Made in L.A. Vol. 3

Made in L.A. Vol. 3: Art of Transformation

Vol. 3 Contents

“Infamy” by Noriko Nakada

When Pearl Harbor is bombed, a Japanese family in L.A. finds their world transformed.

Minds buzz with foreign words: air strike, surprise attack, war.

“Boots” by DC Diamondopolous

A veteran encounters her past on the streets of Skid Row.

The same sun scorched downtown Los Angeles that had seared the Iraq desert.

“Unwanted Gifts” by AS Youngless

A neighborhood is torn apart by an unexpected arrival.

Bodies filed into streets as the few remaining sounds faded into stillness.

“Angels Live Here” by Nolan Knight

A bartender on the edge of sobriety meets a tantalizing temptation.

On a scale from moon to gutter, Jack was cradled by clouds.

“#MillennialExistentialism” by Lenore Robinson

A night out in Echo Park promises to change a young woman’s life forever.

She already regretted driving all this way to walk into a hipster dance party alone.

“The City” by A.P. Thayer

Mulholland Drive sees a transplant consider how much he loves Our Lady of the City of Angels.

The city is beautiful, almost magical, from hundreds of feet up at four o’clock in the morning. It’s only when you get up close that the ugliness is apparent.

“The Fortune of the Three and the Kabuki Mask” by Sara Chisolm

A Chinese-American daughter tests the limits of her family’s desire for a son.

Gray billows of smoke from smoldering incense sticks attempted to claim every whisper of fresh air.

“Tell Me Your Name” by Roselyn Teukolsky

A young woman in Pasadena reconstructs a night when things went horribly wrong.

It’s dark outside — February in Pasadena — tall skinny palm trees doing the funky skeleton in the wind.

“Shark News” by Karter Mycroft

An unemployed young man finds opportunity in an unexpected place.

At the time, he didn’t know much about Venice, only that it seemed laid-back and had a nice breeze, and was about as far from his ex as he could get without falling in the ocean.

“The Good Life of Duke” by Erik Gonzales-Kramer

Nothing is as life-changing as when a dog claims its owner.

What kind of monster hits a dog and keeps on driving?

“Terminal Flight” by Barry Bergmann

What could have killed the man on the Blue Sky flight to LAX?

When Harbaugh and I got outside, we both took a deep breath, finding the smoggy air of the LA basin preferable to that of the morgue.

“Empty Glass” by Andrea Auten

A party in Silver Lake becomes the turning point in a woman’s life.

She took more gin swallows then slapped it empty onto the table hard enough to hear splintering glass.

“Star Crossed” by Gabi Lorino

Cynicism and mysticism collide when an accident separates a SoCal woman from the man who haunts her dreams.

He drifted through SoCal, showing up every few months or so with a different gig and a different phone number.

“Call Us Home” by Cody Sisco

The LApocalypse is on its way and only Salt, the curanderx, can stop it.

Wondering how my otherworldly colleagues will contact me now, I go to the kitchen and drink the last of the goat’s milk, pop four Lactaids and a few more anti-gas tablets, and start toward the shower.

“We Found Love as the Undead” by Sara Chisolm

A graffiti artist finds his art to be insufficient solace for his undead girlfriend.

The can emitted silvery beads of spray that mirrored the essence of Akiko’s moonbeam skin.

“Night of Fires” by Allison Rose

A tragedy ripped a family apart; years later, their reconciliation is not what it seems.

It was a heat that came without warning, seeping in through the gaps of the front door, a sneaky persistence like water resting in the palm of a hand, determined to wetten the seemingly sealed spaces between fingers.

Vol. 3 Contributors

Andrea Auten

Andrea Auten is an MFA graduate and holds a post master’s certificate in creative writing pedagogy from Antioch University Los Angeles where she works as a writing instructor. Her work has appeared in Lady/Liberty/Lit and Lunch Ticket. A vocalist, stage performer, visual artist, and arts teacher, she serves for many arts nonprofits. A member of the Degenerate Writer’s Group, she is working on her novel and a short story collection. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, sons, and beloved writing partner, Dusky, the family cat. Find her at andreaauten.com.

Barry Bergmann

Barry Bergmann’s grandfather moved his young family to Los Angeles after surviving the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, thinking earthquakes would not be an issue in Southern California. Even though his research may have been unsound, no member of the three subsequent Bergmann generations would find fault with his decision. Barry’s lived in five countries and thirteen cities during a 35 year airline career, but LA has always been the answer to the question, “Where are you from?” Retired now, he loves reading, running, travel, and of course writing. He splits his time between Tokyo, Arizona and naturally Los Angeles.

Sara Chisolm

Sara Chisolm is a speculative fiction writer based in the Los Angeles area. Her urban fantasy short story, “Serenade of a Gangsta,” was featured in the second volume of the Made in L.A. fiction anthology series.

DC Diamondopolous

DC Diamondopolous is an award-winning novelette, short story, and flash fiction writer with over 200 stories published internationally in print and online magazines, literary journals, and anthologies. DC’s stories have appeared in: 34th Parallel, So It Goes: The Literary Journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library, Lunch Ticket, Raven Chronicles, Silver Pen, Front Porch Review, and many others. Among DC’s many awards and honorary mentions are: 2018 Finalist for ScreenCraft’s Short Story Contest and 2017 nomination for Best of the Net Anthology. She lives on the California central coast with her wife and animals. Read more at dcdiamondopolous.com

Erik Gonzales-Kramer

Erik Gonzales-Kramer has loved writing stories since he could hold a pen, when he first wrote about space-faring sea otters of the future. When he is not writing short stories or editing his longer novels-in-process, he is busy with one of his many other passions—swing and blues dancing, sustainable action, and traveling. Though he loved growing up in the forests of Michigan, he is a proud Los Angeles transplant, where he shares his passion for prose with a dedicated community of storytellers of all mediums and walks of life. Keep up with Erik at erikgonzaleskramer.com

Nolan Knight

Nolan Knight is a fourth generation Angeleno whose short fiction has appeared in various publications including Akashic Books, Thuglit, Needle, Shotgun Honey, Tough, and Crimespree Magazine. His debut novel, The Neon Lights Are Veins, was released by 280 Steps Press and his short story collection, Beneath the Black Palms, is currently represented by Nat Sobel of Sobel Weber Associates. Find out more at NolanKnight.com / Insta: @Nolan_Knight_.

Gabi Lorino

Gabi Lorino is a writer, editor, and ukulele player. Her first ebook, A Magical Time Called Later, was inspired by several conversations with a disgruntled 38-year-old bridesmaid and her own experience as a singleton. She is a founding member of Made in L.A. Writers and has contributed to all the Made in L.A. anthologies.

Karter Mycroft

Karter Mycroft is an author, editor, musician, and fisheries scientist who lives in Los Angeles. They are currently hard at work on a novel about dead fish and the people who love them. Their short fiction has been published or is forthcoming in The Colored Lens, Black Hare Press, Trembling With Fear, Lovecraftiana, and Murder Park After Dark.

Noriko Nakada

Noriko Nakada lives in Los Angeles and is committed to teaching and writing thought-provoking creative non-fiction, fiction, and poetry. Publications include her memoir series: Through Eyes Like Mine. Through Eyes Like Mine was shortlisted for the 2040 Book Award. Overdue Apologies: a middle school memoir and I Tried: Tales from an Emerging High School Feminist complete the trilogy. Excerpts, essays, and poems have appeared in Catapult, Meridian, Kartika, Hippocampus, Compose, Linden Avenue. She is an editor for Women Who Submit, an organization empowering women and non-binary writers to submit their work for publication. Read more on Noriko’s website.

Lenore Robinson

Lenore Robinson came to writing as therapy, a way to coalesce her thoughts and emotions into something tangible. The themes she explores are from her own lived experience as well as the stories that have intersected with hers.  When she’s not writing fiction, she can be found writing code. Read more on Lenore’s website.

Allison Rose

Allison Rose is a novelist and screenwriter born and raised in Los Angeles. Tick, the first in her young adult science fiction series, tackles mental illness, artistry, and violence – themes close to Allison’s heart. It has been followed by Vice, part two of the Tick Series, and is based in a versed interpretation of near-future L.A. While Allison’s stories vary in genre, her focus centers on the struggles of complex female characters and the deconstruction of clichés and tropes about women. She has used her twenty years of graphic design experience to create her own book covers, including all three volumes of Made in L.A. She is a founding member of Made in L.A. Writers. Read more on Allison’s website.

Cody Sisco

Cody Sisco is an author of speculative fiction that straddles the divide between plausible and extraordinary. His Resonant Earth Series includes two novels thus far, Broken Mirror and Tortured Echoes. The third novel in the series, Altered Bodies, is forthcoming in 2021.

Cody is a 2017 Los Angeles Review of Books / USC Publishing Workshop Fellow, a co-organizer of the Los Angeles Writers Critique Group, and a founding member of the Made in L.A. Writers. His startup, BookSwell, connects readers with authors, maintains a literary events calendar, and serves as a community hub for book lovers in L.A. Find out more on Cody’s website.

Roselyn Teukolsky

Born and raised in South Africa, Roselyn Teukolsky traveled to California when she was 22, in a successful quest to nail down her boyfriend, who had escaped to Caltech. He is now her husband. Roselyn taught math and computer science for many years, and is the author of the Barron’s review book for AP Computer Science. She also wrote How to Play Bridge with Your Spouse … and Survive (Master Point Press, 2002). Roselyn’s latest passion is writing fiction—thrillers about unfortunate protagonists who land in trouble. Her latest novel in progress is An Unlikely Spy.

A.P. Thayer

A.P. Thayer is a Mexican-American author based out of North Hollywood. He writes grimdark fantasy, latino-futuristic cyberpunk, and cosmic horror. His work has appeared in Five on the Fifth literary magazine and the horror anthology Murder Park After Dark. He is a member of Speculative Ink, a Los Angeles based writing group, and one of the hosts of The Genre Hustle podcast.

A.P. had the privilege of growing up in Europe, where Gothic architecture, medieval folklore, and old-world landscapes captured his imagination. At the same time, his mother taught him about his Mexican heritage, sharing stories about her family and fairy tales while teaching him how to cook.

Nowadays, he fills as much of his time as possible with his two passions, writing and cooking.

AS Youngless

AS Youngless is a speculative and fantasy-based fiction writer who lives in sunny Los Angeles with her husband, son and too many pets to name. She finds inspiration in the people she meets as a yoga teacher and leader of an elementary-aged Graphic Novel Book Club.