The fifth issue of Heartlines Spec is filled with dreamy apocalypses, unreliable narrators, galaxy brains, and shapeshifting. The stories and poetry in this issue all have a thread of softness running through them. These pieces are rooted in devotion; to a person, to a god, to a fight. Within these works, people are transforming themselves, becoming something or someone new because of their relationships. There may be anger or rage, but you can’t evoke volatile emotions without a yearning for something underneath it all.

Each week, we will release two free-to-read pieces on our website. Paid subscribers have complete access. All levels of subscribers can read select pieces ahead of public release.

Buy Issue 5

Paperback

Editorial

Editorial by Rebecca Bennett

Short Fiction

"Margin of Error" by Arden Baker

"The Architecture of Longing" by Jamie M. Boyd

"Cats With Eyes Like Saucers" by EC Dorgan

"The Robot and the Witch" by André Geleynse

"Between Worlds, A Garden" by JL George

"Ocean House" by Beth Goder

"Stone / Heart / Flesh / Wound" by P. H. Low

"I Met My Wife in the Woods" by Ash Vale

"Unfit for Purpose" by Ramez Yoakeim

Poetry

"In Slumber We Rehearse Our Days" by Angela Acosta

"Self-Portrait With Pilgrimage" by Chinedu Gospel

"3,000 Year Love Confession" by Angela Liu

"Lunarist girl" by Eva Papasoulioti

Non-Fiction

"Family Matters: Family Relationships in Three Recent Speculative Novels" by Lisa Timpf

"Trust and Boldness: Why DS9’s Kira and Odo Have the Best Slow-Burn Romance in SFF" by Brandon Crilly

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