Two stories in two very focused publications

A lot of short story anthologies focus on very particular themes, either because that’s what the publishers / editors want to read about, or because a themed anthology makes it more interesting to those readers who are, well, interested in that subject. I’ve recently had stories accepted by two of these anthologies (notice I didn’t use the word “sold” — neither were paying markets), and by a strange coincidence, both are coming out in October.

The first, which just came out October 5th, is part of a series called the Queer Sci Fi Flash Fiction Contest; this year’s theme was “Clarity.” I first submitted a piece to last year’s (which was themed “Ink”), and because I find it fun to try to write very short stories — each story has to be 300 words or less — I wrote one for this year’s as well, called “Age Cannot Wither Her.” While it wasn’t chosen to be one of the “winners” (oh, well), I is part of the anthology, and I think it’s a rather neat little piece of flash fiction.

The second book is a reaction to the overturning of Roe vs. Wade; it’s an independently published anthology called Hell Hath Only Fury, edited by S.H. Cooper and Oli A. White. This is a charity anthology, with proceeds going toward abortion and other health services in those states that are no longer offering them. (I’ve lost track of which specific organization will be the beneficiary, should the anthology actually make some money; I’ll add it here when I find out.) I was glad to send a story — this time, a reprint — and gladder that it was accepted; called “All His Worldly Goods,” the story was originally published in an independent magazine called Sybil’s Garage back in April 2008.

Hell Hath Only Fury is due to come out on October 21st; you should be able to find it at Amazon and other online booksellers. I’ll probably blog it again at that point.

Take care!

Pro-choice horror authors roundtable

I was pleased to be invited to participate in an online discussion of abortion rights by horror authors on Gwendolyn Kiste’s blog. The blog offers the opinions of a diverse group of writers who express their anger, fear, and determination — I was really impressed with the wide range of reactions, experience, and information that was expressed.

I don’t have much more to say; I think the best thing to do is to recommend it if you’re interested in knowing what at least some people — most personally affected by the Supreme Court decision — have to say.

(And yes, I suppose that I am a horror author, although I didn’t consider myself one until a couple of years ago, when somebody pointed out that at least a few of my stories definitely qualified me for membership in HWA…)

Coming up: New York: Give Me Your Best or Your Worst

I’ve recently sold stories to two independently-published anthologies: New York: Give Me Your Best or Your Worst, edited by Elizabeth Crowens, and Unbreakable Ink, edited by Shebat Legion.

Both are deserving of separate blog posts. For no particular reason, I’m going to start with Elizabeth Crowens’ upcoming large-format photography book New York: Give Me Your Best or Your Worst. Sponsored by a grant from the City Artist Corps Grants program, it is filled with fabulous photos of New York City by Elizabeth, along with commentary, stories, and other writings by several authors — including yours truly.

Basically, Elizabeth emailed me a photo and asked me to write something inspired by it. I was provided with a photo of a fishmonger looking with approval upon his wares — and immediately wrote a story entitled, appropriately, “The Fishmonger.” I tried to make it a little weird and a little unexpected; I hope I succeeded.

Elizabeth’s book will be available October 25th; the Kindle version is now available for pre-order at Amazon. The hardcover version — which is the version you want if you’re looking to get this as a gift or just as something really cool to look at — will also be available at Amazon, but once it goes on sale, you may want to check it out at The Mysterious Bookshop, either in person or online, because they will actually have autographed copies available.

One new mention and one lost website

Just a couple of quick notes:

Unfortunately, the site where I was storing many of my stores, Curious Fictions, is now defunct. As a result, several of the links to my short stories that is on this site won’t work. I’ll fix the situation asap, but meanwhile, your patience is appreciated. (And if there are any stories that you especially want to read RIGHT NOW, contact me and I’ll see what I can do.)

I’ve got a new entry in a series of Inside the Emotion of Fiction, where I was interviewed about my story “The Ladder-back Chair,” which is part of THE HISTORY OF SOUL 2065. Feel free to check it out…

Short story sale to Space and Time

I’m really pleased to announce that my short story “Dead Time at Hart Island” will appear in the Autumn issue of Space and Time Magazine.

Hart Island is a real place. It’s a small isle off the coast of NYC where those who couldn’t afford funeral costs, or who were without friends and family, have been buried for decades. And for years, relatives who found out that their loved ones were buried there weren’t allowed to visit, because the island was administered by the Department of Corrections, and burials done by prisoners. Hart Island is due to be turned over to the Parks Department — mostly due to the work of the Hart Island Project — and had been opened up to a limited number of visitors before the pandemic hit.

I’ve been fascinated with Hart Island for years, and in fact am currently experimenting with a longer form — maybe even a novel! — that features it as a main plot point. In the meantime, I’ll let you know when the short story is available!

“The Story Behind” entries have moved

Just a short blog entry for anyone who happens to be following these: My explanations about how I came to write each of the stories in The History of Soul 2065 will no longer appear on this blog. Instead, I’ve created a new site where I’ve put descriptions, background, and perhaps a video or two for all (you saw that right: all) of the stories in the book.

If you’ve already read the book, you may enjoy knowing some of the personal and historical background of each story. If you haven’t read it yet, maybe this will make you want to? At any rate, you can find my new site at HistoryOfSoul2065.com.

Thanks for reading!

The Story Behind “The Sad Old Lady”

Artist: Henriette Browne

Background info for “The Sad Old Lady,” one of the stories in The History of Soul 2065.

THE STORY IN BRIEF
Sheila has a vision of herself as a lonely old woman, and tries her best to change her fate.

HOW IT WAS WRITTEN
When I was an adolescent and then a young adult, I would sometimes have night terrors during which I would be overwhelmed by the certainty of death. There was nothing I could do about it; death would one day come for me, and I as a thinking, conscious individual would no longer exist. I would no longer be, and I wouldn’t even be aware that I was no longer, and ever had been. I was absolutely horrified by the prospect.

My certainty of what death was, and what it was not, probably dates from a day when I was sitting in the car with my father. I don’t know what brought up the question, but I asked him, “Do you believe in life after death?” He didn’t pause, he didn’t consider, he simply said, “No.” He probably spoke not only from his feelings about religion, but also from what he saw as a soldier in Europe during WWII. And he spoke with such certainty, that I fully believed him.

Eventually, I don’t know why, those moments of night terror went away. When I started to write “The Sad Old Lady,” I tried to recapture those feelings in print, but couldn’t figure out how to end the story properly. Finally, I tweaked it so that Sheila’s night terrors come from a different source. She has, somehow, been granted a foretelling of what to her as a child seems to be a hideous fate, and she becomes obsessed with trying to avoid it.

“The Sad Old Lady” appeared in an unfortunately short-lived publication called Voluted Dreams in July 2013.

NOTES ON THE PEOPLE
For the most part, the people in this story are completely fictional. There are aspects of Sheila that come from my own experience — the fear of what is to come in the future, and the little tin box full of childhood treasures (which I still have, by the way). But she is of my mother’s generation.

Sheila’s son Carl’s experience with schizophrenia was taken from what happened to a friend’s brother when I was not long out of college.

NOTES ON THE HISTORY
My mother was lucky in that both her brother and the man who was to be her future husband both returned from World War II alive and physically intact. But many didn’t, and I wanted to show that in this story

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Want to read The History of Soul 2065? Here are some links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Powell’s | Google Play

More links, and direct purchase of ebooks, can be found at Mythic Delirium.

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Upcoming reading at the Twenty-Sided Store

So I’m going to be part of this reading in the highly fashionable neighborhood of Williamsburg in the highly fashionable borough of Brooklyn at the newly fashionable Twenty-Sided Store, where the highly fashionable go to game. (No, really, I understand it’s really a neat place.)

 

I will be reading alongside a bunch of highly talented writers, including Chris Kreuter, Carlos Hernandez, C.S.E. Cooney, and Rob Cameron.

 

It’s all happening this Thursday, December 22nd, at 7 pm. The Twenty-Sided Store is located at 362 Grand Street in Brooklyn. It sounds like it’s gonna be a lot of fun. Drop on by if you can.

I’m going to read at NYRSF!

February is almost here, and on Tuesday, February 2nd, I’m going to be doing a reading at the NYRSF Readings series with one of my favorite writers, Richard Bowes.

Rick and I have been part of the same writing group (currently called Tabula Rasa) for a few years now, and he is the author of several excellent novels and short stories, including one of my absolute favorites (and the best 9/11 story written, in my opinion), “There’s a Hole in the City.” Appearing on the same bill with him will be great.

I’m still back and forth about what I’m going to read: Right now, it’s between a maybe-it’s-real-and-maybe-it’s-not story that I recently sold to Mythic Delirium called “The Ladderback Chair” and a science fiction tale that just appeared in Abyss and Apex called “With Triumph Home Unto Her House.” I probably won’t decide until I absolutely have to (the same way I sometimes decide what to eat at a restaurant; wait until the waiter shows up and then pick one).

So come on by if you can. With any luck, at least some of the snow will be gone by then:

NYRSF Readings
Tuesday, February 2nd
Doors open at 6:30 pm; begins about 7 pm
The Brooklyn Commons
388 Atlantic Avenue  (between Hoyt & Bond St.)

 

 

54 Below Sings Starmites

What with a full-time job, an attempt to keep my writing up and other obligations, I haven’t done a lot of “going out” lately. So it was really nice to to be able to treat ourselves to 54 Below Sings Starmites, a cabaret-type performance of a 1980s comic-book musical called, yes, Starmites. It was directed by Pat Cerasaro & Barry Keating; Keating wrote the music and lyrics; he also wrote the book along with Stuart Ross.

54 Below is a nightclub in the lower level of what was, of course, the former and notorious Club 54 (the upper level is now a theatre owned by the Roundabout). We had a somewhat expensive but extremely yummy dinner; then an enthusiastic and very talented cast and band performed the musical numbers on a dangerously small stage while the story (such as it was) was narrated by Liz Larsen, a member of the original cast.

It was a huge amount of fun. The whole cast was great (and negotiated their way through a few mistakes and glitches with professionalism and humor). I was especially impressed by Cheryl Freeman, who belted out a song called Hard To Be Diva with incredible energy, and Brian Charles Rooney, who played the bad guy with relish and sang The Cruelty Stomp wonderfully, throwing in some jazzy riffs that that directly referenced Cab Calloway, among others.

Many thanks to Sheri Lane and Barry Keating for helping us discover this event.