easytopia!

This is a diminutive tome, and it’s somewhat momentous to me because It required no spelling or grammar changes. That’s neat. Seven more days of Flash August Fiction. I’m lengthening my strides and thinking I’ll go in head first. If you have missed a few stories, go on back and check a couple out. They’re short. There are a thousand things to be thankful for on Gladsome Hill. It’s a place where pe...

We are in the home stretch. Just a week remains of Flash August Fiction. Wow. So close. Thanks for the shares and the cares and the likes and the lifts. It’s an odd little podcast, but it will catch on. “Can you think of another item you would want to find, if you found a time capsule? What would be a cool thing to find in the future? Go ahead and call some out.” The Teacher, Mrs. Nyce asked the k...

It’s hard to tell, sometimes, who is who and what is what around here. Do people impersonate humans? Have a cooled out Day 22 of Flash August Fiction, 2025. ape: verb, as in mimic Strongest matches: emulate , imitate . Strong matches: affect , caricature , copy , counterfeit , ditto , do , echo , impersonate , mirror , mock , parody , parrot , travesty . Misery is joy. None can be happy until they...

I’ve been feeling pretty prosey lately. Wrote a 900+ word story yesterday, but today it’s barely 200 words. That’s OK, I’ll allow it. I can do that. I released yesterday’s story pretty late because I was busy all day. So you might go check that out if you missed it. Resting on a quaggy patch of purslane, a vibrant puddle of butterflies disperse in beautiful blue splashes. This is one of Greg’s fav...

Sometimes these Flash Fiction stories become something I like to keep going. Last time, we left Uncle Plasma riding atop a truck where the two occupants are up to something. Here is the initial Uncle Plasma story . Here is Part 2 . I want to encourage other creative writers to experiment with this Flash Fiction method. Uncle Plasma, obscured by the bent light around him, rides the top of the truck...

Prose for Flash August Fiction. Day 19. What an amazing morning where I am, currently. I want to thank you for connecting with me here. As an aside, before the story, I want to share this article with you. It adds scientific credence to how cool your mind and your brain are. → Study Reveals Universal Pattern Brain Wave Frequencies . You are really something. The tall, hay grass was waving gently i...

Hungry Henry and Rotund Ronald return in Flash August Fiction this month, and they go to the movies! There are so many flavors at the movies! Here are all the links to the previous Henry and Ronald stories. The Cheeseguard , The Stoic s, Of Mice and Mushrooms , Of Mice: Live Reading (separate readings of all the above stories) Hungry Henry and Rotund Ronald have braved their way across a hot parki...

I like Uncle Plasma. I had to see where this story is taking me. Here's the first one . That’s how this is. We are all the way past Parts 1 and 2 of the halfway mark of Flash August Fiction . Now this is Part 2 of a new thing, Uncle Plasma. Thanks for reading, listening, sharing, restacking, and all the things. Arriving at the gas station, Pete eyes a hot dog special. “I swear these people are try...

A lot of animal stories again this month. Welcome to the second half of the halfway point of Flash August Fiction . It’s all downhill from here. Thanks for your interest, your reading, your listening, your sharing and restacking. https://x.com/HerschSterling Three crows are chatting on an electric line overlooking a parking lot at a declining family owned grocery store. “My dad used to tell me abo...

Today and tomorrow are both the halfway point of Flash August Fiction , because the month has an odd number of days. Welcome to the first half of the halfway point of my Instant Fiction Marathon. 31 brand-new stories and podcasts in 31 days. DISCIPLINE, the FUN kind. You can find me at probably any podcast app. Margie couldn’t figure out why the sky seemed peculiar. There was something about it. W...

I love this time of the month of my marathons. Right in the middle is where things cruise, and a lot of stuff is getting loosened up. It’s wild where stories come from. Random memories, and snippets of anecdotes. I like it. Thanks for your interest in Flash August Fiction. If you have not seen it, I really like yesterday’s story called The Torrent. I strongly suggest it. You want to know what’s wi...

When the levee breaks. Right? Sometimes things have to get to a certain point, and then it all just gives. Thanks for your interest. This one is really, very short. The sky had been teasing rain for a week There had been some rain during the season, but it’s never enough. Evening would build cloud cover, there would be heat lightning, some thunder, a few sprinkles. Could this finally be the storm...

I’m having fun, things are grooving along for my Instant Fiction Marathon that I call Flash August Fiction. Thanks for the reading, and the listening, and the sharing, and the liking, and believe it or not, this weird little niche podcast is growing, slowly but surely. I mean, I have stories about everything, so you’re bound to like something I write. You may as well just subscribe and deal with i...

I think I was having fun with alliteration and descriptive language, and probably craving some ice cream. Thanks for checking out this less than 6 minute story on my Flash Fiction marathon that I call Flash August Fiction. I’m sorry, not sorry, if I made you hungry. Marly is having a nice day in the park. She has a spot on a bench, the temperature is comfortable, and she has her knitting bag. Firs...

This is the live reading from Sunday’s Easytopian Discord . 4 stories from earlier in the week and Sunday. I write an instant fiction, or flash fiction story every day and podcast it. they take 5-7 minutes to listen to. Join me on Sunday to read and listen. DM me. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit commercialhersche...

I recorded this during my Live Reading Show on Sunday . I included links to the other stores where the scene is in a fictional town called Buckway. VOTE HARDER Aug 10, ‘25 Jimmy Jack George has been campaigning for three months, he has it all figured out. He knows what’s on the people’s minds. He has market analysts and AI combing the people’s communications through all their technology, and he ha...

Thanks for being here on Day 9 of Flash August Fiction . The writing is kind of automatic, and it seems like the stories are improving. Getting into the groove a little. It was cool seeing Sirius in the sky this morning, but it was gone before the sun came around. We are in the dog days now. If anyone doesn’t know. Each day I wake up and begin writing without a premise or a story in mind, and see...

Pretty fun time this morning. Yesterday was fun, too. I had been reading up on the astronomical dog days, and the dog star, because today is the day that the central sun, Sirius, rises before the sun and is visible as such in some locations. I could always see it when I lived in the Great Lakes region, but here in the Southwest, I guess not. Anyway, that’s probably why the first word that came to...

I think I wrote a story about dogs for the Dog Star. Because it is the dog day of Summer, in case you didn’t know. Wow. That’s Sirius. (I’m sorry). Do you see how these Jungian methods for writing, like Flash Fiction, kind of evoke things? Pretty weird. And fun. Day 7 of Flash August Fiction (look into it) . I’m releasing this at a different time of day, just to see what it does in terms of downlo...

Thanks for staying with me through Day 5 of Flash August Fiction. We goin Flash Science Fiction today. You’re welcome. Thanks for sharing and all the things like that. This effort is showing some growth and support. Thank you. If you didn’t know, listen for the full experience. The evidence of the pole shifts appeared before the occurrence. Plates were moving, there were earthquakes, erratic pole...

Thanks for reading, listening, sharing, restacking and all of it. Here is Day 5 of 29 stories and podcasts in the 29 days of August. This one has been gurgling up from below. The lunatics want to privatize water. There weren’t any water bottles in the cabin. Mark is going through the recycling looking for suitable glass bottles that he can use for a hike down to the local spring to bring back full...

I’m glad you’re still with me here, on Day 4. I had a very nice time yesterday for my Live Reading (linked below today’s story) and also my Flash Fiction story. Today we have a really short one. This happens. Sometimes they’re super short, for whatever reason. That’s fine, it is what it is. Thanks for sharing out there, whoever you are. I'm getting a lot of views and downloads. Part 1 Paper is wor...

Here is my live reading for today , it includes today’s brand new story from August 3 Flash August Fiction, about crickets in a kitchen.. and also two oldies. I’d like to find some other story tellers to hang around on a Sunday and tell stories and talk about writing. What do you think? Into it? DM me any time. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get a...

August 3 ‘25. That means it day three of Flash August Fiction. That’s how you can tell, by which day of the month it is. Thanks for reading, sharing, listening and restacking. Three crickets in a kitchen are having a debate. “I really want to get up and see what that echo is from.” says one. “Do you think you can get up there?” The next asks. “I see other guys get up there all the time.” He answer...

Day 2 of Flash August Fiction. Thanks for reading, listening, sharing, restacking and telling everyone about my August Flash Fiction Marathon. You’re the best. If you want to share your Flash Fiction DM me here in Substack. “The pressure release valve is set so when the rain barrels fill close to the top, it will release into the storage tank. Otherwise, we use that water for irrigation and whatno...