literary speculative fiction

Worldbuilding Through Subtext Essay by Rhonda Schlumpberger, June 2025, Intrepidus Ink

Worldbuilding Through Subtext

Writers generally detest absence. Thus, we rush to explain what we believe readers need to know. But what if we give our audience just the right information and trust them to infer meaning?  Worldbuilding through subtext offers a solution for immersive storytelling without spoon-feeding readers. Let’s analyze the mechanics and explore why this approach is […]

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Michael Bettendorf Cycle 10 "Intrepidus Ink April 2025 Limited Series Part 2

Counter Offer

Limited Series Part 2     I’m gathering dust at my usual booth, taking a break from the midnight bazaar after reuniting the kid with his parents. I contemplate how long I can keep doing this—saving folks—as I chow down on a combo of onion rings and a soggy mushroom Swiss when a kid bolts

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when the ice moon rises, and the night is strangely bright

i f you had believed in the old tales, you wouldn’t have gone out when the full ice moon rose in a satin sky and shone down milky white, like a blind eye, its silver river reflecting daylight-brilliant across the unblemished snow; no footprints to follow––man nor beast––only a feeling that something uncanny skulked beneath

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