A new anthology, Apocalypse Chronicles, was released today by Almond Press, and I was lucky enough to have my short story "Pillar of Salt" included as one of the featured stories.  The little blurb about my story is: "Scientists discover that the Earth has undergone a nuclear apocalypse in the future - or was it in the past?"  I tend to write a lot of darker themes, but I also like to have a bit of hope mixed in, to show how strong the human spirit can be in the face of adversity.  I feel that apocalypse tales give the writer opportunity to showcase this - that in the midst of darkness, there can be light.

I had a lot of fun writing this one, and I hope you enjoy reading it, too.

My flash fiction story "Regrets" came out today at 200 CCs.

This story is a great example of finding the right market for a piece.  I had this great idea for a tiny story, but when I wrote it, it turned out to be 200 words, which was 100 words too many for a drabble.  Most places that accept short-shorts have very firm word counts.  And most places looking for flash fiction - stories up to 1000 words - prefer to have the longer spectrum of flash fiction rather than the shorter.  So I held onto this story, thinking it might never be published, but hoping I could find just the right place for it because I really liked it.  Then along came Mr. Hamilton's new magazine, which was looking for 200-word stories!  He is publishing (and has published - just look through the archives!) some brilliant stories in that in-between length that are hard to find.

So I hope you enjoy reading "Regrets" as much as I enjoyed writing it.  :)

I recently had a poem come out at Bewildering Stories, a weekly ezine that has been published since 2002.  Afterwards, the managing editor contacted me to say he noticed that I wrote book reviews for my blog, and would I be interested in doing the same thing for the magazine?  My answer: "Heck, yeah!"

Well, not really.  My answer was a lot more politely phrased than that.  :)  But the gist was the same.  I am pleased to announce that I have joined the staff at Bewildering Stories, and my first review came out yesterday.  I decided that rather than start with a new book, I'd go back and look at one of the authors who initially inspired me to write - the wonderful fantasy writer, Tanith Lee.  I reviewed one of my favorite books by her, an epic tale called A Heroine of the World.  You can check out the review here.

So if you have any suggestions about books you want to have reviewed - including your own - please feel free to contact me.  While I can't guarantee a review, I CAN guarantee a look.  I'm always looking for fantastic new fiction, nonfiction and poetry to share with readers - and to enjoy for myself, of course.  :)

It's here, it's here!  The anthology of Campbell nominees for 2016 has been released.  Entitled Up and Coming: Stories by the 2016 Campbell-Eligible Authors, it contains 230 works by 120 authors.  And the price can't be beat - it's free from now through March 31st, when nominations for the Campbell Award close.  I have three stories in it - "Grandmother Winter," originally published in On the Premises, "The Lost Children," originally published in Abbreviated Epics, and "The Heart of Yuki-onna," originally published in Frozen Fairy Tales.

So download it, read it and vote for your favorites!