Fiction

New and Noteworthy

New Releases

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “Victorian Disco Vampires — FROM OUTER SPACE!!!,” a tale about… well, Victorian disco vampires from outer space
  • NEW: Published by Flash Fiction Magazine (Sept. 5, 2022)

• “And Chickie Makes Three,” a romcom about a lackluster couple and the odd new friend who may pull them out of their rut
  • Published in TL;DR Press’ Breathless anthology (Feb. 9, 2022) – available for purchase in print and digital

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “Pinocchio Puberty,” a glimpse at what happens when the little wooden boy starts growing up
  • NEW: Published by 101 Words (Nov. 1, 2021)

• “Youth Takes Flight,” a short and quirky family drama about soaring… and falling
  • NEW: published by The Birdseed (Sept. 30, 2021)

• “Some Roots Are Thicker Than Others,” a drama about reclaiming our space
  • Published in The Writer’s Workout’s 2021 72 Hours of Insanity anthology (Sept. 29, 2021) – available for purchase in print and digital

• “And Trah-lah-lah to You Too!,” a dark comedy about the dangers of over-indulging a town nuisance
  • NEW: Published by Hearth & Coffin (Sept. 26, 2021) – EDITOR’S CHOICE

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “WARNING: This Story Contains Hypnosis,” a desperate plea that will likely do no good
  • NEW: Published by Hearth & Coffin (Sept. 26, 2021)

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John’s Favorites

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “Butter-drenched Fingers, Clasped Tightly in Prayer,” a historical misadventure
  • Publishing Nov. 1, 2020, by Paper Butterfly Flash Fiction

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “The Cowboy’s Curse,” a twisty and thrilling weird western
  • Published in SERIAL Magazine (March 7, 2020) – Available for purchase in print or digital
  • Reprinted by Speculate This (July 27, 2020 – link above, story starts on page 30)

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “Even Bad Guys Have Good Days in Excelsior City,” a super-villain crime caper gone wrong
  • Published by Wyldblood Press (June 4, 2021)

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “Fast Friends,” a fairy tale of the thrilling adventures we go on with the people who mean the most to us
  • Published by Flash Fiction Magazine (Aug. 18, 2021)

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “Gestation in Recess,” a big scandal in a little setting
  • Shortlisted in the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Furious Fiction competition (Dec. 24, 2019)

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “Holding,” a ghost-story drama about a young mechanic finding the right answers to her questions; content warning: suicide
  • Published (print) in Metaphorosis Magazine (Oct. 1, 2020) – Available for purchase in print and digital
  • Published (online) by Metaphorosis Magazine (Oct. 23, 2020 – link above)
  • Read by Matt Gomez on the Metaphorosis podcast (Oct. 23, 2020 – link above)
  • “It came from John Adams” – a behind-the-scenes look at how this story came about, published by Metaphorosis Magazine (April 29, 2021)

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “I Hate Vermonica F. (And You Should Too!),” a comedy about childhood, monsters, and childhood monsters
  • Published by Fat Cat Magazine (March 22, 2020)

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “Matthew, Oliver, and the Most Epic Prom-posal Westbury High Ever Saw,” a young-adult bromance
  • Published in Triangle Writers Magazine (March 1, 2020) – Available for purchase in print or digital 
  • Reprinted in Patty’s Short Stax, a Breaking Rules Publishing editor’s-choice “best of 2020” collection (March 24, 2021) – Available for purchase in print or digital

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “Something Innocent and Benign,” a fantasy bedtime story
  • Published by The Weird and Whatnot (April 10, 2021) – Available for purchase in print and digital

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “Through the Darkest of Stars, Toward the Cruelest of Fates,” a gender-bent sci-fi gothic ghost comedy
  • Published by Bowery Gothic (Feb. 14, 2020)

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “Up the Last Hill,” a deathbed confession, many years in the making
  • Published as Runner-Up in The Story Engine/The Shortest Story 100-word Microfiction Contest (Sept. 30, 2020)

• A ‘John’s Fave’ pick! – “The Well-trained Thing in Constance’s Dress,” a Lovecraftian comedy with tentacles and frocks
  • Published by The Siren’s Call (Oct. 22, 2019 – story starts on page 161)

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Available Now

Read for Free Online

• “But Each Night,” a tiny gothic ghost romance
  • Published by Trembling With Fear (Sept. 27, 2020)

• “The Diplomat’s Husband,” a comedic misadventure of intergalactic diplomacy
  • NEW: Published by The Drabble (June 16, 2021)

• “First-date Territory,” an out-of-this-world meet-cute
  • Published by The Daily Drunk (July 28, 2020)

• “Goldilocks and the Three Instagram Followers,” a young-adult comedy that dares you to smash that Like button
  • NEW: Published by Every Day Fiction (Aug. 2, 2021)

• “Hard Five,” a warning about the trouble that comes with being a comic who cares
  • Published by The Drabble (Nov. 27, 2019)

• “How Things Come to Us and How Things Go From Us,” a friendship that spans decades, told in reverse
  • NEW: Shortlisted in the Australian Writers’ Centre Furious Fiction competition (June 29, 2021)

• “Impostor Syndrome,” a teenage melodrama with a twist
  • Published by The Drabble (Nov. 6, 2019)

• “In One Ear,” a teeny-tiny, creepy-crawly tale of an unscratchable itch
  • Published by Scribes*MICRO*Fiction (March 15, 2021)

• “Journey or Retreat?,” a role-playing game about the roles we play
  • Published by Outcast Magazine (Dec. 27, 2020)

• “Out With the Old,” a tense nighttime confrontation
  • Published by Suddenly and Without Warning (July 3, 2020)

• “Perfect Jake and the Bank Heist That Goes Wrong,” a time-bendy caper romance
  • Published in the premiere issue of Briefly Write (June 27, 2020)

• “Professional Boundaries,” an unexpected tale of an unexpected friendship
  • Published by Intrinsick (Sept. 6, 2020)

• “Pronounced,” a reminder that same-sex marriage begat the apocalypse
  • Published by 101 Words (Oct. 7, 2019)

• “Scareplane,” a ghoulish jaunt through the not-so-friendly skies
  • Published by 101 Words (Sept. 4, 2021)

• “The Sequel’s Sometimes Better Than the Original,” a sci-fi comedy right off the big screen
  • NEW: Published by Paper Butterfly Flash Fiction (Aug. 1, 2021)

• “Snow Friend of Mine,” a holiday tale of a young girl and her fluffy white friend
  • Honorable mention in the 2019 Weird Christmas Flash Fiction Contest (Dec. 14. 2019)
  • Audio recording available — see below

• “Something in His ‘i’s,” a sci-fi drama about love and loss
  • Winner of the Johnson County (Kansas) Library Imagine Your Story Writing Contest (July 12, 2020)

• “Undetected,” a comedy caper in the cul-de-sac
  • Published by A Story in 100 Words (Feb. 25, 2021)

• “Unscouted Territory,” a cautionary tale about children in the woods
  • Published by Speculate This (July 27, 2020)

• “Wedlock,” a bite-sized piece of modern-gothic horror
  • Published by Trembling With Fear (Feb. 14, 2020)

• “What That’s Not,” a quick look at a busybody friend
  • Published by 101 Words (Oct. 26, 2019)

• 10-word stories
  • “Just for Now” – published by Potato Soup Journal (July 15, 2019)
  • “Last First Date” – published by Potato Soup Journal (July 28, 2019)
  • “Second Contact” – published by Dime Show Review (Nov. 11, 2019)
  • “Some Ham (At Dinner)” – published by Potato Soup Journal (Dec. 12, 2019)

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Listen for Free Online (audio recordings)

• “From Pepper Valley,” a long-simmering romance, finally resolved via letters
  • Read by Michael Stevens on A Story Most Queer podcast (Sept. 16, 2020)

• “Snow Friend of Mine,” a holiday tale of a young girl and her fluffy white friend
  • Read by the author on the Weird Christmas podcast (Dec. 14, 2019 — story starts around the 14:45 mark)

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Available Now for Purchase

• “All I Want for Christmas Is Kyle McDaniels’ Heart,” a holiday tale of crushes and covens
  • Published in Macabre Ladies Publishing’s Dark Celebration: Holiday Horror Book Four (Sept. 15, 2020) – Available for purchase in print or digital

• “Frizzyland Fracas,” a theme-park drama
  • Published in Triangle Writers Magazine (April 1, 2020) – Available for purchase in print and digital

• “Mother’s Warning,” a creepy short horror story
  • Published in Dream of Shadows (Aug. 29, 2020) – Available for purchase in print and digital

• “Wedlock,” a bite-sized piece of modern-gothic horror
  • Reprint in Archer Publishing’s Darker Than Night: An Anthology of Horror (Sept. 25, 2020) – Available for purchase in print and digital

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Coming Soon

• “The Well-trained Thing in Constance’s Dress,” a Lovecraftian comedy with tentacles and frocks
  • Reprint publishing soon by peculiar
  • Audio recording coming soon on the Gallery of Curiosities podcast

• “When You Climb Toward, You Also Climb Away,” a 42-word eulogy to a relationship
  • Publishing soon from 42 Stories Anthology

• “You Peli-can’t Hurry Love,” a tender romance between a woman and a pelican-person
  • Publishing soon by peculiar

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