Novels and Short Fiction
Latest News
October 2022: The novel Ghost of A Dog is published
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Debut novel, available wherever books are sold.
Ghost of a Dog is the dark psychological journey of Vinny Pelletier, who believes he is possessed by the titular spirit, which compels him to kill one person he loves to save the others he loves, or will love, from endless pain.
I am recovered from my recent illness. Thank you for all the good wishes and positive messages.
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October 2017: "Infirmary" is published
in Southern Gothic Creations, October 2017
March 2015: "Syrinx" is published
in Buried Letter Press, March/April 2015 Issue: Intimacy
February 2015: Twice Upon a Time is released in softcover and e-book on Amazon.com
October 2014: List of authors for Twice Upon a Time released
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Editor Joshua Allen Mercier has announced the list of authors who will be featured in the Twice Upon a Time anthology, a collection of reimagined myths, folklore and fairytales to be published by Bearded Scribe Press. The tentative release date for this book is November 30. The contributors include several well-respected speculative fiction writers.
My story is a horror retelling of the Griselda tale set in late 20th Century America. An excerpt of my story is included below: With the passing of time, my dear husband grew thinner and taller. He has a clear, olive complexion, unlike when we met. I suppose his eyes may have been blue when he chose me, but they are now nearly black. His hair, even on his body, is dark. He is lean and finely muscled. He smells of musk, like a forest animal, and over the years he has had gotten tattooed with the nude figures of the girls he may have loved before, had he had the chance to love whomever he wished in his youth, but certainly he must have done so in the years since. Yet, he married only me because he thought that I could be loyal and it was obvious that I could be just that. I would never run away to a supportive mother or the arms of a lifelong girlfriend from school, because I had never had them and so, as alone as I was, I would never reveal his secret. |
September 2014: My Short Story "Le Pain d'Affliction" is published in Cleaver Magazine, Issue 7
August 2014: "Fugue" available to order as a chapbook by Passive Terrain Press
My short story entitled "Fugue" was published by Passive Terrain Press, a micropress which was located in Morgantown, WV. Passive Terrain Press is currently on extended hiatus and the site is down, but look for "Fugue" is an upcoming collection of my short stories entitled This Is Why I'm Gone.
Excerpt from "Fugue":
Then his eyes traveled further out to the forest, dark and thick. He picked up his pipe, which lay on the sill and sighed again, this time very deeply before taking the taper from the table and lighting it in edge of the fire. The wax dripped in a long thin thread before he lit the pipe, puffing on it a few times, and then laying it back on the sill.
“It is better to have loved and lost,” said Geppetto, suddenly dropping his head into in his hands. “Should I never have carved my boy, I would not know what it was to love as a father loves.”
“Ah, but you were good while it lasted,” replied Rosa. “The best of fathers you were.”
Geppetto again picked up his pipe and set it between his teeth. He then turned around, thrusting his hands in his pockets, and began pacing an ellipse in the rug at the center of the wood plank floor. Shaking his head and puffing on his pipe. He stopped briefly to place his hands gently on one of many half-completed marionettes on the shelf beside the window.
“But am I not only made of pine wood?” he asked Rosa, who rose from the carpet-covered chair and laid her head against his crooked back.
Excerpt from "Fugue":
Then his eyes traveled further out to the forest, dark and thick. He picked up his pipe, which lay on the sill and sighed again, this time very deeply before taking the taper from the table and lighting it in edge of the fire. The wax dripped in a long thin thread before he lit the pipe, puffing on it a few times, and then laying it back on the sill.
“It is better to have loved and lost,” said Geppetto, suddenly dropping his head into in his hands. “Should I never have carved my boy, I would not know what it was to love as a father loves.”
“Ah, but you were good while it lasted,” replied Rosa. “The best of fathers you were.”
Geppetto again picked up his pipe and set it between his teeth. He then turned around, thrusting his hands in his pockets, and began pacing an ellipse in the rug at the center of the wood plank floor. Shaking his head and puffing on his pipe. He stopped briefly to place his hands gently on one of many half-completed marionettes on the shelf beside the window.
“But am I not only made of pine wood?” he asked Rosa, who rose from the carpet-covered chair and laid her head against his crooked back.
Still from the film Loves of a Blonde
My short story "Genevieve from the River" has been selected for inclusion in the anthology Diner Stories: Off The Menu.
Edited by Daniel McTaggart and published by Mountain State Press
Edited by Daniel McTaggart and published by Mountain State Press
April 2014: editor Daniel McTaggart announces contributors to Diner Stories: Off the Menu
Editor Daniel McTaggart formally announced the list of authors who will be featured in Diner Stories, an anthology to be published by Mountain State Press later this year. The authors to be included are as follows:
Frank Larnerd, Erin Nicole Cochran, Chris Leek, Garland Steele, Eliot Parker, Jason Jack Miller, Rich Bottles Jr., Mary Lou Pratt, Eric Fritzius, Jennifer Weingardt, Karyn Cantees Stagg, Susanna Connelly Holstein, Sarah Blizzard Robinson, Mary Lucille DeBerry, Julie Cunningham, William F. DeVault, Scott Emerson, Jolene Paternoster, Joey Madia, Vicky Crawford, Theodore Webb, K. Ceres Wright & Kathleen McClure, Todd Ludy, Michael Mehalek, Steven Anthony George, and Daniel McTaggart.
I know several of these talented authors personally and I cannot wait to read their work, as well as to become familiar with the work of those I am yet to meet. A synopsis and an excerpt of my story is included below.
Frank Larnerd, Erin Nicole Cochran, Chris Leek, Garland Steele, Eliot Parker, Jason Jack Miller, Rich Bottles Jr., Mary Lou Pratt, Eric Fritzius, Jennifer Weingardt, Karyn Cantees Stagg, Susanna Connelly Holstein, Sarah Blizzard Robinson, Mary Lucille DeBerry, Julie Cunningham, William F. DeVault, Scott Emerson, Jolene Paternoster, Joey Madia, Vicky Crawford, Theodore Webb, K. Ceres Wright & Kathleen McClure, Todd Ludy, Michael Mehalek, Steven Anthony George, and Daniel McTaggart.
I know several of these talented authors personally and I cannot wait to read their work, as well as to become familiar with the work of those I am yet to meet. A synopsis and an excerpt of my story is included below.
Synopsis: None of the current patrons at Hart's Diner know that an elderly man, who has been a regular customer for decades was, in his youth, a great lover; he loved women and women loved him. He has been coming in to eat for a very long time, but today something is different.
Excerpt from "Genevieve from the River":
Geneviève lived in a cottage by the river—one of the ancient homes of rough stone and pastel gardens that the Impressionists would paint in their days. Her large eyes were deep brown; her hair was autumn gold. I caught a glimpse of her on my first day in the Aquitaine. She stole across the beach covered in a green silken robe, hiding herself among Continental tourists, among other seasonal ex-patriots, like me, pretending to be artists, while they were only actors performing for the crowds. Comme les autres, elle est allée.
Geneviève lived in a cottage by the river—one of the ancient homes of rough stone and pastel gardens that the Impressionists would paint in their days. Her large eyes were deep brown; her hair was autumn gold. I caught a glimpse of her on my first day in the Aquitaine. She stole across the beach covered in a green silken robe, hiding herself among Continental tourists, among other seasonal ex-patriots, like me, pretending to be artists, while they were only actors performing for the crowds. Comme les autres, elle est allée.
March 2014: "Third Grade" is published in Houston & Nomadic Voices
--Excerpt from "Third Grade":
The woman in the pink sweater wants to know my nickname. “Your nickname now," she says. “As a boy.” But she says “child,” not “boy.” I tell her that I had three or four nicknames as a boy, but also that I am not a boy. I don’t even look like a boy. I am at least eighteen, because I know that I don’t go to school any longer. I am older than that, because I did attend college for two years and I no longer do that either. She all but confirms this by asking me the model name of my first car. I don’t know! It is quiet. Random children, teenagers, move somewhere behind by head, but I can’t hear them. I realize that the woman at the desk hasn't been speaking. She seems to see me, but I don’t hear words. Her mouth moves, but that is all.
Update March, 2015: Houston & Nomadic Voices Magazine is now a defunct publication, but look for "Third Grade" in an upcoming collection of my stories to be titled This Is Why I'm Gone.
The woman in the pink sweater wants to know my nickname. “Your nickname now," she says. “As a boy.” But she says “child,” not “boy.” I tell her that I had three or four nicknames as a boy, but also that I am not a boy. I don’t even look like a boy. I am at least eighteen, because I know that I don’t go to school any longer. I am older than that, because I did attend college for two years and I no longer do that either. She all but confirms this by asking me the model name of my first car. I don’t know! It is quiet. Random children, teenagers, move somewhere behind by head, but I can’t hear them. I realize that the woman at the desk hasn't been speaking. She seems to see me, but I don’t hear words. Her mouth moves, but that is all.
Update March, 2015: Houston & Nomadic Voices Magazine is now a defunct publication, but look for "Third Grade" in an upcoming collection of my stories to be titled This Is Why I'm Gone.
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December 2012: "Fields of Sleep" is published in Short-story.me
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