Tom Howard’s ‘Come into My Parlor’ in Writers Co-op Production’s The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey Anthology

I asked fellow The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey anthology contributors to share some things about themselves prior to publication and those generous enough to do so will be appearing here for the next 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 The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey (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?).

Let’s start with an introduction to the anthology as a whole:

“Life is a journey, not a destination.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Emerson’s point has been echoed by many, but in the Land of the Weird the question arises, “A journey to what destination?” At the same time, you might ask, “Is the journey therefore the destination?” The journey may well be an individual’s destination, because it will define them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And in the Land of the Weird, that journey can take twists and turns that amuse, sadden, or horrify.
This trip into the Land of the Weird offers you 39 unique trails to follow, assisted by 35 different guides, each leading you down their own singular paths, manifesting their own view of journey as destination, some laughing, some weeping, and some, eyes wide with fear, shaking as they point out the spectral footpath for you to follow on your way down The Rabbit Hole.

A Writers Co-op Production
Stories by: Chere Taylor, Brian R. Quinn, Arthur M. Doweyko, Donna J. W. Munro, Tom Howard, Kayla Whittle, Leslie Muzingo, Pete Barnstrom, Emmie Christie, Thomas Nicholson, GD Deckard, Richard DeRobertis, M.C. Schmidt, James Dorr, Rosalind Goldsmith, Margaret Karmazin, J.W.Wood, James Rumpel, Bill McCormick, v.f. thompson, Fran Tabor, David K. Slay, Joseph Carrabis, Jane Frankel, Alice Baburek, Susan R. Morritt, Bobby Rollins, Lee Clark Zumpe, Denice Penrose, Stephen McQuiggan, H. Donovan Lyón, Anna Ross, Michael Pudney, Beth Gaydon, and Tom Wolosz.

Tom’s contribution is Come into My Parlor. Here’s the opening:

The bell above the door tinkled, and three strange men entered Hildy’s bookstore. Although it was late evening in Fossil Station, Kansas, she hadn’t closed her shop. Vonda Toedimier had called to say she’d stop on her way home for a romance novel and Hildy’s scone recipe.

How the story came about:
When I first started writing fifteen years ago, I submitted a story to an anthology where tea saved the day. They rejected it, and this poor story has been making the rounds ever since. It’s been longer. It’s been shorter. The POV has changed several times. It’s been workshopped, critiqued, and almost archived.
Hilda Donnechie was an English nanny immigrant who lived next door to us in Texas. She was a character and would have had no problem with aliens appearing in her bookshop.
Continue reading “Tom Howard’s ‘Come into My Parlor’ in Writers Co-op Production’s The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey Anthology”

Leslie Muzingo’s ‘Emerald Eyes’ in Writers Co-op Production’s The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey Anthology

I asked fellow The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey anthology contributors to share some things about themselves prior to publication and those generous enough to do so will be appearing here for the next 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 The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey (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?).

Let’s start with an introduction to the anthology as a whole:

“Life is a journey, not a destination.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Emerson’s point has been echoed by many, but in the Land of the Weird the question arises, “A journey to what destination?” At the same time, you might ask, “Is the journey therefore the destination?” The journey may well be an individual’s destination, because it will define them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And in the Land of the Weird, that journey can take twists and turns that amuse, sadden, or horrify.
This trip into the Land of the Weird offers you 39 unique trails to follow, assisted by 35 different guides, each leading you down their own singular paths, manifesting their own view of journey as destination, some laughing, some weeping, and some, eyes wide with fear, shaking as they point out the spectral footpath for you to follow on your way down The Rabbit Hole.

A Writers Co-op Production
Stories by: Chere Taylor, Brian R. Quinn, Arthur M. Doweyko, Donna J. W. Munro, Tom Howard, Kayla Whittle, Leslie Muzingo, Pete Barnstrom, Emmie Christie, Thomas Nicholson, GD Deckard, Richard DeRobertis, M.C. Schmidt, James Dorr, Rosalind Goldsmith, Margaret Karmazin, J.W.Wood, James Rumpel, Bill McCormick, v.f. thompson, Fran Tabor, David K. Slay, Joseph Carrabis, Jane Frankel, Alice Baburek, Susan R. Morritt, Bobby Rollins, Lee Clark Zumpe, Denice Penrose, Stephen McQuiggan, H. Donovan Lyón, Anna Ross, Michael Pudney, Beth Gaydon, and Tom Wolosz.

Leslie’s contribution is Emerald Eyes. Here’s the opening:

The last stretch of new train tracks had been laid in catty-corner fashion. Funny how the engineer who directed this strange design was never seen again once the last spike was driven and the champagne toast drunk. Perhaps he knew the chaos he’d caused and wanted to get away before his crime was discovered. Those passengers returning to the station had no problems as the tracks were split and only the tracks for outgoing trains were affected. But what an effect those catty-cornered train tracks had on those who dared to ride! You’d think you were on the train to Boston and arrive in Timbuktu, or to New York and find yourself lost in Shanghai. It was unbelievable. It was magical.

How the story came about:
I wrote this story for a contest. That contest had a theme. Honestly, it was so long ago that I don’t remember much about it! So I guess it goes without saying that I didn’t win the contest, huh?
Continue reading “Leslie Muzingo’s ‘Emerald Eyes’ in Writers Co-op Production’s The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey Anthology”

The Alibi (A John Chance Mystery) – Chapter 32

Still sharing what I’ve already written pre-Oct. By the time this chapter is published I’ll’ve begun The Great Rewrite.

Nice image, that…don’t you think?

Enjoy!

The Alibi – Chapter 32

 
Sean surfaced slowly and rotated without making ripples. No one, no thing, besides himself in the cave. Boston’s record-breaking heatwave had daytime temperatures in the high nineties, nighttime temps not much less, and the downtown was, literally, a melting pot. People claimed they could see the waterfront boil and the seawater hadn’t been spared. A mist rose in the cave where the warm ocean water hit the cave’s subterranean cool. Not enough to hide in, and Sean was glad of that.

The water rose and lowered quickly. Not him, not the T, not passive or active sonar. Almost like a percussion blast, a pressure wave.

He waited. Nothing else. Probably some waterfront construction.

He focused on the wall sigils his last time here. Seamus thought there might be something more, something other.

Like what?

Kelp? Lichen? A scribe holding a writing tablet transposing his efforts to the bioluminescent walls?

Seamus’s placement on a DO NOT FLY list bothered him. His cousin a terrorist?

Caic tarbh! Nobody with half a brain in their head would buy that story.

Still, there it was. Seamus O’Hearn was on a DO NOT FLY list.

Too many coincidences.

But who in hell would care about what’s scratched into the walls of a cave you can only get to underwater?

Didn’t matter now.

He hadn’t investigated those other caves, the darkness in the walls, the tunnels leading…where?

This was a secret staging area for a smuggling operation?

Not bad. Except you’d need some kind of powered submersible if you were smuggling anything with mass.

But how many men were involved in the operation?

Had enough, you could make a chain.

And if this was an old T tunnel? Did they store equipment here? Wouldn’t there be service tracks to and from?

He rose from the water, waited for ocean to shed itself from his dive suit, less chance of sloshing, making a sound, being heard by others.

Another look around.

He turned on his headlamp, shined it in the tunnel entrances, and saw it light a backwall in one.

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Previous entries in The Alibi (A John Chance Mystery)

Tom Wolosz’s ‘Rufus’ in Writers Co-op Production’s The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey Anthology

I asked fellow The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey anthology contributors to share some things about themselves prior to publication and those generous enough to do so will be appearing here for the next 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 The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey (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?).

Let’s start with an introduction to the anthology as a whole:

“Life is a journey, not a destination.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Emerson’s point has been echoed by many, but in the Land of the Weird the question arises, “A journey to what destination?” At the same time, you might ask, “Is the journey therefore the destination?” The journey may well be an individual’s destination, because it will define them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And in the Land of the Weird, that journey can take twists and turns that amuse, sadden, or horrify.
This trip into the Land of the Weird offers you 39 unique trails to follow, assisted by 35 different guides, each leading you down their own singular paths, manifesting their own view of journey as destination, some laughing, some weeping, and some, eyes wide with fear, shaking as they point out the spectral footpath for you to follow on your way down The Rabbit Hole.

A Writers Co-op Production
Stories by: Chere Taylor, Brian R. Quinn, Arthur M. Doweyko, Donna J. W. Munro, Tom Howard, Kayla Whittle, Leslie Muzingo, Pete Barnstrom, Emmie Christie, Thomas Nicholson, GD Deckard, Richard DeRobertis, M.C. Schmidt, James Dorr, Rosalind Goldsmith, Margaret Karmazin, J.W.Wood, James Rumpel, Bill McCormick, v.f. thompson, Fran Tabor, David K. Slay, Joseph Carrabis, Jane Frankel, Alice Baburek, Susan R. Morritt, Bobby Rollins, Lee Clark Zumpe, Denice Penrose, Stephen McQuiggan, H. Donovan Lyón, Anna Ross, Michael Pudney, Beth Gaydon, and Tom Wolosz.

Tom’s contribution is Rufus. Here’s the opening:

God, my arms hurt. My knees hurt. I been scrubbin’ this floor for I don’t know how long, and this damn stain won’t come out.
Oh, shit! Look at those clouds! I gotta get the storm shutters in place or this bookstore is toast!

#

Man, am I tired. From the way the rain is beatin’ down I can tell I got those shutters down just in time. Hope there’s no close twister this time. That could wreck the hell outta this place.
Funny thing though. Lookin’ out the window and seein’ those clouds takes me back. I remember the first day I came here to the bookstore. Seems like a lifetime ago.

How the story came about:
This is actually a story that came as a dream. I guess watching all the news reports of the damage done by tornadoes had an effect on me.
Continue reading “Tom Wolosz’s ‘Rufus’ in Writers Co-op Production’s The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey Anthology”

Tom Wolosz’s ‘OUROBOROS’ in Writers Co-op Production’s The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey Anthology

I asked fellow The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey anthology contributors to share some things about themselves prior to publication and those generous enough to do so will be appearing here for the next 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 The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey (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?).

Let’s start with an introduction to the anthology as a whole:

“Life is a journey, not a destination.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Emerson’s point has been echoed by many, but in the Land of the Weird the question arises, “A journey to what destination?” At the same time, you might ask, “Is the journey therefore the destination?” The journey may well be an individual’s destination, because it will define them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And in the Land of the Weird, that journey can take twists and turns that amuse, sadden, or horrify.
This trip into the Land of the Weird offers you 39 unique trails to follow, assisted by 35 different guides, each leading you down their own singular paths, manifesting their own view of journey as destination, some laughing, some weeping, and some, eyes wide with fear, shaking as they point out the spectral footpath for you to follow on your way down The Rabbit Hole.

A Writers Co-op Production
Stories by: Chere Taylor, Brian R. Quinn, Arthur M. Doweyko, Donna J. W. Munro, Tom Howard, Kayla Whittle, Leslie Muzingo, Pete Barnstrom, Emmie Christie, Thomas Nicholson, GD Deckard, Richard DeRobertis, M.C. Schmidt, James Dorr, Rosalind Goldsmith, Margaret Karmazin, J.W.Wood, James Rumpel, Bill McCormick, v.f. thompson, Fran Tabor, David K. Slay, Joseph Carrabis, Jane Frankel, Alice Baburek, Susan R. Morritt, Bobby Rollins, Lee Clark Zumpe, Denice Penrose, Stephen McQuiggan, H. Donovan Lyón, Anna Ross, Michael Pudney, Beth Gaydon, and Tom Wolosz.

Tom’s contribution is OUROBOROUS. Here’s the opening:

Standing by the pond he was struck, as always, by what was missing.
The mixed stand of maples, paper birch and evergreens swayed gently, a palette of gentle pine- and deep forest-green needle and leaf, with the nut-browns, greys and dirty streaked whites of trunks and branches peeking out from within and beneath the canopy. Sapphire pond waters rippled gently in time to the swaying of the trees, and fluffy cotton-ball clouds gently frolicked through the azure sky; all crying out to him that a gentle breeze caressed them, propelled them, danced with them.
Yet he felt nothing.

How the story came about:
I’ve been fascinated by the prospect of emulations — basically the copying of human consciousness into a computer, creating a facsimile of a human being within the machine which could perform all the tasks the original could. Of course, there are downsides to everything…
Continue reading “Tom Wolosz’s ‘OUROBOROS’ in Writers Co-op Production’s The Rabbit Hole Weird Stories Destination:Journey Anthology”