Fairy Tale Review Interview

Many thanks to Managing Editor Joel Hans and Fairy Tale Review for asking me some great questions about automatons and dementia as part of their "Pins and Needles" series on the Fairy Tale Review blog.

"For me, the uncanniness of wind-up toys and automatons is that they enable the fantasy of our own reality—I am an independent, self-sufficient individual with the agency to determine my own future—while also undermining that fantasy."

My story "Wind-Up Toy" is in the current issue, the Mauve Issue, and you can read an excerpt of it below the interview.

"The Wood Thrush" in Devil's Lake

My flash fiction, "The Wood Thrush," is in the Spring 2015 issue of Devil's Lake.

I followed Sissy up a path where the oak leaves had left their green handprints in the mud. I never recognized any of the forks and byways she took me down. It was as if the birds had sung her a secret map.

Fairy Tale Review, The Mauve Issue

My story "Wind-Up Toy" is in the most recent issue of Fairy Tale Review, The Mauve Issue.

If you're on Goodreads, you should consider entering the Giveaway for one of two free copies of the journal. You can pre-order the issue here, and subscribe here. Another excellent issue--the 11th!--of this stellar journal of contemporary fairy tales.

Three Stories in NANO Fiction 8.2

My contributor's copies of NANO Fiction 8.2 arrived the other day, with a gorgeous wrap-around cover by Mercedes Helnwein.

I have three stories in this issue, all from a related project, as I discuss in the interview on the NANO Fiction web site. Here are the titles and first lines of the stories.

"House of Stars"

Daddy and the other men from the neighborhood came splashing down the creek toward our house, Daddy carrying Sissy in his arms and she writhing against him, raving.

"The New Kids"

These were rowdy and ill-behaved children and we didn’t belong here, Sissy and I decided.

"Old Voices"

There is a dead boy down in the wet basement.

And here is a recording of me reading this last story at NANO Fiction's Soundcloud page.

Order the issue or subscribe. I've been a subscriber for a few years now, and I always eagerly devour it every time it arrives.

Interview at NANO Fiction

Kirby Johnson at NANO Fiction was kind enough to ask me five questions about my three stories that appear in the latest issue, 8.2. There is also a recording of me reading one of the stories, "Old Voices." Here's the first sentence:

"There is a dead boy in the wet basement."

I hope you'll check it out and order the issue, which has a wonderful list of contributors and looks to be another excellent issue.