Coming early November: Tales from the Lake vol. 5. Includes my short story, “The Boy”. Check out the incredible table of contents below!

Short stories:
• “Always after Three” by Gemma Files
• “In the Family” by Lucy A. Snyder
• “Voices Like Barbed Wire” by Tim Waggoner
• “The Flutter of Silent Wings” by Gene O’Neill
• “Guardian” by Paul Michael Anderson
• “Farewell Valencia” by Craig Wallwork
• “A Dream Most Ancient and Alone” by Allison Pang
• “The Monster Told Me to” by Stephanie M. Wytovich
• “Dead Bodies Don’t Scream” by Michelle Ann King
• “The Boy” by Cory Cone
• “Starve a Fever” by Jonah Buck
• “Umbilicus” by Lucy Taylor
• “Nonpareil” by Laura Blackwell
• “The Midland Hotel” by Marge Simon
• “The Weeds and the Wildness Yet” by Robert Stahl
• “The Color of Loss and Love” by Jason Sizemore
• “The Loudest Silence” by Meghan Arcuri
• “The Followers” by Peter Mark May
• “A Bathtub at the End of the World” by Lane Waldman
• “Twelve by Noon” by Joanna Parypinski
• “Hollow Skulls” by Samuel Marzioli
• “Maggie” by Andi Rawson

Poetry:
• “From the Mouths of Plague-Mongers” by Stephanie M. Wytovich
• “Malign and Chronic Recreation” by Bruce Boston
• “Final Passage” by Bruce Boston

With an introduction by editor Kenneth W. Cain. Cover art by Ben Baldwin. Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing – Tales from The Darkest Depths.

Harrison is four months old now, so here’s a new photo!

Still nothing to report when it comes to fiction. I did get one rewrite request, which is promising! We’ll see if it turns into an acceptance. Otherwise, life is very different with the baby. Still working out ways to fit writing in when I can. I know for sure it won’t be as often as it used to be, but I’ve been experimenting with writing from 6am until 7am, before the baby gets up. So far so good!

Nothing to report on the story front besides a healthy amount of rejections…

But on the personal front: Our little guy, Harrison Tyler Cone, was born on June 18th. The last several months have been busy with preparing for his arrival, and now that he’s here, I couldn’t be happier!

 

Last Sunday, Nathalie and I ventured forth to one of my favorite places; The Maryland Renaissance Festival. If you live close enough to go, I can’t recommend it enough. The atmosphere is great, the beer and activities are reasonably priced, and the shows are always fabulous. Like many who go to these fests, Nathalie and I dress up. We didn’t get a picture this year, but below is a photo from last year. We essentially wore the same thing.

We’ll be there two more times this season, our second trip this weekend when our friends Peter and Hattie visit from Seattle.

The day after we went, though, I came down with a pretty nasty cold. I’m still getting over it today, over a week later. Cough Cough. Grumble Grumble.

***

The last regular season game of baseball is tonight. The O’s are in the playoffs. LET’S GO O’s!

***

I’ve got my monthly writing critique group tonight, where I’ll be getting feedback on the newest version of a short story I mentioned two posts ago. Since then I’ve cut almost half of the story, (including an entire character). Depending on the feedback I get tonight, I may finally send this one out.

In terms of reading, it’s the beginning of the month, which means many online publications are posting new work this week! This is always a great time of month for short fiction. Three great publications that have updated, or will be this week, are linked below if any visitors want to check them out.

Clarkesworld
Apex
Lightspeed

Many more fantastic publications are around the web as well. As I update this blog more regularly, I’d like to highlight stories I’ve enjoyed from many of them, so look for that in the future.