Category Archives: Short Stories

Our better angels: Friday Update

19 Friday Jun 2026

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Essays/Creative Non-Fiction, Novelettes/Novellas, Short Stories, Writing

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News:

Received my wonderful finalized cover from Don Noble of Rooster Republic Press, so I was able to finally upload the finished manuscript of May Cooler Heads Prevail to Amazon—ebook only, because it’s too short to justify a paperback, from my perspective. The story may eventually end up in a collection, if it feels appropriate to the thread. It’s too long for a short story or novelette but short for a novella, and it’s not horror but too grounded to be fully speculative… I just never knew what to do with it, so here it is, with the help of my editor to make it into something truly special.

“Is this a time for gods and monsters?”

A journalist who specializes in celebrity interviews finally gets the chance to meet the elusive Alice Proulx, who stands accused of allegedly setting public figures’ heads aflame. Together, they discuss her history, her philosophies, the responsibility of being a global citizen, and the contradiction of becoming an ethical vigilante.

From the author of DRIFT and DEEP DOWN comes an intimate examination of one woman’s choices in a world where checks and balances too often fail and the vile suffer no meaningful consequences.

Also, my weird Halloween story “Smell My Feet” for the Shallow Waters contest this month posted yesterday. You can read it at the Crystal Lake Patreon and vote for your favorite at the end of June in the $5/month tier.

Works in Progress:

I finished the 19th century horror story entry for next month’s Shallow Waters and cut it down under 1500 words. It was much more manageable than my first attempt for the theme, but still a challenge combining that gothic style with the brevity required for flash. I appreciated having to put in the extra effort to balance those two elements.

This means that I’m working on essays and creative non-fiction the rest of summer until I’m tired of it. I’m doing my Hannibal series essay first, which means I must rewatch Season One again, so soon after a recent rewatch. Oh no, what a terrible fate. (Haven’t even finished the Season Three rewatch yet, so I guess that’s happening after the Season One finale.)

I haven’t written an essay since college, for the very good reason that college burned me out writing them. That’s what happens when you’re an English Lit major with an affinity for the social sciences. You don’t write another proper essay-shaped thing until twenty years later, but only influenced by your favorite essays from your college era.

My mind is alight with ideas for this essay, though, and my notebook has things in it that I just had to jot down before I forgot them. I’m looking forward to coalescing those ideas into something more structured and formal, but still fun, because I’m not getting graded anymore.

Books I’m Reading:

It was All a Dream 2: Another Anthology of Bad Horror Tropes edited by Brandon Applegate
Cosmic Dyke Patrol by Lor Gislason

Things I’m Listening To:

Let’s Hear It for the Girls playlist
Kamelot

Things I’m Watching:

Clue
Midsommar
The Shining
Twisters
9-1-1 series
9-1-1: Nashville series
Hawaii Five-O series
Will Trent series
NCIS series
Home Town: Inn This Together series (finished)

Poem of the Week: (throwback to June 2022)

Somewhere in this world
A raven on a windowsill
Tilts its head
Turns its beak
And offers a crone
A shiny stone

Gaslight and cobblestone: Friday Update

12 Friday Jun 2026

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Short Stories, Writing

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News:

Nothing this week.

Works in Progress:

I wanted to get two short stories written last weekend, but that didn’t happen, because on a road trip back home, the sun hits my computer screen, so I just tend to nap on the way back in an effort to avoid carsickness. I did end up finishing the second story on Wednesday, but I’ve discovered that writing in a 19th century gothic style really clashes with the aim of flash fiction, and it ended up too long. I think I can still manage the challenge, so I’ve started on another story that I hope will stay within the guidelines. I do love leaning into more complicated syntax, though. That was part of what I enjoyed about writing Masque.

I realized that, with May Cooler Heads Prevail finished and off my plate, I’m actually done with anything particularly demanding until I decide to take on the We Follow You in the Dark rewrite or the Masque edits, whichever come first. Which means I can work on the creative non-fiction and horror essays that I can accomplish at my leisure, because I really am just doing them for fun.

I did get hit with a cold (antigen tests for anything serious came back negative) Monday evening and am still on the mend. It’s been a while since I’ve been sick, and even with a cold, it always feels like it knocks me right on my back. Honestly, if the congestion could just be managed, I’d feel so much more myself.

Books I’m Reading:

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King (finished)
It was All a Dream 2: Another Anthology of Bad Horror Tropes edited by Brandon Applegate
Cosmic Dyke Patrol by Lor Gislason

Things I’m Listening To:

Miranda Lambert
Thorns playlists
Poetry for the Poisoned by Kamelot

Things I’m Watching:

The Three Caballeros
Lady and the Tramp
The Fall Guy
Fallen
Host (2020)
Haunted Harmony Mysteries: Key to the Castle
Hawaii Five-O series
Elsbeth series (finished)
Will Trent series
NCIS series
Home Town series (finished)
Home Town: Inn This Together series

Poem of the Week:

Somehow shadows survive,
coalesce into penetrating
light of a thousand candles
burning upon a vile mess,
icing atop a foul concoction, combination
of filth, mucosal secretion, ectoplasmic
residue, baked in brimstone oven.
Make a wish, blow, conflagration.
Bring back the darkness.

Sparkly cowboy boots: Friday Update

05 Friday Jun 2026

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

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News:

“Smell My Feet” made it into the Halloween-themed Shallow Waters finalists for this month. $5/month tiers and up can read all 20 stories and vote on their favorites at the end of the month.

Next month’s theme is 19th Century Horror, if you’re interested in submitting before the end of June (<1500 words flash fiction).

Works in Progress:

I think I’ve finished up with May Cooler Heads Prevail, but I’ve just discovered the text-to-speech option in Word (not AI), and I’m going to run through it one more time that way to try to catch anything I missed during the proofreading round. Then I’ll put it into Atticus and get it in shape to self-publish. As I wrote in my other social media, I’m so enamored of this little piece that doesn’t quite belong anywhere but is most comfortable among comic book heroes/villains and supernatural abilities. Almost too short to be a novella, not sure if it’s long enough to print.

It’s delightful, it’s raw, it’s too timely and just timely enough, sweet and cold and hot and harsh, frivolous, experimental, occasionally pretentious by design. It just means a lot to me, anxious though I am about putting it out into the world.

This weekend, my goal is to write two short stories (already have one taken care of) and try to put May Cooler Heads Prevail through its final paces.

Books I’m Reading:

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
Queen Bitch Slay by Patrick C. Harrison III (finished)
It was All a Dream 2: Another Anthology of Bad Horror Tropes edited by Brandon Applegate

Things I’m Listening To:

Miranda Lambert
Let’s Hear It for the Girls playlist
Thorns playlists

Things I’m Watching:

Backrooms
House on Haunted Hill (1999)
Hawaii Five-O series
True Justice series
Elsbeth series
NCIS series
Prodigal Son series
Dirty Rotten Cleaners series (finished)

Poem of the Week: (throwback to June 2022)

jekyll in the streets
hyde in the sheets
stygian in the front
callipygian in the back
two-faced chaos parishioner
dichotomous mordrake

Chasing butterflies: Friday Update

29 Friday May 2026

Posted by in A Few Thoughts, Poetry, Short Stories, Writing

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News:

I’ve had a poem accepted for two years(!) that finally posted this week. My dark fairy tale poem “Golden” is up on Corvid Queen, free to read.

In addition, “Growing Things” is free to read at the Crystal Lake website, and you can listen to Bree Allison’s narration at the same time, if you want. It’s on the bottom of the page.

Works in Progress:

Texas Frightmare is so much fun to go to, but I don’t bring my computer along, and it’s very draining. Not a lot of sleep had. I let myself get some good sleep afterward and didn’t get to do any writing work until Wednesday.

I struggled writing a flash fiction piece, but after convincing myself it didn’t matter how good it was, I did manage to finish. I’m in the process of cutting it down to size for the Shallow Waters Halloween theme. That’ll probably take me the rest of the afternoon.

Then I’ll work on May Cooler Heads Prevail. A little behind, but I hope to have it for you before next Friday.

Books I’m Reading:

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
Queen Bitch Slay by Patrick C. Harrison III (finished)
It was All a Dream 2: Another Anthology of Bad Horror Tropes edited by Brandon Applegate

Things I’m Listening To:

Let’s Hear It for the Girls playlist
Hannibal playlist
Thorns playlists

Things I’m Watching:

The Pitchfork Retreat
Models vs. Werewolves (skip it; it’s funny, but all the effects are AI, Frightmare watchers were pissed. seriously, we went feral for Velocipastor. a rubber suit and strawberry milkshake would have been better.)
Marrow (quite good, quiet slow-burn psych horror)
Cleaner
The Book Club Murders
Elsbeth series
NCIS series
Tracker series (finished)
Prodigal Son series
9-1-1 series
9-1-1 Nashville series
Wayward series (finished)
True Haunting series (finished)
Dirty Rotten Cleaners series

Poem of the Week: (throwback to May 2022)

translate the sure
postulate the tell
inculcate the cure
inoculate the well
vaccinate the crowd
mandate the trick
contaminate the loud
isolate the sick

Stirring in cinnamon: Friday Update

22 Friday May 2026

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News:

My COVID-era tale about skin-crawling creepy-crawlies, “Nest/Infest,” is free to read at Horrific Scribblings as part of their Nasty Nature exhibit. Everything on the site is free to read, so explore around for some excellent horror. “Nest/Infest” touches on a number of my own personal icks, so I’m happy to pass those along. Enjoy!

Works in Progress:

I did finish edits for May Cooler Heads Prevail. I need to do another round to clean it up and make sure everything changed flows. I’ll probably have it out next week sometime. I’ve been trying to write a flash piece, but I’m struggling to get started. I’m considering writing it out of order, just to try something new.

However, I have Texas Frightmare this weekend, so I’ll be conserving personal energy and reading in my downtime while waiting in line for panels.

Books I’m Reading:

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Things I’m Listening To:

Singalong playlist
Let’s Hear It for the Girls playlist
Hannibal playlist

Things I’m Watching:

27 Dresses
Obsession (absolutely amazing, go see it in theaters, if you can)
The Thursday Murder Club
Grey’s Anatomy series
Celebrity Jeopardy series (finished)
NCIS series
Tracker series
Prodigal Son series
9-1-1 series
9-1-1 Nashville series
Absentia series
Wayward series
Power Rangers: Reignition series
Dirty Rotten Cleaners series

Poem of the Week: (throwback to May 2022)

How hideously grotesque,
Your crooked little lies,
Grossly deformed ethics,
Barbed and twisted ties,
Ugly as grubs in gardens,
To be violently pecked
By chickens and crows,
In viscera bedecked.
You scrub your teeth
Until they gleam white
As poisonous bleach,
Your pristine blight
A vile gift
Wrapped round rot,
A pretense at perfect
When emphatically not.
May they see outside
What lurks within,
Monstrous heart riddled
With most disgusting sin.

Severance: Friday Update

08 Friday May 2026

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News:

One of my Crystal Lake Shallow Waters flash fiction winners was read on the House of Shadow and Ink’s YouTube channel by narrator Bree Allison. It doesn’t take long and should give you the shivers. Cli-fi horror story “Growing Things” can be found here.

Due to changes in Draft2Digital’s new maintenance fees that apply only to low earners, thus punishing the unsuccessful who can’t afford the fees because we don’t make the royalties to afford them, I’ve had to delist all my books from both my names. That means that all of my self-published titles can only be found at Amazon going forward. This is not ideal; I’m not happy about fewer options, and it’s probably going to hurt other book sellers like Smashwords and Bookshop. Seems like it leaves Amazon in a much better position to screw everyone over—like always, but more. I’ll work on removing the universal links for wider distribution from this site.

Works in Progress:

I finished the repairs of the Dracula reimagining, and I’m much happier with it on the other side than I was with the previous repairs. I once again thank past Amanda for doing her last edits with tracked changes. I flew through the novel.

I’ve been slowly working on the edits for May Cooler Heads Prevail. They’ve been requiring some thinking at each step, but I think the slower speed may be worth it in the end.

I’ve been ruminating over some essays I want to tackle afterward. I’m really looking forward to trying to put words and structure to thoughts I’ve had for a while.

Books I’m Reading:

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Things I’m Listening To:

Singalong playlist
Beyond the Black
Delain

Things I’m Watching:

Saw: The Final Chapter
Kate
Gunpowder Milkshake
The Gray Man
Saw X
Hoarding: Buried Alive series (finished)
NCIS series
Tracker series
Prodigal Son series

Poem of the Week:

she said never
to return but
my chest burns
i tell her
i have nothing
left to sing
she preempts me
to remind me
that I am empty
more hollow than
the dog cage
and the rubber room
the tattered stage
the milky womb
she leads me
to the porcelain tub
and seeds me
in tile never scrubbed
until I am shadow
and insinuation
another sarcophagal body
asleep in limbo

Where’s the love: Friday Update

17 Friday Apr 2026

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After a lot more time at the car place than I would have liked and eventually having to get a loaner car, and after way more money than I wanted to spend, my car has working a/c again and safety elements have been fixed. That’s still been my stress landscape for this last week, but hopefully I’m over that hill and I can start replenishing my coffers.

News:

I did an interview with Don Anelli for In the Dollhouse We All Wait at his blog Don’s Horror Reads. He also wrote a solid review for Dollhouse.

Ian Gielen also reviewed Dollhouse for Memento Mori Ink Magazine.

By and large, the review response seems to be that it’s definitely extreme and harsh to get through, but it’s more than gruesome gore and torture; there’s a psychological horror element and attention to characterization that keeps readers going. Which is what I was going for, so I’m thrilled.

“Changing Room,” a story set in my nineties era and mall life, was included in Squirm Books’ queer anthology Skin Deep, which came out on the 13th.

Works in Progress:

I spent Monday and Wednesday cleaning out my closet and setting up my new shelving unit for books. I’ve never assembled furniture before, and I’m surprised and proud of how well it went. I have more cleaning to do, but my walk-in closet is now a walk-in again, and I get to look at my pretty books and know exactly what I have. I also found my sixth grade(!) copy of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which I need for an essay I want to write and I wasn’t able to find before (which is part of the reason why I wanted to get my books out of the closet; other reason is that the shelving in there was made for storage, not books).

I watched the latest season of Hoarders to ready myself for the process. It’s not only motivating, but it prepared me for throwing out a bin of clothes from the attic that appeared (and smelled) to have been peed on by a rodent or two. I saved one shirt that didn’t have any pee stains, and it seems to be okay after washing, but the rest really needed to go. Not one likes waste, but I’m not comfortable donating things that have been peed on, even after a wash.

I’m genetically predisposed to some hoarding behavior, fighting that all the time. Sometimes, however, it gets out of my control, and it’s hard to find time to fix it that I wouldn’t rather devote to writing. I managed to keep the mess mostly out of sight this time, but it made getting things from my closet difficult. Without a writing project, I have no other excuse but to tidy.

Yesterday I received the final line edits for Never & Forever (Meridian Book 8), so I’ll be working on that for the next week and finish out the closet cleaning afterward. Then I’ll apply myself to May Cooler Heads Prevail edits.

Books I’m Reading:

I’m Sorry If I Scared You by Mae Murray (finished)
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Things I’m Listening To:

Singalong playlist
Lily Kershaw

Things I’m Watching: (I am a multi-faceted weirdo)

Frankenstein (2025)
Spiral
Hostel: Part III
Cinderella (Brandy)
Cinderella (Disney 1950)
Longlegs
Sinners
Under Paris
Power Rangers: Reignition series
Goosebumps (1995) series
Ghosts (US) series
Elsbeth series
True Haunting series
Prodigal Son series

Poem of the Week: (throwback to April 2022)

The placid white clouds
have all turned gray.
The streets of pearl
have shattered away.
What happened to
these Elysian fields
to fade to brown
from the final seals?
Feathers floating
down from above.
Send in the crows
instead of the dove.

The beast is dead: Saturday Update

07 Saturday Mar 2026

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

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News:

“Take It to the River” won second place for the River theme at Shallow Waters last month. This month, “Sloppy” is showing up for the Bed theme. It should post about March 10 at the Crystal Lake Patreon ($5/month tier and up to read and vote, lots of fun every month).

Works in Progress:

I didn’t forget to post yesterday. I was just busy because I’d gone over my extended deadline to submit my edited manuscript of Never & Forever (Meridian Book 8) to my publisher. I’d initially promised it about mid-February, then the end of February, then yesterday. I only was able to get it in less than an hour ago. That damn thing was a beast at 140K words, and through my double edit, I ended up cutting about 30K from it, the excess almost entirely from my tendency to overwrite.

It’s frustrating on the editing side, because I remember how frustrated I was near the end of writing that it was taking so long. All you can think about while cutting whole chunks out is how much time it feels like you wasted. But I overwrite because I don’t know what I’ll need and sometimes I forget what I’ve already written because it’s been over a week since I wrote it. By and large, the shape of the novel is in the finished first draft. I rarely add. I just need to carve.

It’s done and submitted. I wrote a synopsis and everything. I’ll need to do my publisher’s edit, then the proofreading edits, but the worst is over. Now I need to rest but also start on the promotional materials for In the Dollhouse We All Wait, for which I am (you guessed it) behind. As soon as I get some of the promo done, I think I’ll get A Nightmare for All Seasons finished up and published. It’s mostly finished in its formatting file. I just need one more run-through and to check the blank pages and get the cover finalized. I won’t do a tremendous push for it all at once. I might do something for each season this year to promote it. But poetry collections are basically pet projects. They don’t get much attention, despite my absolute love for them.

So the rest of today is for rest. Tomorrow I start on promo. I’ll probably use my day off on Wednesday to prep for self-publishing the poetry collection.

Books I’m Reading:

Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin
The Shining by Stephen King
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Things I’m Listening To:

Billie Eilish
Timber Timbre
Eurielle
Agnes Obel
Dracula Untold soundtrack
Let’s Hear It for the Girls playlist

Things I’m Watching:

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Muppet Treasure Island
Army of the Dead
Broadchurch series
Queer Eye series
Ghosts (US) series
Watson series
Tracker series
CSI: Miami series
Home Town series

Poem of the Week:

smash the erratic cricket
because you can’t catch it
and from its depths arises
the tiniest cthulhian monstrosity
slender tentacular heads blindly
searching for a water way out
from its dying host
pod people in miniature
may they never adapt to us

Turn the light out: Friday Update

13 Friday Feb 2026

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News:

“Take It to the River” is up at the Crystal Lake Patreon for the River flash fiction theme contest. ($5/month tier and up for reading and voting privileges)

Works in Progress:

Never & Forever (Meridian Book 8) first round edits are going a little more slowly than I’d like, but I’m doing as much as I can with the time I have. I do have to pause today to get a short story ready for a February 15 deadline, but I should be able to knock out another big chunk of N&F edits on this day off, hopefully.

I’m not a fan of juggling projects, but sometimes needs must.

Books I’m Reading:

Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin
The Shining by Stephen King
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Things I’m Listening To:

Delain
Hannibal playlist
Drift playlist

Things I’m Watching:

Bone Lake
Tracker series
CSI: Miami series
CSI series
Resident Alien series

Poem of the Week:

My mother wrote a letter,
slipped under my door.
She never got better.
I learned to never ask for more.

She’s been dead for years.
Time to face her excuse.
Holding back tears,
I shake the letter loose.

An unsigned birthday Hallmark card,
day and month all wrong.
Ma, so long.

Melting: Saturday Update

31 Saturday Jan 2026

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I’m late again this week, but in my defense, I had no idea yesterday was Friday until after midnight today. Had the whole week off from work because most of that white in the picture above isn’t snow. It’s sleet. Ice takes a lot longer to melt down than snow, because the snow melts and solidifies to ice on top of the existing ice… I didn’t feel safe leaving the house until Friday, which is usually a day off for me, and even then, I worked during the day instead of afternoon/evening. All my schedules are off. I should be back to normal by next week.

News:

I can finally share the cover for In the Dollhouse We All Wait, and it’s freaking amazing. The artwork is by David Kozlovsky, and I got to get a glimpse of his sketches as he worked. I’m blessed beyond measure, as they say, to have indie horror art for Dollhouse.

I finished the final proofreading round of edits, thanks to the Icepocalypse, and I’ve been given an official release date of April 10, 2026.

Works in Progress:

After finishing the proofreading round for Dollhouse, I edited and submitted my flash fiction to Shallow Waters, then got hit with a short story idea for something with a deadline mid-February. I think the concept is better than the execution right now, but I’m still striving to finish, because maybe the execution can be fixed in edits. I would have liked to use the Icepocalypse to work on my double edit of Never & Forever (Meridian Book 8), but the timing just wasn’t right, sadly. The deadline for Dollhouse was much harder than the tentative deadline for the N&F edits. I’ll really have to buckle down when I finish this short story, though.

Books I’m Reading:

Raising Loki: A Memoir by Elliot Manarin
The Shining by Stephen King
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Things I’m Listening To:

Christmas playlist

Things I’m Watching:

My Norwegian Holiday
Bugonia
What Lies Beneath
The Bone Collector
Dante’s Peak
Truth or Dare (2017)
9-1-1 series
9-1-1: Nashville series
Stranger Things series (finished)
Elsbeth series
Resident Alien series

Poem of the Week:

It is relief
not to feel
relief
I love
not to feel
love
a monstrous sensation
to feel monstrous
and not recoil
from my coils
give me cold blood
and armored scales
steal feeling
’til heart beats
still