FICTIONISTA
Two exes and their new girlfriends on double-date hell night at the rankest pizza dive in creation end up biting off more than they can chew. A bittersweet first-contact story best consumed nowhere near mealtime.
In print (Pulp Literature #32) and now FREE AUDIO at StarShipSofa!!! Narrated by bestselling author Alethea Kontis.
Dark Lane #10 includes my story “The Epiphany Engine,” where an emoji-awkward muralist travels across an ocean to meet the machine capable of erasing artistic angst.
Very pleased to say my kooky vandalism story “Killer Biznez“ has been shortlisted for the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence for the year’s best crime short story. Weed trays, favorite cousins, misspelled graffiti & questionable fashion apps — exciting times!
Lovely cover for the Black Static 78/79 Double Issue, which includes my paraforensics & secret histories story “Of Wrath.”
“Short fiction writers, of all genres, for any number of reasons, surely must universally dread the question: What are your stories about? The smart thing to do (a path one sadly rarely chooses, amiright?) would be to not overthink the business and toss off a quick, “I tend to write crime fiction” (or “historical” or “westerns”—or even “historical crime westerns with hot time-traveling feminist werewolves”*). But such limited answers feel so ungenuine, so inadequate, so lacking the scope of what you write, right?”
*Sadly, there is no story like this in the works, but you can read my personal essay “The Moment Expectations Change” in its entirety over at the Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine blog, where I reminisce (drinks with writer pals in a Portlandian bordello bar! barstool fiddlefaddle and coffee shop philosophizing!) and talk about the joy of seeing short fiction translate to the screen. This one’s in celebration of my sweet petty criminal story “Killer Biznez.”
Crime fiction! Both available online.
“I’ve been bitter a long time. It’s like sucking a wedge of lemon on and on and on, pulp disintegrating, everything dissolving until the flavor turns mellow and mild, almost sweet… “
read “Random Blonde“
“Huck is a gooddog. Huck is suchagooddog. Have his people forgotten whatagooddog Huck is?”
read “Is a Goodboy”
Earlier this month, my out-of-time Hawai’i elder deity + i-heart-dogs story “The Eyes of Kaha’i” appeared in the official H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival program book and as a perk of their stunningly successful crowdfunding campaign launched from sunny Portland, Oregon (my other other home). This week I’m in Austin, Texas for the Austin Film Festival and Writers Conference. With the city’s current water boil warnings in effect, all bets are off as to which bar you can find me in. Do come find me though, if you’re around. Really. Do.
Another beautiful volume in the Gothic series. Includes my story “A Good Thing and a Right Thing,” which first appeared a few years ago in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. If you’re interested in Scandinavian history, Norse gods, disappeared communities, blood sacrifice, the Poetic Edda, patriarchal violence, and/or possible psychic echoes reverberating across time and space, you might enjoy this one.
Micro interviews about “A Good Thing and a Right Thing” (alongside fascinating tidbits from other authors) PART ONE: story inspiration & PART TWO: favorite tales in the genre.
Hear me read from my rock-n-roll Schrödinger’s birdie story “Wonderband” at the ALICE UNBOUND book launch this weekend at the 3 Brewers Pub on Sparks Street in downtown Ottawa. This one imagines Alice in Wonderland‘s duck, eaglet, lory, and dodo as an indie rock band ready to rock it out against their nemeses, The Hearts, if only Duckie can win himself back into the good graces of the greatest lead singer in town: the enigmatic Gryphon.
I guess you can take the girl out of Austin, but you can never really take Austin out of the girl. . .
The 2017 edition of The Baltimore Review is out in a lovely print compilation. This one includes my short story “The Monsieur.”
