Category: "shortstories"
A Nice Short Conversation
I am very happy to tell you all that my story, "A Nice Short Conversation," is out now in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine's, Issue #26. It's been over a year since my last story appeared in Pulphouse and...
Pulphouse Fiction Magazine Kickstarter, 2023
After a brief hiatus, Pulphouse Fiction Magazine is back! And it's going monthly! To quote part of my bio, I am "a regular contributor to Pulphouse Fiction Magazine." What that means quantitively is...
A Grave Kind of Love (reprint)
Just in time for Christmas, my story, "A Grave Kind of Love," is out in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, Issue #21! This story, which originally came out in 2019 as part of The WMG Holiday Spectacular, is...
The Tombstone Barber
"The Tombstone Barber" is just out in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine's, Issue #19 This story has a history. I don't think I'll go into details, but for a while it seemed like this story about a cursed...
Pulphouse Fiction Magazine Kickstarter
If you've been reading along, you've surely noticed I have a lot of stories coming out in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine. I'm at about twelve with more coming, which is the reason my bio now says that I'm...
Gossamer Ghosts
I'm trying to figure out a simple and clear way to categorize this new story, but it's not easily done. Let me try. "Gossamer Ghosts" is: Set during and after an apocalypseAn alien invasion story (but...
The Root Canal Tango
"The Root Canal Tango" is an interesting story title, isn't it? How in the world do those two things go together? On the one hand you have something universally dreaded and on the other you have a...
Emily Loves Christmas, Emily Loves Murder
Who would like nothing better than to read a Christmas Day murder mystery investigated by two ghost detectives? One that involves something very unexpected under the Christmas Tree? Well, if your like...
Harry the Ghost Pirate
My story "Harry the Ghost Pirate" sets sail again, this time in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, Issue #14! This is a story about some ghosts that are looking for the Lost Dutchman Mine in the Superstition...
The Pearce Shootout
Okay, I'm really excited about this one! My story, "The Pearce Shootout," is just out in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, Issue #13. I finished this story a few years ago and have just been waiting for it...
Death by Vodka
After last issue's "Death by Cookie", Pulphouse Fiction Magazine is back with another story in the same vein with "Death by Vodka" appearing in issue #12. In case you missed the last one, my "Death...
The Room of Possibilities
Welcome to Cave Creek, Nevada, a small town about an hour from Las Vegas where all kinds of strange things happen. Cave Creek, created by best selling author Dean Wesley Smith is a place "Where the...
My Moment of Weird
Welcome to Cave Creek, Nevada, a small town about an hour from Las Vegas where all kinds of strange things happen. Cave Creek, created by best selling author Dean Wesley Smith is a place "Where the...
Death by Cookie
"Death by Cookie" marks the return of JJ Lynch. If you've read my A Ghost's Memoir series, this is good news. This may only be JJ in a supporting role and it may only be a short story, but it's been a...
The Artist, the Engineer, and the Sleeping Dog
Today my short story "The Artist, the Engineer, and the Sleeping Dog" came out in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, Issue #10. This is my first story to hit in a magazine or anthology for 2021 and is a...
Some Holiday Cheer (just a wee bit early)
I don't know if you noticed, but this last week or so the sweet holiday movies started hitting our lists of things to stream. And while late October may seem a little early, that doesn't feel as true...
Breathing in the Stars
Back in 2017 when I was doing my Short Story Marathon, stars kept coming up thematically. Or, more specifically, that feeling I get when I look up at the Milk Way on a cold clear night. Over and over...
Creatures Featured
Creatures Featured Starting in 2016, I've been releasing a short story collection every other year. I haven't exactly been planing it, it's just turned out that way. 2020 starts with a collection of...
With Light Years Between Us
Excuse me for a moment while I go all sci-fi on you. Only for a moment, I promise. If you hop on a space ship and travel fast, I mean really fast, as in approaching light speed, you will experience...
A Grave Kind of Love, Part 2
I am very lucky to be part of WMG's Holiday Spectacular 2019. This is a story-a-day subscription for the holiday season. Romantic stories, suspenseful stories, and stories that celebrate all kinds of...
A Grave Kind of Love
Want to read my holiday-themed love story about two ghosts? "A Grave Kind of Love" is part of this amazing Kickstarter called The WMG Holiday Spectacular. 35 holiday themed stories, one each for 35...
Dog People
My story "Dog People" is out in Snot-Nosed Aliens: Stories from Pulphouse Fiction Magazine. This is a new story, one I wrote in January when my wife and I were up in the Grand Canyon for her birthday....
Daisy's Heart
I am very happy to report that my short story, "Daisy's Heart" is now available in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine #7! This is another one of the stories I wrote in 2017 during my Short Story...
The Disappearing Neighborhood
I've got it on my list to do a blog post about milestones--there have been a bunch so far this year--but this is a big one and I can't wait. My story, "The Disappearing Neighborhood," is out in...
Self-Rescuing Damsels
I'm really excited to have my story, "Ashna's Heart" as part of Swords, Sorcery, & Self-Rescuing Damsels. This is the story of a fire mage named Kyla who is willing do anything and everything to...
Stories I Love: December 2018
Well, we are at the end of a year of Stories I Love. It was a worthwhile experiment for me. I read 367 stories, most of them very good, many of them astoundingly good, and I learned a lot about what...
Stories I Love: November 2018
I'm discovering something interesting about the stories I love. There are a few common qualities: Immersive. Beautiful language is nice, but what I want is a story that pulls me in and takes me...
Stories I Love: October 2018
I was lucky enough this year to attend the Austin Film Festival, which is about film, but is focused on writers. I went to four days of an amazing conference listening to and meeting some successful...
Stories I Love: September 2018
Well, September was not like last month, I actually got some short stories read, but not up to the old pace. Earlier in the challenge I worked well ahead of that one story per day pace, but with...
Stories I Love: August 2018
Last month I said I was going to take a break from reading short stories, and boy did I. I did't read any. Not one. And this is a good thing. My wife and I desperately needed to get out of town, so we...
Stories I Love: July 2018
Time has a way of changing the game on you. My initial goal for this challenge was not to read a story every day, but to read 365 short stories this year (subtle difference). But, through July, I...
Stories I Love: June 2018
So, the 2018 is halfway over, how did that happen? Somehow spring always seems to be that way, gone in a flash of lengthening days, a warming sun, and fresh air. I'm well over half way to my goal of...
Stories I Love: May 2018
Artists should get paid. Woops, I probably just lost a bunch of people there, but bear with me. A lot of the short stories I list in this series are "free," but I encourage you to find a way to...
Stories I Love: April 2018
Everything is a tradeoff, including this goal of mine to read 365 short stories this year in a quest to become a better short story writer. Several things have gone by the wayside to make room for...
Stories I Love: March 2018
Short stories are important. For readers and writers. The “short” part allows for risk taking and experimentation. It allows both the writer and the reader to try something new with a much smaller...
Stories I Love: February 2018
A lot of good stories that I read don’t make it onto this list. Some very good stories. This is not “stories I like,” these are the stories that hit all the right notes, immerse me in their world,...
Stories I Love: January 2018
There are two things writers must do a lot of: Write Read Simple, right? I write some on a daily basis, I am also regularly reading fiction, but I have long known I've been deficient in my short story...