short stories

maybe trying maybe not

Two-ish years ago I got a day job.

The day job isn’t great. It maybe was once, but now it is just where a lawyer and my boss said I was lying, where my union rep told me “you have to be perfect right now”, as if being a short, femme, woman in a male-dominated field that is not already expected of me, where my coworkers treat me like their admin assistant if and when they even remember I exist. Mostly they don’t. Mostly I can be alone.

I have a notebook with a blank page. I have a pencil. But writing is just like work: another way to get rejected.

There are things about me I don’t like, so then others don’t like me either. I write stories that people think are odd, but aren’t odd to me. They are just what I am. People will never love me the way I love them apparently. That’s just the way my brain works now.

Maybe I’ll write some words down on a piece of paper. Maybe it’ll turn into a story. But probably I’ll just end up feeling sorry for myself while laying in bed, annoyed at my coworkers, but, in all reality, actually annoyed at myself.

The Summer the School Burned Down Amigurumi Mascot #7

I’ll put one of the amigurumi’s I’m least happy with with one of the stories I’m most happy with. And why does this story get a syringe? Well — come to my reading on Sunday and find out! The Happiest Place on Earth is one of the stories I’m going to read!

Event info: 7-8.30 this Sunday at the Sackville Commons.

Special Guest: Fellow author Eric Sparling

Door prizes! Books for sale! You can ask me questions not even about anything related to writing. Bring your Calculus homework (I’m great at Calculus).

More info here.

They’re here!

After a week of pricey car repairs and hot water tanks leaking all over my basement floor, I thought to myself “at least my social media manager and I can make an awesome unboxing video when my books come” (and yes, I paid my fourteen year old fifty bucks to be my social media manager).”

Well, that all fails when I assumed the box that showed up at my door yesterday evening was liquid plant nutrients for my indoor garden and not twenty copies of my book.

The cost is $10, but I’m also open to trades/barters, or drop me a message if late-stage capitalism, inflation, and greedy corporations mean you’d like a free copy.

Tomorrow: Amigurumi Mascot #2!

The Summer The School Burned Down Amigurumi Mascot #1

So what’s something I like as much as writing stories? Making cute things!

Fifteen stories in The Summer The School Burned Down = Fifteen amigurumi mascots.

Will this take me a bunch of time to do because I only came up with this idea last week? Yes.

Will these amigurumi-short-story-mascots posts be irregular since some things will take me longer to make. Absolutely.

Are my stories kawaii and adorable? Well, not really. But amigurumi people! AMIGURUMI.

And so, Mascot #1 for the first story in the collection: Breathe.

Kobo

Kindle

Paper

Number two!

Does this have anything to do with the fact that I had just bought my mom three copies? In any case, I’m back down to something like seventeen in the Canadian Short Stories category.

So, if you’re interested in getting a copy, how do you do it?

  1. Kobo: epub;
  2. Amazon: kindle;
  3. Amazon: paperback print-on-demand;
  4. Local area peeps: I have a bunch of paper copies coming by the end of the month. You can buy them off me if you are local once they come in. I will let everyone know when they are here.
  5. As someone who has spent the last ten years un- or under-employed, if you would like a copy but it just isn’t in your finances right now, just send me a line and I will send you an epub or a PDF if you’d like. If you are local, I can lend you a paper copy when they come in. I understand how frustrating it is in this stage of late-capitalism to even try to survive, let alone buy any non-necessities.

And, if reading or short stories aren’t your thing, just send me a smile and be on your way 🙂