It’s strange how a writing career propagates in waves. Just by timing and random chance, I have a whole raft of short stories coming out now and in the near future.
- “The Metal of a Man” appears in this month’s Electric Spec magazine. What does an aging cyborg do when he knows that parts of his body will outlive him?
- “Aisa’s Beast” appearing in Legends of the Dragon, Vol. 1. (Trade paperback edition available soon.) A strange, subterranean creature is drawn to a gaudy pageant of strange mortals called Dragon Con, where he is enslaved by a cruel Faerie princess.
- “For the Honor of a Geisha” came out in an anthology called Tokyo Yakuza. (Available either as short story or whole anthology.) A yakuza cyborg must transport priceless data through the territory of an enemy gang. Little does he know the lengths they will go to steal it.
“The Sharpest Horn” appearing in A Game of Horns. A young woman struggling with reality and mental illness is imprisoned by her parents, until a blood-red unicorn comes to her “rescue.” A Game of Horns is a charity anthology benefiting the Don Hodge Memorial Scholarship Fund.
- “Screaming Without a Mouth” will appear in the March 2016 issue of Apex Magazine. A guilt-ridden school-girl despairs the suicide of her friend, until she discovers that her friend still exists, but in a terrible new form.
- “The Girl with No Name” will appear in an upcoming issue of New Myths magazine. A Filipina immigrant girl in modern-day Japan uncovers the supernatural truth behind a gang of thieves, and they discover her as well.
- “Branches of Infinity” will appear in Weird and Wondrous Work from World Weaver Press. A linguist studies the strange effects of an alien phrasebook that could literally change the whole world.
- “Where the Devil Resides,” a dreadpunk novella, will appear in the next issue of Alembical by Paper Golem Press. In an alternate-history American South ravaged by a Civil War that went on far too-long, a Yankee minister must save his daughter from the clutches of the notorious swamp rat, “Smilin'” Jack Welch. What he discovers in the Everglades takes him farther down the river of human darkness than he thought possible.
- “Demon-touched” will appear in March, 2016, in Fiction River: Visions of the Apocalypse. In a world gone mad, a lone neuroscientist struggles to find the cure for a plague of demon-possession.
- “Death Bunnies of Toxic Island” will appear in May, 2016, in Fiction River: Last Stand. Haley loves everything about bunnies. When her bunny is horribly slain right in front of her, she must go on a quest to assuage her shattered well-being. And where to? An island full of cute, fluffy bunnies–that won’t be just bunnies for much longer…
- “The Ballad of Osmosis McGuire” will appear in July, 2016, in Fiction River: Superpowers. A high-school student discovers that he has the ability to steal strength, intelligence, and dexterity from other people. But then a girl walks straight out of his dreams and things go terribly awry.
- “Redline”, a story that Kristine Kathryn Rusch described “an incredible piece of writing, a story that will stick with you”, will be appearing in November, 2016, in Fiction River: Pulse Pounders–Adrenaline. Three rednecks, one ex-Navy SEAL, one pit bull, and two thundering muscle cars in a desperate chase to the end of the line.
So, yeah. I’ve been busy. 🙂 It’s been a good year so far on the short story front.