Category Archives: Short Stories
Wake the Witch anthology, for benefit of Red Cross, available
May-December Publications’ Wake the Witch anthology, which contains my long out-of-print short story “Whether Girl” and benefits the Red Cross, is now available in both print (paperback) and Kindle editions.
“Whether Girl” was originally published in the Summer 2005 issue of The Wheel.
From the publisher’s website at http://maydecemberpublications.com/books/wake-the-witch/:
“Prepare to have a spell cast over you by this collection of bewitching tales; each one cast out by well-trained sorcerer or sorceress with a heart of gold. These charms and incantations were offered gratis as a spell of protection and assistance for people around the world suffering from tragedy and heartbreak. By reading this tome, you will be helping a stranger, a neighbor, or perhaps even yourself.
We thank each and every author that donated their stories for this charity anthology: Adam Millard, Bennie Newsome, Chantal Boudreau, CW LaSart, DA Chaney, David Landrum, Elizabeth Butler, Geoffery Crescent, Ken Goldman, Kristi Petersen Schoonover, Marius Dicomites, Mark Jones, Michael Frissore, Todd Brown and Walter Campbell.”
From the book’s Introduction:
“May December Publications is proud to present to you this little anthology of witch-themed stories. It should be noted that everything you are holding was donated by the artists. None of the contributors to this anthology received so much as a contributor’s copy for the work included in these pages. The reason is simple: we want every penny of proceeds to go to the Red Cross. 2011 was a year many would like to forget. From devastating floods, tornadoes, and earthquakes, to a tsunami that caused a nuclear event that will have lingering effects on the people of Japan.
It seems that every year there are terrible events in the news that kill and displace thousands. The sad truth is that the public consciousness only lasts for the few days that the images are on their television screens. Yet, for the victims of disaster, the story continues long after the cameras pack up and head for the next “event”. To that end, May December Publications wants to offer the proceeds from this anthology to the Red Cross in quarterly checks in the name of all who contributed. It may not be much, but as the saying goes, every little bit helps.
I urge you all to remember that the need for your help does not end simply because nobody is talking about the problem. Thank you for purchasing this book. You have unwittingly (or maybe wittingly) helped a person in need.
TW Brown
Editor, May December Publications”
To purchase in Print: http://bit.ly/WakeWitchPrint
To purchase for Kindle: http://bit.ly/WakeWitchKindle
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“A Bone to Pick” places in Toasted Cheese’s Dead of Winter 2011 Contest!
My zombie-apocalypse story “A Bone to Pick” has tied for second place in Toasted Cheese’s 2011 Dead of Winter Contest! This year’s theme was “Skull and Bones.”
It was funny how this all happened—I hadn’t planned on submitting to their contest this year; I hadn’t in a few years, actually. But suddenly the entire story popped into my head one morning, and it just happened to fit their theme. So I wrote it up and figured I’d give it a shot. It was a great little early birthday present to find out the story had placed!
“A Bone to Pick” is set at Robert Frost’s farm in New Hampshire and asks the question: what would happen if the one person in the world you both loved and hated was the only other person alive?
The winners are:
First place: “The Red Scarf,” Anitha Murthy
Second place: “Skin and Bones,” Jake Gogats
Second place: “A Bone to Pick,” Kristi Petersen Schoonover
Honorable Mention: “Osteophthisis,” John-Michael Gariepy
The first and second place stories will be printed in Toasted Cheese’s March issue, so I’ll keep you posted about when that’s available. I’m really looking forward to reading the other winners’ pieces. The Toasted Cheese Dead of Winter contest, which runs every year between November and December and specifies that the story must be horror, written to that year’s theme and set in winter, is always a lot of fun. All entries are judged blind.
For more information on Toasted Cheese—they run other contests throughout the year and put out a great little mag four times per year—you can visit their website: http://www.toasted-cheese.com/
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“Growlers” now available in Literary Mayhem
My short story, “Growlers”—commissioned by and exclusively written for Literary Mayhem—is now posted on the site. You can read this creepy winter tale about being careful what you wish for here: http://literarymayhem.com/wordpress/kristi-petersen-schoonover-growlers/
Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day!
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION WANING? WAX IT WITH THONGDEE’S “WAITING TO BE THIN” OVER AT READ SHORT FICTION!
It’s only a couple of weeks into 2012, and if one of your New Year’s Resolutions was to lose weight—but the only thing you’re losing is steam—then don’t miss Seenat Thongdee’s short story “Waiting to be Thin” at Read Short Fiction. This hilarious look at the daily “battle of the bulge” might be just what you need to get gaining on your goal again.
We are especially pleased and proud that with “Waiting to be Thin,” Seenat makes her writing debut. We hope to see this fresh new voice grace many pages of many publications in the future.
Enjoy!
http://www.readshortfiction.com/2011/12/waiting-to-be-thin-by-seenat-thongdee/
STUFF A SCARE IN YOUR STOCKING!
Canada’s Paranormal Eh? radio’s gifts to fans: a reading of my brand-new as-yet unreleased apocalyptic horror story—perfect for heading into 2012; Nathan talked about the Krampus, and Nicole and Angel of CT Soul Seekers shared some holiday humor. Want these treats stuffing your stocking? You can listen for free here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/paranormaleh/2011/12/12/a-very-paranormal-eh-christmas OR click to listen right from this post: AVeryParanormalEhXmas2011
LIKE SCI-FI? DON’T MISS SCI-FI SATURDAY NIGHT THIS WEEK!
I’m honored to announce I’ll be on Sci-Fi Saturday Night on Thursday, December 15 (live streaming) at 8 p.m. and Saturday, 12/17/11, to talk about Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole—Tales from Haunted Disney World and some sci-fi with the whole gang: The Dome, Kriana, Illustrator X, AwakebyJava, The Dead Redhead, Zombrarian and Dru Silla!
Sci-Fi Saturday Night—the Official Podcast of the Boston Comic Con—is a lively, popular podcast that covers all things Sci-Fi—from films and features to books and art, you won’t want to miss it. Past guests include authors Harlan Ellison, Ben Bova, Spider Robinson, Tracy Hickman and Christopher Golden; Wizard World founder/CEO Gareb Shamus; actors Amber Benson, Mark Metcalf, Adam West and Doug Jones; physicist Stanton Friedman; plus editors, musicians, game designers and more (in fact, Lance Henriksen was just on last week! Cool!)
Check out the show here: http://www.scifisaturdaynight.com – visit Thursday, 12/15 at 8 p.m. to listen live!
LIKE POE’S WORK? CHECK OUT MATT HOFFMAN’S “BRO” NOW UP AT READ SHORT FICTION!
For an early-winter chill, read Matt Hoffman’s “Bro,” now up at Read Short Fiction: http://www.readshortfiction.com/2011/11/bro-by-matt-hoffman/
If I make any comments about this story, it will spoil it. What I will say is that if you enjoyed Poe’s “William Wilson,” and the last scene in Drag Me to Hell terrified you, then you’ll get chills reading this. If you’d care to know why I loved this story so much, my comments appear at the end of the story.
Enjoy!
“UNDER THE KUDZU” ACCEPTED FOR BEHIND LOCKED DOORS ANTHOLOGY
My short story “Under the Kudzu” has been selected for publication in Wicked East Press’ Behind Locked Doors anthology.
“Kudzu” has special significance for me. In September 2010, my friend Cynthia Wilson called me to ask if I’d seen photographs of structures that had been covered in kudzu. “Imagine,” she said, “what horrible scary things could be going on in houses buried by kudzu!”
She loved a good ghost story, so I suggested she write it. Her response was, “no, I want you to write it. I want to read what you have to say about it.” She then e-mailed me several pictures of the phenomenon.
So, I took a stab at it.
Unfortunately, Cynthia passed away before she got to read my first draft.
After much critiquing by a few writer-friends and a few rounds of revision, I promised myself that this year I would get it published—if she couldn’t read it, at least others could.
I achieved my goal.
When Behind Locked Doors hits the stands, I’ll let you know. If you’d like to see the photograph of a kudzu-covered house that inspired the story, you can view that online here.
“SLOW GRILL” 2011 RUNNER-UP IN SCARY DAIRY CONTEST
Me, left, at Culture Scary Dairy contest winner Dave Goudsward at AnthoCon 2011 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on November 12.
My flash fiction piece “Slow Grill” was runner-up in Culture magazine’s annual Scary Dairy Contest (fellow NEHW member Dave Goudsward took first place for “Michael, is that You?”)—he’ll be receiving a basket of cheesy goodies just in time for the Holidays! NEHW member Stacey Longo also entered (her story’s untitled).
You can read all three stories here.
“WHETHER GIRL” SOON TO BE BACK IN PRINT IN WAKE THE WITCH ANTHOLOGY
May December Publications has accepted my short story “Whether Girl” for its upcoming Wake the Witch anthology, the proceeds of which will be donated to an as-yet unannounced charity.
“Whether Girl” was first published by The Wheel in its Summer, 2005 issue, and hasn’t been available—in print or digital—since. The Wheel was a great little magazine of pagan fiction, and I miss what it featured. I’m proud that “Whether Girl” is now going to be available again now that The Wheel is no longer around.
Here’s the Table of Contents for Wake the Witch, as posted on May December’s website here: http://maydecemberpublications.com/
1 Chantal Boudreau Witch Vanity
2 Kristi Petersen Schoonover : Whether Girl
3 David Landrum : The Conduit
4 CW LaSart : A Wise Woman’s Revenge
5 Ken Goldman : Mercy Hathaway is a Witch
6 Adam Millard : The Witching Well Hag
7 Elizabeth Butler : of cucumbers and curses
8 Marius Dicomites : Born Again
9 Bennie Newsome : Generational Curse
10 Michael Frissore : Trevor Talks
11 Walter Campbell : You next appointment
12 Mark Jones : The Strange Case of Melinda P. Zinnecker
13 DA Chaney : Homicidal
14 Geoffrey Crescent : 360 Degrees
