Coming about a week late, but I’m pleased to announce a story that was in the works since 2022 has finally found a home in The Summerset Review! It’s very apropos that this story gets published this year, when the Cambridge English Dictionary has named “parasocial” as their word of the year.
As a digital doppelganger tale, “Parasocial” tells the story of a person who arguably has parasocial relationships with everyone around them, a person who occupies little space themself and projects their own ideas and fantasies onto others, and who during the Covid pandemic retreated even further into this isolated existence that borders on the solipsistic, a world whose reality is distorted by their limited participation but expansive perception. When they discover a Russian YouTuber who is a virtual doppelganger of a friend they once knew, they become extremely invested, especially once real-world catastrophe strikes their new fixation. Hope that’s enticing enough for you to start reading!
danielle bodnar writes 