2020: the year of short stories

Wow! What a strange year! It’s not over yet, and a lot can happen. So far in 2020, I’ve been busy releasing a book, submitting many short stories to anthologies, taking on a staff-writer position for a shared-world series, working on a new book, dealing with the kids’ at-home learning, and I’ve recovered from a COVID infection.

Instead of a boring rehash of everything that’s happened, I’m going to keep it positive and brief. Here are some of my accomplishments this year:

Lucid Screams was released in February. This short story collection is eligible in the fiction collection category for the Bram Stoker Awards. If you’re an HWA member, reach out and ask how you can get a digital copy for free. (No tricks. I’m just offering it to members so they can consider whether they think it’s worth recommending.)

Short story: Never Have I Ever published by Sinister Smile Press in If I Die Before I Wake, Volume 2: Tales of Supernatural Horror.

I was offered a staff writer position for Crystal Lake Publishing’s Still Water Bay, a dark fiction shared-world series. My episode, Manananggal was released in September. My next episode, Leucrocotta will be coming out soon.

Short story: Black Feathered Fury was published by Sinister Smile Press in If I Die Before I Wake, Volume 3: Tales of Deadly Women and Retribution. Here’s me, posing with my copy!

Short Story: One Year Anniversary was published in Sliced Up Press’s Slashertorte: An Anthology of Cake Horror.

WE ARE WOLVES is a charity anthology edited by Gemma Amor, Laurel Hightower, and Cina Pelayo. It will help raise funds for victims of sexual abuse and assault. I had seen some tweets by Gemma and Laurel, announcing this project. I was so impressed with the idea, I reached out immediately and let them know if I could help in any way, I was here for it. Shortly after, I was invited to write a short story. My story Doll House now has a home in this charity anthology. Lesson learned: take the chances and make yourself available. Watch for its release by Burial Day in December.

Short story: Blood Bogged was accepted by Sci-Fi & Scary for publication in their body horror anthology, Twisted Anatomy. This charity anthology will raise funds for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association and the National Domestic Violence Hotline. It will be released February 2021.

Short story: A Cold Day in Hell was accepted for publication in Shiver: A Chilling Horror Anthology, edited by Nico Bell. It will be released January 2021.

Short story: Caecillica has been accepted for publication by Sinister Smile Press in If I Die Before I Wake, Volume 4: Tales of Nightmare Creatures. To be released February 2021.

I’ve also written a couple flash stories this year for my website that are free to read: Creation of Man and Valentine’s Day. There are still some short story submissions out there awaiting rejection or acceptance. My story Allie’s New Crayon just became a finalist in Crystal Lake Publishing’s Shallow Waters flash fiction challenge. So we’ll see what happens with that. And there’s a killer holiday anthology coming out by the end of the month (a rushed project being thrown together by Gabino Iglesias and Cemetery Gates Media) which I submitted to. Odds are very slim on that one. But it’s worth a shot.

Thanks for your support this year. It’s been a weird ride. I hope you’re all in good health. Stay safe and happy reading!