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Dark Lane 9
September 11, 2020 In Books, Short Stories

Craters of Perpetual Darkness in Dark Lane 9

My sci-fi story Craters of Perpetual Darkness appears in volume 9 of the Dark Lane anthology published in the UK. The hard copies are somewhat delayed by the pandemic, but the Kindle version is up on Amazon for $.99 for the whole book, a great deal. The story is a romance set against the backdrop of homesteader Helium-3 mining at the south pole of the moon. It touches on lunar property rights, the place of the individual in the rugged frontier of space, artistic expression in an age of computer generated art and good customer service. There are rockets. A sound track. Stuff blows up. So much fun to research and write. Spectacular cover art by David Whitlam.

May 29, 2020 In Flash Fiction

Small Gods in Rumble Fish Quarterly

Rumble Fish published my flash story, Small Gods, in their Spring 2020 edition (pdf). proving that even during the pandemic, art goes on. This is my most revised flash ever, re-written twelve million times. It started out as an Artist’s Statement for something I didn’t end up applying for. It is still my Artist’s Statement. Also the story I did not read at the Hot Pillow reading cancelled at AWP 2020 in San Antonio, the last trip we all took together.

February 23, 2020 In Short Stories

Roadkill Rodeo in the Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review

The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review has graciously published my bizarre short story “Roadkill Rodeo” in Issue 21, which can be purchased electronically or in print. The Dr. T. J. Eckleburg Review is a fine magazine that published another odd story of mine, The Last Time We Saw Charlie, in 2015. I’m willing to bet a drink that Roadkill Rodeo is in the top five stories with a dead psychic lemur narrator. Top ten for sure. It is one of my personal favorites and I’m glad it found a good home. 

February 2, 2020 In Short Stories

People Who Live in Invisible Houses in Jersey Devil Press

Jersey Devil Press published my short story “People Who Live in Invisible Houses” and I am grateful. This bleeds over the edge of technology and standard house paint into the fantastical. There aren’t a lot of homes for this sort of thing and Jersey Devil is one of the best. They are Heroes of Literature. 

This took a longish time (5+ years) to get right. So many drafts. Survivors of my writing group will be glad to see an end. An early version of this got me into the Tin House writing workshop, I still don’t know how. I didn’t workshop the story at Tin House, but did with Kelly Link when she taught a two day at Hugo House. She patiently explained the flaws, which were legion, so I re-framed the whole thing. It still took three more years of revisions. 

 

January 13, 2020 In Short Stories

Bomb Shelter in Gulf Stream

Gulf Stream published my short story Bomb Shelter, with a great collage by Jeff Hersch. This is my first full length short story published in a while, but two more will follow soon. January is an embarrassment of riches and I am grateful.

This is a rare thing for me: a realistic story rooted in personal experience. Real stuff includes the Beanfields, the dirt fort, terror at impending nuclear war, a murderer and a gun. But none of these people are my family. Such is the nature of fiction.