Publication set for Tales of Brutality and Wonder
At long last, a collection of my best short stories will be available this spring.
My first short story collection, titled Disposable Girl & Other Tales of Brutality and Wonder, will be published in late May, 2026. (Exact date is being evaluated.)
This collection of 13 short stories offers a remarkable variety of genres, themes, and tones, ranging from humor to horror to historical, and from amusement to brutality to wonder. All these stories are fresh plots, placed in memorable settings and populated by unforgettable characters of courage and integrity, albeit sometimes misapplied.
They include tales about a human trafficking victim with too much life force to become anyone’s disposable girl; a werewolf retirement home at risk of being shut down by the state; an action hero whose superpower is compelling truth; a young baseball phenom who vanishes on the verge of stardom; a woman who decides to become a tree; and a first family using power to cover up suicide.
Several of these short stories have previously been published by excellent journals or in special-themed anthologies, such as The Masters Reimagined.
The reference to “brutality” comes from an assessment I received from one journal editor who informed me that my submitted story was excellent, but that it was too “brutal” for his publication. Yet he also agreed that the brutality was necessary to the story, not gratuitous. I liked that. It sort of defines the outer edge of this collection. The other edge is pure whimsy, perhaps for the sake of wonder.
This will be self-published by Off-University Press, simultaneously with my next great American novel, The Space Coast Tatler. More on that in another post.
The lineup for Disposable Girl & Other Tales of Brutality and Wonder::
“Disposable Girl”
“Versipellis Nemora”
“The Brazilian Millionaire’s Butler”
“Uncle Jimmy and the Tallest Man In Chicago”
“The 291”
“Green Dog”
“The Revelation to Joe”
“The Thirteenth Floor”
“Family Values”
“Whatever Happened to ‘The Next Sudden Sam’?”
“Arlene, The White Oak Tree”
“Great Bones”
“Death of the President”
