"Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards." - Robert A. Heinlein

Monday, December 25, 2023

"And the Bells Were Ringing Out" -- a bit of Christmas fiction


Photo from Amboise Daily Photo

And the Bells Were Ringing Out

            
No snow had fallen. There would be no white Christmas this year. All that had fallen from the sky had been sporadic showers that left the ground wet and the pavement oily and icy at nights when the temperature dropped enough. A gray Christmas, held at bay only by street decorations, twinkling lights on rooflines, and decorated trees on display in the front windows of small, dreary houses along the streets. Constant, cold wind blew past swaying power lines, the twinkling lights, the leafless trees in tiny front yards, and through patched or aged windows. A small sedan idled in a nearby driveway, gray smoke coughing from a rusted tail pipe, the bells of Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/31” coming through windows rolled tight.

            As the drums and harmonized guitar began to roar, the bells in the song vanished, replaced by glory bells from the church tower. On the house one down from here, no lights twinkled on the roofline, no decorations hung from hooks, no decorated tree welcomed from the front window. Inside, a small, fake green wreath hung from a wall above the sofa. On the sofa, a man was poised with his shoulders and hips on the cushion, his legs outstretched, and his feet flat on the floor. One arm was draped on the sofa arm, the other splayed out next to him. Opposite the sofa, a wall-mounted television played the end of a Rankin-Bass special in silence. The reclining man turned his head, looking from the television to a general “up” direction. The church bells continued to ring. He counted nine before the silence returned. He looked back at the screen, squirmed himself into an upright position, and knocked over one of the amber beer bottles on the side table next to him while searching for the remote control.

            The screen went black. He dropped the remote on the sofa and stood. He grabbed his coat, hat, and gloves, considered wrapping his red-and-white scarf around his neck, and decided it was too festive.

            “Welp,” he told the void hiding in the corner as he walked past it toward the door. “Time to get merry."

Saturday, January 11, 2020

"Beldame" is a free read at Diabolical Plots

Hey, y'all. If you'd like to read "Beldame" for free, it is up at the Diabolical Plots website. Give it a read and tell me what you think. Or better yet, tell them what you think.

And while you're at it, look through and check out all the fiction. They have eclectic tastes, with all kinds of speculative fiction, some dead serious, some hysterically funny, and all of it very well written. Some names you might know; some you likely will not.

But go! Go now! Read "Beldame!" Then read it all!

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Who Has Two Thumbs and is Now a Member of the SFWA? This Guy!

This is not something I ever actually considered happening. But as of July 8, following publication of my short story, "Beldame," in Diabolical Plots and after my application was approved, I am now officially an associate member of SFWA--the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. This means I am now a member of both SFWA and HWA--the Horror Writers Association.

No, this doesn't come with a trophy or honorarium, but it feels really good to be acknowledged.

But that's not enough! Next stop... Active Member status!

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

"Beldame" is out!

Gaze upon this gorgeousness! Seriously!
I am pleased to say that my story, "Beldame," has gone to press as part of the anthology, Diabolical Plots Year Five.

This is probably my most positive, upbeat story, and it's a modern fantasy tale. It's not quite an urban fantasy; in fact, it would be the opposite: a rural fantasy.

It will appear on the Diabolical Plots website next year, but if you can't wait and want to support them, you can buy the anthology at the following locations:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

iBooks

Kobo

Friday, October 12, 2018

Review -- "The Goat Parade" by Peter N. Dudar


The Facts: After a few years of not having enough time to read anything, I've basically insisted on carving out a few minutes a week to try and read anything for fun--basically anything that is not for class. Given my belief that most writers really do try to help out each other, I've decided to write reviews of everything I read in my particular genres: fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror at the moment. Maybe, at some point, one hopes, a little science fiction.

The Book: The Goat Parade by Peter S. Dudar (2018, Grinning Skull Press). I bought it from the author himself at the Moxie Festival in Lisbon Falls, Maine, this past summer. 

The ReviewThe Goat Parade was both very different and better than I expected it to be. I went into the book expecting a good Satan-driven horror story, in the "booga-booga, devil's gonna getcha!" style, which frankly, given Dudar's storytelling skill, would have been pretty awesome.

Instead, what I got was a story about people, four in particular, whose lives were hurtling directly at each other, all due to the puppeteer's hands of a barely-glimpsed Satan. These people, of decidedly different moral and ethical stances, along with some others, find themselves manipulated in some cases, destined in others.

To what? Toward the ending, of course. I won't describe it, but it is not what you expect it to be. This is a violent, intelligent horror story that...

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Possibly It's Time to Get Back to Using This Thing

The Writer's Washroom has been around for about a decade, and it saw regular use for about three years, irregular use for the lion's share of the time, and pretty much misuse and neglect for the last couple.

I have not treated it well. With Facebook as much of a player as it is when dealing with expressing one's news, opinions, thoughts, and pictures of cute animals, blogs are pretty much nothing anymore.

Yet a few people keep them. After discussing politics on my FB page a week or so ago and realizing that there is no way I will ever stop being political on Facebook, I'm trying to think about how to tweak things.

I do believe that politics are important, and I have no interest in segregating my writing life from my personal beliefs. I also have no interest right now in starting a separate author page because I don't want to maintain two FB presences.

And why not remind you that this anthology is still available?
(I'm even, as impossible as it is to consider, thinking about blowing the dust off the ol' Twitter account and seeing if it still works. Yes, this does have a lot to do with the previously-mentioned Diabolical Plots' upcoming publication of "Beldame." If a website does a lot of its promotion through Twitter, it makes sense to utilize it. Diabolical Plots has a large Twitter base, and fans of theirs might become fans of mine.)

Sorry for the fragmented feel of this post; I actually wrote it over a couple of days, unsure as to what I was saying, let alone doing.

I guess I'm going to try this out again and see if an "old-school" blog has a purpose. I promise to keep it free of politics. I'm also going to do my darnedest to keep it clean(ish). One other thing. Since this is about writing, I think I'm going to post reviews of things I read here. I'm not going to review everything I read--mostly because I don't have time to read much, unless it's for class--but I'm going to try to review everything I read in my genres.

I'm going to post this to Facebook... maybe to Twitter... and see if I get any response from the social media platforms.

Please do me a favor: if you come here from a link at one of those sites, would you let me know either here or there with a comment? I'd like to see if there is anything to this experiment.

Thank you!

Monday, September 24, 2018

"Beldame" Schedule at Diabolical Plots

"The way-ay-ting is the hardest part..." -- philosopher T. Petty
This is the shortest time gap between posts in years... and frankly, the most I've posted in a year in... um... years. I might need to do something about that. But I digress.

Diabolical Plots, the future home of my short story, "Beldame," has released its upcoming fiction schedule, so I know when "Beldame" will be published and in what form.

On or around March 2019, they will release their e-book anthology, Diabolical Plots Year Five, and then in January 2020, "Beldame" will be published on the website, along with fellow authors T.J. Berg and Mari Ness. However, their newsletter subscribers will get the fiction a month early, which means, yes... if you're a subscriber there, you'll get "Beldame" as part of your 2019 holidays goodie bags.

I'd like to say, "More information as it becomes available, but I think that's it." So to recap...



Aaaaaaaaaghhhh!

Monday, August 20, 2018

"Beldame" to be Published at Diabolical Plots

Aaaaaaaaaaaghhhhh!
It has finally happened. One of my short stories, "Beldame," a modern fantasy that is probably my most upbeat (so far) tale will see print in a major market, Diabolical Plots. From what I can tell, it should be published either online or in an e-book anthology sometime next spring.

Besides the fact that I'm over-the-moon excited to see one of my personal favorite stories reach the public, I feel a need to just brag for a moment:

Diabolical Plots is a major science fiction/fantasy zine and is actually an SFWA-qualifying market. This means that I will be able to join the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America as an associate member after "Beldame" is published.

So, to recap:

"Beldame." Aaaaaaaaaghhhh!

Diabolical Plots. Aaaaaaaaaghhhh!

SFWA. Aaaaaaaaaghhh!


Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Semi-Colonic Irrigation is No Longer a Thing

I'm sorry to say that I've just found out that the planned anthology, Semi-Colonic Irrigation, which would have been the home of my first published poem, "Scenes from a living room at 4 a.m.," will no longer happen.

These things happen, so I'm not upset. But what it means is I may have to find another market for this poem. It's not horror; it's really not any genre. It just is what it is.

Let's see what happens to it.

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

"California Screamin'" is Out!

Sweet, sweet anthology goodness.
Happy Halloween! It is with great pleasure that I announce that the California Screamin' anthology from Barking Deer Press is now out and it's available.

Coincidentally, it happens to have one of my short stories in it, a tender little ditty called "O For a Muse of Fire."

This story, which began as a class project at Southwestern College and got the Full Danielle (Kaheaku) Editorial Treatment, is a close look at obsession, love, sex, and creativity in a small Cali beach town.

So... very much like real life, yeah.

Seeing how I love doing this, let me share the TOC with you. This is a damn fine read.

"Between the Dreams and Screams" (poem) by Lori R. Lopez
"An Introduction" by Jonathan Maberry
"The Dark Watchers" by E.S. Magill
"Agency Cost" by Aaron C. Smith
"The Mount of Death" by Kevin David Anderson
"The Perfect Playground" by Chad Stroup
"Manananggal" by Billy San Juan
"Feed Your Muse" by R.W. Goldsmith
"Bumming Smokes" by Brian Asman
"Kenneth is Drowning" by James Jensen
"Feast of the Goddesses" by K.C. Grifant
"June Gloom" by Kevin Wetmore
"Hidden Depths" by Alexandra Neumeister
"O For a Muse of Fire" by Nickolas Furr
"In the River" by Jean Graham
"Eyes of the Salton Sea" by Sarah Read

Pick up a copy at Amazon and enjoy!