Fiction

For this first issue of Turbula, we couldn't be more pleased with the fiction we're able to bring you.

Dan McClenaghan has been writing about the fictional characters of Loma Alta, California for many years now — we first ran across them in the now-defunct THE BRIDGE Illustrated literary quarterly. His outrageous plot devices remind us of P.G. Wodehouse or Tom Sharpe; his vicious wit and loopy characters evoke Tom Bodett or "Northern Exposure." As you'll see, Ellis and Ruth are utterly unforgettable, and we look forward to hearing more from them and their equally loony neighbors in future issues. And as a special treat this issue, Dan read the story for us — don't want to sit down and read it yourself, then choose the audio version and let Dan tell you the story himself.

Michael J. Williams is a basketball beatnik from Cincinnati. He's also a jazzhound, a songwriter, a newspaper reporter, and plays a mean conga. We never knew he wrote fiction until a few weeks ago when "Bitter Melon" arrived. Michael has long had strong ties to the local Asian communities of San Diego, and this rich story takes us into one corner of one of those communities. We're hoping there will be more of these characters to follow as well.

Pat Holloran is every bit as much a renaissance man as Mr. Williams: a prolific composer and artist, a man as comfortable brushing drumheads as canvas. Mr. Holloran, too, has only recently revealed to us that he is a writer of fiction — albeit far less structured than our other contributions this month, and far more exploratory.

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