The Absent Willow Review & update

I keep a short distance between us, watching them sprint up paths, tackle each other on lawns, and hurdle picket fences like they’re back running drills on the practise field they only just left behind. They take it in turns to wail like banshees, scaring cats up trees or under cars, drawing folks to their windows.

In another year or two, these boys won’t be here. I don’t mean like Owen. They will know what it’s like to grow up and lose interest in things. To move on and do what older kids do, whatever that is. I can’t help but feel jealous. I want to move on too.

-The Manny Prior Halloween Show

The January issue of The Absent Willow Review is now online and includes my contribution, The Manny Prior Halloween Show. It's a lot of words (almost 8000) and pretty dark at times, but it's worth checking out. If you do, please drop a comment here to let me know what you think.


Update:
I'm back working on the novel after a two month hiatus and it's moving along nicely again, very nicely in fact. Wrote a scene on Saturday morning that even had me a little freaked out never mind poor Ella Bradburn, my protagonist. The plan is still the same for this on-off project - to have the first draft finished by the tail end of this year, if not sooner. Just gotta keep at it, I suppose.

I won't be submitting any short stories for a while (most of them have already found homes and the rest simply aren't ready to be set loose at this time) but I do have a couple coming up in print, in GUD Magazine and Murky Depths. I've seen the cover art for Issue #5 of GUD and it's certainly eye-catching!

I hope you'll read The Manny Prior Halloween Show or at least give it a try and see if it appeals to your tastes.

All the best.