The day when the anthology that contains your story arrives is always an exciting one! Couldn’t wait to get home and open the box! Have a great weekend everyone!
Category Archives: Short Stories
Yay! My short story “Let the Rain Settle It” accepted for HUSH, DON’T WAKE THE MONSTER—Stephen King homage anthology!
So excited to announce that my short story, “Let the Rain Settle It” has been accepted for publication in Hush, Don’t Wake the Monster—A Women in Horror Anthology containing stories inspired by Stephen King but with a female spin!
“Let the Rain Settle It” is an homage to Stephen King’s “Rainy Season,” which I read in the early 1990s and has haunted me ever since. Here’s the introduction I penned for my submission:
Why I chose Stephen King’s “Rainy Season”
It’s been said the experience of a story is different for each reader, because it depends on what that person brings to the table. I didn’t read Stephen King’s “Rainy Season” until it was reprinted in his 1993 Nightmares & Dreamscapes collection, but of all the pieces I’d read of his, this is the one that stuck. As a starry-eyed twenty-two year old who was, at the time, blissfully unaware she was engaged in a toxic relationship, I connected most with the subtle clues King presents about the broken young couple heading toward not just physical demise, but eventual emotional disaster if they did survive. While John and Elise aren’t the focus of King’s narrative—the spotlight, as always, shines on unsettling Mainers—they’re clearly in a place where the ordinary drudge of life and its reactionary transgressions have squelched the blush of love and romance. The blinders are off, they see each other for who they really are, and it’s not pretty.
While it’s been accused of being too similar to Jackson’s “The Lottery,” and a “time passer,” “Rainy Season” isn’t just another folk horror tale or creature feature. It’s a warning that the killer toads of life are always at your romantic door, and sometimes, it’s just better to let them in.
I’m so excited and honored my story was chosen for this unique project, and I can’t wait to read everyone else’s stories! Watch this space for pre-order and ToC announcement—Hush will be released March 2, 2023!
It’s here! My story “Wish Bones” in DEAD STARS AND STONE ARCHES
TODAY IS RELEASE DAY! My western cosmic horror story—first shot at that, too!—“Wish Bones,” is now available in Timber Ghost Press’ Dead Stars and Stone Arches: A Collection of Utah Horror.
In 1873 Utah, Quicken offers to shepherd a woman condemned to hang for the massacre of a Mormon traveling party—but what’s waiting for them in the canyon is more terrifying than any crime she could have possibly committed.
Pick up your copy for Kindle or Print here!
“Beware Burning Snow” is now available for free in THE SIRENS CALL eZine!
I’m thrilled to announce that my short story –“Beware Burning Snow” — is now available to read for FREE over at The Sirens Call eZine Issue #58!
In “Beware Burning Snow”: In 1980, ash people warned ten-year-old Sissy of the imminent eruption of Mount St. Helens. But there’s a natural order to things, and now they’re back. Sissy’s not only driven to keep one eye on the mountain—she’s compelled to keep them from haunting her teenaged daughter, too.
This issue is huge and features stories Read the rest of this entry
34 ORCHARD taking submissions now through July 15!
34 Orchard’s Autumn 2022 submissions window is now open! We will only be open from July 1 – 15, 2022, so if you’re planning on submitting, please keep in mind that anything after July 15, 2022, will be deleted unread (and yes, we adjust for all worldwide time zones. So that’s after July 15 at 11:59pm wherever you are).
Please refer to our guidelines for information on how to submit. Check that out here at https://34orchard.com/guidelines/, and we look forward to reading your work!
Looking for an audio scare? My short “February Thaw” is on the DON’T FALL ASLEEP podcast!
I’m thrilled to announce that my short story, “February Thaw”—which was published earlier this year in Dark Moon Books’ Horror Library Volume 7—is now available on Blood Bound Books’ Don’t Fall Asleep podcast!
There are several ways to listen, so Read the rest of this entry
Love animals? Love Anne Rice? Thrilled to announce “Haint Gonna Happen” in ANNE RICE BENEFIT ANTHO on May 22!
I’m proud to announce that I can finally let the proverbial cat out of the bag: my story, “Haint Gonna Happen,” is coming MAY 22 in Dancing in the Shadows: An Anne Rice Tribute Anthology! ALL PROCEEDS—100%—will benefit ANIMAL RESCUE OF NEW ORLEANS, which was founded within days of Katrina and saved thousands of animals post-disaster—kitties and puppies lived because of these fine volunteers, and their work continues today.
Excited? The publisher’s got a page with fun supplemental materials here.
Edited by Elaine Pascale and Rebecca Rowland, many amazing writers contributed to this project because we believe in supporting our community, and we received no compensation for this. It’s the only place you can read “Haint Gonna Happen,” get great horror by some of my favorite writers (a couple of whom appearing in 34 Orchard in the fall)—and help lots of distressed adorable animals. Please help—this organization is close to my heart!
For more information on Read the rest of this entry
Kickstarter for DEAD STARS supports great art and can bulk up your summer read list!
I’m SUPER EXCITED to announce that there’s a KICKSTARTER for Dead Stars & Stone Arches: A Collection of Utah Horror, which will feature my story, “Wish Bones” (cosmic dinos, people—and, as always, it’s kind of a love story).
Dead Stars & Stone Arches will be released by Timber Ghost Press on July 12, 2022, and although this book will happen either way, this is your chance to support the press, get a lot of ebooks—or even an advanced ebook and paperback copies of Dead Stars. And also? There is A REALLY COOL PIN (which I just added on because I have to have it) made just for the release (and there are only 100, so hurry if you want that!)
This campaign has been awarded the coveted Kickstarter Projects We Love Badge, and pledges are very affordable, so support great art! I’ll keep you posted. It runs until May 31.
Here’s the link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crlangille/dead-stars-and-stone-arches-a-collection-of-utah-horror/description
Indie presses are doing the bulk of the publishing of great horror stories, and, because they’re small and fueled by passion, many dedicate themselves to specializing in subgenres. Support the indie press in any way you can, and keep variety and unique voices alive!
HORROR LIBRARY VOL 7 – a solid collection which includes my story “February Thaw” — is here! Plus: see rare personal video of the REAL Yellowknife)!
My short story “February Thaw” is now available in Dark Moon Books’ Horror Library Volume 7—and this Table of Contents is so stellar, I promise it’s a volume you’ll be glad you own.
“February Thaw”—about a woman who flees Miami to confront her past near the Arctic circle—is inspired by my friend MJ Preston, a writer whose novels, like The Acadia Event, are inspired by his days as an ice road trucker (he’s the real deal!) who in 2016 actually sent me a 45th birthday wish from his stop in Yellowknife—and here it is! Read the rest of this entry
This weekend’s Writing/Submissions/Marketing Workshop in Westford, MA: Yes, you can pay at the door; No, you don’t have to be an NEHW member
This weekend’s Writing/Submissions/Marketing Workshop, sponsored by the NEHW, is YES, open to people who didn’t register. You can just pay at the door (I got a few emails about this, so I figured I’d throw it up here, too, just in case), and NO, you do not have to be an NEHW member. This is open to all.
The full day is TOMORROW, SATURDAY, APRIL 9, from 9:30 am – 6 pm at Atelier Pro-Kreative in the C.C. Sargent’s & Sons 1877 mill building on 69 Broadway Street, Westford, MA.
Event Description: After some networking time with morning refreshments, instructors Kristi Petersen Schoonover, Scott T. Goudsward, and Trisha J. Wooldridge will lead a three-hour workshop on writing, submitting, and marketing short stories, with the option of additional critiques for submitted writing samples. In the afternoon, authors and editors from NEHW’s Wicked Women and Wicked Creatures anthologies will be signing, selling their own work, and taking part in a giant Q&A. Opportunities to network, purchase anthologies and authors’ publications, and socialize will happen before the workshops, during lunch, and at the end of the event.
Here’s the schedule for the day, and pricing. The only thing not available “at the door” would be the critiques, so I didn’t put them here.
Costs for the event are tiered and a la carte:
Full day of 3-hour workshop, breakfast, lunch, networking, signing, author Q & A:
NEHW members: $50 Non-NEHW members: $60
Afternoon only, including lunch:
NEHW members: $25 Non-NEHW members: $30
Schedule
9:30-10:00: Light morning snacks, coffee, tea, water
10:00 -10:50: Workshop Part 1: Crafting Short Stories
11:00-11:50: Workshop Part 2: Submitting and Selling Short Storie
12:00-12:50: Workshop Part 3: “I sold a story! Now what?” Marketing & Promo
1:00-2:15: Lunch and Networking, Shopping Time
2:30-2:50: Author Signing (& Shopping Time)
3:00-4:30: Wicked Q&A
4:45-6:00: Individual Critique feedback in private, Social & Networking Time
If you can make it, we’ll see you tomorrow! If not, YES, I will be posting photos next week.
