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Yes! That describes the feeling perfectly!

This book was chock full of forgotten words and terms for skills of bygone days. So enjoyable. Poultry breeds have some intriguing words as well--how could you not want to see what a Buff Orpington looked like, or a Speckled Sussex? a Dorking? Such fun. We bought four silver Appleyard ducklings last year, just because I loved the name, though they have turned out to be lovley ducks, as well :)

Futtock...snicker :)

Thanks fot asking, Maliagirl!

It's called These Bright and Lovely Nightmares

It's also available on Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Scribd, and Kobo. Plus a few other digital services.


I worked on it for 8 years, so I'm really excited to see it out in the world.

Hope it piques your interest!

Oh, but nonexistent kids are the ones who say the really interesting things! Especially if they're not impossible to hear ;-)

I love coming up with titles....just got The Chronicles of Harris Burdick out of the library yesterday; 'twould be fun to have a running list of intriguing titles like these for inspiration...

Don't be embarrassed to ask! Treasure hunting has been a thing in the American West for hundreds of years. And rightfully so, because there really are still lots of places where Spanish gold and silver is hidden throughout the desert. W.C. Jameson made a living from it; his books are fascinating.

So that's what this ship did. They heard there was treasure in the mountain, and they wanted to find it the easy way, and just sail there. I imagined it being something like The Lost Dutchman's gold.

The "souvenir" is what the modern explorers and tourists are given when they try to visit the ship and find its treasure. They don't care enough about it to ask the resident ghosts what happened and if the treasure is safe to take; they just want a piece of gold or some of those perfectly-round pearls. Because that's all tourists want, right? They don't want history; they want a souvenir.

But it's cursed, so maybe that wasn't so smart.

I apologize for taking long to answer but I've been on vacation for a week now and I've had crappy internet at my hotel. I might do an AMA on SSSOCC since I've seen other Authors of the Month do it, but I'll answer you here anyway. So here goes:


What inspires you, where do you come up with your ideas?

The inspiration for my writing comes from everything in daily life. It can be a song like Pink Floyd's - "Comfortably Numb" that inspired The Silence of Space. Or the feeling of disgust after eating a big meal, Self Control Breaks Down. Some of my tales are based on true stories like The Smell of Cigars actually did happen to me and other members of my family experienced something similar, yet no one in my family smokes cigars and the smell comes randomly. The Other Half of the Problem is based upon some really loud obnoxious neighbors I had that made my life miserable for a little while. It was revenge fantasy story. Generally, if you have any sort of imagination or experiences in life, you can come up with some way to make it terrifying.

Have you written mostly short stories, or longer ones as well?

I mainly focus on SSS stories but in the past I have posted longer form stories in /r/nosleep under a couple different usernames that I have deleted or I don't really post under anymore. I sometimes post in /r/darktales if a story meant for SSS turns into sometime larger.


What originally brought you to Reddit?

I honestly don't remember. Been using the site for almost 2+ years though.


What author inspires you the most on Reddit? IRL?

Reddit authors: T.W. Grimm did really well with 99 Brief Scenes from the End of the World and I also read Anecdotes in Ashes which I believe is a collection of stories from around the Reddit community.


Real life authors that inspire me are Stephen King (of course), Anne Rice, Brian Keene, and Drew Karpyshyn.


Can you see me out your window?

Yes, but what's that standing behind you?

This story is heavily inspired by the artwork and stories of Simon Stålenhag's Tales From The Loop. He's an amazing artist with amazing books that go along with his work, and it's even being made into a tabletop RPG. Check him out!

In my defense, it's hard to make a story unpredictable when it can only be 3 short paragraphs in length, ha - but thanks for the compliment! I only write horror-type stuff. I wrote this book and I contribute to /r/libraryofshadows, but, yeah ... I likes me some horror!

This is why I have cats. To keep the mice off my petticoats.

I really like the old-timey feel! Reminded me of stories from Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror, which you may enjoy if you like Edward Gorey-ish children's lit.

Oh man, you're so sweet! Absolutely: You can check out the "Look Inside" feature on Amazon and read the first 10% here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XCGMMBZ/

If you like it, send me a message and I'll email you a free copy. And if you like sci-fi, I'm currently working on something else in that genre that I could use a second set of eyes on, if you get bored enough. (Don't have a ton of experience with sci-fi. Or YA for that matter. I got into writing thinking I'd do literary fiction!)

Sure, I just ask that you let me know when it comes out and include a link to my Kindle book - that OK? Thank you!

https://www.amazon.com/Bittersweet-Macabre-Tales-Love-Loss-ebook/dp/B07BJG9FRB

After reading that biography on him, I felt so horrible for him. He never stood a chance in society. Although, if you think about it. If he would have had a great childhood, been really popular, and had no mental illnesses, where would we be in terms of horror in 2019? He was soooo far ahead of his time and inspired every horror writer up until today and will continue inspiring them. Same with Richard Matheson, who wrote I Am Legend, about a third of the original Twilight Zone episodes and has probably the greatest three-volume collection of short horror stories ever written. King has said that Lovecraft and Matheson are who he owes his success to.


The book about Lovecraft I'm talking about is called "H.P. Lovecraft: The Mysterious Man Behind the Darkness". I would suggest ordering it on Amazon or going to your nearest Half Price Books and buying it. It's like $10 or less, but worth way more.


https://www.amazon.com/HP-Lovecraft-Mysterious-Behind-Darkness/dp/0785832696/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=lovecraft+the+mysterious+man+behind+the+darkness&qid=1557009474&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Beautiful and sad.

Reminds me of a book I read years ago - Uncle Vampire

Spoiler: I bought this book as a teen thinking it was about vampires (I was in a huge vampire phase at the time - this was years before Twilight). It's not.

Sure, here ya go. The Inferno (Signet Classics) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0451531396/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_lvCgzb224412C

It's a similar plot to this story.

Wake up to your dreams


(I'm a lucid dreamer, and I've actually owned this book since I was a young teenager.)

It's part of a book series by Dave Pelzer written about his own experience with a horrifically abusive mother. It's very tough to read, but a really eye-opening story.

https://www.amazon.com/Child-Called-Childs-Courage-Survive/dp/1558743669