Ghostlight

 We’ll take another brief break in The Space between Atoms here—the story will continue and it will take some twists and turns, but for now I wanted to point out that Ghostlight is available on Amazon and the latest issue includes my short story “The Pain of a Caterpillar.”

This particular story was an attempt to write a fairly straightforward horror story.  Most of my writing falls between genres, which is why I struggle as a writer.  (Either that, or my writing sucks.)  This one tries to stay close to the expectations of something definitely being wrong.

It is actually based, partially, on my own living in Scotland.  The town where it’s initially set, Breck, New Hampshire, is a place I made up as the setting for many of my stories.  I actually have a novel underway about the town and why it’s so weird, but I haven’t had any luck yet in getting my novels published.

In any case, “The Pain of a Caterpillar” derives from my own insect phobia, and also from the question of where we come from.  Family secrets.  There’s so much we don’t know about our (mostly innocuous) ancestors.  How did we become who we are, given whence we’ve come?

This particular story also holds the record for quickest acceptance after submission.  Since most of my publications have been rejected multiple times before being picked up by an editor who sort of gets what I’m trying to do, this was particularly flattering.

Like Robert McWygand, the protagonist, I am a perpetual self-doubter.  I write because I am compelled to do so.  There have been a couple dozen stories that have convinced a handful of editors that I’m not the worst they’ve ever seen.  And that’s a comfort in these strange times.

If you like weird stories tending toward the scary, I recommend you take a look at Ghostlight.  It’s available in both print and ebook format.  And try to understand it from an insect’s point of view.