Yours truly on storychord.com

Incredibly excited that my story, Still Life With Tampon, was selected for today's storychord.com issue! I'm especially thrilled because this is such an innovative online magazine--every other Monday, it publishes a new multimedia experience consisting of one new story, one new song, and one new image from emerging artists.

This week, my piece appears alongside work from two talented artists--a photograph by R.J. Caputo that captures the strangely hypnotic hallways I have known in the outer boroughs (where the story is set); and Flightless Bird, a song by Scott Barkan, which could not be a more perfect match for the antagonist of this story (will let you discover why for yourself!).

Thanks so much to guest editor, Erika Swyler, for putting us all together--it was an honor to work with her, and we are all happily awaiting the publication of her first novel, The Book of Speculation (St. Martin's Press, forthcoming winter 2015)! Check out her blog in the meantime, at erikaswyler.tumblr.com.

Yours Truly's Short Story on Hogglepot.com

The Hogglepot logo--when pigs fly!

Some more shameless self-promotion: My first officially published short story, In Shining Armor, is out online as of yesterday (St. Patty's Day--an auspicious start!) at hogglepot.com (which features one of my favorite logos ever, see above). Hogglepot is a science fiction and fantasy journal, and I was very happy to have this chosen by them, since I don't write a heck of a lot of either normally. I do, however, love reading both! Check it out and hope you enjoy...

Yours truly reading for the first time...in public!

Well, it had to happen sometime, I guess, and I can say for sure it will be an interesting experiment--I will be reading aloud from a short story entitled Still Life With Tampon (a humor piece, just in case you couldn't tell) at NYC's literary bar, the KGB, on Jan. 24, at 7 pm. If it's not ungodly cold in the Big Apple and you can make it out, I'd love to see any and all! Here's the official invite from the very talented Leslie Goshko, who will be hosting (check out her Web site at ohmygoshko.com)!

Award-winning storyteller and Huffington Post blogger Leslie Goshko hosts tonight’s curated evening of original poetic works that's sure to Kick Assonance! Join co-creators Kyle Erickson ("Enduro’s Lament") and Steven Leyva ("Low Parish") as they welcome fellow authors Jeff Simpson, Mary Cool, and Andrew Schep for an evening of original poetry that Time Out New York magazine named a “Critics' Pick.”

Tonight's Readers:

KYLE ERICKSON (co-creator Kick Assonance, author "Enduro's Lament" - a collaboration w/author Christian Ericson, "Top 101 NY Blog" okieinthecity.com)

STEVEN LEYVA (co-creator Kick Assonance, author "Low Parish", winner of 2012 Cobalt Review Poetry Prize)

JEFF SIMPSON (author "Vertical Hold", National Poetry Series finalist, Poets & Writers Magazine)

MARY COOL (Hogglepot.com, creator captivatedaudience.blogspot.com)

ANDREW SCHEP (Oberon Poetry Magazine, upcoming issue of "The Healing Muse.")

So stop on by for a drink, some poetry, and some laughs (yes, we'll have those too).

FREE!

Be sure to arrive early to snag a seat; they go fast.

SEE YOU THERE!

My first short story forthcoming in Hogglepot!

I haven't put up a bio on this blog yet, so some people may have been wondering if I am a published author myself--after all, I'm talking about reading from a so-called "writer's" point of view!

Well, the reason I haven't posted much this week is that I've been out celebrating, as my first short story has been accepted for publication and is forthcoming in the online fantasy/sci-fi mag, Hogglepot! You can peruse this fine journal yourself at www.hogglepot.com, where editor Brooke Johnson publishes fiction on a bi-monthly basis. Check it out, and I'll post the link to my story when it comes out!

In the meantime, I'm off to drink some more Prosecco! Happy writing!