This sure has been A MONTH™* at the end of A YEAR™.** But I’d rather focus on the few bright, sparkling moments, which cast some light against all the roiling gloom: Getting vaccinated. Hugging my friends again. Pretty much the entire month of June. AND! Seeing three of my favorite stories published in the same year! I’d love for you to read them, and if you enjoy them***, to consider them for your Bram Stoker/Nebula/World Fantasy/Hugo/Shirley Jackson Award nominations, recommendations, and reading lists, and/or for any Best of 2021 anthologies.

For any of the below, if you’re reading for awards and need access to a review copy, please reach out via my contact form.

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A NIGHTMARE STAY, I WISH I COULD GIVE THIS NEGATIVE STARS

Horror / Dark Fantasy | Short Fiction
VASTARIEN Vol. 4, Issue 1
June 2021 | ~1,550 words

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CHARON TAXI & LIMO CORP. 

Fantasy | Short Fiction
The Modern Deity’s Guide to Surviving Humanity (Zombies Need Brains)
July 2021 | ~1,750 words

*Read more about this story here!

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SHHHH. SHHHH. SHHHH.

Horror | Short Fiction (flash)
99 Tiny Terrors (Pulse Publishing)
October 2021 | ~540 words

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*As always, I encourage you to cut a few minutes from your monthly doomscrolling budget to find meaningful ways to help the folks in your community by donating time, money, food, clothing, medicine, etc. to local outreach organizations. You can even volunteer virtually now! As the Bezos Space Dick proved, even the sky’s no longer the limit!

**As I write this, news broke that Betty White passed. I know she had a good long life, but it’s still a super shitty 2016 move on 2021’s part.

***I received my first reader email this year! And it was positive! I know extrinsic rewards are ephemeral and dangerous, but I’m celebrating this one!