Lesley Bungay’s “Future Shadows” now in Rabbit Hole V anthology

I’m lucky enough to have my work included in The Rabbit Hole Volume 5: Just…Plain…Weird anthology along with quite a group of talented authors. I especially love the teaser

Welcome to the Rabbit Hole. On our fifth excursion into the warren of the odd, 37 authors lead us down their own little burrows of strangeness : an army of penguins, music that cures, aliens that communicate through old cartoons, images of the future that save, unwanted visions of the now, and, oh yes, it is raining lawyers. All have one thing in common, they are just…plain…weird.
Weird can be funny, weird can be sad, weird can be thoughtful, weird can be mad, but the one thing in common is that weird shares experiences you have, thankfully, never had.
Just be careful, all little bunnies are not nice, but they are memorable.

 
About the Author
Lesley grew up in the North East of England and now lives in Hampshire where she works as an advisory teacher for children with special needs. She dabbled with creative writing for many years before finally taking the plunge to submit her words. You’ll find them published in An Eclectic Mix Vol. 9 and the H.G. Wells ‘Time’ anthology, as well as online at Paragraph Planet. Other joys include Second Place in the Yeovil Literary Prize and a number of long and short listings with Fish Publishing, Writing Magazine, Cranked Anvil and Retreat West. She completed her first novel during 2020 aptly titled – The Year Without a Summer, although nothing to do with COVID19, and is now editing the second. When not working or writing you’ll find her out walking or in her garden but always pondering ideas. She tweets @LesleyjayneB

 
How the stories came about? Continue reading “Lesley Bungay’s “Future Shadows” now in Rabbit Hole V anthology”

John Haas’ “Spider Dance” now in Rabbit Hole V anthology

I’m lucky enough to have my work included in The Rabbit Hole Volume 5: Just…Plain…Weird anthology along with quite a group of talented authors. I especially love the teaser

Welcome to the Rabbit Hole. On our fifth excursion into the warren of the odd, 37 authors lead us down their own little burrows of strangeness : an army of penguins, music that cures, aliens that communicate through old cartoons, images of the future that save, unwanted visions of the now, and, oh yes, it is raining lawyers. All have one thing in common, they are just…plain…weird.
Weird can be funny, weird can be sad, weird can be thoughtful, weird can be mad, but the one thing in common is that weird shares experiences you have, thankfully, never had.
Just be careful, all little bunnies are not nice, but they are memorable.

 
About the Author
John Haas is a Canadian author living in Ottawa with his two wonderful sons, who give him plenty of motivation to succeed. In 2018 his story Damned Voyage won 3rd place in the Writers of the Future contest. His The Reluctant Barbarian trilogy is published by Renaissance Press, while his latest novel, Cults of Death and Madness is published by Wordfire Press.

 
How the stories came about? Continue reading “John Haas’ “Spider Dance” now in Rabbit Hole V anthology”

Carl E. Reed’s “Cold Tickle” now in Rabbit Hole V anthology

I’m lucky enough to have my work included in The Rabbit Hole Volume 5: Just…Plain…Weird anthology along with quite a group of talented authors. I especially love the teaser

Welcome to the Rabbit Hole. On our fifth excursion into the warren of the odd, 37 authors lead us down their own little burrows of strangeness : an army of penguins, music that cures, aliens that communicate through old cartoons, images of the future that save, unwanted visions of the now, and, oh yes, it is raining lawyers. All have one thing in common, they are just…plain…weird.
Weird can be funny, weird can be sad, weird can be thoughtful, weird can be mad, but the one thing in common is that weird shares experiences you have, thankfully, never had.
Just be careful, all little bunnies are not nice, but they are memorable.

 
About the Author
Carl E. Reed is currently employed as a roofing operations specialist at a window, siding, and door company just outside Chicago. Former jobs include: U.S. marine, long-haul trucker, stage actor, cab driver, construction worker, and door-to-door encyclopedia salesman. His poetry has been published in The Iconoclast, Spectral Realms, Black Petals, & Deathlehem: Holiday Horrors; short stories in Black Gate, newWitch, Sci-Fi Lampoon, Penumbra and elsewhere. He is a member of Frank Coffman’s Weird Poets Society.

 
How the stories came about? Continue reading “Carl E. Reed’s “Cold Tickle” now in Rabbit Hole V anthology”

That Th!nk You Do Chapter 6 – Guys Can’t Help Themselves

For those who didn’t know, I’ve signed with a new publisher and my first book out with them, The Think You Do, should be available late Nov-Dec ’22.

Read:

As always, let me know what you think.


Guys Can’t Help Themselves

 
I have never accepted “Boys will be boys” as an excuse for socially unacceptable behavior. But have you noticed that the vast number of “acting out” news items involve males? Consider DUIs, fights, shouting matches, anything you care to recognize as “bad behavior” and the involvement of males greatly over shadows the involvement of females.

Why is that?

Well, to a certain degree it’s because guys can’t help themselves.

No, this is not an apologetic for bad behavior and I’m definitely not providing men a carte blanche. What I’m recognizing is that the wiring of the male brain makes it easier for them to behave badly. Women don’t have the same wiring.

And no, I’m not kidding. Research performed at John Hopkins and elsewhere is verifying yet another difference between males and females, another evolutionary difference in addition to the obvious sexual traits.

It works like this: cause humans to do something pleasurable and their brains release dopamine (the “pleasure molecule”). Well, duh!, right? But male brains release up to three times as much pleasure for a given stimulus as female brains do.

Three times as much? Well, heck. Sign me up right now, please.
Continue readingThat Th!nk You Do Chapter 6 – Guys Can’t Help Themselves”

Great Opening Lines – and Why! (October 2022’s Great Opening Lines)

I wrote in Great Opening Lines – and Why! (Part 3 – Some Great Opening Lines) that I’d share more great opening lines as I found them.

My last entry in this category was July 2022’s Great Opening Lines – and Why! (May 2022’s Great Opening Lines) which covered Binah Shah’s Before She Sleeps. This entry in the Great Opening Lines – And Why! posts is Laura Koerber‘s Coyote’s Road Trip.
Continue reading “Great Opening Lines – and Why! (October 2022’s Great Opening Lines)”