Category Archives: Poetry

Rocking chair: Friday Update

12 Friday Sep 2025

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News:

I shared yesterday that I have another book being indie published, this time by Crystal Lake’s extreme horror imprint Torrid Waters, which published my last extreme horror novel, Question Not My Salt, too. In the Dollhouse We All Wait is full novel length around 90K words (QNMS is around 55K), and it is highly unpleasant. However, I devoted all my effort in this novel to unflinching horror, so if you can tolerate the trigger warnings, I hope you (don’t) enjoy yourselves. It should come out in 2026.

When I sign a contract for a long-form piece, I get cake. So I had an impromptu tea party with Erin last week, as you can see.

“Infiltration,” which is one of my favorite horror stories that I’ve written, came out on September 7 through the Sans. Press anthology Out There, about horror beyond boundaries. “Infiltration” is a beautiful seaside love story during a strange red tide. You can get the book in ebook, paperback, and hardback.

I received my final outstanding rejections for poems in A Nightmare for All Seasons. That means that, as soon as I finished my present WIP, I’ll finish out the seasonal horror poetry collection, just in time to enjoy the Halloween Parade. It’s pretty much done, just need to check the extra page matter and get a proof copy to make sure everything’s good.

Works in Progress:

The words sometimes flow better than other times, but I’m keeping up with my word count goals, other than on Monday when I was sick and headache-y. I was really worried I wasn’t going to be able to write it, but though I’m not in love with everything I’ve written so far, it’s a lot easier to fix words that are there versus not there, and I’m still happy with the story itself. Having trouble grounding characterization, but maybe it’ll get easier when I change my characters’ venue.

I’m presently at 17K words, with a general goal of 85K.

Books I’m Reading:

Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin
Rose Madder by Stephen King

Things I’m Listening To:

Halloween playlist

Things I’m Watching:

Deadgirl
Will Trent series (finished)
Matlock series
CSI series
CSI: NY series
Wear Whatever the F You Want series
Halloween Baking Championship series
Hoarders series
The Rookie series

Poem of the Week:

i ruminate as i masticate
crisp autumn leaves
anticipating a harvest apple
crunch but this cinnamon
season often disappoints:
a belly of decay and
a throat on fire

For what it’s worth: Friday Update

25 Friday Jul 2025

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Photo by Elle Hughes on Pexels.com

News:

“Sins of the Asylum,” a deeply gothic lyric poem, appeared in Gathered Here Today from Graveside Press, an open casket anthology of poetry and illustrations. You can get it cheaper direct from the press.

All seventeen Mystical Listicles stories have been posted at Crystal Lake’s Patreon, and voting is open to $5/month tiers and above for another 20 hours or so. I think the theme was a big hit this month—in part because it was about form rather than content and lent itself to a greater variety in subject—and I reiterate how much fun I had putting together the finalists. I would love to do it again.

Works in Progress:

I finished Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7) edits and sent them to my publisher. I should receive the proofreading edits next week. In the meantime, I’m tackling some short stories before the end of the month, some of them for calls and some of them just for the heck of it. I might even do that creative nonfiction piece I want to write about Mary Reilly, too. As soon as T&C(M7) is completely finished, I’m really nervous about doing Never & Forever (M8) because my attention span is still kind of shot, but I guess I’ll just take it a day at a time.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin
Texas Bigfoot by Lyle Blackburn

Things I’m Listening To:

Hannibal soundtracks
Fourth of July playlist
Emilie Autumn

Things I’m Watching:

The Amateur
Con Air
Found series
CSI series
9-1-1 series
The Amazing Race series
Say Yes to the Dress: Tan France series
America’s Got Talent series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series

Poem of the Week:

flowers someone else leaves
makes for a charming host
but i would never leave you
i miss you the most
i feast on your grave
raise a livelier toast
your headstone a pillow
i sleep with your ghost


Like ants in a hill-fire: Friday Update

27 Friday Jun 2025

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News:

My plague poem “Sacrificial” came out in The Cleansing Power of Fire from Infested Publishing on June 21.

“From Black Clouds” comes out today in Kosmos Obscura from Graveside Press. If you buy it directly from Graveside, it’s $1 cheaper, so if you have a yen for some cosmic horror, head here. Storm horror is my jam. It haunts my dreams, so it haunts my fiction.

We’re nearing the end of the opportunity to submit for next month’s Shallow Waters contest, under theme Mystical Listicles, with yours truly selecting the finalists. The sub call ends at the close of June 30.

Works in Progress:

I finally finished editing Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7), worked up the synopsis, and sent it in, but I’m kind of ashamed that I kept missing important emails from my publishers while I was struggling to get things done the last two months. I check that email regularly for a few weeks at a time, then stop for a while, and naturally, that’s when the emails were sent. So embarrassing and unprofessional of me—a tragedy of errors. I swear I’m not ignoring emails on purpose.

I’m supposed to work on May Cooler Heads Prevail next, which is a harder and harder story to handle as cooler heads continue to not prevail and actions continue to not have consequences. I can’t deal with this world at all. I don’t know how to function when things don’t at least sometimes work as they should. Maybe Cooler Heads will end up autobiographical if things keep making my brain short out.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin
Haunted Plano, Texas by Mary Jacobs

Things I’m Listening To:

The Blacklist playlist
Reputation by Taylor Swift
The Shadow Theory by Kamelot
Showtime, Storytime by Nightwish

Things I’m Watching:

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Jurassic World: Dominion
Nefarious
28 Weeks Later
Trainwreck: Poop Cruise
Ocean’s Thirteen
CSI: NY series
Doctor Odyssey series
America’s Got Talent series
Home Town series
Home Town Takeover series
Abbott Elementary series (finished)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series

Poem of the Week:

smoke on the horizon like clouds pluming to the atmosphere
into anvils with black underbellies with static electricity
smoke on the wind without the benefit of hickory breathe
in the poison particles piercing filters and penetrating cilia
smoke on my mind with a fire in the sky and poison in my blood
scattering in the cells like atmospheric ice released in rain

The endless poison: Friday Update

02 Friday May 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novelettes/Novellas, Poetry, Short Stories, Writing

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News:

A Coup of Owls announced their 2025 line-up of novelette collections, and my raw, grimy, sexy story “Glory to God,” about a displaced goddess at a gloryhole, comes out in their Halloween 2025 collection featuring Othered horror romance. This is a story I conceived of over fifteen years ago but didn’t have the inspiration or guts to write until I was initially putting together my bathroom horror collection.

My body horror poem “Exhibit” is featured in this issue of Memento Mori’s free newsletter Morsus Vitae.

I did an interview roughly a year ago with the Merry Writers Podcast, and they posted it earlier in April, but I missed it. You can find it at a number of podcast places, but also here on YouTube. I talk a little about Question Not My Salt but mostly about my writing process and my love of the horror genre.

In addition, although “Turning Tail” didn’t win anything last month, my story “The Devil’s Bathtub” is a finalist in this month’s Crystal Lake Shallow Waters flash fiction contest, featuring the theme Fools. It should post for $5/month tiers and above on May 12. This one is a story I’ve wanted to write for a while, loosely based on a place on my grandparent’s land in the Ozarks.

Works in Progress:

I’d hoped that gig working during the afternoons and early evenings and being too tired during the nights would lead to more focused work during my mornings and my Wednesday ‘weekend.’ This has not been the case. I’m sorry, but this administration (federal and state) is soul-sucking, and the anger and helplessness I feel all the time is not conducive to productivity. When logic, reason, and compassion don’t work as arguments, my brain gives a near constant 404 error. It’s not good for me.

I’ve managed to make a dent on the first round of edits on Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7), but not as big of a dent as I would have wanted. My plan to finish the first round before doing second-round edits on Masque, however, remains. But I have to remember that Texas Frightmare is this month, and that takes at least three days off my schedule for writing. I want the world to be a better place so I can do my work, damn it.

Concerned that tariffs will eventually lead to less gig work for me as it finally hits inventory or to skintier tips (which we’re heavily dependent on, so remember to tip your gig workers).

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Playlist of the Damned edited by Willow Dawn Becker and Jess Landry
Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin

Things I’m Listening To:

Old Favorite Playlist (basically everything I listened to in college)
Svrcina
It’s No Secret Anymore by Linda Eder
Jekyll & Hyde: Resurrection Soundtrack
Joanne by Lady Gaga
Josh Groban by Josh Groban
Kaleidoscope by Rachael Lampa
The Last Five Years Original Cast Recording

Things I’m Watching:

Mufasa: The Lion King
Talk to Me
Ghosts (US) series
Will Trent series
Watson series
Elsbeth series
NCIS series
CSI: NY series
CSI series
Criminal Minds series
Slasher: Guilty Party series
The Equalizer series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series
The Bondsman series

What You’ve Done to My Poetry

17 Thursday Apr 2025

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I almost completely lost my poetry since January, but I finally managed this on why. Photo by icon0 com on Pexels.com

Look what you’ve done to my poetry.
‘All for me and none for thee.’
How could you do this? How can you not see
that what you’re doing is killing me?

My verses wither at the brain-stem vine.
‘All for a price and none that’s thine.’
Replace it with shit and consign
the rest to the orbit of a waiting landmine.

Look what you’ve done to my poetry.
‘It’ll all get better. Just wait and see.’
Do more with less, no more quality or quantity,
sipping the tepid dregs of lead-lined tea.

My words drop and decay where they lie.
‘Iron bars for you and not for I.’
Bellies full of souls scorching the sky
garnish little more than a shrug and a sigh.

Look what you’ve done to my poetry.
‘What use is poetry, or literature, or humanity?’
We’ve decided that our main priority
Won’t be education at all, no college, no university.
Only dull, dreadful, deadened work, only productivity.
But God forbid you show the wrong kind of creativity,
something that doesn’t celebrate venomous positivity,
masculinity, or white supremacy.

Look what you’ve done to my poetry:
A pollen-streaked gravestone without a name,
Dead at thirty-eight, and no rhyme.

All boys, except one, grow up: Friday Update

28 Friday Mar 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novels, Poetry, Series, Writing

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News:

A reminder that I’ll be participating in a virtual Horror Talent Showcase tomorrow, March 29, 8-10 PM EST, which you can sign up for here. I’ll be reading “Venus,” a narrative poem from the Verdant with Splinter and Thorn vicious spring section of seasonal horror poetry collection A Nightmare for All Seasons. I’ve done a virtual reading before for Queer Saints II, and it was a lot of fun.

Book & Candle (Meridan Book 5) by my other name is out in ebook.

Some good news on the medical front, but I’ll talk about it more when the labs get back. However, due to medical stuff, I’ll have to wait until next week before I start my venture into the gig economy. I’m excited and nervous in turns.

Works in Progress:

I finished the two short stories and decided to save the third for next month, because I had a lot of real-life things distracting me this last week. However, I also received the first edits for Tattered & Torn (Meridian Book 6) from my publisher, so I’m getting on that. I’m hoping to finish by end of the weekend or Monday. Then I’ll turn around and start my double edits on Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7).

During a walk, I thought of a juicy concept for a Meridian Book 8 that makes me excited about trying to write in that world again. It may be something I play with after Masque edits. I think eight books in a series feels more complete than seven, and it’ll address an important recurring theme in the other books.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Alien Secrets by Annette Curtis Klause (finished)
Playlist of the Damned edited by Willow Dawn Becker and Jess Landry

Things I’m Listening To:

Svrcina
Eurielle
Lily Kershaw

Things I’m Watching:

The Substance
Ma
Twisters
The Twister: Caught in the Storm
Meltdown: Three Mile Island series
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Watson series
Ghosts (US) series
Abbott Elementary series
Elsbeth series
The Hunting Party series
CSI: NY series
CSI series
Criminal Minds series
Spring Baking Championship series
Reacher series
Grey’s Anatomy series
The Equalizer series
S.W.A.T. series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series

From the pollution: Friday Update

14 Friday Mar 2025

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Novels, Poetry, Series, Short Stories, Thorns

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News:

I’ll be reading a narrative poem from the Verdant with Splinter and Thorn section of poetry collection A Nightmare for All Seasons, “Venus,” for the Horror Talent Showcase put on by Mae Murray on March 29, 8-10 PM EST. You can purchase your free ticket for this event here.

Undertaker Books has posted their Table of Contents for the Carnival of Horror anthology coming out April 4. My story “Exile,” a sweet-sour tale about a clown who has grown too big for his circus, is part of this one. I was so happy to come up with a story idea for this sub call, so I’m thrilled to be part of the anthology.

I can’t find an article about it, but I’m tentatively happy that Dusty Deevers’ incredibly broad ‘pornography’ bill looks to have not made it out of committee, per Authors Against Book Banning. There’s still the SCREEN Act in the Senate and a few Texas bills that I have an eye on as far as what’s dangerous and paves the way for book banning/book burning, but that it didn’t get far in Oklahoma is a good thing in a sea of bad.

Works in Progress:

I finished the first round of edits for Tattered & Torn (Meridian Book 6) a few days. As anticipated, I cut a lot of words due to overwriting while trying to figure out where the story would go and how to get from one side of dialogue to the other. I cut 25K words from about 111K to 86K words, which is a substantial chunk.

I’m a little less than halfway through the second round, and it’s definitely moving a lot faster, which speaks to my ability to make really good changes, not just cuts, in the first round. I hope to finish by the end of the weekend—by end of Saturday would be ideal, but I’m on my period, and that makes things less certain.

Once I finish, I’ll send it in to my editor, then try to write a few short things before tackling Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7) edits.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Alien Secrets by Annette Curtis Klause

Things I’m Listening To:

Singer-songwriter playlist

Things I’m Watching:

Twisters
Warlock
Power Rangers (2017)
Thinner
Nosferatu (2024)
CSI: NY series
CSI series
Criminal Minds series
Spring Baking Championship series
Slasher: The Executioner series
Reacher series
Grey’s Anatomy series
The Equalizer series
S.W.A.T. series

Kaleidoscope Eyed

20 Monday Jan 2025

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Photo by Rasmindo Sitepu on Pexels.com

I love the vast and varied weirdness of humans,
Our bodies and brains, how they change,
How we make them change, how they stay the same,
How we make them stay the same, and how
Things sometimes move fast or slow or out of our hands.
I love color and hair and clothes and shoes and dancing
And food and jewels and the shelters we build.
I love our resourcefulness and thumbs, creativity
On screens and pages and canvas, skin-deep and deeper.
I love glasses and prosthetics and implants and grafts,
Pacemakers and sutures, additions, removals,
I love hormones and mutations and bursts of bright colors
In a PET scan. I love our differences and beg
That we resist demonization into homogenization.
We are part of our own creation. We were made
To sew clothes and make bread and carve canes
And amputate limbs. We are born incomplete so that we may
Color in our own lines—or outside of them, if we prefer.
Homo sapiens suspicion is the reason why we’re what’s left
Of the hominids, with leftovers in our DNA; the reason
Why we resist and war against difference, battling
Ever false Uncanny Valley, even as we schism, split,
And spin in new directions to new beats, new songs.
Even as we repeat old rhythms, like a fugue,
We make a beautiful new melody. Please, please, please,
Do not cut the songs short from fear, from lies
Created to justify the reaction. Listen to the music
Instead and see if it’s something you can snap to.

Another brick in the wall: Friday Update

17 Friday Jan 2025

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News:

Under my other name, Book & Candle (Meridian Book 5)—a witch forms a conditional alliance with a veteran demon hunter to find her friend, who was taken by succubi—is available for preorder. This one involves contractual obligations, itching spells, and older characters, though still a significant age gap. It was great fun to write a powerful character in an unusually vulnerable position, and I hope it’s just as enjoyable to read.

My horror poem “Dunce,” about a child forgotten in a corner, is available to read for free in Memento Mori Magazine‘s free newsletter, Morsus Vitae, here.

Had a doctor’s check-up and had a long talk (which I greatly appreciated) to determine where I go from here this year on my health journey. I don’t anticipate the blood tests will show much improvement in my problem areas, unfortunately, but at least I have a path to take for some of my other issues that I can’t afford to push off much longer, even if I hope they’re not something too bad. Based on prior experience, I’m probably fine (in the sense that my issues won’t harm me, even if they’re not the most fun things in the world), but your body’s warranty runs out at thirty-five, so I can’t lean on that assumption anymore.

Whether or not I’m successful at finishing up the DRI and Masque edits before the end of the month, I’ll be signing up to work for Instacart. The gig economy is not ideal, of course, but I need money flowing in instead of out (not least to cover medical costs), and I actually like grocery shopping, so it may be a good fit. I’ll be easing into it in February, figuring out my best schedule and hopefully not venturing too far from home.

Works in Progress:

I was supposed to start editing the Dracula reimagining, but I’m having a hard time focusing. I’ll be trying again today and shooting for finishing in a week and a half or less. Honestly, though, I’m not sure what the inauguration is going to do to me.

However, I did manage to write two pieces of flash, both of which got sent out to their respective submission calls in good shape, so it was still a productive week.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder

Things I’m Listening To:

Christmas playlist
Dracula soundtracks

Things I’m Watching:

101 Dalmatians (1996)
102 Dalmatians
Grotesquerie series (finished)
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Grey’s Anatomy series
The Equalizer series
Found series
The Irrational series
Abbott Elementary series
Home Town series
White Collar series
NCIS series
CSI series
CSI: NY series
Columbo series
Broadchurch series

Poem of the Week:

there aren’t as many stars
anymore i have to squint
to see more than haze
or shadow on the moon
maybe it’s how much i drink
or the long long days
maybe i’m just tired
or maybe the sun wants to sleep
come inside my darling
the light is getting dim