Fiction
Maej
A unique, complex high fantasy novel. Watch out for:
☞ gryphons, berserker rages, and fate-worship
☞ algorithmic magic spells and secret agent anthropologists
☞ hallucinogenic flower wine, poetry battles, and Da Vincian flying contraptions
☞ a matriarchal society colliding with a patriarchal one
☞ an underground city, a gaolbreak, and an awful politician assassinated on the toilet
Published October 2024 by tRaum Books.
Melancholic Parables
A collection of 91 pieces of short fiction & prose.
“If I wanted to read something while dissociating on ketamine, I might pick this,” says one reviewer.
The paperback is 8 bucks. Find out more here.
Váried Parályses
Eight short stories that might be claustrophobic, or semi-hinged, or regretful, or vengeful, or evil.
Previously published in JMWW, The Denver Quarterly, Litro US Online, and elsewhere.
The paperback is 4 bucks. Find out more here.
Short stories
‘Art Is a Service’: Publishing’s Rise from the Ashes with Nao Hovgaard
Instant Classic (That No One Will Read), 23 November 2023.
An interview with a plucky entrepreneur who has cracked the code for getting rich off others’ art.
Story
None Guessed
Swamp Ape Review, vol. 6, 14 October 2023
A very brief meditation on the fact that no one guessed what Taraneh’s final thoughts were.
Paige Hoshino’s Dream Comes to Pass
JMWW, 22 March 2023.
Paige finds out what she would do if that dream of hers were to come to pass.
Now included in my short fiction chapbook Váried Parályses.
A Breathless Plea for Guidance Postmarked the Twenty-Third of May
Defenestration Magazine, 1 February 2023.
An infinite letter to an Agony Aunt which may have been written by Saramago. Classified fake nonfiction, which may be a fake classification – who can say…?
Pharinexin
Planet Scumm, no. 14, 22 November 2022.
Nurul is forced to grapple with reaping the benefits of a devastating loss.
The issue is print-only, but my speculative flash story has been put online as a teaser. Read it here.
Now included in my short fiction chapbook Váried Parályses.
The Pacifier
Samjoko Magazine, Summer Issue I, 15 August 2022.
A superhero near the end of her career reflects on the past and worries for the future.
Now included in my short fiction chapbook Váried Parályses.
The Biteworthy
Denver Quarterly no 56.3, July 2022.
Bentley Grass commits armed robbery, armed with a venomous snake.
I don't think you can read the issue online. If you can, get your hands on a print copy.
Now included in my short fiction chapbook Váried Parályses.
Rainbursts
Selcouth Station, 20 June 2022.
A contemplation on the inescapable habit some of us have of bottling things up till we burst.
Now included in my short fiction chapbook Váried Parályses.
Apple Smoke
Freshwater Literary Journal, 18 May 2022.
A child who was never given a voice in life, and whom you destroyed, speaks to you now.
Now included in my short fiction chapbook Váried Parályses.
It Is One Hundred Years since Our Children Left
Impossible Task no. 8, 28 April 2022.
Bellatrix Sakakino perpetually craves a food that may not ever satisfy her.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Et lux perplexua luceat eis
Grim & Gilded no. 3, 31 March 2022.
Bellatrix Sácac-Quinaux trespasses into a ghost-infested village.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Two Parables
"Creeping Infallibility" – In which the modern mind is, more than anything, a bureaucracy.
"Retroactive Discontinuity" – On the morning commuter train, Bellatrix finds the surprising script for a play.
– Two parables published in The Avenue, Issue VII: Freedom, 31 January 2022.
These stories are also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Nyetovshchik
Defenestration Magazine, 29 December 2021.
I ponder our protocol for getting into elevators.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Tints and Hues
Short Circuit no. 8, 4 December 2021, available through Short Êdition story dispensers and online.
Bellatrix Sakakino fades from nauseating and garish hues to just the right softness.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Two Parables
"Done and Dusted" – A reminiscence on the way Bellatrix Sakakiko's last words linger with me.
"Unring the Bells" – What everybody who cared about Bellatrix did for her Last Day.
– Two parables published in Masque & Spectacle no. 22, 1 September 2021.
These stories are also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Virus sin nombre
The Red Lemon Review no. 1, 9 August 2021.
A potted history of Elaine Gruber's peculiar personal problem.
Click here to read the whole issue.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Manywhere
pacific REVIEW 2021 edition "The Mirror Maze", 2 August 2021.
Bellatrix Sakakino encounters fate in the form of her opposite-sex genetic clone.
Click here to buy the issue from the publisher, or click here for Bezosferatu.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Geistergarten
Bluepepper, 28 July 2021.
Three tales in weird parallel whose characters don't exist—they happen.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Care for a Canoodle?
The Daily Drunk, 6 July 2021.
A budding romance encounters an unforeseen setback.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Tumpangisme
Vol.1 Brooklyn, Sunday Stories, 27 June 2021.
I swallow an eraser, and then I swallow an eraser-stopper.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
The Heriot
Punk Noir Magazine, 25 June 2021.
Brad Merle Gost passes the final night before his execution.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Antediluvian Optimism
Sci-Fi Lampoon winter 2021 ed., 14 June 2021.
Bellatrix visits a world where the rules of human reproduction are very different.
You can't read it online (I think), but there's a paperback for sale at the link above.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
That Fast
Third Wednesday vol. XIV no. 3, 25 May 2021.
Blaise customizes a bit for Radiyah.
The journal is not available to read for free online, as far as I know. Paperback copies are available from Amazon.
Dysregulation
Wrongdoing Magazine no. 1, 15 May 2021.
After forty years under a terrifying spectre, Bellatrix tires all the way out.
An omnibus issue full of art, poetry, and prose, beautifully designed.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Faute de mieux
Toyon Literary Magazine Vol 67: De Dos Lados, 29 April 2021.
Our struggles on the farm illustrate how one thing leads to another.
To read the story, go here and then download the PDF.
An audio version of the issue is available on Youtube and forthcoming on SoundCloud. This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Murmurs in the Moiré
Press Pause Vol. 4, 13 April 2021.
Sarah does what she always does while Abe and Isaac are out somewhere.
Read for free at the link above or buy a print copy for a very reasonable eight bucks.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Burning of Judas
Twin Pies Literary Vol IV, 12 April 2021.
Bellatrix at the bakery, demanding her due as a customer.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
On donne l’idée du vrai avec du faux
Menacing Hedge, Issue 10.03, 12 April 2021.
A statue to Bellatrix gets raised and then torn down. This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Bonus track: their Scary Bush page features an embarrassing poem I wrote as a teenager titled (wait for it) "Untitled."
Bad News, Boss
Anthologized in The Chorochronos Archives, 11 April 2021.
Professor Stromberg tries to change history.
The book, from sci-fi and speculative fiction publishers JayHenge Publishing, collects stories on time travel.
Tayy al-Arḍ
MoonPark Review, no. 15, 20 March 2021.
Bellatrix is the only one not pushing the cruise ship.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Dree Your Weird
ThereAfter Magazine, Issue 01, 8 March 2021.
The owner of a china shop cannot seem to make a sale.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
A New Lease on Life (with No Escape Clause)
Bright Flash Literary Review, 4 February 2021.
Bellatrix is reborn with all the memories of her previous life intact.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Firstable
The Molotov Cocktail, vol. 11 issue 10, 1 February 2021.
Bellatrix's mother tongue: modem squeals.
Check that cover art, dude. The issue also includes stories by Hayli McClain and Bethany Holmstrom.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Trial by Ordeal
Litro US Online, published as a #StorySunday piece 31 January 2021.
A woman zealously devoted to exposing the truth confronts a longtime enemy—but all is not as it seems.
Now included in my short fiction chapbook Váried Parályses.
Earth's Very Atmosphere
Belle Ombre, 29 December 2020.
Panic versus complacency when the very air cannot be breathed.
Now included in my short fiction chapbook Váried Parályses.
Lies Breathed through Silver
Gone Lawn 39, 21 December 2020.
A toymaker and his son struggle with and against each other.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Omissions from the Unsaid
CP Quarterly, Issue No. 10, 20 December 2020.
A near miss with a dropped vase.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Awful Tender
You Put the Speck in Speculation
Fever Dream Journal, 2 November 2020.
In which Bellatrix Sakakino is among the isotope smokers.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
We Shared Clothing and Laughed
Bowery Gothic, Edition IV: Fall 2020, 31 October 2020.
Bellatrix's world is overrun by a queer sort of undead.
The visual design of this journal is lovely.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Pontengisme
The Collidescope, 11 October 2020.
In a contrevoyant dream, Bellatrix is buffeted by confusing winds.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
World Turns to Slurry
Fudoki Magazine, 17 August 2020.
A little fable about Narcissus and his reflection.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
If You Needed It, You'd Be Dead by Now
In Issue #27 of Riggwelter, 1 July 2020
I report on a smoke concert I once attended.
Learn more or read the issue online here.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Two Parables
"Ngantukisme" – in which the whole world falls asleep.
"Mouthful of Molybdomancy" – in which we see what we've seen before.
– Two flash fiction pieces, New World Writing, 25 June 2020
These stories are also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Three Parables
"Whilst This Machine Is to Him" – a little fable about the Tin Man and Frankenstein's monster.
"Gardener of Human Happiness" – Bellatrix sets out to make the perfect omelette.
"Á sjálf sig þau trûðu" – in which Bellatrix and family discuss their mother's last will and testament.
– Three flash fiction pieces, After Dinner Conversation, 11 March 2020
Update: The publisher has made the pieces available as a standalone ebook on Amazon. Find out more here.
Another update: These three pieces have been included in After Dinner Conversation - Season Two: After Dinner Conversation Short Story Series, released August 2020. Learn more here.
These stories are also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Two Parables
"A Swim in the Glaire" – Rue Scribe, 29 December 2019. A little fable about encountering the Minotaur.
"The Martyr's Palm" – Rue Scribe, 27 December 2019. Bellatrix is at the supermarket, adrift.
Later versions of these stories are also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
My Memoirs Won’t Mention Me
Sonder Midwest, no. 4, 15 November 2019.
On the travails of working in the motion picture business.
This story is also included in my collection Melancholic Parables.
Just Whistle
Be Brave Bold Robot, no. 9, fall 2003.
Did you ever hear the one about the guy who taught his dick to whistle?
My first published story was in Be Brave Bold Robot, a Sacramento zine. An actual zine, photocopied and stapled and schlepped to shows to sell for a buck or so. These things haven't existed since before most of you were born.
Novels (forthcoming & works in progress)
Mæj – A contemplative high fantasy novel. To be published in 2024 by tRaum Books.
The Relic – A science fiction / fantasy hybrid novel I am co-authoring with Isaac Menuza. Still a work-in-progress.
Gyre – A “curio fiction” novella about family and fate. To be finished either soon or never.
Book Graveyard
Getback – A novel about things like drug addiction. Independently released in 2015, then removed from circulation in 2022 since not everything in life needs to last forever.
The Galoofus – A chapbook of five short stories. Self-published in 2023, then withdrawn in 2023 (“a poor ebook that struts and frets his hour upon the internet and then is heard no more”). Two stories (“The Pacifier” and “The Biteworthy”) found a new home in Váried Parályses.