Skip to main content

A Bit of a Twist: Read on the Run Anthology is Live and I Am a Contributor!

Hey so a while back I wrote a bit of a horror story and submitted it to Smoking Pen Press emag and they picked it for some reason and now you can read it!

 Look at that cover. Doesn't it look nice?

I've not read the other stories included, but I'm excited to once I get my contributor copy. Apparently, mine isn't the only story to include revenge. :) 

As for my writer insight: I wrote it to see if I could do a story with a gender-neutral protagonist. You are free to interpret the character's gender in any way you wish. I had also been writing a thesis on revenge tales in Shakespearean drama, so revenge was on my mind and it worked its way into the plot. Revenge is often a gendered theme, so I was curious whether I could avoid some of those implications with a non-specified protagonist. 

But also, the ending came about because I'm not the best plotter in the world, so I was just like, "Errr...how do I wrap this up? Murder? OK murder sounds good I guess." Ever since middle school, when I first found out I could scare my friends with stories about dead bodies in the woods and murderers hanging out in the treetops, I've had a tendency to end plots with murder. 

It's called "River Road." River Road is a street in my home town in Maryland, and it served as partial inspiration for the story. The whole thing doesn't necessarily take place in Maryland, but you're free to imagine it there. Or imagine it taking place anywhere in the American South. Preferably somewhere humid. In summer. In very hot, murder-y weather. 

Comments

  1. Loni TownsendWed Dec 21, 10:22:00 AM CST

    Intriguing. I read the protagonist as male. I'm not sure why, but I did. I enjoyed your story, though. Murder was a good end to things there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LauraWed Dec 21, 02:34:00 PM CST

      Haha, thanks. :) It's up to the reader for interpretation. Always nice to hear someone's take on it!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Comments make me happy, so leave lots! :) I will usually reply to each one, so click Notify Me to read my replies.

Popular posts from this blog

I've been learning a lot about DOGS lately

I've been reading some books and online articles about dogs and did you know how amazing dogs are?? Just, from a scientific standpoint?? The history of dogs and dog breeds. Dog noses. Dogs that find lost pets. Dogs that rescue people. Dogs that detect seizures. Dogs that hunt invasive species at ports or just look fucking fabulous at dog shows. Also wild dogs! And FOXES. And other lesser-known canids (canines?) that look very different and sometimes similar and just are all fascinating and cool. I learned, for instance, that Corgis are a herding dog developed in Wales that herds by darting in low to the ground to nip. Whereas the border collies and related breeds herd by using the stare-chase-stare intimidation method. And that Australian Cattle Dogs are part dingo! Who knew? I met a baby Blue Heeler (very similar to Australian Cattle Dog) at work and got to pet a part-dingo dog! My neighbor owns a rescued Australian Cattle Dog. I live next door to a dingo dog!!! *Owen Wilson...
2 comments
CLICK TO READ ON >>

Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Faïza Guène, a YA Book By A Young Author

Review time! Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow is a young adult novel by a young adult, so I was very interested to read it. There's also a #MuslimShelfSpace tag going around, and this review is a nod to that. The idea is that there's been a lot of stereotypes and anti-Muslim sentiment spread around, so buying and boosting books about and by Muslims can help educate people and break down harmful stereotypes.  The author is French with an Algerian background, and  Guène  wrote Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow when she was in her late teens. Although the novel is not autobiographical, she shares many things with its main character. Doria, like her creator, is the child of immigrants and lives in poor suburban housing projects.   Guène   wrote that she realized girls like herself weren't really represented in books, and felt that Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow was a way to tell the stories of people in the suburbs who are ignored by the elites of French literature. Plot: Life Sucks, Until...
2 comments
CLICK TO READ ON >>

Audiobook Review: The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donohue

I'm behind on these. There's a whole list of wonderful books that I've been meaning to roll out reviews for. Unfortunately, NaNoWriMo got in the way.  But now it's December and I can get back to what I love writing: snarky reviews. I could have kicked off the next series of Diverse Reads reviews with a nice review. But I'm in a bad mood. Have been since November 8th. Actually, I've been in a bad mood since 2016 started with a slew of celebrity deaths and terrible news.  So a negative review it is. Spoilers below. I could not give less of a fuck whether or not I spoil this horrible book. Actually, since the whole point of this is to convince you NOT to read it, I'm going to try to spoil as much as I possibly can. Brace yourself. This is going to be a long one.  Summary After the swimming accident that nearly claimed the lives of him and his friend, Jack Peter has been severely agoraphobic. What his parents don't seem to understand is how s...
12 comments
CLICK TO READ ON >>