I’ve said before that themes seem to suggest themselves with many issues. In this case, it’s the authors who are similar rather than the stories: They’ve all been published in Flash Fiction Online before.

In March, we published Andrew Gudgel’s “On Green Hills”. This month, he brings you “Tags”. The only way I can think of to describe this story is that it will probably be utterly mundane in about twenty years.

The first story we published by Alan Grayce was a near-future science fiction story called “A Delivery of Cheesesteaks.” This month’s story, “No Show,” has no science-fiction elements in it, but, interestingly, both stories are excerpts from Grayce’s novel-in-progress, Fraught. Both stories reveal a deft touch with moody subjects.

KJ Kabza seems to have a gift for light fantasy. His first story with us was “Billions of Stars,” which involved tiny planets and an easily exasperated fairy. This month he provided us with “Now Open,” which — well, just take the time to read it. If you don’t like it, I’ll give you your time back.

Our Classic Flash this month is “A Tobacco Plant” from Punch, the British humor magazine. After you get your chuckle from it, please consider praying for and materially supporting our troops overseas. (As of August 27, your care packages can even include tobacco products again. Yes, I know your doctor wouldn’t recommend it, but sometimes it’s exactly what the doctor ordered.)

Bruce Holland Rogers’s column this month shifts emphasis from particular writing techniques and flash fiction forms to making a living as a short fiction writer. It’s an inspiring read, and I’ll even say it’s essential if you’re feeling down or wondering why to keep writing.

On an administrative note, we’ve closed to submissions for a while in order to get caught up on the slush. I apologize for those of you who’ve had a long wait. Please feel free to query, and be just a little forgiving if the response takes a few days — but not too forgiving, because I don’t want anything to fall through the cracks. Our policy is to respond to every submission.

As always, please comment (comments are like gold to an author), tip the authors (money is like gold to an author, too), and tell your friends. Also follow us on Twitter, if you’re into that sort of thing. See you next month!