This week I have a new fantasy story up online with Vernacular Books. The story is named for the protagonist, Genius, who was such a fun character to write!
“Genius” up with Vernacular Books
Stage Fright
It’s that beautiful time of year where summer is cooling into fall, and I realized I never posted about the fun science fiction short story I had published in the Moonshot summer issue of Peach Velvet Magazine. So I wanted to get the post up while it’s still technically summer! Check out my story “Stage Fright” and the other space-themed art, poetry, and stories here.
The Song of the Harvesters
I have a new short story up online with Bewildering Stories!
“The Song of the Harvesters” is my fantasy take on a favorite Greek myth.
The Bringers Duty in Abyss & Apex
So excited to share my story, “The Bringer’s Duty,” in the July issue of Abyss & Apex. Here’s the link to the story: https://www.abyssapexzine.com/2020/06/the-bringers-duty/
Puddle Hoppers
“Puddle Hoppers” is out in the debut Zero Edition of Eldritch Lake. The story began on a long, sleepless night, and grew into something stranger than I expected. You can check it out here.
The Spyder
Spyder Spyder, in the night
Dressed up for a spooky fright;
What potion gave you eight long legs,
And eight awful, googly eyes?
Cotton candy cobweb trails,
Like sticky, gossamer pink tails,
Unwind behind you down the street
As you go out for trick-or-treat.
How do you run on just two legs?
Who knocks on doors for sweets and begs?
And when your eight eyes start to blink
Who’s the one whose heart will sink?
With your pincer chelicerae
Candy now becomes your prey.
What chocolate, candy corn, or gum
Will you, this dread night, overcome?
Story released today in Spank the Carp 50th issue
Spank the Carp is celebrating five years and its fiftieth issue today. I’m excited to have a story in their lineup for this issue.
Ms. Cattywompus and the Piebald Porcine Prize
The story was loosely inspired by participation in the county fair when I was growing up in Iowa. However, my 4H project didn’t involve livestock. Instead, I created a photo exhibition of our family poodle in imitation of Coolidge’s Dogs Playing Poker.
Haunted Life up for pre-order
The Haunted Life Anthology will be released on Halloween 2019–how cool is that? I have a ghost story in the mix, and I’m also excited to read what my fellow writers have contributed.
Pre-orders for the anthology are now open!
The Book of Magic Places
Excited to have a flash fiction fantasy story in the latest issue of Alcyone Speculative Fiction and Poetry! The issue is up on Amazon in either Kindle or paperback format.
Alcyone: Issue III: Speculative Fiction and Poetry
My contribution is called “The Book of Magic Places.” It’s a story of worlds within worlds, and it was so much fun to write about the different settings. Here’s the Pinterest board I used to inspire me while I wrote:
My favorite new word: feghoot
Last year I had a blast reading Stephen Fry’s The Ode Less Travelled. Not only did I learn a lot about verse, but I got to encounter all kinds of fantastic poetry vocab, like dithyramb and trochee, to name a few.
Little did I know I had yet to meet another fantastic member of the poetry lingo set: the feghoot.
What, you may ask, is a feghoot?
The feghoot is a coda, a little pun tacked onto the end of narrative verse. It turns out that feghoots have been in my life since early childhood. The ending I learned to “Little Rabbit Foo Foo” is a classic feghoot:
“Hare today, goon tomorrow.”
The hare half of the pun should be obvious even to someone who has never heard of “Little Rabbit Foo Foo.” Here’s a link to the lyrics if you’re curious about the goon.
But before you click, take my advice and watch out for the Good Fairy.