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!

I finally received my contributor copies of this literary journal in the mail, and I have to say, I am impressed in every respect.

First, the design and production quality are top notch. I have been in more than several print journals at this point, and I would say this one is in the top tier when it comes to the physical sensation of holding it in your hands and looking at the words on the pages … no half-measures here!

Second, the quality of the featured literary work is also top notch, and I am honored to see my own writing in this mix. An arty and strange collection, which I’ve only begun to read through, but the stuff I’ve read has been excellent and affecting. Looks to be a lot of sui generis and assorted odd pieces; the subtitle or theme of the anthology is “beauty as an experience of the limit,” which is an excellent phrase, I think!

The story I have published in Vestiges is called “Daffodil In Ecstasy,” a piece for which I harbor quite a fondness, and I am so happy that I found such a classy home for it. If you want to read it, you’ll have to order yourself a copy of this brand new literary journal!

For several months, I have listed a forthcoming story publication on my Hullabaloo Page (I should possibly retitle that page) as TBA … and now I may finally A!

I will have a short story in the hardcover anthology Strange Tales V from Tartarus Press. The volume will be released on April 9, but one may preorder; the price is £35 (including worldwide postage).

(That’s right, pounds. I’m not sure what that comes to in dollars, maybe 50 bucks? Just how strong is the dollar these days? Only one way to find out: buy the book! ;)