Here’s to new growth, and a new tree ring. This year I’ve had the joy of seeing four poems, nine stories, and one reprint published.
I was also the guest editor of Dark Matter Presents: Monster Lairs, A Dark Fantasy Horror Anthology, a collection of thirty-one stories all about decidedly inhuman monsters, now available in print or as an EPUB.
Here’s a list of my publications:
Picking Daisies FLASH POINT SF, December 2023 (sci-fi, 1000 words). A story of growing things, mothers, daughters, and harsh frontiers.
The rainy season signals the return of the Daisies. A homecoming as deep-rooted and scarred as the colony itself.
Two Wings ALL WORLDS WAYFARER: ISSUE 17, December 2023 (fantasy, 2600 words). Go visit the rowan tree that’s grown on the western border through many reigns. Up high its leaves are shadowed by cornflower blue wings.
Bits of broken fairy wings stuck to his fingers where his blood dripped, the wet red mingling with the blue, and he imagined his heart looked the same.
Made of Glass HAVEN SPECULATIVE MAGAZINE — Issue 12, December 2023 (poem, 22 lines). A poem about yesterdays and dreams and shedding memories.
the world shatters a child as easily as colored glass
and only what doesn’t break remains
The Rules of Voiding APEX MAGAZINE — Strange Machines: An Anthology of Dark User Manuals, October 2023 (sci-fi, 300 words). Ten rules for dolls that highlight ingrained, time-old prejudices against women. (A Kickstarter exclusive anthology, but it will be available for purchase on future campaigns.)
Nothing enticing should be discernable in the voided—no wire, naked hardware, bisque-colored skin, or scent.
Moth Girl UTOPIA SCIENCE FICTION, October 2023 (sci-fi, 600 words). A story that explores the possible fears and hopes after making first contact.
Her kind came to us from behind the moon, weary-footed and haunted, and they tried to blend into the shadows, far from whatever nightmare they’d fled.
Borne on a Hundred Wings STAR*LINE — Issue 46.4, Fall 2023 (poem, 33 lines). About a fallen star, and where she’d bled her final light.
she was found cold
her light bleeding across grass
beneath alders and dwarf willows
who stood vigil as tall, silent sisters
Fishing Season PSEUDOPOD — Episode 874: Flash on the Borderlands, July 2023 (horror/dark fantasy, 500 words). Of a world where lures on strings fall from the sky each spring.
For every soul, there is a lure on a string. There are different shapes, sizes, and colors. What snares one soul won’t tempt another.
Broken Wing Syndrome WYLDBLOOD PRESS, March 2023 (fantasy, 300 words). A little story with a big heart (and flying horses too).
The sale barn was massive. The scents of hay and manure and stale air jumbled together. Fates crisscrossed here.
Leaf and Smoke SHACKLEBOUND BOOKS — Dark Stars: Sci-Fi Horror Drabbles, March 2023 (sci-fi, 100 words). About a woman who sells dreams made by burning leaves.
She sold leaf-burned dreams as alternate realities, uploaded onto individual memory chips.
How To Rebloom After the Frost ORION’S BELT & UTOPIA SCIENCE FICTION — Special Issue, March 2023 (fantasy, 24 lines). A guide to something precious that’s taken root beyond the dawn’s trees. Nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize.
Shadow red stems of glittering wood-moss
tearing skirt and bodice on clawing bark
your ears honed to the tinkle of heirloom bells
singing from a birch’s twiggy offshoots.
Rapture of the Deep APEX MAGAZINE — Strange Libations: Dark Cocktails, March 2023 (fantasy, 300 words). A cocktail recipe for finding Euphoria. (A Kickstarter exclusive anthology, but it will be available for purchase on future campaigns.)
Fill a glass with the nitrous oxide, and pretend it’s ice. You’re good at pretending things.
The Nettle Queens HEXAGON SF MAGAZINE — Issue 12, March 2023 (poem, 32 lines). A warrior visits two queens who wear crowns of oak and thorns and barters a dowry for an alate. Nominated for the 2024 Best of the Net.
Liphyra is beautiful and dangerous as the dusk
save for yellow, time-stained teeth
her bite carrying a venom of stinging rain
Lady of the Dullahan DARK MATTER INK — Dark Matter Presents: Zero Dark Thirty, February 2023 (sci-fi, 4000 words). Originally published in DARK MATTER MAGAGINE — Special Halloween Issue, October 2021. A huntsman responds to a multiple homicide.
The crime scene was in the Vein, a ghetto-slash-mine built beneath the pretty glitter, sprawled out like hoary black roots over a large deposit of anthracite.
Plastic Heart CROW & CROSS KEYS, January 2023 (fantasy, 300 words). A wistful micro about this sometimes sad, forgotten, decaying world.
Her name is as old as lichen-encrusted rocks and shallow cliffs. Its meaning forgotten, withered like the yellow bush poppies that once bloomed to reveal a path to paradise.
Thank you for reading!
