150 flash/short stories published across more than 80 books in just about 3 years.
That's nothing to sneeze at. I've been working on a website (this one!) and a couple of others. They're inextricably bound but wildly different. This site, specifically, is the very heart of me.
As I was putting the pieces together and revisiting all those stories, I realized how scattered they are. Crossing genres, exploring styles and themes, playing between the lines - that's all good stuff. Some authors make an entire career out of genre-bouncing. I find them fascinating!
I am not them. Though I have dabbled in almost every genre I can find (including Western, but not ever Weird), I haven't felt comfortable in most.
I thought, as anyone who grew up in the 80s surrounded by absolutely magnificent escapism in books and movies, that fantasy would be a fun path to take.
And it is! It really is! For reading and watching. For writing? I have wandered paths where elves strolled and dwarves marched. I have seen cliffs scored by dragon's breath. I have struggled to pen each word, feeling very much the intruder I am. Imposter. Hack.
The same is true of science fiction. There's a distinction in the sci-fi world: hard or soft. I'm more cotton candy.
I discovered the dark versions of everything. Dark fantasy is deliciously sexy. Dark sci-fi is cosmic terror. Dark spec fic dances with the genre what brung her.
The path started to narrow. Focus. Less expectational stress. But still not quite right.
I have long had a fascination with Things That Go Bump. In the night, in full daylight, whatever. I will watch just about any possession move or "Haunted" show (except the live action ones that are all fake). Most over and over.
It never occurred to me that this is the stuff I could be writing. Should be writing.
And so we come to the point of my ramblings. This thing I love has been under my nose this
entire journey. I've dipped in and out, planned works that got set aside for what I thought I should be doing. What younger me dreamt of doing.
Older me is wiser and ready to step onto the road I have spent a lifetime both avoiding and preparing.
I'll still veer off on the occasional side quest. A submission call will catch my imagination and I'll bound off to ride unicorns or dogfight with spaceships. But my heart and quill will be walking into creepy shadows and feral lands. I hope you'll follow! I've heard there's sunlit groves on the other side.
Maybe.
(Huge shoutout to https://twitter.com/HooklandGuide for wild and targeted inspiration)
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