At murky depths

I just found out that my flash, Nosing with the Four-Stroke Kid, will appear in Issue #8 of Murky Depths, to be in print the first week in May.

Murky Depths is a quarterly comic-book-sized anthology, published in Britain; it features speculative fiction with sprinklings of horror and fantasy.

Nosing with the Four-Stroke Kid is a quirky tale of dirt bikes and diesel engines and a mysterious woman in black leather biker gear; Irish artist Neil Struthers is slated to do the accompanying illustration.

I am chuffed!

Upon the doorsteps

My flash fiction, Upon the Doorsteps, was the featured story at Every Day Fiction on January 22; the results were mixed.

EDF allows readers to comment on stories and Upon the Doorsteps received a number of very positive remarks. Poignant was one of the words that popped up a lot.

On the other hand, EDF also allows readers to vote on each story, based upon a five-star system. My story got a fair number of high marks but there were a significant number of low marks, too.

It’s standing at 3.9 right now. If you would like to read it, and add your comments and/or vote, it’s at Upon the Doorsteps. If you do, stop reading right now and go read it, because there’s a spoiler coming.

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Okay. What was more disappointing than the votes, to me, was that no one seemed to understand the nature of the story. They didn’t get it.

The story is simple; a mother and her daughter meet once a year, on the daughter’s birthday, on the steps of the church where the mother abandoned the new-born child twenty-two years ago.

The daughter is waiting, bundled in a blanket, when the mother arrives. They talk and the mother asks for forgiveness. The daughter refuses and the mother departs, leaving the daughter upon the church steps once again.

What people didn’t get is that it is a ghost story. I though a laid a trail of clues; maybe I was too subtle or maybe I just didn’t do a good enough job telling the story.

Bummer.

In vancouver

I drove to Vancouver this past Saturday to participate in a book launch party; my first as an author.

It was for The Best of Every Day Fiction 2008. The anthology, from the folks at Every Day Fiction, features one hundred of the stories published daily at EDF from September 1, 2007, through August 31, 2008.

If you would like to order a copy, here’s the link.

My fiction, Hair of the Dog, was the featured story August 25, 2008. It’s a shaggy dog joke. If it were a Monty Python sketch, Eric Idle would be waggling his eyebrows, doing some elbow-poking and spouting, “Know what I mean? Know what I mean?”

The launch was an enormous success and so much fun.

Including me, six of the one hundred authors (who are scattered across Canada and the United States, as well as sundry other spots around the world) were on hand. We all read from our stories in the book, answered questions and provided autographs for any and all.

We expect our friends and family to tell us what great writers we are; when a stranger tells you that, it is such an ego boost.

At every day fiction

My flash fiction, Upon the Doorsteps, is the featured story today at Every Day Fiction.  It’s my sixth piece to appear there.  Check it out, if you have the time.

At every day poets

My poem, The Alchemist’s Chant, is the featured piece at Every Day Poets today. Stop by and check it out, if you get a chance.

Have your old high school or college chemistry textbook handy if you do, though. And don’t read the chant aloud unless you have your doctorate in thaumaturgy.