Please Read: SCOTUS decision

Dear friends,

Due to the actions of activist judges on behalf of billionaires making it legal to infringe the copyrights of small-time creators who can't afford costly copyright registration for each work, I will be removing my short fiction from the Internet as of today.

As it stands protections were already weak. My short story "Decontamination Day" was posted in 2010 and several years later someone made a movie that was very similar; I could do nothing about that. Now imagine if they could simply take one of my stories wholesale?

Corporations troll sites like DeviantArt all the time for work by small creators they can hijack and it will only get worse as the rapaciousness of the capitalist classes becomes more naked. If you want my work I will consider making it available as an anthology but only if I can raise enough to register a copyright. I apologize for this but this is the pressure being placed on small-time creators.

This is why the Working Classes need to stand up and shut down the blight that is capitalism before it consumes everything we hold dear. The bandits have reached my doorstep with this and I'm considering what that means for me and my future. For my part, I am prepared to make any sacrifices to help bring the new era to life.

Another Short Story Published!

It took most of the year to get something published, but I just got the message that my short story "The Saboteur" was accepted into Thurston Howl's "Wolf Warriors V" anthology!

"The Saboteur" is a different kind of story for me. It's a straight historical fiction story set in France during WWI. It's what I like to call a "slacker tragedy" inasmuch as the protagonist is a lovable but hapless character in over his head and routinely knocked about by authority and by fate.

 It's also a spin-off of my novel "The Linen Butterfly" though the exact nature of the spin-off I won't spoil.

This means I can keep my streak of getting at least one work published per year. In fact the only year since 2010 I didn't publish anything at all was 2012 (but that was a bad year).

Will We Eat Children Next?

I don't post my political speculations here often because they're most likely too wild for you guys, but recent developments have been beyond sickening. And the more I think about the implications, the more disgusted I get.

As many of you know upwards of 1500 children detained by ICE have gone missing, many of them sold to sex traffickers.

I recently had a horrifying thought: What if the rest were sold for their meat?

Normally I would think such a concern was batshit, but as bad as things are, I fear there is no such thing as too low. After all, if you'd sell a child to a pimp, you'd sell them to a butcher, right? Maybe it's time we start examining the supply chains of the food we're eating for evidence of cannibalism. Just in case.

But this is an extreme statement, isn't it? A hot take? A provocative statement that doesn't stand to reason? Even the Nazis didn't sell people for meat! They did awful things but they didn't do that! But you know what? I'm pretty sure the Nazis didn't sell children to sex traffickers either. Maybe they did but it's not something I'm aware of. So we can establish that this government is possessed of a depravity beyond that of the Third Reich. There is no bottom any more; they'll do anything for a buck.

And guess what? SESTA has made it easier for those human traffickers to hide! The bill that was supposed to prevent human trafficking has, in fact, forced the industry into the underworld where it already had a sizable presence. You can still buy slaves on the Dark Web.

So not only did they sell children to traffickers, they also passed bills to make it easier for the crooks to get away with it. And lest we forget, SESTA had resounding bipartisan support. Perhaps one or two out-of-touch idiots voted for it thinking it was an altruistic measure but how many of them voted for it knowing FULL WELL it would benefit the child sex trade? To quote Cicero, Cui Bono? Who benefits?

Again, I say, why wouldn't they stoop lower? Why wouldn't they try to trick us into cannibalism? Can you look at the stark facts of this situation and tell me with a straight face we're not well on our way toward eating children?

2018 Coyotl Awards

I'm excited to announce that the anthology Arcana has won a Coyotl award!

My short story "St. John's Bridge" was featured in this anthology.

Congratulations to Madison Scott-Clary and to everyone else who pulled this anthology together!

Interested? Buy a copy here:
http://thurstonhowlpub.storenvy.com/products/22227398-arcana-a-tarot-anthology

An Announcement About The Linen Butterfly

So I found out today about an SF series that actually has a lot in common with "The Linen Butterfly." I was over with my friend, Madison Scott-Clary (a talented writer and the editor of the anthology "Arcana," which features one of my short stories) and she mentioned it. It's called "Otherland" by Tad Williams. It was similar enough when I read the synopsis I got kinda nervous.

In particular I was struck by the WWI imagery. I had included that in "The Linen Butterfly" for my own reasons and had no idea someone had already done a very similar story that had WWI scenes. Though in the case of "The Linen Butterfly" it serves a different role in the plot. The biggest difference I can see is that "The Linen Butterfly" doesn't involve moving between worlds quite as much. The characters aren't seeking something from outside their virtual world either (at least not initially). They're very much caught up in it.

I also doubt that Williams incorporated imagery from Sethian gnosticism. But I could be wrong as at this time I've only read a synopsis.

So I will concede that "The Linen Butterfly" is very similar. So similar that if I had known about the existence of "Otherland" I would have written it quite a bit differently. But I have honed the story so much that if I were to change it now, I'd have to rewrite from scratch. I've already done this once and I don't fancy having to do it again.

I will release "The Linen Butterfly." But I will also include some ackowledgment of Williams' work as someone who had me beat by quite a few years.

Doubt And The Writer

My lingering doubts about my writing:
1. That my stylistic refinements aren't as refined as I think they are.
2. That my stories are boring to everyone except me.
3. That my ideas lack imagination and originality.
4. That my delivery is too pedestrian.

Sticking your neck out as an author while you still have these kinds of doubts is stressful, and finding out you were right about any of them can be crushing. But the only way to get anywhere is to take the chance.

The sad truth of the matter is there's someone, somewhere, sitting on a better story than mine and they're not getting it out there (or not even writing it in the first place) because they have no confidence. So I have to suck it in and take the niche they didn't fill. At least, that's the writer's gambit: that the audacity to be heard is an undervalued asset that will pay off one day. I imagine everyone who wants to work in this field as a real profession thinks along these lines at some point in their development.

But self-doubt and impostor syndrome are brutal and they don't let you go easily. Putting your work out there when you're a sensitive person is tough going. You have to be resilient and learn to only listen to the criticism that helps you improve. Any criticism that doesn't help you improve is just going to stress you out. It's not worth it. Move along and remind yourself you can't please everyone no matter how good you are.

But- and this is a big caution- there is a lot to learn from criticism and even harsh criticism can be worth its weight in gold. The best writers are sadder but wiser. Don't dismiss criticism right away as useless. Sit on it. Think about it. Ask yourself if it can be applied. Sometimes it'll take years for it to click and when it does it's like a light bulb clicking on.

You'll always be your own harshest critic though. I know I'm my own. I still look at my own work and wonder why I can't write something like some of the other writers I know. You know, the good ones.

Current Project Status

The Linen Butterfly-Novel - Completed Penultimate stylistic revision (submitting today)

The Saboteur- Short Story- Submitted March 26- Pending

Closing Time- Short Story- Submitted April 30- Pending