Pole 69

"Pole 69" is my contribution to Astoundingtales.com's Flash Fiction Contest. You have to base your story on a picture we published on the site and it's starting to become a tradition with me to post the first story in each contest. This wasn't a conscious plan but it's turning out that way. This story generated a ton of feedback, not the least of which came from my wife. A longer (and more detailed) version has now been completed and I'm submitting it around in the hopes that someone else will publish it. I'll announce any success as it happens.

Contraband

Last year I had a story called: "Contraband" published in The Martian Wave. Due to the support and votes of the readers of that zine, my story was voted into Sam Dot's Publishing anthology: "Wonderous Web Worlds 5." It's filled with their most popular stories from 2004. Not a bad place for my story to appear. If you'd like more information on getting the paperback, just go to their "Genre Mall." The anthologies are listed alphabetically so just scroll down.

The Guide
&
The Battle on
Elm Street

In a rare turn of events I got two stories in a new anthology by Whortleberry Press. They were looking for stories about cats and Christmas. I'd never written a cat story before so I thought I'd give it a try. The result was "The Guide." It's an inspirational tale (get it?) about a cat and one of (what I hold) meanings of Christmas. The editor received it warmly and I thought I was done.

But not too much later I got an idea for a second story. This one is completely different from the first and not nearly as inspirational. I wrote it and, on the off chance they'd like it, sent it in. "The Battle of Elm Street" got an even more enthusiastic reception. And I ended up with two stories in the anthology.

"Second Chances" has been reprinted in GateWay S-F Magazine Web Issue #14. Gateway specializes in Science Fiction with Christian themes. They aren't interested in bible thumping so much as publishing hard science fiction with Christian themes. Oddly, I've met many people who didn't think you could have science fiction with Christian themes. Gateway strives to show that you can. I was honored to find out that despite being a reprint they made "Second Chances" their featured story for the issue. I guess a story about a man seeking to correct his mistakes rang true with the editors.

"Jackson & the Giant" is my contribution to Astoundingtales.com's Flash Fiction Contest. You have to base your story on a picture we published on the site. So far, it's stumped quite a few of our regulars. My story is an attempt to show that you can go a different way with it -- if you want to. Tell me what you think of it.

This story was written for The Writers Nook & Readers Corner. They hold a contest where you write a story to accompany an illustration. If you click on the title to the left, you'll see the illustration. Then, scroll down to the bottom to see the link to my story. Just so you know, this story took Second Place in the competition. Of course you have to temper that with the fact that there were only two entries.

One of the great things about publishing in e-zines is the feedback you can get from the readers. "Black Magic" (the story listed below) received a number of really good observations and suggestions. One reader asked what happened next. So I decided to answer that question. The continuation of the story is now found in my second collection of short stories: "Digital Daydreams 2 -- The Dreamer Dreams On."

"Black Magic" is my contribution to Anotherealm.com's. latest flash contest. It's actually an older pieces that just happen to fit the contest's theme of "unexpected" consequences. I think it's fun and it's always nice to dust off an older piece.

The "Wells Gambit" is my contribution to this issues Flash Fiction Contest in Astoundingtales.com's. I can't win of course (I'm the editor) but I was inspired and decided to participate. The tough thing about flash fiction is the word limitation. You're only allowed 1000 words. Of course, my first draft was closer to 1350 words. So I thought it might be fun if I put both versions up here for you the read. Is it better longer or shorter? Let me know.

This Flash story was written for the Anotherealm.com's Flash contest "The Day After." I wanted to do something that was NOT in my usual style. Parents be warned. This story is at best PG. It might (for some) even need an "R" rating for adult themes. (Hey, this is literature -- no pictures.) But I think it's fun. Hope you do too.

This short story is in the April issue of Fables.Org. It's a funny little piece about drunks, aliens, and the things you find out at 3 in the morning.

This short story is one of two featured stories for the month of April over at Anotherealm.com. I always try to find a new angle on stories and I think Mrs. Rosenkrantz does that nicely. I had so much writing it that I know there'll be more about these characters coming soon.

This short story appears on the AlienSkingMag.com web site. It was awarded the honor of being the "Spring Special" for Science Fiction. It's the story of one man's attempt to negotiate the surrender of the human race. The only problem is, the human race has been defeated and the aliens have no desire to negotiate.

This is my contribution to the AstoundingTales.com "Essentials" Flash Contest. The goal is to write a story about that one item that you have to have. What the item is, why you need it, and whether or not you have it is up to the writer. This story got a lot of interesting feedback on the site's bulletin board.

This is the editorial I wrote for the March '05 issue of AstoundingTales.com. It's the second in a two-part editorial about why I write, read, and publish speculative fiction.

This flash story appears on the Ragged Edge Publishing web site. It was an entry in their "Fangs" contest. I liked the dark moodiness of this piece since I purposefully avoided any hint of humor. Sadly, the zine is no longer and the story isn't up anywhere at the moment.

The results are in! Thanks to everybody who voted, I had a pretty good showing this year. Here are the standings.

Best Horror Short Story -- "The Gravedigger's Remorse" -- I came in 8th. Should have been higher since this story was nominated twice and they didn't combine my scores. But it wouldn't have changed the "Top 10" standings so it didn't really make a difference. It's still an honor.

Best Sci Fi Short Story -- "Second Chances" -- I came in 15th out of 78. A very good showing.

Best Ezine Editor -- "Arthur Sanchez" -- I came in 5th. An incredible showing!

Best Ezine -- "Astounding Tales" -- We came in 6th. That's the highest standing for a speculative fiction ezine in the competition. We placed better than A LOT of very good ezines.

This is my entry in Anotherealms.com Jan/Feb Flash Contest. The theme is: "Those Damn Neighbors!" I got so inspired that I actually wrote a flash story for this contest and a short story for whom I now need to find a market. This story is actually longer than the version that was entered but had to be cut down to fit the contest. I hope to use it's longer version somewhere else.

An experimental piece that I did for the Dec/Jan flash contest of the now defunct Ragged Edge ezine site. I didn't place but the piece was a little outside my usual style and I don't know if worked as well as I would have liked.

This one falls under the category of "you never know." Ahmed Kahn, editor of "Ghelenden Revisted" is trying to raise money for a new writer's group he's helping to establish. To do this he's selling off part of his book collection. I thought it would be nice to give him a couple of autographed copies of "Digital Daydreams" to help. What I didn't expect was for Ahmed to review the book. Well, it's a pretty damn good review. I was floored. For those of you who would like to read it, click http://ahmedakhan.journalspace.com/. It's the 12/07/04 entry.

We live in a world of statistics. So when people ask me: "How are you doing?" It's sometimes easier to give them numbers. I mean, what does "working hard" really mean anyway? And if I try to describe my efforts in intimate details their eyes glaze over. After all, they didn't ask me to write them a novel.

So here they are: the cold, cruel, unforgiving numbers. As you might guess, I don't like numbers. I don't think they convey the true effort or emotion behind an activity. But that's why I'm a writer and not a mathematician (apologies to my good friend, Margaret). When I look at the stats, I find them both daunting and inspiring. Which reaction is strongest depends on what day you catch me.