Gunsmoke & Dragonfire is finally out! It’s a hearty anthology of 25 fantasy Western stories which dabbles around in some other speculative genres, like science fiction, post-apocalyptic, and cattlepunk, too. This book’s a really special release for me, since my little tale is both the very first one in the collection and the story behind the cover art.

My tale, Inheritance, is of an encounter between a wandering gunslinger and a shopkeeping enchanter, briefly brought together by their late fathers’ past dealings. I wrote it after getting super inspired by the anthology’s title during its call for submissions, and was thrilled when Diane Morrison, Gunsmoke & Dragonfire’s wonderful editor, chose to include it in the book. You can snag a copy right now on Amazon or directly from Diane via Aradia Publishing!

JayHenge Publishing’s latest anthology, Unrealpolitik, has officially been released! I’ve been awaiting its debut for months after having my first deeply political story, Like Clockwork, accepted for the book. The tale mashes extremist politics and gladiatorial combat together in a fast and furious civicspunk romp.

Like Clockwork means a lot to me. It was an avenue for venting frustration with the ongoing Trumpian dumpster fire (and the terrible system which spawned it) when I first wrote it more than a year ago. It was something I really needed to write, and it feels great to finally have it out in the open in the midst of all of the current political craziness.

Unrealpolitik is stuffed with 37 stories, exploring all sorts of political themes through the lens of speculative fiction. If you want to escape the real world’s flurry of headlines for a while, hop on over to Amazon and grab yourself a copy.

I’ve got another bit of flash fiction out! It’s called Under Her Wing, a little contemporary fantasy tale about an adopted dragon and an abandoned drone. The piece was inspired by an awesome Chris Howard illustration for the October 2018 issue of With Painted Words, an online magazine featuring prose and poetry prompted by different images every month. Check out the story here! (UPDATE: With Painted Words seems to have vanished entirely from the internet, and its domain name seems to have been lost.)

Fans of extreme brevity, rejoice! Drabbledark is nearly out. It’s an anthology of drabbles, stories told in exactly 100 words. There’s 101 stories from 86 writers with a bunch of variety; my little contribution is post-apocalyptic, but the themes of the pieces run the gamut from monsters and murders to stalkers and summonings. The sole common denominator is, as the title suggests, that the stories within are all quite dark.

Usually I wait until an official publication date to mention anything which includes my work, but Drabbledark’s a bit of a special case. Technically the book releases on the 20th, but the paperback version was made available slightly early to account for shipping times. You can find both with a quick hop over to Amazon.

Tales of Ruma is finally out! It’s a great collection of 17 short stories inspired by the myths and legends of ancient Rome, Greece, and Ruma, an original RPG setting created by the editor, Martin Greening. These stories come in all sorts of flavors; you’ll find tales of the gods, telepathic unicorns, giant elemental creatures, and gritty, bloody battles between mere mortals. I’m super honored to have been included as something of a new kid on the block alongside a bunch of really spectacular writers.

My story’s a brief battle scene titled From the Pan to the Flames. I wrote it specifically for Martin’s Ruma setting in the hopes of contributing to his fledgling world and was thrilled when he accepted it into the anthology. It was a magical experience to see and hold my work in print for the first time. My short story The Collection, appearing in Lucent Dreaming, was published first, but my copy of their debut issue took a bit of time to make the long journey across the pond.

The book is available in both paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon. You can also take a sneak peak at the first story in the book, The Question that Matters by Jody Lynn Nye, thanks to Amazon’s nifty Look Inside feature. If you want to get even more of an idea of what the anthology has to offer, Jonathan Ficke, another contributor, wrote up a great rundown of all of the stories over on his website.

A short contemporary fantasy story of mine, The Collection, is now available in Issue 1 of Lucent Dreaming, a brand new creative writing magazine from the United Kingdom!

The Collection follows an ordinary guy who quickly finds himself in the midst of a bunch of eccentric performers. It’s my favorite thing I’ve had published so far and was among the first pieces of short fiction I wrote, the first draft having been written near the end of 2016. The Collection went through quite a few edits and submissions afterwards, since finding the perfect home for stories can be a slow endeavor. I was thrilled when the folks at Lucent Dreaming accepted it, and their editors were an enormous help in making the story the best that it could possibly be.

You can read most of the first issue and all of my story right here, in the free .pdf version of the debut issue! Or, if paper’s more your style, you can also snag a copy of the gorgeous print edition here. (UPDATE: The print run of the first issue officially ended and the back issues all sold out! Don’t worry, the .pdf up there is alive, well, and free.)

By the way, more stuff is coming! I’ve started listing pieces which have been accepted but not yet published in my bibliography with “Forthcoming” in lieu of a publication date. Feel free to swing by and sneak a peek at some upcoming titles.

Time for some exciting news! I’ve had a little bit of my work published already (on 600 Second Saga and in Speculative 66, so my sixes were really stacking up), but those stories came out before my website was up and running. So I’m psyched to announce the debut of a little flash piece! It’s a brief fantasy tale titled Succulent Triumph, a story of savory revenge told in the form of a letter. It’s the featured letter of the month at Wax Seal Literary Magazine, a new online publication which offers short epistolary fiction on a monthly basis. Check it out here!