I asked fellow Midnight Garden anthology contributors to share some things about themselves prior to publication and those generous enough to do appeared in previous Midnight Garden posts for the past week or so.
Each entry gives a taste of their contribution, a little about them, how to contact them, how their story came about, and definitely a link to Midnight Garden (which you should purchase because it would make each and every one of us happy.
you do want to make us happy, don’t you?
i mean, considering what we wrote, you want us to know you’re a good person, right?).
Anywho, having run out of authors to post about, I now turn my posting eye on myself.
We’ll round out Midnight Garden posts with my five contributions to the anthology, this time…
The Tomb:
Bill Hall reached over to his bedstand and ran his fingers over several memory-sticks. His fingertips read each stick’s braille legend before selecting one and plugging it into his reader. A tapping at the side of his bed stopped him from adjusting his headphones. Bill smiled as he pulled them off. “Nurse Ramsey? I didn’t realize it was time to change the guard.”
How the story came about:
The Tomb was originally written in the late 1970s. and no one was interested in it. What you read is the last major edit, circa 2011. The original version – and much of what’s in the published version – came from a dream.
The story is personal to me as I was blind – technically “limited eyesight” and legally blind – until about four years ago. I was considered for some experimental surgeries back in the late 1970s and one thing or another dropped me from consideration. Finally, in 2020 – yep, the year of Covid – Technology caught up to what I needed it to be and several operations later, I can see.
In case you’re curious, going from an auditory landscape to a visual one is not easy. Susan (wife/partner/Princess) got a chuckle out of my staring at something while I matched what it looked like to the sound it made (and which I recognized).
The story itself deals with the fact that “seeing” means seeing everything, some of which isn’t pretty, and some, which others might consider ugly or horrid, is beautiful simply because it can be seen.
About me (and from a professional biography writer, this):
Joseph Carrabis is a master storyteller with a sharp sense of humor and linguistic expertise. Hailing from New Hampshire, USA, his passion for writing began at the tender age of seven while washing dishes with his older sister, Sandra. She’d read ‘Mission to the Heart Stars’ for a book report and shared her fascination and excitement over the story. Joseph, a plate in one hand and a dish towel in the other, decided “I want to give that to people.” With a career deeply embedded in evolving technologies, Joseph served as Chief Research Officer, Chief Neuroscience Officer and Senior Research Fellow at several institutions and agencies while earning numerous awards for his journalism and trade technical writing.
Joseph refers to himself as boring – something loudly debunked by his readers and peers – and weaves wildly imaginative stories that dance on the boundary of the known and unknown science where natural, preternatural, and supernatural intersect. Fans’ comments regularly mention Carrabis’ ability to bring together advanced mathematics, quantum physics, cybernetics, and neuroscience with believable multi-dimensional characters and spellbinding future technology. Joseph’s work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, recommended for a Nebular Award, and received an honorable mention in ‘Writers of the Future’.
Outside of writing, Joseph spends his time with his wife Susan, reading, walking his dog, talking around campfires, flying kites, and befriending wildlife. He thinks of music as a language of sound and movement, and enjoys listening and playing the piano, clarinet, saxophone and guitar. A facilitator to open-minded conversations, Joseph runs a monthly forum, Round Table 360º, with creatives from a range of fields, where they discuss what drives their souls to create.
Reach out to me via Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Goodreads, Pinterest, Instagram, BookBub, YouTube, Substack, down the street, to the grocery store, …
My books in chronological order:
That Th!nk You Do V1 – Jan 2023
The Augmented Man – Feb 2023
Tales Told ‘Round Celestial Campfires V1– Mar 2023
Empty Sky – May 2023
The Inheritors – July 2023
The Shaman – Oct 2023 (#1 New release)
Search – Jan 2024
Tag – Aug 2024
See all Midnight Garden stories here.
And for our finale, a Hallowe’en-themed teaser to the anthology:
One Response
“The Tomb,” in Midnight Garden conjures feelings of helplessness and fear of the unknown. The short sentences with strong verbs create scary tension and suspense! The author, Joseph, makes excellent use of four of the five basic human senses (touch, sight, hearing, and smell)!
I liked the surprising twist at the end of the story.