Some Halloween Fun...

Here's a short (really short) story in the spirit (heh, spirit, get it?) of the season. Enjoy, and Happy Halloween!!

Old Crazy


The bastards won’t go away.

They stand out there, clacking and mewling, just waiting to get their hands on my stuff. Heh. They can stand out there all night for all I care. They’re not getting a damn thing.

Ding Dong goes the bell. Again and again. Who do they think they are, harassing me year after year? I didn’t ask for the company. Never did. Don’t want it.

And yet still they call.

There’s the one with the neck wound. It bleeds. Red streaks all down the front of its shirt. Pale white skin. Dead eyes.

Then there’s the demon spawn. Great, horrible thing, head lolling side to side, frothing at the corners of its mouth. Red, glowing eyes.

You think I’m crazy? Aye, I just might be. ‘Course the others think I’m crazy, too. That’s why they come. To catch a glimpse. See what they can see. Well, you know what? They never see a damn thing. I don’t let ‘em. And what would they see, even if they could? A man. That’s all. Just a man.

But what about them? Will they stand out there all bloody night?

“Damn you all!” I shake my fist at them from my bedroom window. “Go back to whatever Hell you came from!”

They just laugh up at me. With their rotting teeth and silver hair.

Dear God, what have I done to deserve this? Why do you visit your demons upon me? Am I not a worthy son?

I suppose in the end it has come to this. They won’t leave. I dare not let them in. After all these years, I will finally do what any sane man would do if confronted with this constant evil.

I hope there’s little pain. I hope it’s quick.

Lord, please deliver me. And forgive me.

And yet I still cannot escape their irreverence, their unholy incantations. I can still hear their strange witchcraft.

What does it mean, “Trick or treat? Trick or treat?”

It's about that time again...

The Editor/Author Relationship

Now this is funny.

Or not.

What's in a blog?

I’m new to this. Bear with me.

Most blogs I read are chock full of valuable info, charming anecdotes, and helpful comments by fellow readers. They’re a pleasure to read, and keep a permanent place in my bookmarks.

How can I possibly compete? Well, in truth, I can’t.

Not yet, anyway.

I’ve been trying to come up with a hook, an angle, something I can do with this blog to make it stand out. Harbor a community of like-minded individuals. Offer genuine and helpful information.

Where to start, where to start.

First off, it’s important to understand who I am. I am a writer. Unpublished, but working on it. I have two novels under my belt and am working on a third, a slew of short stories, two CD’s of original songs (recorded long ago, but still mine, okay!), and notebook after notebook of false starts, strange concepts, cool characters and the occasional poem.

Perhaps I can share my experiences “slogging through the mire,” so to speak, of finding an agent and getting my book published. Other writers are doing this, and finding great blogging success. Or, I can post snippets of works-in-progress, or short stories, or other things for y’all to read and ponder. But I’m fairly thin-skinned when it comes to things like that.

So, what to do? I’ll come up with something, I promise. Until then, maybe leave me a comment. I am assuming, of course, that there are people out there actually reading this right now.

There are, aren’t there?

Hello?

Everybody's Doing It

So there I was, diligently editing my novel-in-progress, when this pesky buzzing sound infiltrated my peace of mind. I removed my headphones, hoping that a little tap on the speaker would do the trick.

No such luck.

It turned out that the headphones worked perfectly. The buzzing came from inside my head. No way to turn it off. 

So I listened to it, and over a few seconds, the buzzing became a voice.

What did the voice say?

It said, "Start a blog." Really. I kid you not.

"Why should I?" I asked. "That would mean that everybody would be able to peek into my hidden world, know the inner goings-on of my life, and perhaps make nasty comments about my worth, or worse, my writing ability."

"Start a blog," the voice said again. I wished it would just go back to buzzing. 

"Give me one good reason," I said, "and I will."

"Fine," it said. "Everybody's doing it."

Good enough for me. So here we are.