The third issue of Thrice Fiction is now out. For those that have been following me recently, I am a contributing writer for this wonderfully-created fiction rag that has many stories from many talented writers.

My story this time is called “Snowblind.” It’s a raw and gritty tale of a night of debauchery between two friends.

So go pick up your copy now – the PDF is free for the price of a download. You can also find the links to Kindle, ePub and printed versions of this new issue on thricefiction.com

Then feel free to come back here and let me know what you thought of my story. Or any of the stories for that matter, but I admit to being curious of other’s opinions of my writing.

“Honey, come out here… quick!” I shouted while opening the door to the house, the fervor of shock engulfing my every act and emotion.

I had pulled into the driveway just minutes before. I was very tired from a long day at work. It was raining lightly, almost sleet like. Exiting the car, I looked down the driveway, normally to see a few leaves or the neighbor’s trashy pine tree debris scattered about. But tonight, it was the image on the driveway that immediately caught my attention.

My initial reaction was disgust. Who the fuck would do that? Spray paint some type of black outline of a death mask on someone else’s property. Must be some sort of gang initiation. Those fuckers always wanting to tag a clean surface with one of their symbols to get noticed, report back to their leader to gain admission into a group of others who have nothing else better to do than worry about their status and their exploits of property defiling.

As I began to sleuth various pieces of the crime, various scenarios consumed my thought process: When did this take place? It had to be in the daylight or early dusk. And before the rain/sleet started so it had time to dry. Which lead me to my next conclusion… no one must have been home at either my house or the neighbors, who are a fence away.

As I entered the house, the rage inside my head increased as I went from room to room looking for my wife. I wanted so bad to find out who did this and when it happened [and why] to our driveway. I found her and told her she needed to come out and see what happened. I didn’t try to explain what had happened because I didn’t really know of a way to explain it. Actually, it was more likely due to the fact that I liked the element of surprise.

Finally entering the back room downstairs, I walked up to her. “You need to come outside to see what happened to the driveway.” Her first response was, “what happened?” I tried to imagine what her reaction would be when she viewed the vandal’s creation.

“Just come out and see… it easier than trying to explain it.”

Coming out of the house in a hurried pace, we made it towards the end of the driveway. Starring at the supposed gang symbol for a few moments, my wife calmly turns to me.

“Um, dear… look up.”

I let out a sigh that was equal parts of embarrassment and relief.

History

In my quest of becoming a creative fictional writer, I toyed with the idea of taking something that happened to me in real life and adding a more dramatic twist to it. This short story was originally submitted to Thrice Fiction, but at the suggestion of Dave2, it was decided that it would be more suited as a post here on this blog.

The photos were originally submitted for week 2 of KevinIL’s Photo Scavenger Hunt contest he held last year. Reusing photos is a good thing, especially when it unleashes one’s creative writing skills.

Thrice Fiction issue number 002 is now out and available for download in several formats, including PDF and Kindle (local copy) and ePub.

My contributions this time are:

• Hey Floyd, You Look a Little Pink
• Hit by a Club

Following up from the first issue with another great story is Vahid. And making his Thrice Fiction debut is Adam Avitable with a wonderful and dark tale. Also new to this issue is author Ann Bogle. She has several stories in this issue and they are great little reads of intrigue and clever.

So go grab this issue. It’s free. And while you are there, if you haven’t already, get the first issue.

Thrice Fiction is Here

About a week or so after Thanksgiving, I received an email from Dave2 of Blogography fame. Unlike other emails where we talk LEGO, Depeche Mode and the lack of alcohol in Utah, this one was about writing for this new fiction zine that he and his co-creator RW were working on. I jumped at the chance to not only reinvigorate my writing career but also to be part of something new and ground breaking.

I had several ideas for short stories that I could submit and spent a good month or so going back and forth between all of them before deciding on the one that is in the inaugural issue – “Becoming Aquaman”

Aquaman, in his younger incarnation Aquakid

So without further adieu, head over to Thrice Fiction and download the first issue. Besides my story, there are many others from accomplished writers, authors and poets – including a nice read from another good friend of mine.

I look forward to submitting at least one story for each issue. Exciting is nothing short of the explanation of how I feel about this opportunity.

As Winter/Lex so very well explained in her blog post a couple weeks ago, she had a project that she was working on back in April 2009 and asked if I would be interested in submitting a short story. She and I had talked before about my previous writing experience, which most of it was software reviews and technical columns in various publications over the years.

I decided to take on the assignment and spent a good deal of time going over a story I already had, polishing it up, learning how not to “head hop” and going through several edit sessions with the main editor.

Weirdly III

The cover of the story compilation

The end result is called “Double Or Nothing”, which is just one of the 15 odd, weird, creepy, demonic and paranormal tales included in the Weirdly III compilation book from Wild Child Publishing. The short story is about a talented and energized singer who makes a wish to have more than one of him, causing his real and surreal worlds collide.

Lex Valentine, aka Winterheart from Sunlight Sucks, also has one of her signature erotica stories, “Ain’t Nuthin’ but a Hellhound” which is a very good (and very erotic) read about a demon who tries his best to take over the souls of the misguided.

To purchase a copy of Weirdly III, head over to this link. It’s initial release is an ebook in PDF format. If sales are good, it will go to print, which would be exciting to have my first work of fiction in print.

I want to thank Winter for this great opportunity. I am hoping this will be the first of many published works you will see from me.