Bit of a late update, but my fantasy story Not Recommended for Guests of a Philosophically Uncertain Disposition was podcast by the wonderful folks at Drabblecast. Inspiration for this story came from the finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when the town of Sunnydale gets [!Spoiler Alert!] destroyed and turned into a giant crater. I often wondered what happened to it afterwards, and came to the conclusion that some enterprising soul would undoubtedly have turned it into a tourist attraction.
Take a listen to the story here.
Not Recommended for Guests of a Philosophically Uncertain Disposition - Contemporary Fantasy - 2,600 words - originally published at Interzone, March 2016
Damita managed The Fracture’s visitor centre and gift shop, while Jem took the guided tours. There was also a cafe, which always had fresh coffee and an inventive selection of hot sandwiches, although Damita had never met anyone who worked in the kitchens.
‘They’re all very industrious, just highly introverted,’ Jem said. ‘You should go and get one of today’s specials — Cajun pheasant and fried pickles on a toasted sesame seed bagel. Marvellous.’
‘Sounds a little rich for breakfast,’ Damita said. ‘Maybe later.’
A stock delivery had arrived in the night, and she was working her way through the boxes. They contained fridge magnets, earplugs, bandages with pictures of cacti on them, and snowglobes. Damita picked one up and shook it. Black glitter fell on a scale model of the visitor centre, and lightning flashed.
‘Food is important,’ Jem said. ‘Blood sugar should be kept within optimum parameters to ensure emotional stability. It says so in the Employee Handbook.’
Listen to the full story at Drabblecast
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Reprint - Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings in The Macabre Museum
Out now: Vol 1, Issue 1 of The Macabre Museum - The debut issue of indie horror lit's newest journal! From the genre's freshest (and most disturbed) minds come 10 dark tales, 12 twisted poems, and 3 pieces of demented art... including my paranormal crime story Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings.
I always think there’s great fun to be had with characters who think they’re the Big Bad, only to run into someone worse. This story is a kind of horror take on Groundhog Day, without the possibility of the escape-through-self-improvement ending. It’s no wonder she’s gone homicidally insane, but at least she kept her sense of humour. I think you have to admire that.
Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings - 3,775 words
Dom doesn’t lose his temper as easily as his brother, so normally he’s the one who deals with it when shit goes pear-shaped. But shit has been going pear-shaped a lot lately, and by the time Dom gets to the warehouse Marc is already in full swing. Literally—he’s gone after poor Jimmy with a nine iron.
Dom picks his way across the warehouse floor, cursing under his breath. His shoes are new, and it’s a fuck of a thing to get blood out of tan leather. He puts both hands up, palms out. ‘Marc. Take it easy.’
On the floor, Jimmy groans. He’s pulled into a foetal position so Dom can’t tell the full extent of the damage, but his clothes are soaked in just about every bodily fluid there is. At first guess, Dom would say the kid’s lost his teeth, his fingernails, his bollocks and at least a couple of internal organs.
Read the full story in Issue 1 of The Macabre Museum !
I always think there’s great fun to be had with characters who think they’re the Big Bad, only to run into someone worse. This story is a kind of horror take on Groundhog Day, without the possibility of the escape-through-self-improvement ending. It’s no wonder she’s gone homicidally insane, but at least she kept her sense of humour. I think you have to admire that.
Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings - 3,775 words
Dom doesn’t lose his temper as easily as his brother, so normally he’s the one who deals with it when shit goes pear-shaped. But shit has been going pear-shaped a lot lately, and by the time Dom gets to the warehouse Marc is already in full swing. Literally—he’s gone after poor Jimmy with a nine iron.
Dom picks his way across the warehouse floor, cursing under his breath. His shoes are new, and it’s a fuck of a thing to get blood out of tan leather. He puts both hands up, palms out. ‘Marc. Take it easy.’
On the floor, Jimmy groans. He’s pulled into a foetal position so Dom can’t tell the full extent of the damage, but his clothes are soaked in just about every bodily fluid there is. At first guess, Dom would say the kid’s lost his teeth, his fingernails, his bollocks and at least a couple of internal organs.
Read the full story in Issue 1 of The Macabre Museum !
Monday, September 16, 2019
Latest Story News!
OUT NOW:
Garden of Fog and Monsters (SF, 2,089 words) was reprinted in First Contact from Indie Authors Press, Apr 19
Sometimes You’re the Windscreen, Sometimes You’re the Fly (Fantasy, 877 words) was published in audio at Toasted Cake, May 2019
For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times (Fantasy, 3,210 words) was published in audio at The Overcast, Aug 19
FORTHCOMING:
Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings (Horror/Crime, 3,775 words) will be reprinted in issue 1 of The Macabre Museum, 2019
Let the Buyer Beware (Fantasy, 4,700 words) will be published at Kaleidotrope, 2021
Possibly Nefarious Purposes will be reprinted at Strange Constellations, 2019/2020
Garden of Fog and Monsters (SF, 2,089 words) was reprinted in First Contact from Indie Authors Press, Apr 19
Sometimes You’re the Windscreen, Sometimes You’re the Fly (Fantasy, 877 words) was published in audio at Toasted Cake, May 2019
For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times (Fantasy, 3,210 words) was published in audio at The Overcast, Aug 19
FORTHCOMING:
Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings (Horror/Crime, 3,775 words) will be reprinted in issue 1 of The Macabre Museum, 2019
Let the Buyer Beware (Fantasy, 4,700 words) will be published at Kaleidotrope, 2021
Possibly Nefarious Purposes will be reprinted at Strange Constellations, 2019/2020
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
New podcast - 'For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times' at The Overcast
The podcast of my fantasy story 'For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times' is now live at The Overcast!
One of my favourite stories, and definitely one of my favourite titles, this was written for Penumbra Magazine’s ‘Utopia’ issue, and reflects my belief that you don’t have to scratch a utopia very deeply to find a dystopia underneath.
For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times - Fantasy - 3,210 words
Lia waved a hand. ‘Hon, I’m sorry, but you’ve just got to hear this.’ She grinned and leaned back in her seat. ‘I found God.’
Katie stared at her. ‘I’m sorry, you did what?’
‘I found God. And I don’t mean I became a born-again Christian or anything, I mean I literally discovered the omnipotent creator of the universe. While I was doing that house clearance in Balham.’
Listen to the story at The Overcast now!
One of my favourite stories, and definitely one of my favourite titles, this was written for Penumbra Magazine’s ‘Utopia’ issue, and reflects my belief that you don’t have to scratch a utopia very deeply to find a dystopia underneath.
For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times - Fantasy - 3,210 words
Lia waved a hand. ‘Hon, I’m sorry, but you’ve just got to hear this.’ She grinned and leaned back in her seat. ‘I found God.’
Katie stared at her. ‘I’m sorry, you did what?’
‘I found God. And I don’t mean I became a born-again Christian or anything, I mean I literally discovered the omnipotent creator of the universe. While I was doing that house clearance in Balham.’
Listen to the story at The Overcast now!
Sunday, June 9, 2019
New Reprint: Garden of Fog and Monsters in First Contact
I have a reprint in First Contact: A Science Fiction Anthology from Indie Authors Press, out now in ebook and paperback.
Garden of Fog and Monsters: They pitch it to the volunteers as a contest that can be won, but there’s no such thing as a free paradise.
They created a whole new branch of physics to make sense of it, but everybody was way more interested in the practical applications than the theorems. Rolling green hills and crystal blue lakes? You got it. A skyscraper fifteen miles high? You got it. Furry purple dinosaurs? You got it. In this garden, everybody’s God.
Read the rest of the story in First Contact
Garden of Fog and Monsters: They pitch it to the volunteers as a contest that can be won, but there’s no such thing as a free paradise.
They created a whole new branch of physics to make sense of it, but everybody was way more interested in the practical applications than the theorems. Rolling green hills and crystal blue lakes? You got it. A skyscraper fifteen miles high? You got it. Furry purple dinosaurs? You got it. In this garden, everybody’s God.
Read the rest of the story in First Contact
Saturday, June 1, 2019
New Podcast! Sometimes You’re the Windscreen, Sometimes You’re the Fly at Toasted Cake
Sometimes You’re the Windscreen, Sometimes You’re the Fly (Fantasy, 877 words) has been published in audio at the marvellous Toasted Cake.
Life -- especially a very long one -- is nothing but a game...
Listen to the story here.
Life -- especially a very long one -- is nothing but a game...
Monday, April 15, 2019
Latest Story News!
OUT NOW:
Wolf, or Faith in the Future (SF, 621 words) was podcasted at Manawaker Studio
In the Fog, There's Nothing but Grey (Horror, 1,437 words) was published in Black Static Issue 67
God State (SF, 1,299 words) was reprinted in Sins and Other Worlds edited by Eric S Fomley
FORTHCOMING:
Not Recommended for Guests of a Philosophically Uncertain Disposition (Fantasy, 2,600 words) will be podcasted at Drabblecast, 2019
Wolf, or Faith in the Future (SF, 621 words) was podcasted at Manawaker Studio
In the Fog, There's Nothing but Grey (Horror, 1,437 words) was published in Black Static Issue 67
God State (SF, 1,299 words) was reprinted in Sins and Other Worlds edited by Eric S Fomley
FORTHCOMING:
Not Recommended for Guests of a Philosophically Uncertain Disposition (Fantasy, 2,600 words) will be podcasted at Drabblecast, 2019
Saturday, February 9, 2019
Reprint - God State in Sins and Other Worlds
Sins and Other Worlds is a dark Science Fiction short story anthology comprised of reprint stories from 30 talented authors. The stories range from deep space, alien planets, alternate realities and beyond. Most stories within are flash fiction interspersed with several longer works from both emerging authors and titans in the field. The anthology collects some of the best dark sci-fi in recent memory.
Includes my story God State (1,299 words) Originally published in Daily Science Fiction.
When you get to a certain age, conversations with your mates often turn into a nostalgia-fest about The Good Old Days. Is the past better than the present? Maybe. Maybe not.
On the way out of the gig, I stop at the merchandise stall to get a t-shirt. I find one in my size and pull out my wallet, then hesitate. It looks good quality, but the colour — almost exactly the same blue as a scanner booth — puts me off. I read somewhere they call that shade ‘Spectral Indigo,’ and ever since then it’s given me a slight case of the creeps. On the way out of the gig, I stop at the merchandise stall to get a t-shirt. I find one in my size and pull out my wallet, then hesitate. It looks good quality, but the colour — almost exactly the same blue as a scanner booth — puts me off. I read somewhere they call that shade ‘Spectral Indigo,’ and ever since then it’s given me a slight case of the creeps.
Read the rest in Sins and Other Worlds, available in ebook now.
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
New story in Black Static -- In the Fog, There's Nothing but Grey
I have a new story in Issue 67 of the always-marvellous Black Static!
In the Fog, There's Nothing but Grey is a pending-apocalypse story taking place during an epidemic of amnesia, and is about finding out who you are by watching what you do...
In the Fog, There's Nothing but Grey - 1,437 words
Nobody’s gone in or out of the pub for a long time, so it makes us all jump when the door opens. I hadn’t even realised it was unlocked.
‘Here comes trouble,’ Gil says. He says that about everything, from Chrissie coming back from the Ladies to pigeons landing on the roof, but this time I think he could be right — there’s something about this newcomer that sets my spidey-sense humming. I can’t put my finger on what, but sometimes that’s how it is: the eyes send a message straight to the hairs on the back of the neck, bypassing the brain completely. Which maybe isn’t such a bad thing, considering the brain’s not the be-all and end-all it used to be.
Read the rest of the story in Black Static 67, available now from TTA Press.
In the Fog, There's Nothing but Grey is a pending-apocalypse story taking place during an epidemic of amnesia, and is about finding out who you are by watching what you do...
In the Fog, There's Nothing but Grey - 1,437 words
Nobody’s gone in or out of the pub for a long time, so it makes us all jump when the door opens. I hadn’t even realised it was unlocked.
‘Here comes trouble,’ Gil says. He says that about everything, from Chrissie coming back from the Ladies to pigeons landing on the roof, but this time I think he could be right — there’s something about this newcomer that sets my spidey-sense humming. I can’t put my finger on what, but sometimes that’s how it is: the eyes send a message straight to the hairs on the back of the neck, bypassing the brain completely. Which maybe isn’t such a bad thing, considering the brain’s not the be-all and end-all it used to be.
Read the rest of the story in Black Static 67, available now from TTA Press.
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Latest Story News!
Out Now:
For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times (Fantasy, 3,210 words) was reprinted in Issue 3 of The Weird Reader.
The Visiphorical Art (Supernatural, 917 words) was podcasted at Manawaker studio.
One Free Go (Horror, 2221 words) was reprinted in Issue 41 of The Sirens Call, October 2018
And in the End, They All Lived Happily Ever After (Fantasy, 500 words) was reprinted in Issue 24 of Three Drops from a Cauldron, Nov 2018
Dead Bodies Don't Scream (Horror, 4,033 words) was published in Tales from the Lake Volume 5, from Crystal Lake Publishing, Nov 2018
Forthcoming:
Sometimes You’re the Windscreen, Sometimes You’re the Fly (Fantasy, 877 words) will be podcasted at Toasted Cake, May 2019.
In the Fog, There's Nothing but Grey (Horror, 1,437 words) will be published in Black Static
For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times (Fantasy, 3,210 words) was reprinted in Issue 3 of The Weird Reader.
The Visiphorical Art (Supernatural, 917 words) was podcasted at Manawaker studio.
One Free Go (Horror, 2221 words) was reprinted in Issue 41 of The Sirens Call, October 2018
And in the End, They All Lived Happily Ever After (Fantasy, 500 words) was reprinted in Issue 24 of Three Drops from a Cauldron, Nov 2018
Dead Bodies Don't Scream (Horror, 4,033 words) was published in Tales from the Lake Volume 5, from Crystal Lake Publishing, Nov 2018
Forthcoming:
Sometimes You’re the Windscreen, Sometimes You’re the Fly (Fantasy, 877 words) will be podcasted at Toasted Cake, May 2019.
In the Fog, There's Nothing but Grey (Horror, 1,437 words) will be published in Black Static
Friday, December 14, 2018
Reprint: And in the End, They All Lived Happily Ever After at Three Drops from a Cauldron
My fairy-tale flash 'And in the End, They All Lived Happily Ever After', a different view of the Cinderella story, is available to read in the latest issue of the marvellous Three Drops from a Cauldron, full of weird and wonderful, magical and mystical prose, poetry, and art.
And in the End, They All Lived Happily Ever After - Fantasy - 500 words
The coachman knows his place, so he stays outside, even though the music swirls in his head and tries to draw him into the ballroom, with all its vibrant colours and beautiful dancers — glamorous, graceful people whirling around the floor in complicated patterns, not needing to look where they’re going because they fit so perfectly into the shape of this grand, wonderful design; people who belong, who follow their steps and play their roles and smile so gloriously because they know, they all know, that they are precisely where they are meant to be.
Read the rest in Issue 24 of Three Drops from a Cauldron
And in the End, They All Lived Happily Ever After - Fantasy - 500 words
The coachman knows his place, so he stays outside, even though the music swirls in his head and tries to draw him into the ballroom, with all its vibrant colours and beautiful dancers — glamorous, graceful people whirling around the floor in complicated patterns, not needing to look where they’re going because they fit so perfectly into the shape of this grand, wonderful design; people who belong, who follow their steps and play their roles and smile so gloriously because they know, they all know, that they are precisely where they are meant to be.
Read the rest in Issue 24 of Three Drops from a Cauldron
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
New story: Dead Bodies Don't Scream in Tales of the Lake Volume 5
Tales of the Lake is a marvellous horror anthology series from Crystal Lake Publishing, and the latest volume is out now -- including my story 'Dead Bodies Don't Scream,' which is a variation on one of my favourite themes: Be careful what you wish for...
Dead Bodies Don't Scream by Michelle Ann King (Horror, 4,033 words)
Allie wipes her eyes, then stands up and kisses Rae’s hair. ‘I’ll be back soon,’ she says.
Because the universe doesn’t care about right and wrong; she’s always known that. It doesn’t care about fairness or justice or providing miracles.
If you need any of those things, you have to go and get them for yourself.
Read the full story in Tales of the Lake Volume 5:
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2q8Edtz
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2O01VBx
Universal Link: http://getbook.at/Lake5
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/
Dead Bodies Don't Scream by Michelle Ann King (Horror, 4,033 words)
Allie wipes her eyes, then stands up and kisses Rae’s hair. ‘I’ll be back soon,’ she says.
Because the universe doesn’t care about right and wrong; she’s always known that. It doesn’t care about fairness or justice or providing miracles.
If you need any of those things, you have to go and get them for yourself.
Read the full story in Tales of the Lake Volume 5:
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2q8Edtz
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2O01VBx
Universal Link: http://getbook.at/Lake5
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
New reprint: One Free Go in The Sirens Call
My Halloween story 'One Free Go,' along with a ton of other dark and creepy stories, his available to read for free now, in Issue 41 of The Sirens Calls 👻 🕷️💀
One Free Go (Horror, 2,221 words)
When I was a kid, a Halloween party meant a couple of ghost stories, some bat-shaped gingerbread, and a bag of fun-sized Mars bars. That was it, job done. These days you have to decorate the whole house, get everyone fancy dress costumes, lay on enough chocolate to sink a battleship and buy boxes of specially-made black cupcakes topped with fondant-icing eyeballs.
Read the story for free in Issue 41 of The Sirens Call now!
When I was a kid, a Halloween party meant a couple of ghost stories, some bat-shaped gingerbread, and a bag of fun-sized Mars bars. That was it, job done. These days you have to decorate the whole house, get everyone fancy dress costumes, lay on enough chocolate to sink a battleship and buy boxes of specially-made black cupcakes topped with fondant-icing eyeballs.
Read the story for free in Issue 41 of The Sirens Call now!
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Kickstarter for The Weird Reader
Kickstarter for volume three of The Weird Reader, which includes my story 'For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times' -- this is the cheapest option for print copies, so if you fancy one, get in now!
Monday, October 22, 2018
New podcast! The Visiphorical Art at Manawaker Studio
My domestic ghost story The Visiphorical Art has been podcasted by the fine folks at Manawaker Studio. To listen to the story (9 minutes) click here.
The Visiphorical Art (917 words)
There are remnants of lives all over the house, drying out and growing mould like abandoned plates of half-consumed meals. They lie in wait under the surface of reality like landmines, like unexploded bombs. Waiting for the unwary, the ones who don’t watch their step, to explode them back into the world...
The Visiphorical Art (917 words)
There are remnants of lives all over the house, drying out and growing mould like abandoned plates of half-consumed meals. They lie in wait under the surface of reality like landmines, like unexploded bombs. Waiting for the unwary, the ones who don’t watch their step, to explode them back into the world...
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
New story at The Weird Reader
One of my favourite stories (definitely one of my favourite titles), 'For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times' has been reprinted in Issue 3 of The Weird Reader a literary magazine of the strange, disturbing, fantastic, and otherworldly.
This is a fabulous publication with lots of stories and poems, and some marvellous art, too (I particularly like the illustration for Horseface by Justin Tolman). It's free to read, so check it out here!
For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times (Fantasy, 3,210 words)
Lia waved a hand. ‘Hon, I’m sorry, but you’ve just got to hear this.’ She grinned and leaned back in her seat. ‘I found God.’
Katie stared at her. ‘I’m sorry, you did what?’
‘I found God. And I don’t mean I became a born-again Christian or anything, I mean I literally discovered the omnipotent creator of the universe. While I was doing that house clearance in Balham.’
Read the full story at The Weird Reader!
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Tales from the Lake Vol 5
Very nice early review of the upcoming anthology Tales from the Lake Vol 5, including my story 'Dead Bodies Don't Scream':
https://scifiandfantasyreviewer.wordpress.com/2018/09/28/tales-from-the-lake-volume-5-kenneth-w-cain-ed-review/
https://scifiandfantasyreviewer.wordpress.com/2018/09/28/tales-from-the-lake-volume-5-kenneth-w-cain-ed-review/
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Latest Story News!
OUT NOW:
1. Gifted (Horror/SF, 3744 words) was reprinted by Dark Fire Fiction, Jun 2018
2. My second collection, Possibly Nefarious Purposes and Other Stories, came out in paperback, Jul 2018
3. Precious Things (Horror, 100 words) was reprinted in the anthology Drabbledark, Jul 2018
FORTHCOMING:
1. God State (SF, 1,299 words) will be reprinted in Sins and Other Worlds from Shacklebound Books
2. The Visiphorical Art (Fantasy, 917 words) will be podcasted at Manawaker Studio
3. Wolf, or Faith in the Future (SF, 621 words) will be podcasted at Manawaker Studio
1. Gifted (Horror/SF, 3744 words) was reprinted by Dark Fire Fiction, Jun 2018
2. My second collection, Possibly Nefarious Purposes and Other Stories, came out in paperback, Jul 2018
3. Precious Things (Horror, 100 words) was reprinted in the anthology Drabbledark, Jul 2018
FORTHCOMING:
1. God State (SF, 1,299 words) will be reprinted in Sins and Other Worlds from Shacklebound Books
2. The Visiphorical Art (Fantasy, 917 words) will be podcasted at Manawaker Studio
3. Wolf, or Faith in the Future (SF, 621 words) will be podcasted at Manawaker Studio
Friday, July 20, 2018
New anthology -- Sins and Other Worlds
Forthcoming from Shacklebound Books:
'Sins and Other Worlds is a dark Science Fiction short story anthology comprised of reprint stories from 28 talented authors. The stories range from deep space, alien planets, alternate realities and beyond. Most stories within are flash fiction interspersed with several longer works from both emerging authors and titans in the field. The anthology collects some of the best dark sci-fi in recent memory.'
Including mine! My story 'God State,' about a rather dystopian utopia, is being reprinted in this marvellous collection.
Check out the kickstarter page here!
'Sins and Other Worlds is a dark Science Fiction short story anthology comprised of reprint stories from 28 talented authors. The stories range from deep space, alien planets, alternate realities and beyond. Most stories within are flash fiction interspersed with several longer works from both emerging authors and titans in the field. The anthology collects some of the best dark sci-fi in recent memory.'
Including mine! My story 'God State,' about a rather dystopian utopia, is being reprinted in this marvellous collection.
Check out the kickstarter page here!
Thursday, July 5, 2018
Paperbacks!
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Reprint: Precious Things in Drabbledark anthology
My creepy little story Precious Things has been reprinted in Drabbledark from Eric S Fomley (@PrinceGrimdark), available to preorder from Amazon now!
The drabble (100 words long) is a perfect form for ‘hint fiction’—the story makes a suggestion, the specifics are left up to the reader. I think it was Stephen King who said that the scariest thing in the world is a half-open door, and drabbles are a wonderful way to open that door and invite the reader inside...
Drabbledark: An Anthology of Dark Drabbles is an anthology of drabbles, stories of exactly 100 words in length. Within these pages are 101 tales of dark fantasy, horror, and science fiction from 87 new and veteran voices of speculative fiction. This anthology combines both original fiction and reprints, with a majority of original fiction, celebrating the power of micro flash fiction in the form of dark plots and themes.
To be released on 20th July. Available for preorder now!
The drabble (100 words long) is a perfect form for ‘hint fiction’—the story makes a suggestion, the specifics are left up to the reader. I think it was Stephen King who said that the scariest thing in the world is a half-open door, and drabbles are a wonderful way to open that door and invite the reader inside...
Drabbledark: An Anthology of Dark Drabbles is an anthology of drabbles, stories of exactly 100 words in length. Within these pages are 101 tales of dark fantasy, horror, and science fiction from 87 new and veteran voices of speculative fiction. This anthology combines both original fiction and reprints, with a majority of original fiction, celebrating the power of micro flash fiction in the form of dark plots and themes.
To be released on 20th July. Available for preorder now!
Monday, June 18, 2018
Reprint: Gifted at Dark Fire Fiction
My SF/Horror story 'Gifted' has been reprinted by the fine folks at Dark Fire Fiction and is now free to read online here!
As they always say, 'Be careful what you wish for...'
GIFTED by Michelle Ann King - 3,744 words
Francie sat cross-legged on the floor. The rough carpet scratched her legs and she shifted position.
‘Concentrate, please, Francie,’ Dr Lomax said. Concentration was a virtue. So was obedience.
Francie sat still and focused on the items in front of her: a cotton wool pad, a fifty pence piece, a yellow tennis ball and a large textbook called Gifted: Developing Extraordinary Potential in Ordinary Children by Dr Paulina Lomax. Francie had tried to read it once, to be polite, but she didn’t get very far. She liked the photos of all the brains, though.
Read the rest at Dark Fire Fiction...
As they always say, 'Be careful what you wish for...'
GIFTED by Michelle Ann King - 3,744 words
Francie sat cross-legged on the floor. The rough carpet scratched her legs and she shifted position.
‘Concentrate, please, Francie,’ Dr Lomax said. Concentration was a virtue. So was obedience.
Francie sat still and focused on the items in front of her: a cotton wool pad, a fifty pence piece, a yellow tennis ball and a large textbook called Gifted: Developing Extraordinary Potential in Ordinary Children by Dr Paulina Lomax. Francie had tried to read it once, to be polite, but she didn’t get very far. She liked the photos of all the brains, though.
Read the rest at Dark Fire Fiction...
Monday, June 11, 2018
Reprint: You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance at Luna Station Quarterly
Very pleased to have one of my stories reprinted in Issue 34 of the awesome Luna Station Quarterly: 'You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance'
I’d jotted that phrase down at some point, with the note great title for a story. When I came across it, the idea of the Time Pocket and its ‘gain a year/lose a year’ gamble immediately sprang into my mind as something people might pay to take a chance on (because of course, any supernatural discovery would be instantly commercialised). For most people, the stakes wouldn’t be that high—betting a year wouldn’t bankrupt them, as it were—but there are some, like Disa, where it’s effectively going all in. I’ve still never been able to make my mind up whether I would have a go or not. Would you?
You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance (SF, 1248 words)
The smiling Time Pocket receptionist showed Disa into the waiting room. It had sofas and leather recliners, a free bar where discreet white-coated staff poured tiny measures of top class spirits, and tables laid out with finger food: miniature scones and delicate cucumber sandwiches cut into crustless triangles. It evoked a sense of separateness, of floating in a stream cut off from the rest of the world. A kind of civilised timelessness. Which was, Disa supposed, the point.
Read the rest at Luna Station Quarterly!
I’d jotted that phrase down at some point, with the note great title for a story. When I came across it, the idea of the Time Pocket and its ‘gain a year/lose a year’ gamble immediately sprang into my mind as something people might pay to take a chance on (because of course, any supernatural discovery would be instantly commercialised). For most people, the stakes wouldn’t be that high—betting a year wouldn’t bankrupt them, as it were—but there are some, like Disa, where it’s effectively going all in. I’ve still never been able to make my mind up whether I would have a go or not. Would you?
You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance (SF, 1248 words)
The smiling Time Pocket receptionist showed Disa into the waiting room. It had sofas and leather recliners, a free bar where discreet white-coated staff poured tiny measures of top class spirits, and tables laid out with finger food: miniature scones and delicate cucumber sandwiches cut into crustless triangles. It evoked a sense of separateness, of floating in a stream cut off from the rest of the world. A kind of civilised timelessness. Which was, Disa supposed, the point.
Read the rest at Luna Station Quarterly!
Latest Story News!
OUT NOW:
1. You Don't Want What I Get (Horror - 1,197 words) came out in The Siren's Call ezine, Feb 2018
2. No Past, No Future, Just Now was reprinted at Literally Stories, Mar 2018
3. You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance was reprinted in Issue 34 of Luna Station Quarterly
4. Possibly Nefarious Purposes (story collection - 55,000 words) came out in ebook at:
FORTHCOMING:
1. Precious Things (Horror - 100 words) will be reprinted in the anthology Drabbledark, 2018
2. God State (SF - 1,299 words) will be reprinted in the anthology Sins & Other Worlds, 2018
3. Gifted (Horror - 3,744 words) will be reprinted in Dark Fire Fiction, 2018
1. You Don't Want What I Get (Horror - 1,197 words) came out in The Siren's Call ezine, Feb 2018
2. No Past, No Future, Just Now was reprinted at Literally Stories, Mar 2018
3. You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance was reprinted in Issue 34 of Luna Station Quarterly
4. Possibly Nefarious Purposes (story collection - 55,000 words) came out in ebook at:
FORTHCOMING:
1. Precious Things (Horror - 100 words) will be reprinted in the anthology Drabbledark, 2018
2. God State (SF - 1,299 words) will be reprinted in the anthology Sins & Other Worlds, 2018
3. Gifted (Horror - 3,744 words) will be reprinted in Dark Fire Fiction, 2018
Thursday, May 24, 2018
New Short Story Collection! 'Possibly Nefarious Purposes and Other Stories' Available Now!
Very thrilled to say my second short story collection, Possibly Nefarious Purposes and Other Stories is available in ebook now!
Paperback coming soon!
Come for Christmas dinner at the house of a little girl with very particular interests; let the residents of an old folks’ home show you how to save the world with self-hypnosis; celebrate (or mourn) the death of a supervillain; consult with Clarity, who can tell you why things happen as they do (if you really want to know); and learn how to score points for decapitation in a never-ending game of life and death.
Featuring all of the above plus protective aliens, bickering ghosts, gangster vampires, robot ninjas, and floods of man-eating hamsters, the second collection of stories from the wicked imagination of Michelle Ann King will horrify, amuse, and chill you in turn.
“Don’t get upset. You know that’s a bad idea. It only leads to severed limbs and evisceration.”
Available now at:
Paperback coming soon!
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Stories available at Curious Fictions
I've recently joined Curious Fictions, a place where you can subscribe to me to support my work and read my stories. Visit my author page at http://curiousfictions.com/authors/113-michelle-ann-king to check it out and subscribe!
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Forthcoming Anthology: Drabbledark
I love drabbles (stories of exactly 100 words): so easy to read, so hard to write 😀
Editor Eric Fomley is putting together an anthology of dark SF, fantasy, & horror drabbles that looks awesome (and will feature my story 'Precious Things'). Check out the kickstarter!
Editor Eric Fomley is putting together an anthology of dark SF, fantasy, & horror drabbles that looks awesome (and will feature my story 'Precious Things'). Check out the kickstarter!
Friday, April 20, 2018
Reprint at Literally Stories - No Past, No Future, Just Now
My sad, pre-apocalyptic story No Past, No Future, Just Now was reprinted at Literally Stories, a site with some marvellous stories and great reader interaction.
This story came about because I started thinking about who survives the end of the world. With a specific enemy—zombies, invasions—it's going to be people good at fighting. With a plague, it’ll likely be the fit and healthy. But what if it’s a different kind of problem?
No Past, No Future, Just Now (1,661 words)
I’m pretty sure I treated most of my doctors rather badly. I don’t feel good about that, but it’s too late to apologise now. Ellis, though. Ellis I liked. The others were all about tests and pills and forms and charts, but they never once looked me in the eye. Ellis was the only one who talked to me like I was still a person rather than just a malfunctioning brain.
Read the full story at Literally Stories now
This story came about because I started thinking about who survives the end of the world. With a specific enemy—zombies, invasions—it's going to be people good at fighting. With a plague, it’ll likely be the fit and healthy. But what if it’s a different kind of problem?
No Past, No Future, Just Now (1,661 words)
I’m pretty sure I treated most of my doctors rather badly. I don’t feel good about that, but it’s too late to apologise now. Ellis, though. Ellis I liked. The others were all about tests and pills and forms and charts, but they never once looked me in the eye. Ellis was the only one who talked to me like I was still a person rather than just a malfunctioning brain.
Read the full story at Literally Stories now
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
COMING SOON!
COMING SOON!
POSSIBLY NEFARIOUS PURPOSES AND OTHER STORIES
BY
MICHELLE ANN KING
Come for Christmas dinner at the house of a little girl with very particular interests; let the residents of an old folks’ home show you how to save the world with self-hypnosis; celebrate (or mourn) the death of a supervillain; consult with Clarity, who can tell you why things happen as they do (if you really want to know); and learn how to score points for decapitation in a never-ending game of life and death.
Featuring all of the above plus protective aliens, bickering ghosts, gangster vampires, robot ninjas, and floods of man-eating hamsters, the second collection of stories from the wicked imagination of Michelle Ann King will horrify, amuse, and chill you in turn.
“Don’t get upset. You know that’s a bad idea. It only leads to severed limbs and evisceration.”
— Amy, ‘Possibly Nefarious Purposes’
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
New audio story at Tales to Terry - Not With a Bang
My apocalyptic SF story Not With a Bang (SF - 1,275 words) came out in audio at the wonderful podcast Tales to Terrify...
'She logs back in and the console lights up immediately. She clears her throat. ‘Thank you for calling the Central Health Advice Line, my name is Elizabeth, can you please tell me your primary symptoms?’
Listen to the story at Tales to Terrify now!
'She logs back in and the console lights up immediately. She clears her throat. ‘Thank you for calling the Central Health Advice Line, my name is Elizabeth, can you please tell me your primary symptoms?’
Listen to the story at Tales to Terrify now!
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Reprint in The Sirens Call issue 37 (Women in Horror Month) - You Don't Want What I Get
The latest issue of The Sirens Call magazine (Women in Horror month) is out now, featuring my 1,197-word 'don't underestimate a female gangster' story You Don't Want What I Get
The others don’t like me. Partly because I’m a girl and partly because I don’t like them either, but mostly because I’m treated differently. When they go up to collect their cut I stay where I am, sitting on the table. Smoking. They don’t like that either, some of them. Bunch of tough guys, worried about lung cancer. Crazy.
Read the rest in The Sirens Call now!
The others don’t like me. Partly because I’m a girl and partly because I don’t like them either, but mostly because I’m treated differently. When they go up to collect their cut I stay where I am, sitting on the table. Smoking. They don’t like that either, some of them. Bunch of tough guys, worried about lung cancer. Crazy.
Read the rest in The Sirens Call now!
Monday, February 5, 2018
Latest Story News!
OUT NOW:
1. Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings (Horror, 3786 words) came out in audio at Tales to Terrify
2. Behind Glass (Horror, 2,181 words) was reprinted in The Sirens Call Ezine
3. The World Doesn't End, Even When it Should (Horror, 2,443) was reprinted in The Misbehaving Dead anthology from A Murder of Storytellers
FORTHCOMING:
1. You Don't Want What I Get (Horror, 1,197 words) will be reprinted in The Sirens Call Ezine, Feb 2018
1. Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings (Horror, 3786 words) came out in audio at Tales to Terrify
2. Behind Glass (Horror, 2,181 words) was reprinted in The Sirens Call Ezine
3. The World Doesn't End, Even When it Should (Horror, 2,443) was reprinted in The Misbehaving Dead anthology from A Murder of Storytellers
FORTHCOMING:
1. You Don't Want What I Get (Horror, 1,197 words) will be reprinted in The Sirens Call Ezine, Feb 2018
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Reprint in The Misbehaving Dead - The World Doesn't End, Even When it Should
One of my absolutely favourite things about selling to anthologies is getting the contributor's copy -- and I'm loving this one!
The Misbehaving Dead from A Murder of Storytellers features a feast of marvellous zombie stories, including my 'The World Doesn't End, Even When it Should', in which zombies are a commodity to be used, rather than a monster to be feared.
The World Doesn't End, Even When it Should - Horror - 2,460 words
Yes, it was morally ambiguous. Potentially blasphemous, depending on your religious affiliation (although what was Lazarus, really, if not a zombie?) and, of course, highly illegal. But since when had any of that stopped anybody? Lucy wasn’t some kind of anarchist—she believed in the need for rules and principles as much as the next civilised person. But it was her dad. What was she supposed to do? It all looked very different when someone you loved was at stake.
Read the rest in The Misbehaving Dead
The Misbehaving Dead from A Murder of Storytellers features a feast of marvellous zombie stories, including my 'The World Doesn't End, Even When it Should', in which zombies are a commodity to be used, rather than a monster to be feared.
The World Doesn't End, Even When it Should - Horror - 2,460 words
Yes, it was morally ambiguous. Potentially blasphemous, depending on your religious affiliation (although what was Lazarus, really, if not a zombie?) and, of course, highly illegal. But since when had any of that stopped anybody? Lucy wasn’t some kind of anarchist—she believed in the need for rules and principles as much as the next civilised person. But it was her dad. What was she supposed to do? It all looked very different when someone you loved was at stake.
Read the rest in The Misbehaving Dead
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Reprint in The Sirens Call Ezine - Behind Glass
Thrilled to be part of this creepy zombie issue with my story 'Behind Glass'!
Behind Glass - Horror - 2,181 words
At lunchtime, after four hours of achieving absolutely nothing, Tom decides to pack it in and go home. It’s the firm’s own fault, anyway. Old McKay makes such a fuss over sick time that everyone always crawls into the office no matter what’s wrong with them. And then, what with the dodgy air con recycling all the germs, everyone else immediately goes down with it.
Today, the place looks like a ghost town. Even McKay himself hasn’t shown up, and if that isn’t a sign of the apocalypse Tom doesn’t know what is.
Read the rest in The Sirens Call issue 36,
Behind Glass - Horror - 2,181 words
At lunchtime, after four hours of achieving absolutely nothing, Tom decides to pack it in and go home. It’s the firm’s own fault, anyway. Old McKay makes such a fuss over sick time that everyone always crawls into the office no matter what’s wrong with them. And then, what with the dodgy air con recycling all the germs, everyone else immediately goes down with it.
Today, the place looks like a ghost town. Even McKay himself hasn’t shown up, and if that isn’t a sign of the apocalypse Tom doesn’t know what is.
Read the rest in The Sirens Call issue 36,
Friday, December 8, 2017
Latest Story News!
Out now
1. Light Winds With a Chance of Velociraptors (Fantasy, 2,592 words) - was published in Metaphorisis Magazine
4. Where There's Magic (Fantasy, 6,980 words) came out in audio at Far Fetched Fables.
5. Failure's Not an Option (Horror, 1,997 words) came out in Bourbon Penn issue 14
6. The World Doesn't End, Even When it Should (Horror, 2,460 words) was reprinted in The Misbehaving Dead from A Murder of Storytellers
Forthcoming
1. Not With a Bang (SF, 1,275 words) will come out in audio at Tales to Terrify
2. Dead Bodies Don't Scream (Horror, 4,032 words) will come out in Tales from the Lake Volume 5, from Crystal Lake Publishing
3. Behind Glass (Horror, 2,127 words) will be reprinted in The Sirens Call eZine.
1. Light Winds With a Chance of Velociraptors (Fantasy, 2,592 words) - was published in Metaphorisis Magazine
2. Never Leave Me (Fantasy, 1,281 words) came out in audio at Far Fetched Fables
3. 15 Things You Should Know Before You Say Yes (SF, 520 words) came out at Daily Science Fiction
3. 15 Things You Should Know Before You Say Yes (SF, 520 words) came out at Daily Science Fiction
4. Where There's Magic (Fantasy, 6,980 words) came out in audio at Far Fetched Fables.
5. Failure's Not an Option (Horror, 1,997 words) came out in Bourbon Penn issue 14
6. The World Doesn't End, Even When it Should (Horror, 2,460 words) was reprinted in The Misbehaving Dead from A Murder of Storytellers
Forthcoming
1. Not With a Bang (SF, 1,275 words) will come out in audio at Tales to Terrify
2. Dead Bodies Don't Scream (Horror, 4,032 words) will come out in Tales from the Lake Volume 5, from Crystal Lake Publishing
3. Behind Glass (Horror, 2,127 words) will be reprinted in The Sirens Call eZine.
Thursday, September 28, 2017
New story at Bourbon Penn - Failure's Not an Option
Very pleased to announce I have a new story out now in the latest issue of the marvellous magazine Bourbon Penn.
'Failure's Not an Option' is probably best described as a dark workplace comedy, and I suspect anyone who's ever been faced with an impossible-to-meet target might feel a tiny twinge of sympathy :)
Failure's Not an Option - Horror/Comedy - 1,997 words
It’s the first of the month and we’re ready to crack on. Our target’s only gone up by five percent, so we’re not panicking. It’s fine. We can do that.
Read the full story at Bourbon Penn
Also available in kindle or print form at Amazon UK / Amazon US
Bourbon Penn's devotion to visionary storytelling continues with issue #14: nonhuman species pursuing questionable agendas provoke two minimum-wage workers into doubting their own humanity … a small town fraught with economic despair, where mothers mysteriously die, drives boyhood pals into an emotional quest for meaning through building their own fortress … a college janitor seeks redemption through confrontation with parallel selves … corporate co-workers take hyper-efficiency into a new brutalism where failure is not an option … a wandering girl and her intended rescuer might've simply run away, or do they wait in cold river mud to reunite with the anguished living? For connoisseurs of the liminal whose appetites exceed the offerings of traditional speculative fiction, follow these explorers of existence into landscapes emotional and mysterious … return with artifacts stranger than love, but hauntingly intimate.
'Failure's Not an Option' is probably best described as a dark workplace comedy, and I suspect anyone who's ever been faced with an impossible-to-meet target might feel a tiny twinge of sympathy :)
Failure's Not an Option - Horror/Comedy - 1,997 words
It’s the first of the month and we’re ready to crack on. Our target’s only gone up by five percent, so we’re not panicking. It’s fine. We can do that.
Read the full story at Bourbon Penn
Also available in kindle or print form at Amazon UK / Amazon US
Bourbon Penn's devotion to visionary storytelling continues with issue #14: nonhuman species pursuing questionable agendas provoke two minimum-wage workers into doubting their own humanity … a small town fraught with economic despair, where mothers mysteriously die, drives boyhood pals into an emotional quest for meaning through building their own fortress … a college janitor seeks redemption through confrontation with parallel selves … corporate co-workers take hyper-efficiency into a new brutalism where failure is not an option … a wandering girl and her intended rescuer might've simply run away, or do they wait in cold river mud to reunite with the anguished living? For connoisseurs of the liminal whose appetites exceed the offerings of traditional speculative fiction, follow these explorers of existence into landscapes emotional and mysterious … return with artifacts stranger than love, but hauntingly intimate.
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
New podcast - Where There's Magic at Far Fetched Fables
Where's There's Magic, my fantasy about sassy witches, doomed lovers, and evil twins (originally published at Kaleidotrope, April 2016) has is now available in audio at Far Fetched Fables,
Magic! Betrayal! Blood-drinking cats! What's not to love? Listen to the story here, narrated by Nikolle Doolin.
Where There's Magic - Fantasy - 6,980 words
The witch had a favourite saying: where there's life, there's magic. There was a second part — where there's magic, there's death — but she usually kept that to herself.
Read the original at Kaleidotrope or listen to the audio at Far Fetched Fables
Magic! Betrayal! Blood-drinking cats! What's not to love? Listen to the story here, narrated by Nikolle Doolin.
Where There's Magic - Fantasy - 6,980 words
The witch had a favourite saying: where there's life, there's magic. There was a second part — where there's magic, there's death — but she usually kept that to herself.
Read the original at Kaleidotrope or listen to the audio at Far Fetched Fables
Saturday, July 15, 2017
New Story at Daily Science Fiction - 15 Things You Should Know Before You Say Yes
My SF story '15 Things You Should Know Before You Say Yes' came out this week at Daily Science Fiction, and is free to read on their website here.
I love list stories because so much is told between the lines — each statement needs to carry a lot of backstory and worldbuilding, which is fun to work out. I also love aftermath stories, where it's not about the big events so much as the 'what do we do now?' that comes when it's all over. Sometimes, in the case of a successful invasion, the answer to that question might have to be 'exactly what we're told.'
15 Things You Should Know Before You Say Yes - SF - 520 words
1. Technically, you don’t have to. The Special Ambassador programme is for people who can embrace the future in a spirit of friendship and harmony, and our Allies do realise not everyone is ready to do that yet. So they’ll understand if you say no, although it will upset them.
2. You don’t want to upset them.
Read the rest at Daily Science Fiction
Sunday, June 18, 2017
New story at Metaphorosis - Light Winds With a Chance of Velociraptors
My comic fantasy Light Winds With a Chance of Velociraptors is free to read in the June issue of Metaphorosis Magazine!
Like Harry in the story, I also once read a piece about the 'what happens after you die is what you believe' theory, and decided it could create a different, and interesting kind of apocalypse. I LOVE end-of-the-world stories, but so often the characters who fix it are soldiers, scientists and superheroes — and they're almost always young, fit and gorgeous. I thought it might also be different, and fun, if this time it was a bunch of irreverent pensioners in an old folks' home who saved the world. Plus, I couldn't resist the idea of killing off someone in a tidal wave of hamsters. I think that might be my favourite fictional death yet.
Light Winds With a Chance of Velociraptors - Fantasy - 2,592 words
‘That’s the worst thing about the end of the world,’ Elsie said, staring mournfully into a teacup that had long ago been licked clean of every last drop of Tetleys and soggy crumb of custard cream. ‘Routines go straight out the window.’
Read the rest of the story at Metaphorosis Magazine now!
Like Harry in the story, I also once read a piece about the 'what happens after you die is what you believe' theory, and decided it could create a different, and interesting kind of apocalypse. I LOVE end-of-the-world stories, but so often the characters who fix it are soldiers, scientists and superheroes — and they're almost always young, fit and gorgeous. I thought it might also be different, and fun, if this time it was a bunch of irreverent pensioners in an old folks' home who saved the world. Plus, I couldn't resist the idea of killing off someone in a tidal wave of hamsters. I think that might be my favourite fictional death yet.
Light Winds With a Chance of Velociraptors - Fantasy - 2,592 words
‘That’s the worst thing about the end of the world,’ Elsie said, staring mournfully into a teacup that had long ago been licked clean of every last drop of Tetleys and soggy crumb of custard cream. ‘Routines go straight out the window.’
Read the rest of the story at Metaphorosis Magazine now!
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Latest Story News!
Out Now:
1. Harmonious Music and the Spawn of the Devil (Crime, 500 words) was published in Crooked Holster: Treachery
2. Responsible Employers Take Care of Their People (Horror, 1,467 words) was published in Dark Moon Digest Issue 26
3. Waiting to Burn (Fantasy, 700 words) was reprinted in Spirit's Tincture Issue #2
4. When I Loved Him, it was Forever (Horror, 388 words) was published in Fifty Flashes from Whortleberry Press
5. The Five Stages of Grief (Superhero Fantasy, 2,172 words) was published in InterGalactic Medicine Show Issue 55
6. For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times (Fantasy, 3,210 words) was reprinted in the March 2017 issue of Strange Constellations.
Forthcoming:
1. Of Course You Think He's a Monster (Horror, 2,241 words) will be published in the Spectral Book of Horror Volume 5, from Tickety Boo Press.
2. Light Winds With a Chance of Velociraptors (Fantasy, 2,592 words) will be published at Metaphorosis
3. 15 Things You Should Know Before You Say Yes (SF, 520 words) will be published at Daily Science Fiction
4. Failure's Not an Option (Horror, 1,992 words) will be published at Bourbon Penn
5. Never Leave Me (Fantasy, 1,281 words) will be podcasted at Far Fetched Fables, 7 Jun 3017
Monday, March 20, 2017
Story at Strange Constellations -
The March issue of Strange Constellations is out now, including a reprint of my story For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times (definitely one of my favourite titles!). You can read it for free here
This is a story about finding God. Not in the usual sense of undergoing a religious conversion, but literally discovering the omnipotent creator of the universe. During a house clearance in Balham.
For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times - Fantasy - 3,215 words
Read the rest of the story at Strange Constellations
This is a story about finding God. Not in the usual sense of undergoing a religious conversion, but literally discovering the omnipotent creator of the universe. During a house clearance in Balham.
For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times - Fantasy - 3,215 words
'God,' Katie said. 'Actual, biblical God.'
'I know. But it's amazing what you can find tucked away in these places, sometimes. And that old lady was one hell of a hoarder. I wouldn't exactly say biblical, though―we're not talking about the old man in the flowing robes and long white beard. It's more of a... well, a...' she trailed off.
'A trickster coyote? A shower of gold? Alanis Morisette?'
'No, no,' Lia said. 'Nothing like that. It's more like... okay, remember my Great Aunt Doris, the one with all the tea cosies? Try to imagine a cross between her, that security guard who arrested us for shoplifting eyebrow pencils out of Superdrug when we were kids, and the Grand Canyon.'
Katie dutifully tried to imagine this. She failed.
Read the rest of the story at Strange Constellations
Monday, February 20, 2017
New story at InterGalactic Medicine Show - The Five Stages of Grief
My superhero fantasy story 'The Five Stages of Grief' is out now in Issue 55 of the InterGalactic Medicine Show!
I've always thought the superhero/nemesis relationship is a fascinating one, and I suspect it would probably be a lot more complex than it's sometimes presented. If you're defined by being the opposite of someone else, who are you when they're gone?
The Five Stages of Grief - Superhero Fantasy, 2,172 words
The news breaks at half past ten in the morning. At first I just snort and dismiss it, because faking her own death is exactly the kind of thing she does all the time.
Published in InterGalactic Medicine Show Issue 55, Feb 2017
I've always thought the superhero/nemesis relationship is a fascinating one, and I suspect it would probably be a lot more complex than it's sometimes presented. If you're defined by being the opposite of someone else, who are you when they're gone?
The Five Stages of Grief - Superhero Fantasy, 2,172 words
The news breaks at half past ten in the morning. At first I just snort and dismiss it, because faking her own death is exactly the kind of thing she does all the time.
Published in InterGalactic Medicine Show Issue 55, Feb 2017
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
New story in Dark Moon Digest - Responsible Employers Take Care of Their People
My workplace-horror story 'Responsible Employers Take Care of Their People' is out now in Dark Moon Digest issue 26 from Perpetual Motion Machine!
I love horror set in mundane, everyday scenarios, with characters who take it all very much in their stride. Dr Harper, in this story, is a classic example -- someone for whom it is, literally, just part of the job...
Responsible Employers Take Care of Their People - 1,467 words - horror
‘I’m Dr Harper,’ she says, holding out her hand and offering him a professional smile. He ignores both and spits on the office floor, missing her shoe by an inch. Good start.
Read the rest of the story in Dark Moon Digest Issue 26 at Amazon US or Amazon UK
Responsible Employers Take Care of Their People - 1,467 words - horror
‘I’m Dr Harper,’ she says, holding out her hand and offering him a professional smile. He ignores both and spits on the office floor, missing her shoe by an inch. Good start.
Read the rest of the story in Dark Moon Digest Issue 26 at Amazon US or Amazon UK
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Latest Story News
Out Now:
1. Good, Fine, No (Horror, 2,308 words) was published at Solarcide
2. Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings (Horror, 3,798 words) was reprinted in the anthology Murder Mayhem from Flame Tree Publishing.
3. Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly (Fantasy, 878 words) was published online at Outlook Springs
4. Smash and Grab (SF, 3,037 words) was reprinted in 9 Tales from Elsewhere, Vol 9 from Bride of Chaos
5. The Visiphorical Art (Fantasy, 917 words) was reprinted in the Hestia volume of Pantheon Magazine
6. We're All Friends Here (Science Fiction, 4,385 words) was published at The Sockdolager
7. Fast as Lightning, Still as Stone (Horror, 1,860 words) was published at Unsung Stories
8. Sweetie (Horror, 1,669 words) was reprinted in Onyx Neon Shorts Horror Collection 2016
9. No Past, No Future, Just Now (SF, 1,664 words) was reprinted in Morpheus Tales: The Best Weird Fiction Vol 6
Forthcoming:
1. Garden of Fog and Monsters (SF, 2,089 words) will be reprinted in the anthology First Contact from Indie Authors Press
2. The Five Stages of Grief (Fantasy, 2,172 words) will be published in Intergalactic Medicine Show, 2017
3. Supply, Demand and Armageddon (Science Fiction, 2,828 words) will be published in Secrets of the Goat People, 2017
4. Harmonious Music and the Spawn of the Devil (crime, 488 words) will be published in Crooked Holster: an Anthology of Crime Writing, Dec 2016
1. Good, Fine, No (Horror, 2,308 words) was published at Solarcide
2. Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings (Horror, 3,798 words) was reprinted in the anthology Murder Mayhem from Flame Tree Publishing.
3. Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly (Fantasy, 878 words) was published online at Outlook Springs
4. Smash and Grab (SF, 3,037 words) was reprinted in 9 Tales from Elsewhere, Vol 9 from Bride of Chaos
5. The Visiphorical Art (Fantasy, 917 words) was reprinted in the Hestia volume of Pantheon Magazine
6. We're All Friends Here (Science Fiction, 4,385 words) was published at The Sockdolager
7. Fast as Lightning, Still as Stone (Horror, 1,860 words) was published at Unsung Stories
8. Sweetie (Horror, 1,669 words) was reprinted in Onyx Neon Shorts Horror Collection 2016
9. No Past, No Future, Just Now (SF, 1,664 words) was reprinted in Morpheus Tales: The Best Weird Fiction Vol 6
Forthcoming:
1. Garden of Fog and Monsters (SF, 2,089 words) will be reprinted in the anthology First Contact from Indie Authors Press
2. The Five Stages of Grief (Fantasy, 2,172 words) will be published in Intergalactic Medicine Show, 2017
3. Supply, Demand and Armageddon (Science Fiction, 2,828 words) will be published in Secrets of the Goat People, 2017
4. Harmonious Music and the Spawn of the Devil (crime, 488 words) will be published in Crooked Holster: an Anthology of Crime Writing, Dec 2016
Monday, November 7, 2016
New Reprints
My pre-apocalypse story 'No Past, No Future, Just Now' has been reprinted in Morpheus Tales: The Best Weird Fiction Vol 6. This story came from thinking about what type of person survives the end of the world. When there's a specific enemy—zombies, invasions—that’s going to be people good at fighting. With a plague, it’ll likely be the fit and healthy. But what if it’s something else?
No Past, No Future, Just Now - SF - 1,660 words
Have to take it easy, no rushing around. Hip’s been playing me up again lately, and I can’t afford a fall. If I go down, will I be able to get back up again? Best not to find out. I can’t rely on Henry coming to help me, not any more.
Read the story in Morpheus Tales: The Best Weird Fiction Vol 6
Also, my short horror 'Sweetie' has been reprinted in Onyx Neon Shorts Horror Collection 2016
This is the only story that’s ever come to me, almost fully-formed, in a dream: the travelling show, the terrified man with the tarantula on his palm, and the audience yelling ‘There’s nothing to be scared of, it’s just a spider.’That’s something you get told a lot, if you’re even slightly arachnophobic. And common sense says it’s true (unless you’re talking about the kind of fanged, venomous monsters they have in Australia, and I try very hard not to talk—or even think—about those). But I once held a tarantula during a visit to a wonderful (and, as far as I know, demon-free) bug zoo in Canada, and I know how easily the common sense of ‘It’s just a spider’ can get drowned out by the deeper, darker voice that starts whispering, ‘But what if it’s not?’
Sweetie - Horror - 1,669 words
Admittedly, my little travelling show isn’t what it once was. We’ve been on the road for a long, long time. But I like to think that for the discerning customer, we still provide value for money. An experience you can’t get from the computer screen—the modern freakshow—despite all its tricks and special effects.
Read the story in Onyx Neon Shorts Horror Collection 2016
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
New story at Unsung Shorts - Fast as Lightning, Still as Stone
My creepy urban horror 'Fast as Lightning, Still as Stone' was published by the very fine folks at Unsung Stories this week, and is free to read on their site here.
There's a quote by Stephen King in Danse Macabre, talking about the nature of horror, that's stayed with me for years: 'Nothing is so frightening as what's behind a closed door.' That idea, combined with my own indecisive tendency to overthink and 'what if' things to a borderline-neurotic level, produced this story.
Fast as Lightning, Still as Stone - Horror - 1,860 words
She's been waiting for this knock for half the night, but it still makes her jump. Adrenalin hits her like a well-aimed punch in the gut, robbing her of breath for a long and painful moment.
Read the full story online at Unsung Stories
There's a quote by Stephen King in Danse Macabre, talking about the nature of horror, that's stayed with me for years: 'Nothing is so frightening as what's behind a closed door.' That idea, combined with my own indecisive tendency to overthink and 'what if' things to a borderline-neurotic level, produced this story.
Fast as Lightning, Still as Stone - Horror - 1,860 words
She's been waiting for this knock for half the night, but it still makes her jump. Adrenalin hits her like a well-aimed punch in the gut, robbing her of breath for a long and painful moment.
Read the full story online at Unsung Stories
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
New story at The Sockdolager - We're All Friends Here
I have a new story out in the latest issue of the fabulous Sockdolager Magazine: We're All Friends Here (SF, 4,385 words)
I love 'where do we go from here?' stories -- ones that focus on what life is like when the Big Event, whatever it happened to be, is over and the dust has settled. How are things different, and how do people deal with it? 'We're All Friends Here' is set in a post-alien-invasion world I've written about before, one that was strongly influenced by a story that has haunted me for DECADES -- the tale of the Warren of the Snares in Richard Adams's Watership Down, where most of the rabbits are fed and protected by the local farmer, in return for a couple being turned into rabbit stew every now and then.
Is that a good deal? It's kind of sensible and utterly horrific at the same time, so I've never been able to settle on an answer. For the rabbits themselves, some say no, and some go insane trying to avoid asking the question at all -- but the majority say yes, it's worth it. They follow the rules, and learn to live with it. And they tell themselves the farmer is their friend.
Read the full story for free in Issue 7 of The Sockdolager, and make up your own mind...
We're All Friends Here - SF - 4,385 words
In the old book our film's based on, Kip has a different reaction: he becomes more determined than ever to go out swinging, and the story ends with him getting killed during a huge shootout with the police in a third act packed with gunfire and explosions. Violent nihilism was popular in the twenty-first century.
Also available for Kindle or print
I love 'where do we go from here?' stories -- ones that focus on what life is like when the Big Event, whatever it happened to be, is over and the dust has settled. How are things different, and how do people deal with it? 'We're All Friends Here' is set in a post-alien-invasion world I've written about before, one that was strongly influenced by a story that has haunted me for DECADES -- the tale of the Warren of the Snares in Richard Adams's Watership Down, where most of the rabbits are fed and protected by the local farmer, in return for a couple being turned into rabbit stew every now and then.
Is that a good deal? It's kind of sensible and utterly horrific at the same time, so I've never been able to settle on an answer. For the rabbits themselves, some say no, and some go insane trying to avoid asking the question at all -- but the majority say yes, it's worth it. They follow the rules, and learn to live with it. And they tell themselves the farmer is their friend.
Read the full story for free in Issue 7 of The Sockdolager, and make up your own mind...
We're All Friends Here - SF - 4,385 words
In the old book our film's based on, Kip has a different reaction: he becomes more determined than ever to go out swinging, and the story ends with him getting killed during a huge shootout with the police in a third act packed with gunfire and explosions. Violent nihilism was popular in the twenty-first century.
Also available for Kindle or print
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Reprint publication -- The Visiphorical Art in Hestia
My 917 word fantasy short 'The Visiphorical Art' has been reprinted in the Hestia volume of Pantheon Magazine, available now from Amazon
This story came to life after I read a story about ghosts, then one about bombs, and the two ideas immediately combined to produce the image of someone creeping around their house, wary of setting off a bunch of dormant ghosts. I love stories that you might call ‘domestic supernatural’—embracing the weird as a part of everyday life. Marcy, who treats her situation as simply the normal way of things, is a great example. I also agree with Cathillion that creating new words is a glorious thing. Visiphorical is one of my favourites.
The Visiphorical Art - Fantasy - 917 words
Marcy isn’t one of the unwary, the clueless. She’s careful. She’s a bomb-disposal expert. She picks her way through the booby-traps of memories and the tripping hazards of lost opportunities with skill and delicate flair. She’s intangible, untouchable, an interloper in the territory of the dead. A ghost among ghosts.
Read the rest in Hestia from Pantheon Magazine
This story came to life after I read a story about ghosts, then one about bombs, and the two ideas immediately combined to produce the image of someone creeping around their house, wary of setting off a bunch of dormant ghosts. I love stories that you might call ‘domestic supernatural’—embracing the weird as a part of everyday life. Marcy, who treats her situation as simply the normal way of things, is a great example. I also agree with Cathillion that creating new words is a glorious thing. Visiphorical is one of my favourites.
The Visiphorical Art - Fantasy - 917 words
Marcy isn’t one of the unwary, the clueless. She’s careful. She’s a bomb-disposal expert. She picks her way through the booby-traps of memories and the tripping hazards of lost opportunities with skill and delicate flair. She’s intangible, untouchable, an interloper in the territory of the dead. A ghost among ghosts.
Read the rest in Hestia from Pantheon Magazine
Monday, September 19, 2016
New story online - Sometime You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly - Outlook Springs
My fantasy flash 'Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly,' published in Outlook Springs issue 1, is now available to read online -- along with some fabulous other stories and poems (I loved 'Mephistopheles Never Said he Told the Truth by Chloe Clark)
On Monday evening, my sister got decapitated by a tube on the Northern Line at King’s Cross. We’d heard a story about that happening to some poor unfortunate a few years ago; apparently, the head rolled around the tunnel, shot through the open window, and ended up on the driver’s lap. It was exactly the kind of flourish that appealed to Viola, but I think it might have been a bit of an urban legend. As far as I could tell, her head was more or less vaporised on impact.
Read the rest of the story at the Outlook Springs website now!
On Monday evening, my sister got decapitated by a tube on the Northern Line at King’s Cross. We’d heard a story about that happening to some poor unfortunate a few years ago; apparently, the head rolled around the tunnel, shot through the open window, and ended up on the driver’s lap. It was exactly the kind of flourish that appealed to Viola, but I think it might have been a bit of an urban legend. As far as I could tell, her head was more or less vaporised on impact.
Read the rest of the story at the Outlook Springs website now!
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
New anthology - Murder Mayhem from Flame Tree Publishing
My 3,798 word crime/horror story 'Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings' has been reprinted in a wonderful anthology, Murder Mayhem, from Flame Tree Publishing -- available from their site here or from Amazon
I always think there’s great fun to be had with characters who think they’re the Big Bad, only to run into someone worse. This story a kind of horror take on Groundhog Day, without the possibility of the escape-through-self-improvement ending. I think it's no wonder my villain here has gone homicidally insane, but at least she kept her sense of humour. I think you have to admire that.
Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings - 3,708 words
On the floor, Jimmy groans. He’s pulled into a foetal position so Dom can’t tell the full extent of the damage, but his clothes are soaked in just about every bodily fluid there is. At first guess, Dom would say the kid’s lost his teeth, his fingernails, his bollocks and at least a couple of internal organs. ‘Fuck,’ he says, and pinches his nostrils shut. The whole place is going to have to be hosed down.
Read the story in Murder Mayhem: Hardback Deluxe edition, printed on silver, matt laminated, gold and silver foil stamped, embossed.: 280,000 words, 480 pages, 25 illustrations
I always think there’s great fun to be had with characters who think they’re the Big Bad, only to run into someone worse. This story a kind of horror take on Groundhog Day, without the possibility of the escape-through-self-improvement ending. I think it's no wonder my villain here has gone homicidally insane, but at least she kept her sense of humour. I think you have to admire that.
Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings - 3,708 words
On the floor, Jimmy groans. He’s pulled into a foetal position so Dom can’t tell the full extent of the damage, but his clothes are soaked in just about every bodily fluid there is. At first guess, Dom would say the kid’s lost his teeth, his fingernails, his bollocks and at least a couple of internal organs. ‘Fuck,’ he says, and pinches his nostrils shut. The whole place is going to have to be hosed down.
Read the story in Murder Mayhem: Hardback Deluxe edition, printed on silver, matt laminated, gold and silver foil stamped, embossed.: 280,000 words, 480 pages, 25 illustrations
Thursday, September 1, 2016
New story at Solarcide - Good, Fine, No
I have a new horror story, Good, Fine, No out now at Solarcide. I absolutely love the way they've used little illustrations to break up the sections instead of the usual blank line or asterisks -- it looks great, and goes so well with the text. I think my favourite is the blood-drenched Barbie doll, but it's not easy to choose :)
Good, Fine, No - Horror - 2,308 words
When it’s over — which is a ridiculous thing to say, she knows, because it’s never going to be over — Gina runs. She shaves her head, changes her name and tries to disappear into the anonymous concrete rat runs of a dozen different cities. Tries to forget any of it ever happened. She doesn’t succeed on either count.
Read the rest at Solarcide
Good, Fine, No - Horror - 2,308 words
When it’s over — which is a ridiculous thing to say, she knows, because it’s never going to be over — Gina runs. She shaves her head, changes her name and tries to disappear into the anonymous concrete rat runs of a dozen different cities. Tries to forget any of it ever happened. She doesn’t succeed on either count.
Read the rest at Solarcide
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Latest Story News!
OUT NOW
The latest round-up...
1. Where There's Magic (Fantasy - 6,980 words) - came out at Kaleidotrope
2. Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly (Fantasy - 878 words) came out in Issue 1 of Outlook Springs
3. Best Friends Forever (SF - 790 words) came out at Daily Science Fiction
4. My Sister, the Fairy Princess (Horror - 1,700 words) came out in Black Static Issue 52
5. I Am Not Your Doppelgänger (Fantasy 497 words) came out at The Flash Fiction Press
6. A Partial Inventory of Things I Have Loved (Fantasy - 973 words) came out at Flash Fiction Online
7. Wrong Word (SF - 817 words) was podcasted at Manwaker Studio
8. There You Are, My Love (Supernatural - 1,000 words) was podcasted at Manawaker Studio
9. Free to Loving Home (Donation Required) (SF - 729 words) was podcasted at Manawaker Studio
10. God State (SF - 1,400 words) came out at Daily Science Fiction
11. Legion (Horror - 1,667 words) was reprinted in Abstract Jam Issue 4
FORTHCOMING
1. Good, Fine, No (Horror - 2,308 words) will be published at Solarcide, 2016
2. The Shining Wire (SF - 4,406 words) will be published at The Sockdolager, 2016
3. Smash and Grab (SF - 3,037 words) will be reprinted in 9 Tales from Elsewhere, September 2016
4. Waiting to Burn (Fantasy - 700 words) will be reprinted in Spirit's Tincture, Nov 2016
5. Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings (Horror - 3,798 words) will be reprinted in Murder Mayhem from Flame Tree Publishing
6. For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times (Fantasy - 3,210 words) will be reprinted at Strange Constellations, March 2017
The latest round-up...
1. Where There's Magic (Fantasy - 6,980 words) - came out at Kaleidotrope
2. Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly (Fantasy - 878 words) came out in Issue 1 of Outlook Springs
3. Best Friends Forever (SF - 790 words) came out at Daily Science Fiction
4. My Sister, the Fairy Princess (Horror - 1,700 words) came out in Black Static Issue 52
5. I Am Not Your Doppelgänger (Fantasy 497 words) came out at The Flash Fiction Press
6. A Partial Inventory of Things I Have Loved (Fantasy - 973 words) came out at Flash Fiction Online
7. Wrong Word (SF - 817 words) was podcasted at Manwaker Studio
8. There You Are, My Love (Supernatural - 1,000 words) was podcasted at Manawaker Studio
9. Free to Loving Home (Donation Required) (SF - 729 words) was podcasted at Manawaker Studio
10. God State (SF - 1,400 words) came out at Daily Science Fiction
11. Legion (Horror - 1,667 words) was reprinted in Abstract Jam Issue 4
FORTHCOMING
1. Good, Fine, No (Horror - 2,308 words) will be published at Solarcide, 2016
2. The Shining Wire (SF - 4,406 words) will be published at The Sockdolager, 2016
3. Smash and Grab (SF - 3,037 words) will be reprinted in 9 Tales from Elsewhere, September 2016
4. Waiting to Burn (Fantasy - 700 words) will be reprinted in Spirit's Tincture, Nov 2016
5. Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings (Horror - 3,798 words) will be reprinted in Murder Mayhem from Flame Tree Publishing
6. For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times (Fantasy - 3,210 words) will be reprinted at Strange Constellations, March 2017
Monday, August 22, 2016
New story at DSF - God State
When you get to a certain age, conversations with your mates often turn into a nostalgia-fest about The Good Old Days — although it's usually debatable whether this idealised, romanticised past was better than the present at all. I tried to explore some of the ambiguity in this story — which is better here, the past or the present? I think it's still debatable.
God State - SF - 1400 words
On the way out of the gig, I stop at the merchandise stall to get a t-shirt. I find one in my size and pull out my wallet, then hesitate. It looks good quality, but the colour — almost exactly the same blue as a scanner booth — puts me off. I read somewhere that they call that shade 'Spectral Indigo,' and ever since then it's given me a slight case of the creeps.
Read the rest at Daily Science Fiction
Friday, August 5, 2016
New Audio Story - Free to Loving Home at Manawker Studio
My SF flash piece, 'Free to Loving Home (Donation Required)', which was first published in the anthology You, Me, and a Bit of We by Chuffed Buff Books in October 2013, has been podcasted at Manawaker Studio.
The story was inspired by a news report on rescue centres for dogs, which made me wonder how that might work for humans. (The Hugh Everett Rehoming Centre, incidentally, is named for the American physicist who first came up with the Many Worlds theory of quantum physics). What if, when you lost a loved one, you could get a ‘rescued’ version? I started with the idea that it would be literally ‘free to a loving home’ but I couldn’t help thinking that such a place, even if it started out altruistically, would at some point be turned towards making a profit—and the rather cynical ‘donation required’ aspect began to take over.
Manawaker Studio have done a great recording -- the narrator has done a really good job of capturing the rather smarmy auctioneer's tone of this story -- the kind of 'I know this is illegal and horrible, but aren't we all having fun?' vibe. Listen to it here
The story was inspired by a news report on rescue centres for dogs, which made me wonder how that might work for humans. (The Hugh Everett Rehoming Centre, incidentally, is named for the American physicist who first came up with the Many Worlds theory of quantum physics). What if, when you lost a loved one, you could get a ‘rescued’ version? I started with the idea that it would be literally ‘free to a loving home’ but I couldn’t help thinking that such a place, even if it started out altruistically, would at some point be turned towards making a profit—and the rather cynical ‘donation required’ aspect began to take over.
Manawaker Studio have done a great recording -- the narrator has done a really good job of capturing the rather smarmy auctioneer's tone of this story -- the kind of 'I know this is illegal and horrible, but aren't we all having fun?' vibe. Listen to it here
Friday, July 1, 2016
New podcast - There You Are, My Love at Manawaker Studio
My flash piece 'There You Are, My Love', originally published at Every Day Fiction in January 2012, has been podcasted at Manawaker Studio today!
I think the core of this story is that everybody copes in their own way, and that’s okay. I don’t really know where I stand on the issue of clairvoyance: I don’t think it’s necessarily impossible, but Sheila’s and Ros’s dialogue comes almost verbatim from a real-life demonstration I once attended, and it’s hard to argue with what Ros says. Maybe, in the end, whether it’s objectively ‘real’ or ‘fake’ doesn’t matter. Maybe, like the reader of a story, the audience gets to choose what they take from it.
Listen to the story here
I think the core of this story is that everybody copes in their own way, and that’s okay. I don’t really know where I stand on the issue of clairvoyance: I don’t think it’s necessarily impossible, but Sheila’s and Ros’s dialogue comes almost verbatim from a real-life demonstration I once attended, and it’s hard to argue with what Ros says. Maybe, in the end, whether it’s objectively ‘real’ or ‘fake’ doesn’t matter. Maybe, like the reader of a story, the audience gets to choose what they take from it.
Listen to the story here
Monday, June 6, 2016
New stories
A few new publications out now:
A Partial Inventory of Things I Have Loved - Fantasy 973 words - at Flash Fiction Online
I take off my gloves and fold them in my lap. ‘Octavia McNeill. We spoke on the phone this morning. I’m here for emotional redirection.’
This is the second story to feature mercenary empath Johnny Kellard, who first appeared in Smash and Grab, published in Kzine Issue 13, Sep 2015. The latest story, a murder mystery featuring his daughter Alexa, is currently in progress.
Wrong Word - SF - 817 words - podcasted at Manawaker Studio
Jana found the body—stumbled across it, literally—on the beach, sticking out of the grey sand like a sculpture. Or an art installation, like the ones they used to have in the streets and parks back when this was still part of civilisation. Something commemorative, or symbolic, or just beautiful.
This is a podcast of a story first published in Daily Science Fiction in January 2015 and is part of a another shared world -- Wrong Word is the second in a loose triptych about a post-alien-invasion society that started with Jump, and I'll Catch You (Daily Science Fiction in July 2014) and will finish with The Shining Wire, forthcoming at The Sockdolager.
I Am Not Your Doppelgänger - Fantasy - 497 words - at The Flash Fiction Press
We're not that different, really, he and I; it's all shapeshifting of a sort.
This is a short piece that came about because I'd happened to read one too many predatory-men-on-the-pull stories :)
Read/listen to the stories in full at Flash Fiction Online, Manawaker Studio, and The Flash Fiction Press
A Partial Inventory of Things I Have Loved - Fantasy 973 words - at Flash Fiction Online
I take off my gloves and fold them in my lap. ‘Octavia McNeill. We spoke on the phone this morning. I’m here for emotional redirection.’
This is the second story to feature mercenary empath Johnny Kellard, who first appeared in Smash and Grab, published in Kzine Issue 13, Sep 2015. The latest story, a murder mystery featuring his daughter Alexa, is currently in progress.
Wrong Word - SF - 817 words - podcasted at Manawaker Studio
Jana found the body—stumbled across it, literally—on the beach, sticking out of the grey sand like a sculpture. Or an art installation, like the ones they used to have in the streets and parks back when this was still part of civilisation. Something commemorative, or symbolic, or just beautiful.
This is a podcast of a story first published in Daily Science Fiction in January 2015 and is part of a another shared world -- Wrong Word is the second in a loose triptych about a post-alien-invasion society that started with Jump, and I'll Catch You (Daily Science Fiction in July 2014) and will finish with The Shining Wire, forthcoming at The Sockdolager.
I Am Not Your Doppelgänger - Fantasy - 497 words - at The Flash Fiction Press
We're not that different, really, he and I; it's all shapeshifting of a sort.
This is a short piece that came about because I'd happened to read one too many predatory-men-on-the-pull stories :)
Read/listen to the stories in full at Flash Fiction Online, Manawaker Studio, and The Flash Fiction Press
Friday, May 20, 2016
New story in Black Static - My Sister, the Fairy Princess
Black Static is the sister magazine to Interzone, and I'm thrilled to have a story, 'My Sister, the Fairy Princess' in Issue 52.
I leave my rental out front, next to Mom’s old pickup. I don’t bother locking it, since the plan is to do this fast: get in, get it done, get away. I’m sure the house and whatever money Mom had will be going to Daisy, so it should be easy — sign any paperwork, maybe pick up some random piece of jewelry as a memento, and shoot back to the hotel. Then, after I’ve shown my face at the funeral, I can get back to forgetting this place exists.
Daisy’s sitting on the tyre swing at the side of the house, gripping the rusted chains and leaning back so far her body is almost horizontal. Her long dark hair hangs down to the ground, the ends brushing through the sandy-colored soil.
Out here, everything turns the color of sand in the end — a reminder that this land is still desert at heart, no matter how much people try to change it with irrigation systems and imported plants. Inch by inch and year by year, it reverts to its true nature. Maybe we all do.
Read the rest in Black Static Issue 52, from TTA Press, available now...
I leave my rental out front, next to Mom’s old pickup. I don’t bother locking it, since the plan is to do this fast: get in, get it done, get away. I’m sure the house and whatever money Mom had will be going to Daisy, so it should be easy — sign any paperwork, maybe pick up some random piece of jewelry as a memento, and shoot back to the hotel. Then, after I’ve shown my face at the funeral, I can get back to forgetting this place exists.
Daisy’s sitting on the tyre swing at the side of the house, gripping the rusted chains and leaning back so far her body is almost horizontal. Her long dark hair hangs down to the ground, the ends brushing through the sandy-colored soil.
Out here, everything turns the color of sand in the end — a reminder that this land is still desert at heart, no matter how much people try to change it with irrigation systems and imported plants. Inch by inch and year by year, it reverts to its true nature. Maybe we all do.
Read the rest in Black Static Issue 52, from TTA Press, available now...
Monday, May 9, 2016
New Story at Daily Science Fiction
My little philosophical robot story, Best Friends Forever, is free to read now at Daily Science Fiction!
Best Friends Forever - SF - 790 words
Suelita and I are friends. This is a fact. She tells me so, and I agree with her. Suelita's mother is called Ana.
'That's nice, dear,' Ana says, when Suelita tells her we are friends. 'And I got arrested for murder, and the house is on fire,' Suelita continues.
Ana carries on tapping at her phone and says, 'Mm-hmm. That's nice, dear.'
I am also supposed to agree with Ana, but it is sometimes difficult. Those things, were they to have happened, would not be nice.
Read the rest at Daily Science Fiction now...
Best Friends Forever - SF - 790 words
Suelita and I are friends. This is a fact. She tells me so, and I agree with her. Suelita's mother is called Ana.
'That's nice, dear,' Ana says, when Suelita tells her we are friends. 'And I got arrested for murder, and the house is on fire,' Suelita continues.
Ana carries on tapping at her phone and says, 'Mm-hmm. That's nice, dear.'
I am also supposed to agree with Ana, but it is sometimes difficult. Those things, were they to have happened, would not be nice.
Read the rest at Daily Science Fiction now...
Friday, April 22, 2016
New Story in Outlook Springs - Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly
I have a new flash, 'Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly' out in the first issue of Outlook Springs -- which looks FABULOUS, and I can't wait to read it!
Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly - Fantasy - 878 words
I took to crossing the road without looking, since I’ve always wanted to get run over by a bus. There’s a sort of poetic amusement in it, especially if you say something like ‘I don’t see the point of worrying about cholesterol, you could get run over by a bus tomorrow’ just beforehand. Instant irony bonus.)
Read the rest in Issue 1 of Outlook Springs (and get a cool t-shirt while you're there!)
Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly - Fantasy - 878 words
I took to crossing the road without looking, since I’ve always wanted to get run over by a bus. There’s a sort of poetic amusement in it, especially if you say something like ‘I don’t see the point of worrying about cholesterol, you could get run over by a bus tomorrow’ just beforehand. Instant irony bonus.)
Read the rest in Issue 1 of Outlook Springs (and get a cool t-shirt while you're there!)
Sunday, April 3, 2016
New story at Kaleidotrope: Where There's Magic
The latest issue of Kaleidotrope is out now, including my fantasy story 'Where There's Magic' -- Witches! Doomed lovers! Evil twins!
Where There's Magic - Secondary fantasy -- 6,980 words
The witch had a favourite saying: where there's life, there's magic. There was a second part--where there's magic, there's death--but she usually kept that to herself.
Read the rest at Kaleidotrope
Where There's Magic - Secondary fantasy -- 6,980 words
The witch had a favourite saying: where there's life, there's magic. There was a second part--where there's magic, there's death--but she usually kept that to herself.
Read the rest at Kaleidotrope
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