Category Archives: Short Stories

Around the bend: Friday Update

30 Friday May 2025

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News:

“The Devil’s Bathtub” won this month’s Shallow Waters flash fiction contest. I think the link leads to an open post where you can read the story for free, if you like.

Because I won, I got an Author Spotlight interview, which you can read here. And one of the perks of winning that started literally the month after the last time I won is that you get to decide the next theme for everyone to work on next month and curate the finalists—kinda like training wheels for editing an anthology, which I’d love to do someday. (And it comes with a decent honorarium, which I’m also excited about.)

We’ll share the theme and start taking entries next month, for posting in July.

Last weekend, I attended Texas Frightmare with a friend. I want to be a vendor there someday. Maybe next year?

Works in Progress:

The deadline for Q&C’s open submissions is the end of May 31, so I’m scrambling to finish Masque edits tonight so I can pare down the synopsis and put together the pitch before work tomorrow. As a result, I’m taking yet another day off from work (and I haven’t worked out since last week), but I put in some extra work on other days of the week, and I’ve determined that I’ll still make more this week than last (when I had to take time off for Frightmare), especially with the prize money for “The Devil’s Bathtub” added on.

I have about 33 more pages to edit, which is…doable. The narrative is speeding up from the emotional climax to the plot climax, so I’m editing faster, too. Honestly, it hasn’t required a lot of extra effort. Minimal cutting, mostly punctuation decisions and breaking up some sentences for readability’s sake. But it still takes time to go through everything.

After Masque has been submitted, I’ll go back to Tooth & Claw (M7) for the second round, and I think I figured out how to fix the Chekhov’s gun problem. And, of course, I’ll be reading for the July Shallow Waters contest.

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
He Left Her at the Altar, She Left Him to the Zombies by Katie Cord (Frightmare, finished)

Things I’m Listening To:

Delain
Kamelot
The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall album

Things I’m Watching:

The Equalizer 2
Stranger (1991) (Frightmare screening)
Damsel of the Doomed (Frightmare screening)
Jeopardy Masters series
Home Town series
Home Town Takeover series
Say Yes to the Dress series
CSI series
CSI: NY series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series

Lips of honey: Friday (kinda) Update

16 Friday May 2025

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My audacity for being late comes from being social this morning and afternoon, when I’d usually be drafting the update. This happens so infrequently that I can’t refuse it when it does happen.

Then, due to heat and humidity, I had a massive headache coming home after working, so I needed to wait for that to settle down, too.

News:

“The Devil’s Bathtub” posted on May 11 at Crystal Lake’s Patreon. Those familiar with Bluebirds (Thorns Book 3) might have recognized the locale for the horror story—not the same place, but the same inspiration.

Works in Progress:

It took a little longer to finish up the first round of edits for Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7) than anticipated, so I’ve only been working on Masque second-round edits for a few days.

T&C (M7) had about 13K words cut, from 89K to 76K. I’m not satisfied with the climactic scene, because I feel like I didn’t use Chekhov’s gun, but I don’t have time to address it right now. I’ll muse over possible solutions until I can return to T&C.

I’ve only been working on Masque for three days, and I’m about a tenth of the way through, but I’m still charmed. I’m really fond of this piece. There’s something about the writing that tickles my brain. I think it’s because the alt-history style allows me to embellish and play without being as jarring as in contemporary.

20 pages in 2-3 days is not going to cut it if I want to make the deadline, so I have got to buckle down. Could this country not have a crisis for a few weeks, please?

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
Delain
Cindy Morgan
Let’s Talk About Love by Celine Dion
Live Around the World by Queen + Adam Lambert
Live for You by Rachael Lampa
Lost Whispers by Evanescence
Love and War by Fleurie
Lover by Taylor Swift
Lover. Fighter. by Svrcina
Mean Girls Original Broadway Soundtrack
Midnight in the Garden by Lily Kershaw
My December by Kelly Clarkson

Things I’m Watching:

Home Town Takeover series
Say Yes to the Dress series
Spring Baking Championship series
Elsbeth series (finished)
NCIS series
CSI series
The Equalizer series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series

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

Alone in my wanderings: Friday Update

25 Friday Apr 2025

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News:

Nothing professional this week.

I think my gig work is getting to me. I’m so focused on my tasks, which is the part I enjoy, but I think shopping and driving hit me with a lot of stimulation that I don’t consciously process. I started feeling really overwhelmed and despairing on Tuesday, couldn’t concentrate on my editing, so I went out and did a few more jobs that night to feel like I could accomplish something and ended the day feeling dead inside. Then, on Wednesday, which is my ‘weekend’ but I still couldn’t concentrate, I went to bed early (for me) and set my alarm an hour later. I slept nine hours total and felt a little better afterward. I’m still not a hundred percent, but I think I need to remember to prioritize my sleep. I’m also still having a medical recurrence. It’s not dire, just uncomfortable.

The heat isn’t helping either, and since my car A/C is struggling above eighty degrees, it probably needs repairing before we head into ninety and hundred degree days (this summer is forecast to be even hotter), which isn’t helping my stress levels. Depending on the repair, it’ll cost two weeks’ work or a month and a half’s work. I’m supposed to be rebuilding savings here, but my car’s demanded a lot of my money lately. I believe it’s tax deductible, since I work contract delivery, but since I’m poverty-level already, I’m not sure that helps much.

Works in Progress:

I finished the first flash piece and submitted it. Then I wrote the second, but just as I was ready to submit it, I reread the sub call and discovered that the deadline was two days earlier, not the end of the month like I thought. That really took the wind out of my sails, which might have been a contributing factor to the above. I was super proud of both pieces, and I just had to put the second one in the trunk. I don’t know when I’ll have the opportunity to use it, since horror sub calls have gone down considerably.

Once I was able to concentrate again, I got back into editing Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7). I’m only a fourth of the way through the first round. I don’t think I’ll finish edits by end of the month, but I’ll complete the first round of edits, then pause and do the second edit of Masque so that I can submit it to the Quill & Crow sub call for novels coming in May. Then I’ll finish up T&C (M7).

I’m also playing with ideas for Meridian Book 8. I feel like I have a good concept, but not a story yet. I’ll continue turning it over in my head.

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:

Agnes Obel
Svrcina
Hadestown Original Broadway soundtrack
Halestorm by Halestorm
Heart of a Hurricane (Extended) by Beyond the Black

Things I’m Watching:

Oddity
Wolf Man (2025)
Sinners
Celebrity Jeopardy series (finished)
Ghosts (US) series
Will Trent series
Watson series
Elsbeth series
CSI: NY series
Slasher: Guilty Party series
S.W.A.T. series (finished)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series
The Bondsman series

With the undertow: Friday Update

18 Friday Apr 2025

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News:

My cat story “Turning Tail” has been posted on Crystal Lake’s Patreon as a finalist for this month’s Shallow Waters theme of Old School (Creature Feature). These stories are available to read and vote on if you’re in the $5/month tiers or higher.

Works in Progress:

I finished the final edits for Tattered & Torn (Meridian Book 6) and the final edits of the first chapter of Tooth & Claw (M7) that will be included as a teaser at the end of T&T, so that’s done and dusted and sent off to my publisher with a sigh of relief. Tattered & Torn is already available for preorder, if you’re interested in a story about a fallen angel with empathic powers.

I had trouble getting started on a flash piece yesterday, but I’ve tackled a lot of it today. I don’t know if I can finish tonight, but I’ll try for end of tomorrow morning at the latest. I want to do another piece of flash for the month, but meeting my self-imposed editing deadlines might be hard enough to accomplish.

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:

Evanescence
Emilie Autumn
Rossini’s Stabat Mater by the Wiener Philharmoniker
Resist (Instrumentals) by Within Temptation
Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson
Broadway My Way by Linda Eder
Church of Scars by Bishop Briggs
dont smile at me by Billie Eilish
Evita movie soundtrack
Falling into You by Celine Dion
Fear & Fable by Fleurie
The Fifty Shades movie soundtracks
For the Throne album (music inspired by Game of Thrones)
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy by Sarah McLachlan

Things I’m Watching:

Geostorm
Smile 2
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Watson series
Elsbeth series
The Hunting Party series (finished)
CSI series
Slasher: Guilty Party series
S.W.A.T. series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series
The Bondsman series

Since the troubles started: Friday Update

04 Friday Apr 2025

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News:

My flash piece “Turning Tail” is one of the twenty finalists for this month’s Shallow Waters flash fiction contest, theme Old School (creature features), at Crystal Lake’s Patreon ($5/month and up tiers). If everything goes the way it should, it’ll be posted on April 19.

My sweet-and-sour clown story “Exile” is out today in Undertaker Books’ Carnival of Horror. You can purchase it here. There have been a few reviews so far, and “Exile” is reviewing well so far.

I started in the gig economy earlier this week. The first day did not go well. The second day went better. I have things I really do not like about it and things I really do. What is clear is that it’s not a viable long-term option, so I’m continuing to send out resumes. But it should cover health care costs, at least. And the things I do like about it make it worth the while for now.

Works in Progress:

I finished the first publisher’s edit of Tattered & Torn (Meridian Book 6) and sent it in. I’m working on the Tooth & Claw (Meridian Book 7) edits now, but they’re going to be even slower now that I’m gigging. I’ve got to be more efficient with my available time.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Playlist of the Damned edited by Willow Dawn Becker and Jess Landry

Things I’m Listening To:

Abyss/Ascent playlist
Knowing soundtrack
Top 40 radio

Things I’m Watching:

Wicked
Mystery Island: Winner Takes All
Meltdown: Three Mile Island series (finished)
The Residence series (finished, highly recommended)
The Irrational series (finished)
Reacher series
Watson series
Elsbeth series
Criminal Minds series
S.W.A.T. series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series
Kitchen Nightmares 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

Lasso the moon: Friday Update

28 Friday Feb 2025

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News:

My horror story “Weed Killer,” about a large weed growing outside a downtown donut shop, is free to read at Horrific Scribes for their Horrific Scribblings program, which is more like a series of curated exhibits rather than anthologies or individual pieces. “Weed Killer” is one of their first pieces; they’re just getting started. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.

Signed a few more contracts, received a few honorariums, edited another short story for publication.

Works in Progress:

Tattered & Torn (Meridian 6) edits are still slow going, but I think I’m gaining a little momentum. It’s hard when I’m afraid that these books and others are going to become verboten soon (in my state and country), but I’ve got to proceed as though we still have freedom of speech and expression. As though reason will prevail. God, it’s such a precarious place to be.

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:

The Blacklist playlist

Things I’m Watching:

Cuckoo
Nightbitch
White Collar series (finished)
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Grey’s Anatomy series
The Equalizer series
S.W.A.T. series
The Irrational series
Will Trent series
Ghosts series
Home Town series
Watson series
The Hunting Party series
NCIS series
Queer Eye series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series

Cat hair: Friday Update

21 Friday Feb 2025

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News:

Nothing to report, other than that I’ve been house-sitting two cats for a few weeks, which ends today. Being alone for long stretches of time during a coup isn’t the most fun, so I struggled at first, but it’s been years since I’ve lived with cats, and I’ve really missed it. It was nice to learn that I haven’t lost my touch. My personality is very catlike, which lends itself to good practices. I’ll miss getting to know them and gaining their tiny trust.

Works in Progress:

I wrote/edited those two short stories and submitted them, then edited one of my accepted stories for publication.

I’ve started working on Tattered & Torn (Meridian 6) now. Still hard to focus, but I think I’ll enjoy the slash-and-burn of the first editing round. It’s a longer initial draft and probably needs to lose about 15K in the first pass.

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:

Pop music playlist (Listening to sad ladies was representative of my feelings, but it wasn’t helping me; pop has been a little better for the moment right now. A lot of it is recession pop, so that makes sense.)

Things I’m Watching:

The Princess Bride
The Lost City of D
Conclave
The Watchers
Fear Street trilogy (finished)
Two-Sentence Horror Stories series (finished)
Columbo series (finished)
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Grey’s Anatomy series
The Equalizer series
S.W.A.T. series
The Irrational series
Will Trent series
Abbott Elementary series
Ghosts series
Home Town series
Watson series
The Hunting Party series
NCIS series

Cold fingers: Friday Update

14 Friday Feb 2025

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News:

I have some news, but nothing that’s been made public yet.

Works in progress:

Cut down the synopsis for the Dracula reimagining, then wrote the query pitch and the short pitches. So everything’s good to go there, if sanity eventually prevails. As much as I don’t like writing synopses, it’s an important part of the process (and thus important for an author to do it themselves rather than have some LLM do it for them). You’re distilling your work down to a few pages, then trimming the fat to two pages, then a page, so you have a better idea of the essence of the story, perhaps more than you might have to begin with. That sets you up for writing a query/back cover copy, which in turn helps you come up with what is essentially your novel thesis statement in a short pitch or elevator pitch. Even the annoying parts of publishing are part of the process. The better you know your book, the better you can defend or sell it.

I’ve been trying to write two quite short stories before getting started on Tattered & Torn (Meridian 6) edits. I’m almost done writing one of them, but it’s hard to convince myself to write instead of immerse myself in the mess we’re in, looking for more than pinprick light of hope.

I’m furiously applying for jobs again, and although I planned to join the gig economy as a stopgap, I’m on a wait list, which I didn’t know was a thing. There were several things, actually, that came up while signing up that wasn’t in any the copy or discussions I read about it, which is frustrating, because I planned based on the incomplete information I had. Six days psyching myself up to call my car insurance provider was not on my list, either.

In retrospect, there’s a lot of things I would have changed over the last few years, which I know is easy to say in hindsight, but knowing that makes me feel like even more of a failure, even though I accomplished huge things that matter to me (and only me, at this point). For a different future. Sigh.

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:

Pop music playlist

Things I’m Watching:

Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo 2
Space Jam
The Menu
Blue Ribbon Baking Championship series (finished)
The Nailed It Baking Challenge series (finished)
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Grey’s Anatomy series
The Equalizer series
S.W.A.T. series
The Irrational series
Abbott Elementary series
Home Town series
NCIS series