This month, we’ve got pottery, a missing person, emergency career advice, and more. To submit a first line, email booklifeeditor@booklife.com.

Career Crisis Plan

Philip Kent-Hughes

“The common known reactions to an emergency are ‘fight’ or ‘flight’ (run away). The two less talked-about reactions are ‘panic’ and ‘freeze.’ ”


Celadon

Raymond Avery Bartlett

“Pottery is like love: a form of impossible perfection.”


The Janus Affair

Lilla Csorgo

“I don’t know where Ric is. He’s disappeared. He’s officially a missing person, but that would suggest I miss him, and I don’t.”


Optimal

J.M. Berger

“The digital ink had barely dried on the Treaty of St. Petersburg, marking the end of World Information War II, when the next wave of social networks debuted.”


Snowflake: A Climate Thriller

Arthur Jeon

“I gazed inside the gates of Hell today. They flanked the 405 freeway.”