News: My story “Counting Mississippis” will appear in Kaleidotrope in 2016! I’m pretty excited that this story found such a cool home. I’ll post an update here closer to the publication date.
Previews: Pictured are just a few of the blog posts I’ve scheduled for the A to Z Challenge.
Edit, 5/1/2015: Most of these never happened – but they are still in my Drafts folder and are slowly coming along. I failed the challenge but will win the war.
Aren’t You Glad…urban lore at its finest.
Carny Uncles & Charlie Hats: I come from a carny family. A couple of years ago, I sat a few of the uncles down and got them to tell me some of their stories of the road. This one made me sick.
Detroit Foreclosures: What You Need to Know: This one’s mostly for other Detroiters. Our foreclosure process is well-defined…to a point. If you are in danger of losing your home in one of Detroit’s foreclosure auctions, there still may be time to save it.
Girl Into Gorilla: Another tale from the Carny Uncles. This one’s fun.
Even a Child in its Cradle, Knows Hyena: One of the characters in my WIP is a shapeshifting Nigerian-American demon who spends a great deal of his time in a hyena aspect. This post examines some of the Hausa lore surrounding Hyena and discusses (briefly) tactics for integrating folkore with modern dark fiction.
Knock Knock: Knock-Knock Road is one of Southeastern Michigan’s best-loved urban legends, and yet almost nothing is known about the person at the center of the tale.
Zug Island is one of Southeastern Michigan’s most-hated industrial sites, but many metro Detroiters know almost nothing about its history or how the hell one of the biggest polluters in the world is allowed to operate just a few miles from a major urban center.
The posts will go up every evening (except Sundays) in April*. Urban legends, true carny tales, international folklore, and a taste of everyday living in Detroit. Pop some popcorn and pull up a chair…this is going to be fun.
*Or, you know, at random over the next two years.
As one of your beta readers while you were writing “Mississippi,” I know it’s a powerful story, worthy of publication in such a fine magazine. Wonderful news!
Thanks, Vernie! I think it’s gone through at least 3 edits since you saw it so (fingers crossed) it should be even better now 🙂