Cuddles

For any other Goosebumps superfans out there, I have a short little story in Oddball Magazine about my childhood obsession with the series. It's called "Cuddles" (titular evil hamster pictured above) and it's really cute. I hope you like it.

Cuddles is a character from the second (and best) Monster Blood book. For the record, I have extremely mixed feelings about the Monster Blood quadrilogy. None of the books are top-tier, and the fourth one is probably one of the worst (non-chicken-related) books in the original Goosebumps line. 

BUT it stars a redhead named Evan, so obviously I have a personal connection. Anyway, head over to Oddball for a blast of 90s nostalgia and self-deprecation. Or, I don't know, Cuddles will nibble you to death...

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Kindness Matters

For those of you who know me, it might come as a surprise that I'm part of the Chicken Soup for the Soul franchise. And yet...

This is my third story for them. It's a nice little mini-memoir from my time in Nepal. The topic is "Kindness Matters." And honestly, I'm really happy to be a part of this. I've used some of these Chicken Soup stories with my ESL students and they're always so charming. Little bit-sized bits of comfort.

(Cute, right? Kind ducks.)

And as far as publishers go, working with the Chicken Soup team has been amazing. They give you a bunch of advanced copies and offer all kinds of support. If anyone is an aspiring writing out there, Chicken Soup is a great outlet. (And every person out there has at least one real-life story that they could share.) Check out their calls for submissions. Seriously.

This story specifically was a bit hard for me, because I had to cut down a 3,000-word experience into something much smaller. Left out some specific details but kept all the big stuff.

Out of the three anthologies so far, I think I like this one the best. It has the biggest variety of funny/cute/dramatic/heartwarming stuff. Not sure how my story fits in that spectrum. Perhaps you could check it out for yourself.

And for the record, the other collections I was in were Life Lessons from the Dog and Grandparents, with one of my stories even included on their awesome podcast! 

Evan Gets Literary!

 As you probably know, most of my writing is pretty genre-heavy...

BUT I'm also a serious author (kind of), so it's important to branch out. For the first time in years, I've written something non-horror/scifi/fantasy/romance, and it's included in the second issue of the Blydyn Square Review. It's under a paywall, so you'll have to subscribe, but these guys publish some great, eclectic content.

AND, even better, two of my awesome students right here in Kazakhstan are also included. I helped them with the submission process, but the stories are all theirs. This specific issue is based around the general theme of "reading," so everything about this project is very close to my heart.