It appears I may speak freely now as to the forthcoming appearance in print of a story by one Yarrow Paisley, and so I shall, so I shall. But first, I must prepare a cup of coffee. It has become a ritual of mine to use the pourover method, which not only produces an outstanding hot beverage, but it conserves beans … the apparatus itself only cost me about two dollars … requires a little “puttering,” however …

Ah, ’tis on the boil … and before it screams, I here quickly mention that I will have a story published in an anthology called Marked to Die: A Tribute to Mark Samuels (Snuggly Books), which will appear in May 2016. A full list of contributors may be found behind the link.

My former gig, Gone Lawn, has released its Autumn issue (having, I b’lieve, skipped Summer). There’s some excellent work in there!

Highlights (in my estimation, obviously; you should read all and judge for thyself): Stephanie Dickinson’s “Postcards” deliver gorgeous, baroque, and poignant prose—the key to my lit heart. Ted Lardner’s “Haibun: Cricket Cage in Our Mother’s Basement” is an elegant and harrowing meditation on the firebombing of Tokyo, which I found resonant with my recent viewing of Hiroshima mon amour. Vidya Panicker’s “The Snake Charmer” is charming indeed, at least to an underfoot limbless entity such as me! These are just a few examples … Gone Lawn teems with more, I promise, so go check it out!

Congratulations, Owen Kaelin, for keeping the Gone Lawn light burning so brilliantly!

Issue # 52 of Theaker’s Quarterly Fiction is finally upon the world, stretching its thews and tonguing its chops, eyeballs swiveling for signs of prey … And guess what? My very own story is tattooed in its flesh! That’s right, you can read my story on the skin of a genuine, bone-fide Satisfaction-Guaranteed-Or-Your-Money-Back MONSTER!!!

Okay, not so much a monster, per se, as a rather cute and non-ostentatious lit mag out of the UK that is featuring my story “Rocking Horse Traffic” … a story, like so many of my stories, of which I am inordinately fond and swooning with pleasure and pride at its first flight. TQF is available for free in pdf, mobi, and epub formats. If you don’t mind parting from a small satchel of lucre, you can purchase a paperback version or a Kindle version.

Tickling me delightfully about my appearance in these pages: Douglas J. Ogurek, whose brilliant fiction I was extremely proud to publish (twice) during my editing stint at Gone Lawn, is the staff film reviewer at Theaker’s, and so our work nestles happily together within the same volume!

(Doesn’t really matter, I suppose, but I, aw shucks, always get a bit naturally bubbly when my work appears alongside my ol’ Gone Lawn playmates.)

Also:

Never too busy to make a wrong turn when necessary!

For example, my most recent wrong turn delivered me here.

And that is only the van! Throbbing throngs in hot pursuit! An invading army of pronunciations swarming down your ear canals!

She calls her voice her purr. Yes yes yes.

I won’t be drawn into podcasts, however. Will not. Not not not.

Rachel Kendall, the editor of Sein und Werden — an eclectic and energetic online lit mag for which I reserve abundant affection, since several of my own works have appeared there over the years — has been having quite the year! I refer to two items:

Her debut novel, Stranger Days, was released unto the world just a few weeks ago. It is a fast and engaging read, told in an epistolary form, recommended to lovers of Paris, existentialists, aesthetes, and bohemians. A great deal of attention is lavished on descriptions of Parisian landmarks and the features, quirks, and attitudes of the city’s denizens … I don’t know whether to call our diarist a flâneur or a tourist! (I think the former, since she actually applies some observational effort, logging details that a casual tourist might not catch.) The psychology is dark and twisted, I hasten to add; let us not imagine that this is merely some foray into fashionable Frenchiness! No, no, it is also a foray into freakish delusion and mental illness!

Sein und Werden has been nominated for a British Fantasy Award for Best Periodical! I know who I’m rooting for!

Congratulations to Rachel for these stellar achievements: I hope her year gets even better!

I have discovered that a Kindle edition of Strange Tales V has been released. You should, of course, buy the unique and gorgeous hardcover edition, but in these difficult economic times, etcetera and ahem … The point being, this volume contains superb stories from many fine writers—me, for example—and it is in your interest (as an earnest readerly type) to acquire and read the book in any medium and by any means.

If you require further persuasion, then I encourage you to examine this nifty Real Time Review of the anthology!