Tag: southern writing

The Waiting Fire – published by Slippery Elm Literary Journal

My short story ‘The Waiting Fire’ has been published in Slippery Elm‘s 2019 edition.  Visit their website to buy a copy of the journal now!  Here’s a brief excerpt from my story:

This can’t be happening. I feel the colors draining from my body, leaving nothing behind but the outline of what might have been. I can’t feel my heart, I can’t find my next breath. I’m lost in a world burning bright. All I can see are the flames eating my house.

Visit Slippery Elm‘s website to buy a copy of the journal now. Let me know what you think!

The Sound of Father’s Gun – published by Bookends Review

My short story ‘The Sound of Father’s Gun’ was just published by Bookends Review.  Follow this link to read the full story.  Below is a brief excerpt:

Mother pushes us out the door and across the porch, yelling for us to hurry up, like it’s a race to see who gets there first.  The sound of her keys jingling around worries me, making me wonder what would happen if she dropped them down between the slats of wood beneath our feet.  My sister freezes in place, tears in her eyes even as she tries to hold them back – and I realize she’s holding us back.  Her feet are bare like mine, but I’ve already made it to the car while hers are stuck in place; our black cat walks over and rubs up against her leg, unaware that this is an emergency. 

Keep reading here.  Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Grasshopper – published by Jonathan

My short story “Grasshopper” was published back in 2013 in Jonathan Issue 04: A Journal of Gay Fiction.  Click on the link if you’re interested in ordering a copy from Sibling Rivalry Press.  Here’s an excerpt from the story:

For such a violent act, he did it with the most delicate precision I’d ever seen, snatching a grasshopper up from the ground and flicking it against our electric fence in one swift move, watching its twitchy little legs pop off.  A single line of juiced barbed wire enclosed the pasture, keeping the cows and lone bull safely confined.  “You got your eyes open?” he’d ask, hunching down near the fence, his left hand balanced on one knee as he searched through the grass.  They were everywhere, so it never took him long.  Wade liked performing such tricks, all to the morbid delight of my eleven-year-old eyes.  I wouldn’t touch the alien insects, no matter how many times he tried to show me how to flick them just right.

I wrote this story a number of years ago .. I really like it and hope you do too! Again, if you want to read the full story, the issue it ran in is still available for purchase.  Just follow this link.

Daisy May in the Driveway – published by Literary Orphans

My short story ‘Daisy May in the Driveway’ was just published by Literary Orphans (in Issue 31: Harryhausen).  Click this link to read the full story.  Here’s a brief excerpt:

Nobody knew what Daisy May was doing parked in the driveway, sitting perfectly still, her hands gripping the wheel as she stared straight ahead, not looking at our house but just beyond it, to the backyard, the pasture, and the dark woods in the distance.

“I’m calling the sheriff,” my mother said.

“Now, don’t do that,” Daddy told her. “She’ll get bored before long. No use in making a scene.”

Click here to read the full story.  Leave a comment to let me know what you think!