My novelette, Wickers Bog: A Tale of Southern Gothic Horror, is now available on Kindle for just 99 cents. I’m a huge fan of the craft of short story writing. It’s how I cut my literary teeth. After writing several novels, this year I’d hoped to take a break in order to concoct a tale I’d long imagined — a Gothic Mermaid story. How does that work, you ask? How do mermaids do Gothic? Well, it helps when you set your story in a backwoods bayou and a submerged Southern plantation house. It’s an image that has fomented in my brain for quite some time, and actually came to me in a dream. No wonder, I guess. I’ve always been fascinated with denizens of the deep, especially those of the swamp variety. All the way back in my first published novel, The Resurrection, I referenced Nelda the Swamp Witch. In The Ghost Box I referenced another “swamp witch,” this one anonymous, who attempted to “pickle [Reagan Moon’s] gizzards.” So now, in Wickers Bog, I allowed myself to explore the concept more fully. Frankly, the outcome pleased and rather surprised me.
Anyway, I’d planned to shop the story to some pro magazines, but as I unfolded the tome, it just kept opening. Technically, short stories max out around 7,000 words. So when Wickers Bog reached 10K words, I figured I’d do the indie thing! Plans are in the works for print and audio version of the story. Many thanks to Rachel Marks for the wonderfully creepy cover design. You can download a copy of Wickers Bog HERE. Thanks!
