I stink. Thankfully, the cilia in my nose are frozen solid so I can’t smell myself. Like drips collecting at the tip of an icicle, my thoughts form at a glacial crawl. The odor of a body emitting freonic chemicals is rank. The first experiment lasted three days and my stench was lab-clearing, canary-killing noxious. […]
This year I’m celebrating my 51st New Year. I have many fond memories of family, food, games, traditions. As a child we would step out our front door and bang pot lids with wooden spoons to ring in the new year. I still watch Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, at least for those last […]
TEN TIPS TO TURN EIGHTEEN YEARS INTO OVERNIGHT SUCCESS! For over the twelve-plus months that THE GUTTERS ran, I unpacked the spaces in between writing and success in publishing my first major novel, HEX-RATED. Because the kids these days love listicles, I thought I’d round up the year by distilling 10,000 or so words into […]
The man is and is not a god. The prayer is not whispered in temple. It is arranged in subatomic particles. “I want out,” I say through teeth gritted against the stale air of my tiny lab. He is amused. His teeth are preternaturally white. “That’s an unusual request. Most people want more of ‘in’ […]
“I’m thinking of painting the front porch,” my grandmother said. “Maybe a bright spring yellow.” I trapped the phone against one ear with my shoulder. “Gram? Did you hear what I said?” “Hmm?” “I said, ‘I have something to tell you,’ and you said, ‘Me too’ and I said, ‘I’m gay,’ and you said, ‘I’m […]
When the dragon drops from the sky and torches the tiny fishing town, Rona does not approach. Instead, she grits her teeth and watches. She digs her fingernails into her palms until they bleed, tamping down her urge to run forward. “Remember the rules,” Rona whispers, watching the smoke. Rona doesn’t move, not even when […]