Yup, I’ve been slow getting posts up again this year. Life happens. This time around it’s involved some building projects, a good bit of travel, the usual uptick in health-challenge-bingo that accompanies aging and THANKFULLY some time writing and revising stories for submission. Watching the global and national unfolding of unthinkable realities and full sprectrum of human dramas has provided some interesting fodder for the imagination. I’ve been submitting some stories that arise from those inspirational sources. We’ll see if any editors like them.

One story got transplanted and hopefully will sprout in a new garden (i.e. after a long wait I decided to resub to another ‘zine). I hope to see “Castle Blanca” hit the digisphere soon and will alert you when that happens. My story “Climax Ecology” should be appearing fairly soon in the NewMyths.com Anthology “The Growers.”

The News that I am especially excited about sharing is that my first ever BOOK hit the market mid-November. “Stanta’s Computer Christmas” is a children’s book that came about as a collaboration with my artist friend Jay Gale who did a fabulous job of illustrating the story, told in a lighthearted rhyming style. Jay’s techqniue is a soft artistic drawing style quite different from the more flamboyantly cartoonish approach to illustration of many children’s books. His visuals create a mood that arises from the almost palpable caress of the chalk strokes that bring his images to life. And the story ain’t half bad either. It’s light-hearted, occasionally chucle-worthy and convey’s a lot of the often unacknowledged kinds of stress that modern Christmases exert on all of us, not just Santa and his North Pole crew. I hope you’ll pick up a copy: Available at many bookstores and most online sources including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and many more. The Kindle version just hit the market the night before Thanksgiving.

The visual below can help you keep up with what’s available from my hot little fingers at play on this decripit old computer. Here’s hoping we enjoy the rest of 2024 and that it ushers in a wonderful 2025.