One question Heartlines Spec often receives is: what does a long-term relationship mean? What does a long-term relationship story look like?

Long-term is something that varies for every person. It could be 30 years, it could be 30 months. We’re looking for stories where the relationship impacts the plot, the characters, the whole vibe of the story. A Heartlines story or poem often does not focus on a love story, but characters who are entrenched in each other's lives. It's people who know the best and worst of each other.

If you're looking for inspiration, beyond our back catalogue, we've created a list of loved media where preexisting relationships are the source of tension and plot. Challenges the characters face may be new, but they understand how to work together (or completely decimate each other).

The short fiction section is short. This is partly because, as Managing Editor at Heartlines and previously as Senior Editor at Apparition Lit, I have been completely focused on these two mags. Other editors and readers added some of their recent favourites and I also selected the stories from Apparition Lit that directly influenced founding this magazine.

We look forward to reading your work!

Short Fiction

"When He Calls Your Name" by Catherynne M. Valente, Uncanny (2025)

"There Be Monsters" by Suzan Palumbo, The Sunday Morning Transport (2025)

"Life on Earth" by Spencer Nitkey, Phano (2025)

"Fairy tales for drowning girls" by Bree Wernicke, The Orange and Bee (2024)

"Ecdysis" by Samir Sirk Morató, Podcastle (2024)

"Ten Ways of Looking at Snow, Reflected Off an Obsidian Armor" by Avra Margariti, Haven Spec Magazine (2024)

"The Fall of Esther Park" by Lynn D. Jung, Apparition Lit (2023)

"The Grief Portal" by Aun-Juli Riddle, Apparition Lit (2022)

"One Song Ending" by E.A. Petricone, Apparition Lit (2020)

"The Bear Wife" by Leah Bobet, Apparition Lit (2020)

"The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere" by John Chu, Tor.com (2013)

Novels

Woodworm by Layla Martinez, translated by Sophie Hughes, Annie McDermott (2024)

Rouge by Mona Awad (2023)

Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang (2022)

You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo (2021)

Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather (2019)

Severance by Ling Ma (2018)

The Tiger Flu by Larissa Lai (2018)

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (2014)

The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey (2011-2021)

A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery (1931)

Films

Sinners (2025), dir. by Ryan Coogler

Alien: Romulus (2024), dir. by Fede Álvarez

I Saw the TV Glow (2024), dir. by Jane Schoenbrun

Past Lives (2023), dir. by Celine Song

Anatomy of a Fall (2023), dir. by Justine Triet

You Won't be Alone (2022), dir. by Goran Stolevski

M3gan (2022), dir. by Gerard Johnstone

The Endless (2017), dir. by Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead.

Arrival (2016), dir. by Denis Villeneuve

Interstellar (2014), dir. by Christopher Nolan

Pacific Rim (2013), dir. Guillermo del Toro

Attack the Block (2011), dir. by Joe Cornish

Jennifer's Body (2009), dir. Karyn Kusama

The Descent (2005), dir. by Neil Marshall

Galaxy Quest (1999), dir. by Dean Parisot

Gattaca (1997), by Andrew Niccol

Night of the Comet (1984), dir. by Thom Eberhardt