My First Publication with Alternate History Fiction Magazine

It's finally here after forever and a day.  The premier issue of Alternate History Fiction Magazine is out now on Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks and Nook.  The print edition is available as well.  It's only $0.99 for digital and $15.49 for physical.  It contains my alternate history flash fiction story "Ghosts of Athens" as the very first entry.  So, as per usual I'm going to tell you a bit about my story.

I had intended for my previous story "Happy Dominion Day" to end up in this magazine, but due to a mix-up it wound up in The Wolfian instead.  They are both run by the same guy.  However, had the mix-up not occurred I probably would have never written "Ghosts of Athens."  This story takes place in a world where Persia conquered Greece, and by the present day Persia is still a major world power.  It follows a Greek tour guide name Fazrin who runs tours the ruins of Athens.  He meets a Roman woman named Victoria and the two muse on how history might have been if the Greeks had successfully resisted the Persians.

It is, admittedly, similar to "Happy Dominion Day" in that it features people from an alternate world hypothesizing about the history of our world.  That said, I like "Ghosts of Athens" better as I feel that it is more polished and better realized.  It is mostly alternate history, but I snuck in just a pinch of magical realism for flavor.  As usual with these situations I was paid approximately $0.00, but at least it builds reputation.

So there you go.  "Ghost of Athens" is, I would hope, a very enjoyable story.  There's also plenty of other great alternate history, steampunk, science fiction and fantasy stories in the issue.  Check out Alternate History Fiction Magazine today.  I think you're going to enjoy it.

          

My First Publication with The Moonlit Road

Hello everybody.  I'm happy to report that I have recently published my first story on one of my favorite websites and podcasts, The Moonlit Road.  The story is called Irwin Tarheel and the Fair Folk and you can read it now.  I think you're really gonna like this one...okay, maybe I'm kind of biased since I wrote it, but you should still check it out, along with all the other great stories from The Moonlit Road.

Now that I'm starting to get seriously published I think I'll follow in the tradition of Aliette de Bodard and Ken Liu and start posting story notes.  These will be short little blog post that hopefully will give you some insights into my thoughts and creative process for when I came up with my stories.  So lets get on with it then.

For Irwin Tarheel and the Fair Folk it's basically a retelling of the Japanese legend of Urashima Taro set, mostly, in 19th century Shreveport.  I noticed how similar Urashima's story was to that of stories involving the Fair Folk, those from the land of Faerie, and it seems like a pretty natural fit.  That and I'd also wanted to write story about faeries that were more like they are in old myths and legends.  I guess I really killed two birds with one stone here.  As for why I set the story in Shreveport, hey, it seems as good a place as any.  Plus, The Moonlit Road specializes in stories from the American South, and Shreveport, Louisiana is a thoroughly Southern city.        

So there you have it.  I'm very excited to get published by The Moonlit Road, and I feel this is just the start of many more great stories to come.  I'll keep you guys posted on any future developments, and I will see you all next time.