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! 

Kotka and His Friends

I just had to share this. My friend Marina published her first English-language book. It's a short story collection about a cat named Kotka who goes on adventures throughout his little neighborhood. I was lucky enough to help her with edits and translations, so I've read through these stories several times. Always charming.

The ebook is out now!

 

NO SLEEP PODCAST

WARNING: This is a horror fiction podcast. It is intended for mature adults, not the faint of heart. Join us at your own risk...

NoSleep Podcast is terrifying. If you haven't checked it out yet, do so at your own risk. This latest season is killer. I'll keep you posted for when my new horror story "Defaced Currency" becomes available. It's bizarre, and the first story since Bentley Little's "The Washingtonians" to make our wooden-toothed first president scary again.

Magical Creatures... Take a Look!

Unicorns are beautiful creatures… until they disembowel you with that horn.

Mermaids are the gorgeous women of the sea… before they try to drown you, of course.

Leprechauns are charming little Irishmen… except when they rip out your gold teeth while you sleep.

Mythical creatures often have two sides, both enchanting and terrifying. I’m so stoked to be a part of a new anthology called Menagerie de Mythique. It’s a collection of short fiction about magical creatures, and it does a really cool job of straddling the line between wonder and danger.

My short, “Drains to the Ocean,” is definitely in the latter category. I did a creepy, little mix-and-match between Ewoks and CHUDs. (Don’t know what a CHUD is? That’s probably for the best.) Anyway, this anthology is lighting it up on Amazon right now, so check it out. How often do you feel enchanted and terrified at the same time?

We Are Bhutan

We finally published the book here in Bhutan and it's selling like hotcakes! 

We Are Bhutan

Hi, everybody! My name is Karma, and I'm a Himalayan black bear. I'm so excited that my very first book just came out! It's a short story collection written by high school students in Bhutan. If you're at all interested in our little kingdom in the mountains, you should check it out! You'll have a bear-y good time!

Flash Fiction Aficionado

Reading is fundamental. We all love reading, but sometimes, there’s just not enough time in the day to sit down and focus on some massive novel.
 

That’s why we have novellas, and short stories, and flash fiction.
   
I was lucky enough to be selected for the very first issue of Flash Fiction Aficionado, a quarterly magazine in ebook and print forms that features a variety of short-short stories from writers all over the world.
 
My story, “The Wife,” is an eerie snapshot of a haunted house told from the haunter’s perspective. It’s probably one of the melancholiest things I’ve written. And it’s also super short, which means there’s virtually no time commitment. Just head over to FFA, flip through the digital pages, and have a quickie scare.
 
It won’t take long. I’ll be waiting right here.

My New Werewolf Story!

I have a brand new werewolf horror story from Hagstone Publishing!

I'm stoked. They're a very cool publisher, and I think they did a great job with one of my creepier offerings.

Playland! Come out and play!

You and your best friend go to an abandoned amusement park. Your relationship is strained, and this is a last-ditch effort to bond over a place that holds a lot of good memories for both of you. And then a clown statue comes alive and attacks.

That's the set-up for "Playland," my new horror short about growing up, growing apart, and getting murdered. It's funny. It's poignant. And it's really, really scary.
 

 
"Playland" is the first story in a brand new anthology from Ink Stains. I'm really proud of this one, but it's not the only reason to check out the antho. There are many more stories that are equally frightening and eerie and tense.

WitchWorks Magazine

Hello! Hello! I know it's been a while, but I FINALLY have a new horror story out, and this one is a doozy! It's called Beach Boy, it takes place in beautiful, downtown Zanzibar, and it. Is. Messed. Up. Seriously. You'll love it.

WitchWorks Magazine is a gnarly little periodical that pays homage to EC Comics (specifically Tales from the Crypt). It's fully illustrated with comics and stories that all have nasty twist endings.  Basically, this is right up my alley. Yours too, I hope! Check it out!

Evan's Adventures in an African Literary Journal

   

So I've been published in a lot of random places (Australian horror magazines, H.P. Lovecraft collections, red hot romance publications...), but now I can check off an item on my bucket list that I didn't even know was there:

Publication in a Nigerian literary magazine.

You read that right. My slightly tragic, slightly political, slightly bugnuts short story "Green and Yellow, Red and Blue" is now a featured story in Sub-Saharan Magazine, The Nigerian Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. My story is more fantasy than sci-fi, and actually more horror than fantasy, but it's very much written from the perspective of someone who's living and working in Africa.
  

  
For those of you who don't know, I've been in Zanzibar, Tanzania, for half a year now, and it is the coolest, craziest, most exciting experience of my life. (And I've been to Dracula's Castle!) Hopefully, just a little of that cool, crazy excitement comes across in my story (which is free to the public, soooo... No excuses.)

Check it out. And feel free to comment. I know this is a boring, ol' website, but I would like to hear from some of you reading this.