I love reading short stories. When you need a quick fiction fix in the course of a busy day and you don’t want to commit to a novel, there’s nothing like a good short story to satisfy your reading addiction.
Writing stories is fun, too, and quicker than writing a novel. Sometimes. Sometimes a story spills forth like a gift from the gods, requiring only a bit of editing when you’re done with the draft. And sometimes a story demands more researching, soul-searching, and multiple drafts than seem humanly fair before the damn thing is done with you.
But oh! to see your own story in print. And sometimes, just sometimes, you may get lucky and sell the project to the movies for a big bag of gold. Inspiration strikes. Love at first sight. Good things happen. Tomorrow's Child happened like that. The project is still in active development at Universal Pictures.
Some of the stories below are collected in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories. Some of the novellas and novelettes are available as standalone ebooks. My Charlotte: Patty's Story is a memoir about writing and inspiration and includes "Arachne". Please see the links at the bottom of the page. The rest will make their way into a second collection, plus six brand-new stories, in Oddities: 22 Stories, published in 2020.
These stories may be hard for you to find since the magazine issues are long gone and most of the anthologies have gone out of print. That's why I'm publishing ebooks and story collections through Bast Books.
Chronologically, to wit:
“Arachne” Omni (December, 1987). Reprinted in Cyberpunk (March 1996, Replik [Sweden]) and by Hayakawa in Japan. An idealistic young lawyer, plugged into a hellish futuristic telespace, confronts a powerful ancient archetype. Reprinted in My Charlotte: Patty's Story. Will be republished in THE BIG BOOK OF CYBERPUNK in 2022!
“Guardian” Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (October, 1988). Reprinted in Transcendental Tales from Asimov’s Magazine (Donning Books, 1990). Reprinted in Asimov’s Ficcao Cientifica, Numero 5 (Brazil, 1990). Reprinted in Unter Die Haut (Fama Verlag, 1991 [Germany]). A woman terrorized by urban crime invokes a supernatural Haitian protector. Reprinted in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories.
“Deus Ex Machina” Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (December, 1988). Reprinted in Transcendental Tales from Asimov’s Magazine (Donning Books, 1990). Reprinted in Asimov’s Ficcao Cientifica, Numero 6 (Brazil, 1990). Reprinted in Gogols Frau (Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1994 [Germany]). During the next devastating Big Quake in San Francisco, a professional woman encounters a compelling terrorist and uncovers a terrible corporate conspiracy. Expanded into a novella in Shaken.
“The Oniomancer” Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (February, 1989). Nebula Short List, Best Novelette. Reprinted in Asimov’s Ficcao Cientifica Numero 7 (Brazil, 1990). Reprinted in Hayakawa Science Fiction Magazine (Japan, 1991). Reprinted in Unter Die Haut (Fama Verlag, 1991). The FIRST female punk bicycle messenger. Period. She finds an alien artifact on the street and all hell breaks loose. Reprinted in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories.
“Tomorrow’s Child” Omni (December, 1989) Film rights optioned, 1990—2000. Feature film rights sold outright to Universal Pictures January, 2001. An aerospace executive, desperate to save his estranged critically burned daughter, resorts to a mysterious artifact found in the old wreckage of a space craft. Tomorrow's Child is an ebook in its own right and includes my 30-day blog, "The Story Behind the Story that Sold to the Movies." Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
“Stripper” Unique (Premier Issue, July—August, 1990). Reprinted in Unter Die Haut (Fama Verlag, 1991). An exotic dancer with a touch of Kali and quantum powers foils the Mob when they try to muscle in on her turf. Reprinted in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories.
“Hummers” Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (February, 1991). Nebula Short List, Best Novelette. Reprinted in Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 5th Annual Collection (St. Martin’s Press, 1992). Edited by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow. An artist dying of cancer discovers guidance in ancient Egyptian magic. Reprinted in Hummers. Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
“Triad” Universe 2 (Doubleday/Bantam, 1992). Edited by Robert Silverberg and Karen Haber. An androgyne on a strange alien world falls in love with a seductress from an even stranger world. The anthology included stories by Brian Aldiss, Barry Malzberg, Joe Haldeman, Jonathan Lethem, Kathe Koja, Jamil Nasir, and Carolyn Gilman. Reprinted in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories.
“Destination” Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (September, 1992). Edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. On the road across America, one of the riders in Sal’s Delta Royale Eighty-Eight might be that serial killer the radio is buzzing about. But who? Based on my true story. Beware of ride boards. Reprinted in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories.
“The Sixty-third Anniversary of Hysteria” Full Spectrum 5 (Bantam, 1995) Edited by Jennifer Hershey et al. A retelling of the friendship between the Surrealist artists Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo, exiled in Mexico City during World War Two, and Carrington’s harrowing brush with madness. The anthology included stories by Michael Bishop, Karen Joy Fowler, and Neal Stephenson. Reprinted in The Sixty-third Anniversary of Hysteria. Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
“Felicitas” Desire Burn: Women’s Stories from the Dark Side of Passion (Carrol & Graf, 1995) Edited by Janet Berliner Gluckman. What’s a werecat to do when her rich, powerful boss by day won’t leave her alone by night? Includes stories by Joyce Carol Oates, Poppy Z. Brite, Katherine Dunn, Lucy Taylor, and Marina Fitch. Reprinted in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories.
“Daughter of the Tao” Peter S. Beagle’s Immortal Unicorn (HarperPrism, 1995) Edited by Peter S. Beagle and Janet Berliner Gluckman. In San Francisco’s Chinatown, 1895, a luckless slave girl finds salvation in Chinese magic from a fate worse than death. The anthology included stories by Peter S. Beagle, Judith Tarr, Susan Shwartz, Robert Devereaux, and Karen Joy Fowler. Reprinted as an ebook in Daughter of the Tao. Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
“Every Mystery Unexplained” David Copperfield’s Tales of the Impossible (HarperPrism, 1995) Edited by Janet Berliner Gluckman and the famed stage magician, David Copperfield. Reprinted in Poland, China, and other countries. In San Francisco 1895, it may be the Golden Age of stage magic, but Professor Flint, his son Danny, his assistant Uncle Brady, and their traveling magic show have hit the skids, resorting to fake séances to make ends meet. Through the transcendent power of love and the help of a mysterious beautiful lady, Danny discovers the secret of Uncle Brady's identity and faces the truth of his mother’s death. The anthology included stories by Ray Bradbury, Kevin J. Anderson, Joyce Carol Oates, F. Paul Wilson, and Dave Wolverton. Reprinted in Every Mystery Unexplained. Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
“Transformation and the Postmodern Identity Crisis” Fantastic Alice: New Stories from Wonderland (Ace, 1995). Edited by Margaret Weis. Whatever happened to Alice? She was such a peculiar little girl. What’s she like now, at forty? The perils of falling down the rabbit-hole can’t compare to the perils of leaving Wonderland behind. The anthology included stories by Roger Zelazny, Janet Asimov, Jody Lynn Nye, and Lawrence Watt-Evans. Reprinted in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories.
“The Hanged Man” The Shimmering Door: Stories of Sorcerers and Shamans, Witches and Warlocks, Enchanters and Spell-casters, Magicians and Mages (HarperPrism, 1996) Edited by Katharine Kerr. Snap, a disgruntled telelinker, discovers how to claim the freedom and success he craves thanks to a lovely gypsy who guides him through the secrets of the Tarot. The anthology included stories by Diana Paxson, Charles De Lint, Esther Friesner, and Nina Kiriki Hoffman. Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
"Teardrop" The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Spilogale Press, May-June 2015) An executive on the planet Bakdoor faces a crisis when members of his team arrive to arrest him for not doing his job. Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
"Tomorrow Is A Lovely Day" The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Spilogale Press, November-December 2015) A security guard charged with watching the Nostrodamus Machine faces the end of the world. And is compelled to change it. Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
"Anything For You" The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Spilogale Press, September-October 2016) A man addicted to an interactive television program can't force the character he controls to do what he wants. Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
"Illyria, My Love" (Bast Books, October 2016) Maya must keep a dark secret from her beloved Yuri. A backwards-in-time mystery. Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
"Riddle" The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Spilogale Press, September-October 2017, the 68th Anniversary issue) An artist down on his luck meets a dangerous supernatural entity. Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
"Dangerous" sold to a new anthology, Welcome to Dystopia, edited by award-winning Gordon Van Gelder, and was published in December, 2017. Good reviews have been coming in from all the place; I'll try to collect the links and post them.
"Aurelia" The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Spilogale Press, January-February 2018) An ambitious young lawyer marries a strange, wealthy woman. Is she insane? Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
"The Bicycle Whisperer" The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Spilogale Press, May-June 2018). Plus, I did an interview with Stephen Mazur, which explains what the story is about and the influences I brought to bear. How cool is that? Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
"Taiga" has been published in a quarterly digest, Not One of Us, # 61 edited by John Benson, April, 2019. Click on Taiga for John's description of his poetry and fiction digest, a description of Digest # 61, and my interview regarding "Taiga." Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories.
"Bess" has sold to Daily Science Fiction! The story was published in the May, 2019 online issue of DSF. Reprinted in ODDITIES: 22 Stories."House Hunting" was published in the May, 2020 issue of Daily Science Fiction. See the Index page for the online links.
"Crawl Space" is published on my Patreon Page, the September 2019 issue. This is a Garden of Abracadabra spin-off story, with an interview about the extensive work I put into it (for such a short story) on my Patreon Page.
ODDITIES: 22 Stories, a second collection of previously published stories and six brand-new stories. has been published in 2020 from Bast Books.
New stories are on the way! But you knew that.
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