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Halloween full moon through the trees in my yard

The title for this month’s post should be, “Random Thoughts” because you’re going to get a little bit of everything!

We’ve been staying home a lot lately because it is very scary around here. We’ve got the highest cases per capita in the US, and our health department is telling people to do their own contact tracing because they can’t keep up. So here, we are supposed to rely on other people to tell us if they have exposed us to Coronavirus. Gee, I’m sure that’s going to work out swell! So we are going to work, shopping once a week, and staying home the rest of the time.

The extra at home time means I actually watched a few movies for a change. I watched Tremors: Shrieker Island, Blood Quantum, one episode of The Haunting of Bly Manor, two episodes of the old series Night Gallery, and rewatched The Girl with All the Gifts. For me, that’s a heck of a lot of tv time!

First, The Girl with All the Gifts. After rewatching the movie, I realized why I didn’t remember much about it and why I had the feeling I hadn’t liked it: I didn’t have a damn clue what was going on the first time I watched it.

I read the book not too long ago and it was soooo much better (but aren’t they always?), so I decided I’d have to watch the movie again and see what I had missed. The movie, it turns out, is much better *after* you’ve read the book. If you see the movie without reading the book, you don’t always understand the importance of some of the things that happen in the movie.

For instance, when Melanie looks out over the English countryside in the movie and the camera spends several minutes on that, you don’t understand that she has spent her whole “life” inside that building and has never seen the outdoors.

The movie barely touches on the whole scent-blocker issue, so you miss out on a lot of the tension of, “I can smell you” that is present in the book.

The movie just tries to touch on the high points to move the action along in the limited time they have, and so it’s like getting scenes/plot points without context, especially the emotional context. So if you watched the movie and didn’t care for it, I suggest reading the book and then watching the movie again. It really does help.

What can I say about Tremors? Not much, without spoiling the movie if you haven’t seen it. I will say that it was SO much better than five and six. Not great, mind you, but better. I am a hardcore Tremors fan, but I had already sworn that if this movie was as bad as five and six, I was done. No more Tremors for me. Thankfully, this movie was better. Michael Gross says he’s open to another Tremors, but . . .

Which reminds me, I also watched The Legend of Burt Gummer. It’s a cute, short little documentary on YouTube.

Blood Quantum was a hell of a movie. The premise is that the zombie outbreak occurs and Indigenous people are immune. The movie is at times a social commentary and a raging gore-fest at others. And dark. Holy crow, there is no happy ending here. You’d think it would be so easy to stay safe, if you were Native. But no, the fates of the whites and the Natives have been inextricably intertwined. I enjoyed the movie, but I know it’s not going to be everyone’s taste. It’s the kind of movie I like to call “Alle-gory.”

The only writing I accomplished last month was for my class. I did “The Other MILF: Monsters I’d Like to F***” about the trend of presenting women as monsters (interesting side note, Donald Trump referred to Kamala Harris as a monster) and how many of them are STILL sexualized (like Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mother in the Beowulf movie).

My other paper is still in rough draft stage, with a working title of “Nasty Boys.” The topic of that one is the exploration of “high-brow” works that are really bawdy, like “Miller’s Tale” from Canterbury Tales. Non-English majors tend to think of the old writers (who are primarily male) as being high-brow and well-educated, when a lot of their work is really the literary equivalent of penis graffiti. Though that sounds bad, the point isn’t that those works don’t have value or should be dismissed, of course, but more that people shouldn’t have this mindset that the work is too lofty or sacred for the common man.

On the publishing front, another of my stories has been published recently. I’ve been so swamped with everything else that I haven’t had a chance to promote it!

I love, love, LOVE the anthologies from Third Flatiron, and I’m so proud this one includes my story, “US Portal Service.”

Here’s a great article for my writer/artist friends: Everyone Gets Bad Reviews and No One Should Read Them. My general policy is to avoid everything about my work once it’s published, lol, except for providing links to it. For example, in the anthology above, I will read every story except mine. I won’t listen to my stories if they pop up in my podcast feed. Once my work is out there in the world, I want nothing to do with it! And I never, EVER, read reviews on any of my work.

Speaking of reading (see, I warned you this was going to be a long post), I finished reading Hillbilly Elegy. It’s been on my to-read list a long time, but I was spurred to finally get around to reading it because it was brought up (briefly) during the recent Writers Conference.

My plan of action was to read the book, then delve into the controversy surrounding it. Thing is, I finished the book, and it’s not apparent what the controversy is, at least not to me. Granted, the author gets on his high-horse quite a bit, but that’s nothing ununusal.

So now I’ve got to get online and do a little research into it, and then I’ll read Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy.

Last, but not least, here is my October #500Stories500Nights list:

  • 1: “Across the Styx of Norway,” by Jacob M. Lambert (Podcasts from 3F-Third Flatiron, 11-17-15)
  • 2: “A Precious Quarry,” by Kev Harrison (Tales to Terrify 449)
  • 3: “Billy Bagbones: a folktale,” by Dan Fields (Nocturnal Transmissions 83)
  • 4: “The Lights Beneath the Sea,” by Aaron Vlek (Wicked Library 1012)
  • 5: “Temporal Fracture,” by Matthew C. Butcher (The Other Stories 55.3)
  • 6: “Dune Song,” by Suyi Davies Okungbowa (LeVar Burton Reads, 9-21-20)
  • 7: “The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye,” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 29A)
  • 8: “Mirror, Mirror,” by RT Raynaud (Nocturnal Transmissions 48)
  • 9: “And Cast it From You,” by Scarlett R Algee (The Wicked Library 1013)
  • 10: “Who Will Greet You At Home,” by Lesley Nneka Arimah (The New Yorker: Fiction podcast, 10-1-20)
  • 11: “The Midwives,” by Jude Reid (Starship Sofa 628)
  • 12: “The Last Love Letter,” by Gretchen Tessmer (Cast of Wonders 433)
  • 13: “From Beyond,” HP Lovecraft (Nocturnal Transmissions 46)
  • 14: “Reopening,” by Tommy Orange (Chronicles of Now podcast, 9-2-20)***
  • 15: “Burnover,” by K.D. Julicher (StarShipSofa 627)
  • 16: “Watkyn, Comma,” by Joan Aiken (Selected Shorts, 10-1-20)
  • 17: “The Pop-up Artisan of Drink Me Café,” by Marie Croke (Cast of Wonders 434)
  • 18: “Exhibit Label,” by John Waite (Tales to Terrify 453)
  • 19: “The Moctezuman,” by E.C Stever (The Overcast 94)
  • 20: “What You Make It,” by Dantiel W. Moniz (The Chronicles of Now podcast, 8-26-20)
  • 21: “Battle Borne Dreams Never Die,” by Paul Alex Gray (StarShipSofa 644)
  • 22: “A Good Friday,” by Barbara Jenkins (LeVar Burton Reads, 10-12-20)
  • 23: “Spanish Winter,” by Jennifer Egan (Selected Shorts, 10-8-20)
  • 24: “In the Space of Twelve Minutes,” by James Yu (Uncanny 36B)
  • 25: “Someplaces It’s Turnips,” by Jonathon Duckworth (Tales to Terrify 455)
  • 26: “Teratology,” by Reggie Forester (Nocturnal Transmissions 87)
  • 27: “Tunda,” by Michael Landry (The Wicked Library 806)
  • 28: “A.I. Family Values,” by Ben Spillers (StarShipSofa 645)
  • 29: “Low Energy Economy,” by Adrian Tchaikovsky (LeVar Burton Reads, 10-5-20)
  • 30: “Wedding of the Century,” by Shawn W Foley (Tales to Terrify 454)
  • 31: “There’s Always Time for Christmas,” by Felix Blackwell (Nocturnal Transmissions 44)

***Tommy Orange is a hell of a storyteller. The part of this story that really got me is when the kid is getting ready to go to the newly reopened school, and he thinks, as he’s going, “taking him to . . . what?/ his death? / his mild illness?” Powerful!

That’s it for this month! Until next month, stay spooky!

Moon in the trees in my yard

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Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year! I figured sharing a couple of pictures of my creepy corn would be a good way to start off this post. Can you imagine peeling back the husk and seeing this staring back at you? Yes, that is real corn I’ve grown in my very own garden. No, no meteors have recently fallen here from space, nor was my garden formerly a burial ground. It’s just. Weird. Corn. And no, it wasn’t advertised as looking like this. It was just supposed to be . . . pretty.

And, of course, I WILL be planting it again next year, lol.

I am currently behind on everything that I could possibly be behind on, including posting this blog! I haven’t worked on any of my stories . . . no writing, no editing, no subbing. Part of it is from being busy (home projects, school, etc.), and part of it is from enjoying these last days of decent weather before winter sets in and turns this place into an arctic wasteland again. Writing has been sacrificed in the name of squeezing every last bit of joy from summer/fall that we can!

I’m hoping to catch up on a few things here in the next couple of weeks, but if the weather holds, I’m not going to waste it!

And in case you were curious, I ended up not having to serve jury duty, so that didn’t slow me down. I answered my hundred page questionnaire (okay, maybe not a HUNDRED, but it sure seemed like it) honestly, and I think it ended up causing me to be disqualified. I’m sure there are a hundred opinions/beliefs I hold that make me unsuitable for jury service in North Dakota. They probably never even got past the section on “how do you feel about police and government authority” before they stamped it with a big ol’ “Hell, naw!”

I am still marveling at the miracle that is Zoom. I know, I know, there have been lots of problems with it, but you have to admit it’s still pretty amazing. I used it several times to attend class while we camped. I use it to have “office hours” with my professor. And our local writer’s conference is happening every Thursday on Zoom. Attending class is, unsurprisingly, better via Zoom. It means I don’t have to trek the mile round trip across campus in forty below weather.

What *is* surprising is that attending the writer’s conference via Zoom is amazing, too. Instead of sitting in a crowded auditorium in an uncomfortable folding chair and listening to the panels and readings, I can sit in my writing room at home, in my comfy chair, with a glass of wine in my hand and my dogs curled up on my feet. BLISS!

And, since I’m not discouraged by the weather or by the difficulty in finding parking, I’m finding that I am attending even more events this time! I know having the conference by Zoom isn’t the same as having it in-person, but I’d be thrilled if at least some of the events continued to be offered through Zoom even after the pandemic is just a bad memory.

The only thing I’ve not fallen behind on is my reading (listening, if you want to get technical). So, here’s my #500Stories500Nights list for September.

  • 1: “It’s a Parallel Universe and Everyone Expresses Themselves Through Martial Arts,” by Luke Tarassenko (Daily Science Fiction, 8-21-20)
  • 2: “Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse,” by Rae Carson (Uncanny 32A)
  • 3: “Notes From the Assistant’s Intern,” by Bryan Miller (Drabblecast 430)
  • 4: “So Much Cooking,” by Naomi Kritzer (Cast of Wonders 418)
  • 5: “The Squaw,” by Bram Stoker (Nocturnal Transmissions 71)
  • 6: “The Modern Woman’s Guide to Navigating Your Transformation Into an Eldritch Horror of the Deep,” by Caroline Diorio (Daily Science Fiction, 9-1-20)
  • 7: “The Silver of Our Glory, The Orange of Our Rage,” by Jared Oliver Adams (Cossmass Infinities, 8-23-2020)
  • 8: “Emptying the Bunkhouse,” by Vincent H. O’Neil (Bourbon Penn 20)
  • 9: “Outside of Omaha,” by Ray Nayler (Nightmare Magazine podcast, 9-9-20
  • 10: “Your Rover is Here,” by LP Kindred (LeVar Burton Reads, 8-17-20)
  • 11: “The Mappist,” by Barry Lopez (Selected Shorts, 8-27-20)
  • 12: “The Little Mermaid of Innsmouth,” by Caroline M Yoachim (Drabblecast 370)
  • 13: “Toilet Gnomes at War,” by Beth Cato (Overcast 133)
  • 14: “The Lizard and the Rat,” by Andrew Dana Hudson (Starship Sofa 642)
  • 15: “Room for Rent,” by Richie Narvaez (LeVar Burton Reads, 8-31-20)
  • 16: “Bad Latch,” by Curtis Sittenfield (Selected Shorts, 9-10-20)
  • 17: “Metal Like Blood in the Dark,” by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny 36A)
  • 18: “Illimitable Dominion,” by Kim Newman (Tales to Terrify 25)
  • 19: “Where You’ll Find Me,” by Ann Beattie (The New Yorker: Fiction podcast, 3-1-20)
  • 20: “I’m Not Robert,” by A. T. Sayre (Starship Sofa 629)
  • 21: “Hellion,” by Julia Elliott (Selected Shorts podcast, 9-3-20)
  • 22: “Maybe the Stars,” by Samantha Henderson (Drabblecast Drabbleclassics, 8-26-20)
  • 23: “Cloud Nine,” by Ryan Harville (Nocturnal Transmissions 47)
  • 24: “Out with the Old,” by Lindsey Goddard (Wicked Library 808)
  • 25: Excerpt from Missionaries, by Phil Klay (Storybound S2 Ep 10)
  • 26: “The Sand Banks, 1861,” by David Wright Falade (The New Yorker: The Writer’s Voice, 8-25-20)
  • 27: “Enlightenment,” by Douglas Smith (StarShipSofa 630)
  • 28: “Ancient Rome,” by Kyle McCarthy (Selected Shorts, 9-17-20)
  • 29: “The Full Moon Group,” by Dianne M. Williams (Drabblecast 422)
  • 30: “The Last PoMatic,” by Amanda Helms (Cast of Wonders 419)

Get out and enjoy the most wonderful time of the year (but wear a mask and practice social distancing, of course)! Until next month!

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I just can’t even believe it’s September already. I was able to finish one of the two stories that I was (wrongly) certain I’d finish before the end of August, but the other one isn’t quite ready yet. I’ve moved from being right on track with my yearly goals to being worried. I guess we’ll just have to see how the next few months work out!

Not that I’m starting the last part of the year on a good omen: I’ve been called up for jury duty. Only *I* could have the kind of luck to be called up for jury duty during a global pandemic. Though we were doing fairly well, once the university opened back up, our numbers have skyrocketed. Our city council has moved the risk level from “high” to being right on the verge of “severe.” And so now I have to go sit in a crowded courtroom.

Speaking of university, class is back in session, which is also slowing me down considerably. Before 2020 slid off the rails, I was really excited about fall semester because I was going to be taking a class from my favorite English professor from twenty-plus years ago! Then the students started coming back to campus and our local covid numbers started to skyrocket. I was worried for myself (I’m definitely within the high risk group) but also worried for my professor. Thankfully, she decided to move the class to Zoom. I wish UND had more English classes available online even outside of a global pandemic, but I definitely appreciate it in the middle of a pandemic.

Which leads me to the technological miracle of the month. We are still in the middle of camping season, and I was a little concerned about it conflicting with school starting. I didn’t want to cut my camping season short, but I also didn’t want to miss a lot of classes. Thanks to the class moving online, I was able to use Zoom and attend my English class while on an island, in a lake, in the middle of nowhere. What an amazing time we live in (technologically, at least; too bad everything else is a goldarn dumpster fire).

On the good news front, I’m proud to announce that one of my stories will be appearing in the next anthology from Third Flatiron Publishing, Brain Games! More details coming soon.

Last months reading/listening for August 2020 #500Stories500Nights

  • 1: “A Jury of Her Peers,” by Susan Glaspell (LitReading 5-16-20)
  • 2: “We Sang You As Ours,” by Nibedita Sen (Cast of Wonders 421)
  • 3: “Wind Chimes,” by Sean O’Dea (Podcasts from 3F-Third Flatiron 9-27-15)
  • 4: “The Gravesman,” by Joe Palumbo (Nocturnal Transmissions 35)
  • 5: “A Chinese Whisper,” by Karl Poyzer (The Other Stories 53.3)
  • 6: “You and Me and Mars,” by Sandy Parsons (StarShip Sofa 632)
  • 7: “We Came Home from Hunting Mushrooms,” by Adam R. Shannon (Nightmare Magazine podcast, 7-22-20)
  • 8: “Staying Behind,” by Ken Liu (LeVar Burton Reads, 3-9-20)
  • 9: “The Baby,” by Simon Rich (Selected Shorts, 7-23-20)
  • 10: “And All the Trees of the Forest Shall Clap Their Hands,” by Sharon Hsu (Uncanny 32B)
  • 11: “My Financial Career,” by Stephen Leacock (LitReading, 7-7-20)
  • 12: “The Devil and Tom Walker,” by Washington Irving (1001 Classic Short Stories and Tales, 1-16-17)
  • 13: “The Year of the Teacup Dragon,” by Suzanne J Willis (Gallery of Curiosities, 4-6-20)
  • 14: “Old Man Winter,” by Dan Fields (Nocturnal Transmissions 74)
  • 15: “Copperopolis,” by Tommy Orange (Storyboard S2Ep2)
  • 16: “Love Letter,” by George Saunders (The New Yorker The Writer’s Voice 3-31-20)
  • 17: “Tiger Baby,” by JY Yang (LeVar Burton Reads, 9-23-19)
  • 18: “Nevada Funeral-Scotty Briggs and the Clergyman,” by Mark Twain (LitReading 5-25-20)
  • 19: “Man on the Ledge,” by Joe Maggio (Tales From Beyond the Pale 37)
  • 20: “Unhaunted House,” by Richard E. Danksy (Pseudopod 709)
  • 21: “A Yellow Dog,” by Bret Harte (1001 Classic Short Stories and Tales, 8-9-20)
  • 22: “On the Feeding Habits of Humans: A Firsthand Account,” by Rachel K. Jones and Khalida Muhammed-Ali (Drabblecast 424)
  • 23: “Surplus Army,” by Pauline J Alama (Podcasts from 3F-Third Flatiron, 3-24-16)
  • 24: “Riippuvuus,” by T. Ku (Nocturnal Transmissions 52)
  • 25: “A Fish Doesn’t Know,” by Myk Pilgrim (The Wicked Library 1011)
  • 26: “Midnight on Addison Street,” by Wendy Nikel (Podcasts from 3F-Third Flatiron, 9-27-16)
  • 27: “Paper Wings and Arrow Juice,” by Gordon B White (Tales to Terrify 446)
  • 28: “The Man at Dealey Plaza,” by Paul Michael Anderson (The Wicked Library 1010)
  • 29: “Dive in Me,” by Selena Chambers and Jesse Bullington (Pseudopod 715)
  • 30: “Dread,” by John Dulak (Daily Science Fiction, 8-20-20)
  • 31: “Masks,” by Peter Sutton (The Best Horror of the Year Volume Eleven, edited by Ellen Datlow)

I’m off to try and finish that second story and get myself back on track. Until next month, stay spooky!

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Goals, goals, goals. Lots to do, so I’m keeping the blog short and sweet. As long as I don’t slack off, I’ll stay on track for my stories this year. I have two currently in the editing stage, which will bring my total to six new stories this year. That leaves me four-plus months to write two more stories to meet my goal of eight for this year. I should be able to make it, depending on what 2020 throws at us next.

I finished The Girl With All the Gifts and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Though I haven’t re-watched the movie yet, I’m pretty sure the ending of the movie wasn’t as good as the end of the book. I prefer stories without a tidy resolution or “happy” ending. I like stories that end in “all hope is lost” or “nothing will be the same again,” and I prefer it to be broad of scope (as in, not one person’s loss, but humanity’s loss/change).

(WARNING: Spoilers Ahead) That’s why I liked the ending of Stephen King’s story “The Mist” much better than the movie. The story ended with the surviving characters driving, driving, DRIVING to get out of the mist, and never finding the end. The movie, on the other hand, ended with the gut-wrenching decision to murder-suicide the whole crew, and then the army showed up with flamethrowers and the mist was dissipating. Sure, it was horrifying, but it wasn’t an all hope is lost or nothing will be the same again except for those few characters. In other words, it was sad in the same way that losing family in a car accident or to a disease is: it’s individual loss. The rest of the world goes on.

So now I’m even more ready to watch the movie again and see how it ended. Or really, see all of it again. I just don’t think it’s a good sign that I barely remember the movie at all. Who knows, though, maybe I was just wasn’t in the right frame of mind the first time I watched it. I’m willing to give it another chance.

July 2020 #500Stories500Nights

  • 1: “Flashlight Man,” by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor (Nightmare Magazine podcast, 3-18-20)
  • 2: “Stranger,” by Jeff Buhler (Tales From Beyond the Pale 29)
  • 3: “Where Justice Ends, Vengeance Begins,” by David Boop (Gallery of Curiosities, 9-22-17)
  • 4: “I Know What to Do,” by Yvonne Navarro (Tales to Terrify 21)
  • 5: “Bringing Down the Mast,” by Floris Kleijne (Startship Sofa 635)
  • 6: “The House That Dripped Character,” by B.G. Hilton (Pseudopod 642)
  • 7: “A Moonlit Savagery,” by Millie Ho (Nightmare Magazine, 4-22-20)
  • 8: “The Raven,” by Poe (Nocturnal Transmissions 31)
  • 9: “Jump,” by Cadwell Turnbull (LeVar Burton Reads, 10-14-19)
  • 10: “The Cave in the Lake,” by Max Lobdell (Nocturnal Transmissions 33)
  • 11: “The City of the Gone Away,” by Ambrose Bierce (Pseudopod 643)
  • 12: “See You on a Dark Night,” by Ben Peek (Nightmare Magazine podcast, 4-8-20)
  • 13: “The Day I Didn’t Meet Christopher Walken,” by Martin Mundt (Tales to Terrify 23)
  • 14: “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” by Washington Irving (1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales podcast, 10-19-16)
  • 15: “Second Hand,” by Andres Neuman (Selected Shorts podcast, 5-28-20)
  • 16: “Valedictorian,” by NK Jemisin (LeVar Burton Reads, 2-3-20)
  • 17: “Showing the Colours,” by Erica L. Satifka (The Overcast 50)
  • 18: “Benjan’s Affliction,” by Daniel Willcocks (The Other Stories 9.2)
  • 19: “That Which the Ocean Gives and Takes Away,” PL McMillan (Nocturnal Transmissions 77)
  • 20: “The Most Dangerous Game,” by Richard Connell (Litreading, 6-7-20)
  • 21: “Speak, Speak,” by Julia Alvarez (Selected Shorts, 5-21-20)
  • 22: “Tideline,” by Elizabeth Bear (LeVar Burton Reads, 1-27-20)
  • 23: “Once More Unto the Breach (But Don’t Worry, the Inflatable Swords Are Latex-Free),” by Tina Connolly (Uncanny Magazine 35A)
  • 24: “Devil’s Bridge,” by Frances Hardinge (Cast of Wonders 420)
  • 25: “The New Mutants,” by Angelique Fawns (Podcasts from 3F-Third Flatiron, 6-30-20)
  • 26: “Tales We Tell,” by Larry Fessenden (Tales From Beyond the Pale 31 & 32)
  • 27: “The Algorithm,” by Matthew C. Butcher (The Other Stories 54.1)
  • 28: “The World Ends in Salty Fingers and Sugared Lips,” by Jenn Reese (Uncanny Magazine 35A)
  • 29: “The Water Museum,” by Nisi Shawl (LeVar Burton Reads, 10-7-19)
  • 30: “Good Neighbors,” by Frank Oreto (The Overcast 129)
  • 31: “Degustation,” by Ashley Deng (Nightmare Magazine podcast, 6-17-20)

Okay. I’m off to work on those two stories. Until next time, stay spooky!

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Can you believe the year is half over already? On one hand, it seems like it flew by; on the other, it seems like 2020 is the year that will. not. end.

I’m not too far behind on my goals this year. All my goals are on track except:
1) write 8 stories
2) write a horror poem
3) work on the website

I was way ahead on my eight-stories goal, and then, well . . . global pandemic. I’m working on my fourth story of the year right now, so I’m only a week or two behind. As long as I don’t drag my feet (or, god forbid, 2020 doesn’t throw more outrageous nonsense at us), I should be able to get back on track.

The horror poem is a pipe dream. It might happen, it might not, but I’d like to give it a shot.

And fixing up the website? Well, that’s a project that’s going to be like my student loan: with me for the rest of my life.

I stayed on track with my reading. Here is my June 2020 #500Stories500Nights list.

  • June 1: “The Cell Phones,” by Karen E. Bender (LeVar Burton Reads, 9-18-18)
  • June 2: “The Hunting Ground,” by Siri Paulson (Daily Science Fiction, 5-29-20)
  • June 3: “Reading the Room,” by Aeryn Rudel (The Overcast 127)
  • June 4: “Wedding Announcement,” by Colin Nissan (Selected Shorts podcast, 4-16-20)
  • June 5: “A Kiss With Teeth,” by Max Gladstone (LeVar Burton Reads, 3-16-20)
  • June 6: “Breathe,” by Brad C Hodson (Tales to Terrify 18)
  • June 7: “Thanks, But We Already Ate,” by Juliana Rew (Podcasts from 3F–Third Flatiron, 12-21-14)
  • June 8: “Twilight of the Electric Shadows,” by Paul R Hardy (Gallery of Curiosities, 3-27-20)
  • June 9: “A Hook, An Eye,” by Erin Strubbe (Daily Science Fiction, 5-28-20)
  • June 10: “Sarah Minds the Dog,” by Kim Newman (Tales From Beyond the Pale 33)
  • June 11: “The Hofzinser Club,” by Michael Chabon (LeVar Burton Reads, 10-28-19)
  • June 12: “Dracula’s Guest,” by Bram Stoker (1001 Classic Short Stories and Tales podcast, 10-27-19)
  • June 13: “The Green Princess,” by Kristin Holland (Nocturnal Transmissions 27)
  • June 14: “Corruption,” by Matt Butcher (The Other Stories 8.1)
  • June 15: “Images Across a Shattered Sea,” by Stewart C Baker (The Overcast 45)
  • June 16: “The Eyes of the Soul,” by Michel Faber (Selected Shorts podcast, 4-16-20)
  • June 17: “Isolation Point,” by John Shirley (Tales to Terrify 18)
  • June 18: “Skinwalker, Fast-Talker,” by Darcie Little Badger (LeVar Burton Reads, 3-2-20)
  • June 19: “Second to Last Stop,” by Evan Dicken (The Overcast 46)
  • June 20: “Speaking in Tongues,” by Glenn McQuaid (Tales From Beyond the Pale 25)
  • June 21: “Women’s Running Magazine,” by Luke Kondor (The Other Stories 9.1)
  • June 22: “Special Delivery,” by JW Zulauf (Nocturnal Transmissions 30)
  • June 23: “Robots Don’t Cry,” by George Edwards (Cast of Wonders 128)
  • June 24: “If You Were a Tiger, I’d Have to Wear White,” by Maria Dahvana Headley (Uncanny 001)
  • June 25: “Lost Boys,” by David Turnbull (Casket of Fictional Wonders, 11-22-17)
  • June 26: “The Whisperer in Darkness,” HP Lovecraft (Drabblecast 366 & 367)
  • June 27: “Breadman,” by Robert Lennon (Selected Shorts podcast, 4-23-20)
  • June 28: “Afternoon in Linen,” by Shirley Jackson (New Yorker Fiction Podcast, 5-1-20)
  • June 29: “Let Those Who Would,” by Genevieve Valentine (LeVar Burton Reads, 3-23-20)
  • June 30: “A Sound of Thunder,” by Ray Bradbury (1001 Classic Short Stories and Tales podcast, 4-15-16)

I’ve also been reading (in Audible) The Girl With All the Gifts. I saw the movie, and thought it was okay, but the book is much, much better (aren’t they always?)! I haven’t finished it yet. My “reading day” is planned out such that I try to listen to short story podcasts during the morning, then listen to novels on Audible in the afternoon. Once I finish it, though, I will probably go back and give the movie another watch.

I’ll probably do the same thing with Annihilation. I waited *FOREVER* to see the movie (I don’t go to theaters, and it was being held hostage in that “available to buy or watch on premium channels but not available to rent for a couple of years after release” business model). And then, after all that wait . . . I didn’t like it. Sure, it was pretty, and the soundtrack was phenomenal, but . . . meh. It just wasn’t my cup of tea (in fairness, I’ve heard people raving about the newest Colour Out of Space, and I thought it was pretty and pretty meh, too). I ordered the (Annihilation) series on Audible, hoping that the “book is better phenom” holds true with it, too, but haven’t started listening yet. Once I do, then I’ll watch the movie again.

(PS Side note. You know, when a lot of people talk about Annihilation, they talk about the big scary bear scene, and how horribly frightening that was and how it gave them nightmares. But my favorite movie is John Carpenter’s The Thing. When you compare the scenes of “people tied to chairs with a monster looming” from the two different movies, it becomes clear why the bear scene really didn’t do anything for me.)

I’ve got another podcast story coming up, this time at Nocturnal Transmissions. I’ll post a link on the webpage once it’s available for your listening pleasure. In the meantime, you can listen to two of my stories at:

Sympathy for the Devil, episode 126 at The Overcast podcast

Star Jelly, episode 436 at the Tales to Terrify podcast

See you next month…hopefully…it is 2020, after all, and you never know what’s going to happen next!