There’s a New Book on the Horizon!

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I’m pleased to announce that I have a new short story coming out this February! It will be part of an anthology of short stories featuring around 10 other authors.

It is going to be a bit different from my other published works.

When my family made the decision to move to Wisconsin—almost a year ago, now—I wasn’t certain how writing would fit into the madness of a cross-country move and a change in jobs. Taking a deep breath, I decided to give myself permission to take a year off.

No obligations to write. No plans to publish. Hopefully I’d be able to maintain the blog, but if that had to be set aside, I had to accept it. Otherwise, I wasn’t sure how I’d manage.

It was a hard decision, but it was the right one. The packing, home repairs, goodbyes, travel, house selling, house hunting, starting new jobs…everything piled up making the first half of 2022 hard. I honestly didn’t have the energy to muster up the desire to do anything creative.

But…things have been getting better.

We’re not exactly settled in yet, but we are settling. And creativity has begun to spark.

So, when author friend N.R. LaPoint asked me if I’d like to participate in the anthology he was assembling…well, I initially declined.

I wasn’t sure I was ready to commit. The story ideas I had wouldn’t fit the theme. And besides, N.R. LaPoint writes speculative fiction, or, as his Twitter account says, “Weird Pulp Action Stories.” I’ve enjoyed his stories, but writing-wise, the genre’s not exactly my regular fare.

Perhaps its worth taking a moment to define speculative fiction. According to the Cabridge English Dictionary online, it is:

a type of story, or literature that is set in a world that is different from the one we live in, or that deals with magical or imagined future events.

Cambridge University Press, Copyright 2023. Linked here

In other words, speculative fiction is kind of an umbrella term, and can encompass fantasy, science fiction—stories that exist in an altered reality.

Parts of the true events of World War II have made a number of guest appearances in works of speculative fiction, in television shows like Rod Serling’s The Twliglight Zone and the original Star Trek, and novels (some of which have been turned into television shows) like Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle, Alexa Kang’s Eternal Flame, and Len Deighton’s SS-GB.

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like I might be able to come up with something to contribute to this new anthology after all.

Then I had the opportunity to participate in Ari Meghlen’s Advent Calendar Story Train. The short story that I created, available to read here, planted the seeds of an idea, which turned into quite a different story—one that will be featured in the upcoming anthology!

I’ll share more details on the publication when I have them as well as reveal the anthology’s beautiful cover. I’m also planning a sale on my two existing novels to coincide with this release!

In the meantime, this project roused my curiosity and I’ve started amassing some World War II speculative fiction novels. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on them with you in the coming weeks.

Until then—what have you been reading lately? Do you have any recommendations for me, whether speculative fiction, regular fiction, or nonfiction?