THE STORM
Well, Ohio did it again. This week the Arctic breeze covered my region in over 12 inches of snow, trapping me and my family in the house for days. I got a nice 3-hour workout shoveling the driveway and sidewalk, and it was super fun to drive to work after four days of sheltering in place. Spoiler alert: I got stuck at the bottom of my driveway for a hot second. But I’m all good now!
Here’s the fun bit, though. While the ice storm is wreaking havoc across the land, the publishing world keeps humming along. If you haven’t read my January Featured Story “The Waiting Friends,” get over to Whisper House Press and do it now! It’s free, for Pete’s sake. Or, rather: for Augie’s sake — which you’ll soon see for yourself.
NEW STORIES!
Other news? Well, I have a new book out! Available TODAY, this handsome tome from Wicked Shadow Press can be all yours!
Why yes, YULEHIDE: The Red Book is a Christmas horror anthology, but so what? It’s so dang snowy and cold out, it’s practically still the holidays. My story is one I’m really proud of: “Carol of the Hells” is my twisted take on the famed Dickens ghost story, only told from the perspective of the ghost.
Carol is an insurance claim clerk whose death brings about a promotional opportunity. Now she’s a case worker for the FDB (The Future Damned Bureau) and she must scare straight the sinners who are on the path to moral destruction. Seems easy, right? Well, not so fast! Carol has a quota to hit, and her latest project is one hell of a case. Mr. Scrooge? She wishes! Pick up the book now and enjoy my tale and many others, collected in this gorgeously illustrated volume.
You know what else is happening? I have yet another story out! That’s right, my micro-short tale “Lesson Learned” has debuted on Flash Phantoms on February 1. This is a free, quick read. The story is about an urban-legend serial slasher, and it will have you in suspense, only to resolve the tension with a punchline and a laugh. Check it out — it’ll only take a couple minutes to read.
A SURPRISE AWARD
In this month’s most unexpected news: I am now an award-winning author! This is truly wild, y’all. The sci-fi anthology Beyond from Inkd Publishing, featuring my name on the cover and my story “Sister Zynn” in the table of contents, has won the 2025 Critters Annual Readers Poll Award for “Best Anthology.” Cue swoon! Feast your eyes on my first literary accolade:
And it only gets better from there. By an odd twist of fate, I have an ironic relationship to two of the other anthologies nominated in our category. First, I will show you the books which we had beat out for the prize:
A solid list, if I do say so myself. However, when I saw the runner-up anthology, L Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Vol 41, I had a visceral core memory recollection. Back in 2004 (yikes!) I had submitted my first and only story to an anthology. This was back in the days of physical mailings and having to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you wanted to hear back. Well, hear back I did: my story, which I’d written in my senior year of high school, and featured a writer protagonist whose characters start to haunt him in real life, was somehow… rejected!
I know! Gasps all around. After waiting for months, getting that rejection was a blow to my ego and my self-image. Maybe I’m not a writer, after all, I thought to myself. I guess it’s a pipe dream that’s never meant to be… And I literally gave up on submitting stories anywhere else… FOR THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS! Yes, I wrote several stage plays that got produced locally during that time. Yes, I continued to write stories, novels, and scripts. But I never dared to share another manuscript with a publisher or editor for fear of a cruel rejection.
So what was the anthology that killed my creative hope? At the time, it was being guest-edited by Orson Scott Card, and the “nope” answer had wounded my soul. The title of it was L Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Vol 20. Now, fast-forward to 2026. I have received 34 story acceptances from publishers across four continents, just in the past year and a half. I’m extremely pleased with my late-bloomer writing journey. And then I get the news of this award! Seeing the runner-up was only a bonus.
Oh, and my second connection to these nominees was a more recent rejection I received, for a story I wrote custom for the book, a story which they didn’t want. That’s okay, though. I’m actually a lot better at coping with rejections now than I’ve ever been. I’ve received nearly 100 rejections in 2025 alone, so I’ve grown a thicker skin since I was a sad-sack 20 year-old opening an envelope that killed my hope for two decades. Water under the bridge!
COMING SOON
I’ve got some fun publications coming up in February. This includes another non-fiction article: a guest writer spot for a publisher who really liked my musings on the art of crafting empathy-led stories. I’m excited to share that one when it’s out on February 27. There are also a couple of anthologies that could be dropping between now and then, so keep an eye out! My genre-spanning journey continues this year, and I’m very happy with it.
Well, gentle readers… it’s time to say goodbye, for now. I hope the snowstorm and the ice freeze will not affect your home. Stay safe, keep the fire in the hearth alive, and continue reading what you love. Until next time. Take care, reader friends!
MR