"Mantra" at All Due Respect

What do you do when their whispers build to screams? When they crawl from front to back asking the same questions over and over? The serpent knows, so does the old bird.

MANTRA 

at All Due Respect

Many, many thanks to ADR founding Editor,
Alec Cizak, for publishing Mantra, his wonderful support, and lovely introduction.










P.s. Every October someone loses a head around my house, my fictional character's house, that is. This story is one of what I am beginning to call my 2 AM stories. The images and thoughts 'Mantra' stirred kept me awake til dawn, not writing it, but the mere disturbing nature of it all. I hope you find the story just as deliciously frightful. Sweet dreams. ~ J. Mac

SpinTop - Swan on the Rocks at Flashes in the Dark

your dark is my poetry 
mirrors break like sanity 
the shards, they echo 
they tell a story 
I listen

SpinTop - Swan on the Rocks



It's been awhile since I've written an absurd horror, so here's a little piece for you. I hope it touches a place deep down, because that's where it was written from.


Thank you, as always, to the wonderful Lori Titus of Flashes in the Dark.

Art at Lily Childs' February Femmes Fatales

Lily childs' site is multifaceted and seeped deep in fears of the conscience and subconscious. Not only do I deeply admire Lily's thought provoking fiction, but I also admire her for providing a platform for others. This month she has nicknamed February Femmes Fatales. And the 'Femmes Fatales' she's showcased has blown me away with their talent. I'm excited to have engaged with new macabre women writers through Lily's site. Delicious to say the least.  


I am humbled and happy to have my story,  Art, featured today.





Thank you, Lily, not only for the story feature, but that hawt intro. Wow. I totally will write you into a Wicked Woman's Booty Episode for that!

I see a naked baby with wings, bow and a broken arrow pointed at butts! Whether you all are falling in or out of love, managing to maintain, or simply believe it doesn't exist: Happy Valentines!

And yes, the rumors are true. I'm caving and editing my novel, Xscents. I'll be sneaking around here and there, but mainly keeping to myself.  Thanks for all of yuor support!

Buffalo Gal, Won't You Come Out Tonight and Give Hell's Bells a Shake at Thrillers, Killers n Chillers

Buffalo Gal,
Won't You Come Out Tonight
and Give Hell's Bells a Shake

at TKnC

Big Thank You to editor Col Bury.

Warning: Somethings just aren't right. This story is one of them. The author is not responsible for any disturbances this story may cause to the spirit of Christmas forward hence thereof and... after.

Dross at In Between Altered States

Sometimes we ask questions too late.


Read Dross at In Between Altered States. Thank you so much to editor, Aleathia Drehmer, for publishing this raw flash of prose.

Toe Tags 2: Wherein Lisa Gets Squashed

Now available, Toe Tags 2: Blood & Bizarro edited by William Pauley III & Brian Barnett. I'm proud to be included with fantastic writers such as Kevil Shamel, Suzie Bradshaw, Lee Hughes, Laura Eno, Andersen Prunty, Jordan Krall, David W Barbee, Steve Lowe, Garrett Calcaterra, John F.D. Taff, J. Travis Grundon, Alan Spencer, Joey Froehlich, Brian Barnett and William Pauley III.

My story, Lisa Got Squashed, holds my record for number of full rewrites at the big 40. That's FOUR-ZERO. Lots. It's my baby. My poor strange, squashed baby. Here's a sample:

***

"Kid, you’re forgetting, she went insane. Cuckoo. Checked out to La La land. And in the land of crazy clowns and roving daisies, there's a big difference between squish, squash, and smoosh."

"So why'd she go insane?" Jordan asked.

Derek finished off his beer. "You liked my party, kid?"

Jordan flinched at the change in Derek’s voice. He nodded and shrugged simultaneously, unsure of what to reply.

"Sure as hell you did.” Derek’s voice deepened. "How did she go insane, you ask?" He tightened his grip on the bottle, stood up, and smashed it on the barbeque grill.

“Woah!” Jordan stood, knocking over his lawn chair.

“Where you going, buddy?” Derek lifted the sharp edge of the broken bottle. “Get back here.”

Jordan limped towards his pickup. He felt Derek’s big hand grab his shirt; yank him backwards. "You’re not going anywhere yet."

"I wasn't going..." Jordan’s eyes grew huge when Derek brought the glass close to his face.

"Just shut up, kid." Derek screwed up his face like he had just gotten a whiff of his own breath. "Lisa went insane, the way we all go insane. Someone hurts you, hurts you real bad. We all have our ways of coping. Some choose drugs, women, smoking, some..." He tilted the bottleneck head down, like he was guzzling. "Booze. Lisa chose schitzo. In the end," Derek’s pupils expanded, "the pain always comes back to get you."

They stood there.

Eye to eye.

Silent.

Jordan finally adverted his gaze and willed himself not to piss his pants.

Derek let loose of Jordan’s shirt. Forced a smile. “Sorry, buddy. Didn’t mean to frighten you. Why don’t you go have a seat and I’ll fetch you another beer.”

Jordan thought of making another attempt for his pickup, but even if he could make it, what then? His truck wouldn’t make it far on the flat. He glanced at the weapon in Derek’s hand and made a decision. Jordan limped back to the lawn chair, turned it upright, and sat.

"This'll help." Derek handed him a cold one.

"Uh, thanks."

"You see," Derek flipped his sunglasses up. "What caused her to go schitzo is not what's important. What she did about the pain between the reality checks in La La land is what really matters. She took some sharp glass," he held out the razor shard of the bottle, "and she cut her wrists." He made a slicing motion over his own wrists.

Jordan, in the middle of a gulp, choked, and spit beer into the wind. It sprayed back in his face.

Derek twisted his thin lips into a smile. "Kid, get a grip."

Jordan coughed again. He pulled his tank top up and swiped it over his face. "So did she die?”

"No." Derek's voice softened. "Unfortunately, for her, she lived."

 ***

Pillow Talk at Beat to a Pulp

Yeah, yeah, I know I've had more shorts come out this week then the whole freaking summer. But hey,  it's the week before YOU KNOW WHAT, and this story is as psycho, sexy, crazy as it gets. The night I wrote this, I had to turn on the lights...  and I had to question where Henrietta came from, then decided I didn't want to know. I don't want to know how dark it gets in those soulless places where the sun can't raech.  If you're brave enough read...

  
Pillow Talk at Beat To A Pulp

A big Thank You to wonderful Beat to a Pulp editors, David Cranmer and Elaine Ash. Be sure to catch their first anthology, Beat to a Pulp: Round One. It holds some of my fav writers including Spinetingler award winner Anonymous-9.  That wicked woman kicks serious fiction booty. (Arrr!) 

Halloween Games at 13 Days of Horror

You know you wanna play...

Halloween Games

At Erin Cole's 13 Days of Horror.

Kudos and a sincerely haunted Thank You to the Mistress of All Hallow's Eve. Erin is a true gem and giver in our writing community. Love ya, girl.

ps. This story is dedicated to and inspired by David Barber. A couple weeks back, he pushed his own personal limits with writing. I admire a risk taker. With this story, I explored beyond my own boundaries. Thanks, David. ;-)

***

Play With me at The New Flesh

(Click Pic for Halloween read)

Thanks to III and Brian for letting me stow my eyeball in a pickle jar at The New Flesh.
(And you thought my mis-spelling was due to something else- ha.)

ps. Beat to a Pulp's new anthology, Beat to a Pulp: Round One, has finally been unleashed unto the world. I've been looking forward to this one. Raed a top interview with one of BTAP editors, Elaine Ash here.

***

Tainted Lady is at The Sideshow

*** 

"Tainted Lady" is at Side Show 2: Tales of the Big Top and Bizarre

Edited by Cathy Buburuz, Cover Art by Mark Crittenden (!)

"Even in death, the Man In Black had won.
He turned you into a freak, a monster.
You deserve to burn; all the freaks deserve to burn."

*Tainted Lady was my fav short to write in '09   ;-)

My Resignation Letter

Dear Editors of The New Flesh,

Sadly, You accepted my story Adventures of My Little Carnivorous Pony based on the premise that this was a good story. Sadly, you’ve even included it in your Free New Ebook Collection of New Flesh’s first year. Sadly, I’ve come to realize that it ISN”T a very good story, because you see, I was mislead about what the conflict actually was. I thought My Little Carnivorous Pony was conflicted in the sense that if she remained true to herself, she wouldn’t blend into the ‘norm’ and wouldn’t have friends. If she gave up being herself, everyone would like and play with her. Unfortunately and apparently, this isn’t really what the story was about.

I’ve decided to stop writing. I’m a disgrace. A loser. A REJECT for crying out loud. I’m a mere Jungle Jane, not a Jungle George. The leotards were so tight that, apparently, sadly, and unfortunately, I can’t even UNDERSTAND my own stories, at least according to this reject letter below, which I received before The New Flesh editors accepted Adventures Of My Little Carnivorous Pony.

I will sit at my computer and cry. I will ask myself in the dead of night whether I truly am a writer, and keep Wishing. Wishing that I could be like the other awesome, cool, amazing, writers that made it into the awesome, cool, amazing New Flesh’s Free Ebook that anyone can download completely free by clicking Here. Here. And Here.

Thank you for the very kind, though, misguided words. And I’m sorry. Again.

Sincerely,
Jodi MacArthur

Ps. Got smurfs?

Ppss. Long Live The New Flesh!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Dear Jodi MacArthur,

Thank for your submission to Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxxx. I regret to inform you that we are unable to use it at this time. I like the concept, although the use of My Little Pony and Smurfs concern me a bit since those are trademarked characters. Of more concern, though, nothing is actually resolved during the course of the story -- the pony is carnivorous and sad because she has no friends, then she eats a smurf. A resolution to her friendless situation would be necessary for this piece to feel complete. -- Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx

We wish you good luck in placing the story elsewhere.  
Sincerely, All of us at Xxxxx Xxx Xxxxxx



Disclaimer: I am not dogging the magazine that sent me the reject (in fact, it was very kind of them to send me their personal thoughts). It's more about treasuring The New Flesh, because they give a home for stories that don't fit anywhere else.   

WildCard

There is you. Then there's the promise of who you could be. But what if you aren't who you think you are? Margo Gremmler bends the rules to get by. The only way to make an honest living is to be criminal. The draw back?
Guilt can be a bitch.

~ WildCard ~

A Margo Gremmler series

www.goodsneverbeensobad.blogspot.com

Margo Gremmler is a real life person. She has wild red hair and a personality that kicks arse I adore. She lives in Chicago and helped saved the Evanston Libraries. She enjoys jazz and is currently querying her YA dystopian novel, 30 Decibels. To the best of my knowledge, she’s never hired a hit man. This mini series pilot is for and dedicated to her. I auctioned the opportunity to be in one of my fiction stories, and Margo’s generous bid won. I’m so glad it did. More than she will ever know.

Paul Phillips owns a book store in the land Down Under. He writes horror and has a great sense of humor. He generously donated a good portion to the Evanston Library, and he fit the bill, so as a surprise, I wrote him in as the character Detective Phillips.(Please don't sue me!)

Big Thank You to the editing services of Karen Schindler who helped smooth out the choppiness and Sean Monaghan for reading and awesome feedback. There is an anonymous reader too, you know who you are, and you know how grateful I am.

Zombie Luv Contest Winners!

*This was already announced on Mari's Randomites, but I figured I'd blog it too*

First Place ~~Winner~~ :

"The Tale-Tell Beat"

 by Nishida C

Her story drew me in from the very beginning and just took my breath throughout. The judges were unanimous on this story.  Write more, Nishida. (Please) Congrats! Read her story at Flashes In The Dark today.

2nd place Winner:

 "Dead Flames"

By Angel Zapata

Angel Zapata? What can I say? He can scare your socks off and melt your heart in one breath. It was very worthy of creating a second place slot. Story will be featured at Flashes In The Dark July 26th.

Honorable mention:  

"For The Love Of Mike"

by Sam Adamson

Not only did he win the poll's vote, but he won mine and the other judges as well. His stories have this way of sticking with you for a long time afterward. He truly has the unique touch.

~~~~~~~~~~~

There are a good ten of you that impressed me with either quality, originality, pacing,  but I need to keep my mouth zipped for the sake of choosing stories for a Zombie Luv antho.

It was blast to work with the other judges Mari Juniper,  Lori Titus,  and Jim Bronyaur. Great people, great stories and lots of zombie luv to go around. Thanks for the fun everyone!

Undead WildCard Poetic Teaser

A poetic teaser for Margo Gremmler's library auction bid-winner story, WildCard, is posted at


Undead Poets Society



Story will be posted here THIS Friday. I'm hoping it rocks your socks.

Rabid at FitD (For Reals This Time)

The whistling deer head is stuck to the wall. It cannot get you from there.


Rabid


At Flashes in the Dark

(Thank you, Lori!)


**some of you will remember this from the good ol' days

**On Another note, I decided to make a conversational, rambling blog called, Blahh...Og. I think the title is quite explanatory. ;-) Feel welcome to visit and jump in with me.

Decisions at Tainted Tea

Tainted Tea's Spring Issue is out! Featuring my winning flash fiction story, Decisions, and other stories by David Massengill, Joseph Haeger, and Chris Yodice. Also includes dispicable, lovely art by Undead Ed (you know you wanna see it).

Tainted Tea's lovely website, blog, and ezine is put together and edited by Kris Fossett and Shane R. Toogood. Their winter mag made #11 out of 100 for horror ezines on Lulu. Woohoo!

A sincere THANK YOU to you both.

*I lvoe loev LOVE the way you formatted 'Decisions' and the art!*


Buy.

Submit.

Drink some Tainted Tea...

Interview At Pulp Metal Magazine

Pulp Metal Magazine editor Jason Michel and I talk horror, cautionary tales, pirates, music, and he gets first dibs on my current novel in progress, Devil's Eye. Read the interview HERE.


Thank you, Mr. M!


I appreciate Jason's support for underground writers, his deadication to the craft and unique writing styles, but most of all his love of imagination.

His ezine, Pulp Metal Magazine, reflects this. If you haven't checked it out yet, please do. This month looks like whirlwind of art, music, fiction, Kevin Shamel's Dirty Bird martini recipes and Paul Brazil's fine work.

Support Imagination --> Read.

Adventures Of My Little Carnivorous Pony

At The New Flesh

(No pic could have done this one justice. You'll just have to imagine.)

Thank you to editors

William Pauley III

&

Suzie Bradshaw

For publishing my work

(and for putting up with my bizarre mind.)

Beyond The Devil's Eye

Take me in your arms and kiss me til I die

I want to bring you down with me

down to the devil's eye.

Five and a half months in the making and as of yesterday, I finished the first draft of Devil's Eye. I had originally planned four months, which I almost hit, but took the month of December off to write shorts, then attacked the novel in January. This wasn't an easy sheemsy book to write, but I'm glad this part is over. I never knew what was going to happen next, and that was simply driving me nuts!

So what's next? I leave next thursday to visit family in the Pacific Northwest, then I'll come back and ship out to sea, the Sea Of Imagination, that is.

*Note

(For those who thought I was in a cave)
there's a door
in the crack
of the cave
that i wrote
that leads
to the bottom
of the sea

*Un-Note

I'll be writing and sending short stories out like a crazy mad writer, because I am a crazy mad writer. They will feel like mini lifts compared to the heavy weight my main character in DE, Shail, put on me.

In May, I return to Devil's Eye, to edit, edit, edit, polish then probably edit again. I'll also be writing query letters until I figure out one that's perfect ( a few of you will probably get bugged about reading them for me). I plan to take a two week break in Sept for short stories, start sending out queries, then jump into my second novel in October. The second novel will be much lighter than DE, but hopefully equally as entertaining.

Thank you all for your support and friendship. It carries me through those doubts all of we writers have from time to time. I hope I can provide the same support for you.

~Jodi

ps. The book cover is playing around concept art, not the actual cover art.

Howl: Dark Tales Of The Feral And Infernal

Gypsies, Ribbons, Lizardmen, Passion

The Blind Will See

Attraction has never been so delicious

Or fatal


Lacerta

Howl: Dark Tales Of The Feral and Infernal

An anthology of the hottest, darkest horror in today's market including authors: Jason Michel, Carrie Clevenger, Barry Northern, Erin cole, Mark Anthony Crittenden, Angel Zapata, Paul D Brazil, Paula Ray, Lee Hughes, myself, and so many more.

*Lacerta is partially inspired by Rasputina's 'Hunter's Kiss.'

Just in!
Barry Northern reads my Howl story, Lacerta, as a sneak preview for Lame Goat Press Podcast! His vocal interpretation is AMAZING. Listen to it on his site here.

In other news, my essay, Flying Porkchops Saved My life, placed in the Editor Unleashed essay contest. It will be included in the smashwords anthology along with other wonderful essays.