The Mystified Morpheus
In September 2018, the short story "The Mystified Morpheus" appeared in Millhaven Press's horror anthology, Fierce Tales: Shadow Realms.
"The Mystified Morpheus" is an unconventional horror story that plays upon several tropes to present a story that I like to describe as a Twilight Zone type of tale--IF Twilight Zone were allowed to get away with the type of modern-day gore and adult situations that are so common to today's audiences, and not taboo as they would have been when the show was on the air. (It also would have been right at home as an episode of Tales from the Crypt!) On New Year's Day 2019, my contribution was counted among the Top 5 Millhaven tales of the year (2018), based on results from a vote-in poll. The publisher is no longer in business, but I still have a few books left that I bring to signing events. Feel free to reach out to me for info on how to purchase signed copies. |
Dead Reckoning
One of my first serious endeavors at short story writing (and a personal favorite of mine) was introduced to audiences first in Castrum Press's Alien Days anthology and then in Claren Books' The Binge-Watching Cure III: An Anthology of Short Science Fiction Stories, but I don't want to say much about it, so as not to give anything away. I'll simply reveal the title: "Dead Reckoning," and I'll also say that the title is entirely fitting for the story. (It also is another one that starts off feeling like a Twilight Zone type of story--I didn't realize how much that show got into my subconscious.)
I had been wanting to see this in print for longer than I care to admit, so it was very rewarding to have this presented for readers to see. Someday I will see about having this produced into a short film, or perhaps offer it to a televised anthology show--I've always felt this would make a good episode.
As of May 17, 2019, Alien Days became available on the US Amazon site, although it was offered earlier on the UK Amazon site. The Binge-Watching Cure III was released on December 16, 2023, and can also be found on Amazon.
I had been wanting to see this in print for longer than I care to admit, so it was very rewarding to have this presented for readers to see. Someday I will see about having this produced into a short film, or perhaps offer it to a televised anthology show--I've always felt this would make a good episode.
As of May 17, 2019, Alien Days became available on the US Amazon site, although it was offered earlier on the UK Amazon site. The Binge-Watching Cure III was released on December 16, 2023, and can also be found on Amazon.
"This rich mosaic of works thrilled me and kept my interest cover to cover. Not only are they unique, the perspectives presented are masterpieces of short science fiction . . . The skill each author put into their stories in creating their characters and giving them life, or death, on the page is a testament to their talents."
--Guild Master Gaming on the Alien Days anthology
--Guild Master Gaming on the Alien Days anthology
The Duty
In June 2019, with both "The Duty" and "Curse of Avalon" (see below), I joined the ranks of the many who added to the Arthurian mythos. King Arthur has long been a favorite subject of mine, Excalibur ranking up there as one of my top fantasy films, so to have my own writing on it be published is a long-time dream come true.
Now for the surprising part. "The Duty" is not a short story. And no, it's not a thesis or article, although that would not be a far-fetched assumption either. The piece included in Dragon Soul Press's Organic Ink, Volume 1 is a poem. I recommend reading this one first, and then seeing how things play out differently in my short story version (following below).
Organic Ink was only in print for a year, but "The Duty" didn't disappear that easily. As of July 2021, it acquired a home online on the White Cat Publications website (though there it is presented with no stanza breaks after every fourth line). Then, in March 2022 and May 2022, it was included in Issue Four (the Winter Edition) of the U.K. magazine Noctivagant Press and in Black Hare Press's poetry anthology, Eldritch & Ether, respectively. Noctivagant Press has a digital edition available on their website, with a print option on Amazon. Eldritch & Ether, originally available on Amazon in digital, paperback, or hardcover formats, no longer seems to be available except in digital format, which can be ordered on the Black Hare Press website.
Now for the surprising part. "The Duty" is not a short story. And no, it's not a thesis or article, although that would not be a far-fetched assumption either. The piece included in Dragon Soul Press's Organic Ink, Volume 1 is a poem. I recommend reading this one first, and then seeing how things play out differently in my short story version (following below).
Organic Ink was only in print for a year, but "The Duty" didn't disappear that easily. As of July 2021, it acquired a home online on the White Cat Publications website (though there it is presented with no stanza breaks after every fourth line). Then, in March 2022 and May 2022, it was included in Issue Four (the Winter Edition) of the U.K. magazine Noctivagant Press and in Black Hare Press's poetry anthology, Eldritch & Ether, respectively. Noctivagant Press has a digital edition available on their website, with a print option on Amazon. Eldritch & Ether, originally available on Amazon in digital, paperback, or hardcover formats, no longer seems to be available except in digital format, which can be ordered on the Black Hare Press website.
Curse of Avalon
When I first wrote "The Duty" (see previous), I immediately followed it up with a prose version of the same event that I depicted in the poem. This happened because, as I was writing "The Duty," I had a brainstorm for how the scene could play out quite differently, but it didn't seem appropriate to have the poem end in the way I was conceiving. Thus, I left it aside and planned to take that approach in short story form. And "Curse of Avalon" was born.
An intriguing companion piece to "The Duty," "Curse of Avalon" presents a take on the Lady of the Lake that I honestly believe has never been done before. With only one of these two in publication, I would sorely feel the absence of the other, and long for the day when I could share both together for readers to compare.
That day came sooner than expected. Within 48 hours of the poem's acceptance into one anthology, the short story was accepted into another. The anthology is Classics ReMixed, published by Left Hand Publishers, and ever since June 2019 it may be found on Amazon and the publisher's website. Have at it!
This story is also included in HellBound Books Publishing's Dracula's Guests anthology, available on Amazon since November 2022, and Dragon Soul Press's To Hunt and to Hold anthology, available on Amazon since September 2023.
An intriguing companion piece to "The Duty," "Curse of Avalon" presents a take on the Lady of the Lake that I honestly believe has never been done before. With only one of these two in publication, I would sorely feel the absence of the other, and long for the day when I could share both together for readers to compare.
That day came sooner than expected. Within 48 hours of the poem's acceptance into one anthology, the short story was accepted into another. The anthology is Classics ReMixed, published by Left Hand Publishers, and ever since June 2019 it may be found on Amazon and the publisher's website. Have at it!
This story is also included in HellBound Books Publishing's Dracula's Guests anthology, available on Amazon since November 2022, and Dragon Soul Press's To Hunt and to Hold anthology, available on Amazon since September 2023.
Regarding "The Duty" and "Curse of Avalon"
I have described "The Duty" and "Curse of Avalon" as perfect companion pieces to each other, and it is true that the idea for one came to me during the writing of the other, but I do believe that there is a definite preferred order that should be observed if someone intends to read both. "The Duty" should be read first (if planning to read it at all, which isn't a requirement). I say this simply because reading the short story first would cause a reader to have certain expectations of the poem that would then go unfulfilled. The poem serves to both explore the original Arthurian incident (which the uninitiated would be unfamiliar with) and add to it a new element that I would like to believe is entirely original and never used before. The short story then takes that new element and runs with it--in a completely different direction!
Give That Dog a Bone
Happy Halloween! Instead of candy, I opted to give you a "trick" instead, in the form of a flash fiction piece included in an anthology available as of Halloween day in October 2019. I find it amusing how writers have been taking such innocent-seeming fables and legends and putting a spin on them to turn them into something unexpected (such as the horror films that delve into alternate origins for such figures as the tooth fairy). Challenging myself to find one that hadn't already been done, I landed upon Old Mother Hubbard and gave her take a decidedly Edgar Allan Poe twist. And thus was born the flash fiction piece that I call "Give That Dog a Bone."
Lately I've been dabbling in flash fiction (but no, not drabbles), and my second such attempt met with a positive reaction just weeks after I completed it and sent it off for submission. "Give That Dog a Bone" can be found in NBH Publishing's The Killer Collection, sold on Amazon. |
Under a Full Earth
Romance? Well, yes, in a sci-fi setting. The moon has played a major role in romantic settings since time immemorial. So why not have a love story take place on the moon?
One part romance. Two parts science fiction. One part horror (psychological, not monsters). "Under a Full Earth" appears in Dragon Soul Press's Lost Love, published two weeks after Valentine's Day in February 2020. Thanks to my lifelong obsession with our lone natural satellite.
Can lovers actually feel a sense of togetherness when they're utterly isolated within their individual confinement? When two lovers are gazing at the sky while on a picnic on the moon, they could be inches apart by still feel miles away due to the fact that they are enclosed in suits that ensure their lives but hinder intimacy.
I almost called my story "The Suit," or "Under a Full Earth, a.k.a. The Suit," but decided not to, choosing instead to focus more on the people within. But when giving it a read, you might just want to keep this in the back of your mind...
Since Lost Love was only in print for a year (Dragon Soul Press policy at the time), I am pleased to announce that it is back in print thanks to Tamarind: A Literary Magazine. Issue 5, in which it appears, became available digitally on their website as of July 2023, with the print edition available shortly afterward.
One part romance. Two parts science fiction. One part horror (psychological, not monsters). "Under a Full Earth" appears in Dragon Soul Press's Lost Love, published two weeks after Valentine's Day in February 2020. Thanks to my lifelong obsession with our lone natural satellite.
Can lovers actually feel a sense of togetherness when they're utterly isolated within their individual confinement? When two lovers are gazing at the sky while on a picnic on the moon, they could be inches apart by still feel miles away due to the fact that they are enclosed in suits that ensure their lives but hinder intimacy.
I almost called my story "The Suit," or "Under a Full Earth, a.k.a. The Suit," but decided not to, choosing instead to focus more on the people within. But when giving it a read, you might just want to keep this in the back of your mind...
Since Lost Love was only in print for a year (Dragon Soul Press policy at the time), I am pleased to announce that it is back in print thanks to Tamarind: A Literary Magazine. Issue 5, in which it appears, became available digitally on their website as of July 2023, with the print edition available shortly afterward.
Le Fay Accompli
It's funny how one particular story can inspire so many different ideas for further elaboration. Even by one writer! And this can be rather annoying when you come up with so many thoughts and have to decide which one(s) to use and which ones to consign to literary oblivion.
So of course wouldn't you know it that, just prior to the release of my above-mentioned Lady of the Lake story and poem (both published in June 2019), I came up with yet another way to play around with this story's events. But after rereading Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, I gave myself a new challenge. I determined to provide a tale that fills in the gaps and explains how Morgan Le Fay changed so drastically by the end of the saga, all the while attempting to be true to the classic (in story, not in narrative voice--it's told in modern English).
"Le Fay Accompli" (which could actually have been fittingly called "Curse of Avalon" if I hadn't already used that title) appears in The Great Void Books' Blood Crown: An Anthology of Sword and Sorcery Stories, made available on Amazon almost at the very end of the year in December 2020. |
Who Is Elliott Harbinger?
The April 2021 issue of The Dark City: Crime & Mystery Magazine (Volume 6, issue 3) features "Elliott Harbinger," a story of mine that I originally titled "The Best-Selling Author Who Wasn't" and which is an unusual crime story that could even be interpreted as a comedy. This very affordable magazine (even the print version is inexpensive) may be purchased on Amazon.
It is also included in the by-invitation, reprints-only issue of Crimeucopia, titled Say It Again. With a new final paragraph that better complements the opening one (together, they make proper bookends to the rest of the tale) and with the revised title "Who Is Elliott Harbinger?," this slightly amended version became available on Amazon on January 15, 2024.
It is also included in the by-invitation, reprints-only issue of Crimeucopia, titled Say It Again. With a new final paragraph that better complements the opening one (together, they make proper bookends to the rest of the tale) and with the revised title "Who Is Elliott Harbinger?," this slightly amended version became available on Amazon on January 15, 2024.
The Extreme Solution
"The Extreme Solution" started out with a title that, though more appropriate, made it a hard-sell in the current social climate. Originally called "The New Slave," the germ for this tale came from a discussion about the issue of overpopulation and the elaborate means that might address the situation, especially if more scientifically advanced measures were available to us. Heavy themes are almost hidden inside this Twilight Zone type story (even the publisher mentioned how it "would have made a great Twilight Zone episode"), which--despite its initial name--should not offend anyone.
"The Extreme Solution" appears in Volume 5 of the Writers Co-op anthology series The Rabbit Hole, available on Amazon as of October 31, 2022. |
Bacio di Satana
Halloween 2023 will welcome "Bacio di Satana" to the world, courtesy of Water Dragon Publishing's fall edition of Dragon Gems. This tale of five young boys trying to summon a demon on All Hallow's Eve is reminiscent of early Stephen King.
The digital edition, as well as both hardcover and paperback copies, may be ordered on Amazon as of October 2023. |
Draggin' Tail
Sci-fi . . . Fantasy . . . Horror . . . Mystery/Crime . . . Poetry . . . How about comedy?
You got it! For those who haven't read my Big Bang Theory script (offered elsewhere on this site), folks can experience my wit in Eggplant Emoji Volume 3: A Wealth of Comedy, which includes my dragon/dragon hunter tale, "Draggin' Tail." How would I describe it? What would you get if Douglas Adams wrote Game of Thrones? This one also came out in October of 2023 and can be purchased on Amazon. |
In Our Own Image
Another comedy will follow the one above when issue six of Illustrated Worlds comes out sometime in the spring of 2024. "In Our Own Image" was inspired by the movie The Muse, but what if the Sharon Stone character was played by Roseanne instead? (Do you really need me to specify which Roseanne I'm talking about?)