written by David Steffen
Toasted Cake is the idiosyncratic flash fiction podcast published, edited, hosted, and most often narrated by writer Tina Connolly. As noted in last year’s Best Of list, Toasted Cake had gone on hiatus for a couple years to make more time for writing deadlines and raising young children, but in the fall of 2017 she brought it back as an ongoing publication, publishing weekly during the school year. 2018 is the first full calendar year of publication after the end of the hiatus.
Tina Connolly has great and varied editorial taste and she’s an experience and excellent narrator as well. If you like flash fiction that is weird and unique and many times fun (but not always, there is serious fare as well), you would do well to check out the podcast.
The List
1.“A Scrimshaw of Smeerps” by Shannon Fay*
Future holiday traditions, wherein we tell the children that cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin comes to our home every year.
2.“Re: Little Miss Apocalypse Playset” by Effie Seiberg
Internal corporate email chain about the business decisions underlying the realistically catastrophic children’s toy
3.“We Need to Talk About the Unicorn In Your Backyard” by Mari Ness
A letter from the homeowner’s association, about the unicorn in your backyard.
4.“Immeasurable” by H.E. Roulo
The new teen trend is to download an app that measures all of your real-life activities by reaching achievements based on your goals.
5.“The Empire Builder” by Eden Robins
The feeling when you wake up with a sentient train in your bed.
Honorable Mentions
“Dear 8B” by Matt Mikalatos
