Big Sister

"Big Sister" -- a story about growing up with an AI-aged version of yourself in your head -- is out now in Unfading Daydream, issue #9.

Try as she might, Mina couldn't reach the cherry pit in her head. She closed her eyes in concentration, and she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, and yet—nothing. Silence rung hollow.

It was her mother who gave her the imagery back when she was a child: when you pop a cherry in your mouth your teeth chomp on fruit flesh while effortlessly avoiding the hard pit, then your tongue rolls it around as you swallow the pulp, before you finally spit the cherry pit out. In much the same way, her mother had gone on to explain, she would learn to isolate the pea-sized implant she carried in her, to roll it around in her thoughts and wake it and speak to it. Speak to herself, at a different age.

Buy the magazine from Amazon.

Voices in the Things

"Voices in the Things" is out now in the Labor Issue of Big Echo.

Anna's phone rang, and shrill voices packed into circuits screamed a polyphonic melody: Liliana, calling from out of country. She jumped out of bed and picked up.

“I'm through,” Liliana said, and the voices in the electronics quieted down. “We're now ten, down from a hundred.”

“That's great,” Anna said, almost meaning it.

“Won't have time for much coordinating before the final round, so you better be ready by then.”

“I will,” she said, pacing the bedroom. “We will.” She opened a blind to reveal a muddy dark sky. She said, “Good luck.”

Liliana was quiet, as if mulling something over—or perhaps it was the delay in the signal—then she thanked her and hung up.

It was not quite morning but Anna could see the horizon bruising, so she decided against going back to sleep.

(Continue reading...)

Interview: The Trader

A short interview about my story "The Trader" can be found on the Metaphorosis Books website.

"The Trader" is available in the Score Anthology.

The Trader

My story "The Trader" is out now in the Score: an SFF Symphony anthology.

What if stories were written like music?

Score is an anthology of varied stories arranged to follow an emotional score from the heights of joy to the depths of despair - but always with a little hope shining through.

Purchase the anthology on Amazon.

AdPerson

Listen to my new flash fiction piece "AdPerson" over at the 600 Second Saga podcast.

Roland wakes into a world that is an eager customer.

He savors his oatmeal with honey; he brushes his teeth; he puts on clothes and greets the neighbors on his way out the building. And he stands at the bus stop and stands in the bus and reads his instructions from Corton Vestee Inc. and occasionally checks his wristwatch, treating it all as a performance, every sidelong glance, shuffle of the feet, every sigh and breath.

(Listen to the whole story.)

Ghostflesh

Horror short story "Ghostflesh" out out now at Five on the Fifth.

Martina lights the candle, and shadows throw themselves up against the wall; black silhouettes flicker, dance, squirm as if before a firing squad, and Martina watches these shadows through squinting eyes, drinking in their performance.

“They'll be strongest on Sunday,” she tells me and snuffs out the candle.

Smoke wreathes her head; she gets up and the wreath goes through her, dissipates. She flips the switch. Light floods the room, making us both wince, and I sneak a glance but the shadows have melted back into the wall.

Read the whole story here.

Borrowed

My flash fiction piece "Borrowed" is out now at Farther Stars Than These.

Emma was playing with Lev the Lion when the bell rang.

Rainbows gleamed in her father's eyes: the porch camera feed relaying to his optic nerve. Emma giggled as his cheeks and forehead wrinkled up in befuddlement; but his eyes dulled back to brown a moment later, and he went to open the door.

(...continue reading.)