2017-My Award Eligible Stories and Behind the Scenes

This year I published three professional stories: one literary story; one fantasy story; and one science fiction story.

1. “A Good Egg” – Podcastle

Fantasy.

This was my first time entering a contest in the Escape Artists family of podcasts, and it all began with a Snapple cap that my daughter showed me. Snapple fact 1334: “Nowhere in the Humpty Dumpty nursing rhyme does it say that Humpty Dumpty is an egg.”

I pondered it and researched it and, eventually, tried to answer a question many others had before: if the real story of Humpty Dumpty is not completely written, then who was he?

2. “Analog Signals” – Daily Science Fiction

Science Fiction.

I am fascinated by the rapid changes in society driven by rapid changes in technology. In this story, I explored the idea that if you could hear the outcome of your decisions by tuning into a radio station, would you change your current path? Or does hearing possible outcomes make new ones by itself?

I’m slow to adopt new technology, but I love to learn about and admire it all the same.

3. “Sugar” – Crab Orchard Review

Literary fiction.

This story is a bitter sweet for me. Drawn from a now-abandoned first novel, “Sugar” represents the heart of that work, boiled down to its essence.