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Saturday, June 18, 2011

Publishing News: "Low Hanging Clouds" Published Today at Eschatology Journal

My second flash fiction piece, "Low Hanging Clouds", was published today at Eschatology Journal, the fantastic online journal of Lovecraftian and apocalyptic flash fiction.  The site is run by devoted weirdling and editor Bruce Priddy (who recently joined forces with Mike Davis at the white hot Lovecraft eZine), offering writers a wonderful canvas on which to paint short, punchy pieces that can haunt, chill, or drill a hole through your forehead in under 1,000 words.

I wrote the skeleton of the story in a matter of minutes after arriving to work one morning in the middle of February (just days before "Downhill" was published in Eschatology, shared here), which is smack dab in the middle of the rare, three or four month window for rain in Los Angeles.  That gorgeously gloomy, rainy morning, the top of the twin Century Plaza Towers that mark the white collar enclave of Century City (which boasts as its biggest claim to fame - at least in my mind - as being the primary location of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, almost immediately after it was constructed), and the upper floors of all other modest skyscrapers in the area, including my own office building, were swaddled tight by a thick layer of viscous, bright white clouds, that reminded me of a cappuccino, or, as my story details, something far more sinister but no less tasty.

I love finding the horror in the benign, the dread in the beautiful.  From religion to home to a burst of welcome weather, disrupting the security of the common and cozy is one of my top goals as a speculative fiction writer.  Yes, I'm an asshole.  Just hopefully an entertaining and slightly interesting one.  :)

8 comments:

  1. You have a flare for calamity, Ted! Thanks for sharing this ditty. Eschatology Journal is now added to my daily reading list.

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  2. I'm in the horror game for the big stuff, Shane, at least for right now. I blame a churchy upbringing and scars of the Cold War and 9/11. I think it's why Lovecraft - and cosmic horror in general - is so appealing to me.

    I think I'll get smaller with my spooks as I purge the grand swaths of destruction from my soul and brain pan. It's growth in reverse.

    Thanks for taking time out of new fatherhood to read my story, and Eschatology, my friend! It's a damned fine site, with some inspired writers (including pal and fellow Yoggie Brian Sammons).

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  3. My pleasure! What better way to pass the time as I rock my little one to sleep, than to read "the big stuff?" :-)

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  4. You're keeping a fine balance, good sir.

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  5. Creepy! Love the Viking Longship description.

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  6. Thanks, Laird. Really glad it gave you the creeps, as I see it as returning a favor.

    My work here is done...

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  7. Well done Ted! Though I am sorry for the main character, I find something cleansing about the clouds' effect. It reminds me in a way of the song 'Aenima' by Tool :http://www.lyricsmania.com/aenima_lyrics_tool.html

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  8. Luckily, I already know how to swim. :)

    Love that song, Paul, and glad you enjoyed the story.

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