory for 4/29 ( Read more... )

"Babylon"
Alix Ohlin
3rd person
From Babylon
orig. published in Salt Hillstory for 4/28 ( Read more... )

"I Love to Dance at Weddings"
Alix Ohlin
3rd person - Present, I noticed this time
From Babylon
orig. published in XConnect
story for 4/13

I just love Ohlin's first lines: Leda calls on a Saturday afternoon to announce she's getting married the following Thursday night. "Can you come?" She asks, her voice as innocent as milk."

I mean that's just fabulous ( Read more... )

"A Theory of Entropy"
Alix Ohlin
3rd person
From Babylon
orig. published in Prism, International
story for 3/27

The story of Carson, a brilliant academic writer who is trying to finish his heavily theoretical and dense book on entropy, in a family cabin belonging to his young girlfriend Claire. Claire and Carson's peaceful, rural life is interrupted by ( Read more... )

"The King of Kohlrabi"
Alix Olin
1st person
From Babylon
orig. published in 2004 Best Short Stories
structure: linear, one summer
Best LHC line: no good ones out of context

Another time story. This one is about one summer in the life of Aggie, who is sixteen when her father leaves the family. When her depressed mother wont leave the house, Aggie has to ( Read more... )