Issues 84 Spring 2026
Avery Other is a human person who likes telling stories. She lives in Lincoln, NE, where she works full-time as an unreliable narrator. She is definitely not a plastic lawn flamingo with delusions of grandeur. Her favorite color is pink. You can find Avery on Blue Sky: @averyother.bsky.social, or at averyother.com.
BWG: From your website, you have won several short story awards (including ours). Congratulations! What draws you to that format (vs. novel-length works)?
Avery: Thank you! I intend to write something longer eventually, but I decided to start with short story and microfiction contests after a (too) long writing hiatus. And of course I've fallen in love with the shorter formats. It's a great way to play with lots of different weird ideas without the longer time commitment of something massive. It's also been invaluable for finding my voice, rebuilding old skills, and adding to that foundation with the help of online writing communities.
BWG: In what genre do your stories generally land and why?
Avery: I love everything speculative, especially sci-fi. I am drawn to space stories most of all. There's so much possibility out there. Simply put, we are small; space is big. It's inspiring. And terrifying! When I was old enough to learn our sun was a star but did not yet grasp that shooting stars weren't, I was constantly concerned what might happen if our star decided to "shoot." Would it be fun? Would we die? Both? Space caught me early.
BWG: What inspired the two stories that placed in the 2025 Bethlehem Writers Group short story content (“Smiling Fish” and “Peaches”)?
Avery: “Smiling Fish” was originally written from prompts in an early round of the NYCM Short Story Challenge. The prompts were Crime Caper, Office Manager, and Demolition. I definitely wanted to make it sci-fi because I was in that do-whatever-I-want within the rules mood, and Crime Caper + Sci-Fi felt like an opportunity. Almost immediately, I decided I wanted to demolish planets. And I had just re-upped my cyber security training for my day job, so phishing became part of the crime that was capered. I had a blast writing that story.
“Peaches” was also from prompts: Enemies to Lovers, Pacifist, Spiderweb. I thought about the most bonkers way I could satisfy the prompts and . . . landed on spider bondage, I guess! I tried to make it both silly and heartfelt. A beta-reader friend was writing an Enemies to Lovers story about a sexy yeti at the time, and we giddily egged each other on.
BWG: What are you working on now?
Avery: I'm between writing projects at the moment. Just reading a lot. Thinking. Working. TTRPGs with friends on the weekends. Avoiding the dishes.