So, I am posting and curating my (published) works here on my website (Yay!). Now that I am querying, I reckon that this is as good a time as any to pull this site together.
The first two stories are below. They are from about 16 to 17 years ago.
Checking It Twice always seemed like a natural to me: Santa Claus was the original ‘big bad’ to many of us. So, why not tell the story of when he was neither of those things. And, yes, my very first short story featured a POC. I was always wanting to creatively explore the human condition by attempting empathy with ‘the others’.
And The Unholy Choice was a (very) short piece that took a look at the choice/life debate by turning it on its head. It’s fun dusting off these old trophy acceptances and seeing if they still reflect the light.
But these aren’t my first works. Prior to these, I had already written my first novel—the one still locked in the sub-basement, behind the somehow newer-looking brick wall. Some nights, after the polite world has turned in, I think I can still hear that novel, scraping, scraping to escape…
Best to You All, _Mark