Introducing Fictional Pairings: A New Venture for Short Fiction and Music

After the success of Dystopia Week here at OT curated by Burt, I began to develop an itch for short fiction. I have since started reading a number of different sites that publish fantasy and science fiction around the web, finding the experience a welcome respite from my normal politics oriented reading. In addition to being exposed to a slew of amateur fiction writers, I have made it a goal to hone my own narrative skills, making a point to craft a few flash fiction stories a week.

In what seems like another life, I used to write for a number of music websites. The increasingly thankless gig, requiring the endless rummaging through scores of submissions, found me struggling to find the words necessary to describe the new cassette or CD in my mailbox. I eventually lost interest in finding new ways to review these records, but continued to listen to everything sent my way. I wanted to find a way to share these tunes without crafting a traditional review.

Working with some other writers, we have started up a new project that I hope will connect these aforementioned artistic fields. Called Fictional Pairings, we aim to match new flash fiction with independent music available at Bandcamp. Much like pairing a fine wine with complimentary cheese, each narrative will be posted with a specific track we feel fits its tone and tenor. Ideally, these pieces can be read and listened to while sitting down with your morning coffee or evening beer.

I have noticed that many small fictional webzines do not pay authors for their work. Understandably, most amateur authors are happy with the exposure the publishing of their work brings, but we plan to also compensate them (if only nominally) for their stories. It won’t pay the bills, but we hope it helps buy that cup of tea tomorrow morning.

I enjoyed reading the various narratives produced by contributors here at OT and began to wonder how many of Dystopia Week’s contributors crafted fiction on the side? How many stories were sitting on a hard drive without a place to go? I for one would love to read those narratives and give them a home at Fictional Pairings.