New Story: Silence of the Imbeciles

"Silence of the Imbeciles" appears now in Residential Aliens, edited by Lyn Perry. The story has been described as "very well written, understated and poignant." It follows the point of view of 14-year-old Frankie Turnbull, who is fascinated with making magic wands and is attempting to deal with the consequences of every person he knows being an imbecile.

His father’s voice boomed from the shed door. “What are you doing out here?”
Carving knife in hand, Frankie Turnbull flinched. The blade sliced into the flesh of his finger.
Ouch!
He dropped the knife and flapped his hand once. “Nothing! Okay?”
Like the blade, his response was too sharp. He knew better. But he spoke without thinking. He needed time to fix a very serious problem, and nobody was giving it to him.
Anthony Turnbull cleared his throat, telegraphing to Frankie the shallow depth of the ice upon which he’d just placed himself.
“Sorry,” he said, turning.
His father’s bulky frame filled the doorway, silhouetted by the late-afternoon sun. He crossed his arms.
Frankie’s hair tingled. “I’m almost done,” he pleaded. But it was pointless to argue with the man. He was stubborn, he could throw Frankie a country mile, and he was an imbecile.
Imbecility was the biggest problem. That was Frankie’s fault. It was the problem he wanted to fix...

(See the full story at ResAliens.)

Residential Aliens is an online magazine of spiritually infused speculative fiction presenting engaging stories that are truthful to the human experience while offering something of the eternal. The October/November issue includes two speculative stories (including Silence of the Imbeciles), followed by two science fiction pieces, and wraps up with a post-zombie-apocalypse novelette.

For a list and information about all of my stories click here.

New Story: Bingham's Deep Woods Fairies

My short fantasy story, Bingham’s Deep Woods Fairies, is now published at The Lorelei Signal. A young girl determined to find real fairies goes hunting on a very special day. 

I wasn’t lost. Well, not exactly. But the chilly wind meant it would be dark soon, so I stopped to get my bearings.All trees, no cabin.Maybe I got turned around when I climbed the white rocks. But it had to be close. I was totally, absolutely sure of it. But which direction? …

Artwork by Holly Eddy

The Lorelei Signal, edited by Carol Hightshoe, is a quarterly web-based magazine dedicated to featuring strong female characters in fantasy short stories. “Females in the story should have the same strength of character as their male counterparts and not be there as window dressing.” The title of the magazine was taken from the Animated Star Trek episode in which Lt. Uhura had to take command of the Enterprise after the men fell under a siren song.

The Lorelei Signal is free to read, but it pays its authors up front and asks for donations to cover the cost of the publication and pays 75% of all donations above the initial author payments to its artists and writers per issue. The remaining 25% covers goes toward operating expenses. If you enjoy a story or the entire issue, please consider donating. The Lorelei Signal asks (but does not require) that donations be at least $1.00. PayPal charges the magazine $0.30 for each transaction.