Saturday Podcast: "In the Primal Library"

This week for your listening pleasure, "In the Primal Library" from my short story collection, The Saints are Dead. Now available in dead tree format (paperback) or e-book (Kindle) from Aqueous Press. If the Rapture does indeed happen today, at least I will have gone down swinging.

WIP Wednesday: Blood from a Stone

The boys and I paid visit to Grandma this week, allowing me another opportunity to mine my poor ol' hometown for story ideas. How many times can I squeeze words (blood) out of these stones?

The factory building which inspired "Spider and I" is gone. Gone-gone. It used to be in front of the ugly sheds in the picture above.

These limestone gates still guard Greenwood Cemetery. I've called it by various names in the past, but the cemetery, and the creepy pond behind it, inspired various tales, including "The Bottom Feeders" and the as-yet unpublished "Wanting It". I learned to drive on the gravel roads in Greenwood. I guess Mom thought I couldn't do much damage to the residents.

I love the old, creaky Carnegie Library downtown. It's one of only 30-odd Carnegie Libraries in the U.S. still used as a library. The sinister top floor spawned "In the Primal Library". I've also used it as a setting in my YA WIP (crying out to be edited and revised), Borrowed Saints.

There's more, of course. Hell, the whole town of Clay Center has become my fictional Springdale (setting of The House Eaters and several stories). It's not the most original location, but it's mine. I'll keep on squeezing as long as she has something to give.

"In the Primal Library" up at Three Crow Press

"In the Primal Library" is one of my favorite stories. It isn't all that "original" and doesn't "add anything new" to the genre. But it was fun to write. I grew up with a library just like the one described, and yes, the second floor was spooky as hell. They even had collections of National Geographic in boxes. At right around 1,500 words, it's perfect 'net length, so give it a whirl if you have a spare 5-10 minutes.

So I've been debating a "collection" of my work. I have a pile of published stories in print and online, and I'm sorta-kinda proud of some of them. Here's the dilemma: collections don't sell all that well (so I'm discovered through bits of research...and I believe it), especially by a nobody like me, so I'd have to proposition various small presses. Not a bad thing, in general, but most (if not all) small presses utilize POD technology (Lightning Source etc.)--the same technology to which I have access. Personally, I don't see any value in trying to find reprint homes for these stories individually (not when I'm still writing new stories and trying to place them). Value in a collection of them, sure. Value in individual reprints, no. Am I making sense?

Sorry for all the parentheses. (really)

But what do I do? I've imagined releasing a free/cheap ebook collection of them myself, printing a copy for my mom (you know how moms are, surely). My goal is to have people read my work, not necessarily make money. I'd love to add value to the collection, too...like explanations of the inspiration behind each piece. Desperately seeking advice here.

Well...enough of that. Today's NaNoWriMo inspiration:

Remember: characters must be pushed beyond their limits to see what they're really made of.