Fug

I have a brand-new short up at Red Fez today in Issue #139. It’s called “Fug” and clocks in at a little more than 1,000 words. It’s about that guy you know, and those other guys too.

“They put their eyes towards their shoes, but you can’t unsee something like that. It runs from the peripheral straight into the primary and stays in the memory, vivid and terrifying, like roadkill come to life.”

You can read it right here at Red Fez: https://www.redfez.net/fiction/depravity-fug-1000

Much thanks to the editorial Crew at Red Fez for putting the story up.

New Poetry Up: I Love KISS, and Van Halen Too

I have a new poem up at the Rye Whiskey Review.

It’s titled I Love Kiss, and Van Halen Too. Click here to read it.

You didn’t ask but yeah, I do love KISS, and especially Van Halen. I’d have put Cheap Trick in there too but I didn’t have room. AC/DC? AC/DC will get their own chapbook some day.

Much thanks to John Patrick Robbins ans the Rye Whiskey Review for putting I Love Kiss, and Van Halen Too up.

Read on – and rock on.

\m/ \m/

 

New Poetry up @ Anti-Heroin Chic: Here You Are/Then a Dog Barks, or the Phone Rings/Fire of the Pleiades

I have three pieces up at Anti-Heroin Chic in their June issue today:

  1. Here You Are
  2. Then a Dog Barks, or the Phone Rings
  3. Fire of the Pleiades

You can read them here.

Call ’em poetry/call ’em prose – call ’em whatever you like. I call them semi-, demi-, or hemi-fiction – but there they are.

Much thanks to James at AHC for putting these up. I love the photograph that goes with the pieces – it’s from Alexander Rabb.

Terror at Terror House

I had a small run of poetry published in Terror House, an on-line ‘zine, in late 2018 and the first half of 2019.

No one asked, but if they did I’d tell ’em that I don’t write poetry, I write line-by-line semi-, demi-, and even – if you’ll cut me some slack on this one – hemi-fiction. (Note to self, trademark “hemi-fiction”.)

I always liked the cover art Terror House paired with the posey. I appreciate Terror House putting the pieces up, my stuff always struggles to find a home and the steady stream of “not for us” gets me down, so to get a “yes, this is for us” on these pieces felt good.

Here they are, in date order:

  1. From November of 2018: She Said, Four Kings Four Queens, The Hours Walk Then They Run, and Sappho’s Honey.
  2. From January of 2019: The Pursuit of Higher Education, No Number, The Covenant, The Dead Old Poet’s Society.
  3. From May of 2019: Santa Monica Chicken Hawk, Creation, El Tres de Mayo, Up From the River.

Read ’em by clicking on the date/link.

Slightly redrafted versions Four Kings, Four Queens, and Creation appear in my forthcoming collection Cemetery Blackbirds. I think No Number does too, but I’ll have to check.

Anyways, there they are – the Terror House Terrors.

 

 

The Storgy Stories

STORGY, an on-line litery ‘zine  was founded in 2013 by Tomek Dzido and Anthony Self and describes their mission as “to publish and promote exceptional literary fiction whilst providing authors with the opportunity to reach a wider literary audience. We take pride in discovering new and emerging talent, whilst also celebrating the work of established writers. If you have a passion for short fiction and an urge to weld with ink, read on to discover more about STORGY and our mission.”

Thus emboldened, I submitted three pieces to Storgy in 2017 and all three published. Click the story title to read.

  • El Centauro – I pitched this with the line “Hesher Heaven, Hipster Hell” having just watched the movie “Hesher.” The story has nothing to do with Hesher, I just like the phrase. There is some weed smoked though – and a dog tossed off of a bridge.
  • Ulysses, King of Hearts  – I can’t remember how I pitched this but I really did know a guy who used to sit in a local pub with a copy of “Ulysses” trying to … I am not sure. The story digresses from that, but that’s where it started. At the time I was a member of a writer’s group, and the deviate sex written from a female point-of-view was subject to some criticism from the crew. At one point I was told very specifically that “men can’t write female POV, but women can write male POV.” Not one to believe in maxims/generalizations I persevered and am grateful to Storgy for publishing this piece. Did it work? You decide.
  • Viking Funeral – I pitched this with the phrase “The best way to retire? Start a day early.” Viking Funeral was, I believe, the second story I ever wrote – the first draft dates from 2008 or possibly earlier. I’ve moved computers a few times. I never started submitting for publication until mid 2012 and then only sporadically until late 2015, at which point I, a sucker for punishment, was all-in.

Anyways, there you have it – the Storgy Stories. It’s still the only place they are available. As an aside Storgy’s website is excellent and easy to navigate. Kudos to them. It’s no small feat to keep an on-line lit ‘zine up and running for as many years as they have. On line ‘zines are easy to do, hard to do well. Trust me.

All Hail Storgy!

 

 

Crown and Coke

My flash-fiction “bar story” Crown and Coke (421 words) is up at the Rye Whiskey Review today.

“She felt bad, she said. She said to tell you, if I ever saw you again, that she was sorry and that she was going through a bad time and wasn’t herself and that was not what she is like.”

You can read it here.

Not autobiographical at all – I actually don’t like rye whiskey – more of a red wine guy and occasionally, if the mood strikes, bourbon, but growing up in rural western Canada Crown Royal was the premium whiskey of choice. If you were doing well, you were pouring the crown.

Much thank to Scott and JPR at the Rye Whiskey Review for putting this piece up.

Starseed … Coming Soon.

I have signed a contract with the iconoclastic Canadian publisher The Seventh Terrace to publish my novella “Starseed.”

Although primarily a “literary” writer (whatever that is) this is much more of a genre piece – elements of the erotic and horror (horror in a vaguely Lovecraft-ian, “cosmic”  sense) permeate the narrative. Think of it as an homage to both iconic Horror-Punk band The Misfits and The Old Republic Pictures serials (but without a censor) that inspired them and you have Starseed. It’s all about money, sex, aliens … and the Brazilian Wandering Spider.

You can read the official announcement here at The Seventh Terrace’s website.

To quote the Misfits (from the song Hybrid Moments)

“If you’re gonna scream, scream with me/Moments like these never last … “

This is going to be a lot of fun.

Cabrona Mala

My short story “Cabrona Mala” (2,090 words) is live today in Novel Noctule Magazine’s 3rd issue.

“There was a bonfire and two hundred kids. An hour before the sheriff’s department came to break it up Grace killed Rose by cutting her neck open with a boxcutter when Rose squatted down to urinate behind a bush just out of range of the light of the fire. They had walked out into the darkness, hand-in-hand like girls who have to pee at outdoor parties do and Grace killed Rose with the boxcutter after she let go of Rose’s hand.”

You can read it here.

Much thanks to Novel Noctule’s EIC Jacquiline Dyer for their thoughtful edit and hard work in putting the piece up.

Devil Mountain Triptych

My short story “Devil Mountain Triptych” (1,485 words) has been published today in Slippage Lit’s Issue #4.

“Twenty minutes out from where they’d left the truck on the old mining road, they spotted the grizzly. The silverback was maybe a half-a-click away and upwind. They could see it swing its head from side-to-side, nostrils flaring, and then stand up on its hind legs,

He knows we’re here, Mike said.”

You can read it right here.

It’s a Turing Test, traditional hunting narrative, and an ecstacy of St. Theresa of Avila. It’s hunting bears on DMT.

Much thaks to Jacob and the Crew at Slippage for their kind editorial assistance. Slippage has great cover art too.