Just a quick head’s up that I have a short story in the Larceny and Last Chances anthology. The book is now available on pre-order (digital only; print will follow). Find it at www.books2read.com/larceny
Anyways (Land Beyond the World magazine)
I used to think, back when I was a new priest and a new psychologist, that men on death row, those facing the prospect of meeting the Lord sooner than most of us (or so we hope), were more likely to be truthful, especially to a priest. After all, they had nothing to lose and eternal salvation to gain. But time and happenstance were good teachers. And twenty years of lessons had taught me to doubt even the most ardent inmate’s story told in the most ardent fashion. Even stories that seemed plausible, which this one most definitely did not. In fact, this one seemed so implausible that I assumed J. Robert Coswell was setting up an insanity defense, hitching his hopes of changing the needle into life in a mental hospital onto my professional credentials rather than my clerical ones.
Want to read more: https://read.landbeyondtheworld.com/p/anyways?s=r
Ways of Love (Featured in Frost Zone Zine)
Ah, yes, one more drink to warm the heart and fortify the soul, as my dear, departed wife used to say. My dear Julianna. I’ll need this drink if I am to tell you her tale. The tale of that night. The night when my life changed. When I learnt the bitter lesson of loss. The true meaning of love.
Want to read more? https://medium.com/defuncted/ways-of-love-by-john-bukowski-b1b49c084d74)
Gentleman Caller (Featured in Digitally Disturbed)
Shoulders hunched into his high-school jacket, Daryl Glenn Hogue picked up his satchel and walked out into the chill. The rain had slackened to only a light mist, but it was enough to veil the noonday sun that might have dried him out. Sleeving away a sneeze, he retrieved the scrap of newspaper from his pocket. He wanted Ridgeway Avenue, which the man at the Stop n’ Save had said was about three blocks down. Then it was a right to a green and white cottage with 145 on the mailbox.
Contact me to read.
Days of our Lives (featured in the Rabbit Hole anthology)
Here we go, I thought. Just when I was getting comfortable, I opened the drunk spigot. Soon I would be hip deep in stories about kids today, how the government is experimenting with zombie viruses, and why his wife left him after fifteen years (duh!). My only hope was to keep contact short and pray for inertia to kick back in.
Want to read more?