Tag Archives: Publication day

Jack London, Publication day, Science fiction

At the Edge of the Crater

10 Comments

I’m pleased to announce that the winter issue of Tales from the Crosstimbers is now available on Amazon. It includes my story “At the Edge of the Crater.”

Jak, a newcomer to the mining colony on the asteroid 16 Psyche, ignores his partner’s warning not to travel alone into the asteroid’s Badlands. There’s a rich new vein of iridium to claim, and Jak wants first pick. All he has to do to win the race is to venture into a forbidding impact crater.

I wrote this tale as a futuristic version of “To Build a Fire” by Jack London. In “Crater,” the protagonist lets greed drown out the warnings of his more experienced partner. Space, like all of nature, often overwhelms us with its beauty and mystery but can also snuff out human life in an instant. To understand ourselves, and to grasp our place in the universe, we must realize we are mites compared to the limitless expanse of space. Survival is a struggle, one best waged with friends at our side.

Tales from the Crosstimbers features speculative tales “grounded in strong characters interacting with a gritty, realistic world.” So it’s the perfect venue for this story. I’m honored to be included with this line-up of authors.

Publication day, Science fiction

A Rookie Mistake

23 Comments

I’m pleased to announce the latest issue of Tales from the Crosstimbers is now available on Amazon. It includes my story “A Rookie Mistake.”

Deputy Malcolm Lamb, the newest member of the marshal’s office on the rowdy mining asteroid Psyche, gets a chance to prove himself to the older deputies when he’s sent to find a stolen minebot. But when he finally catches up with the culprit, he’s forced to question where his duty lies. The choice he makes shows heroic action can spring from simple kindness, from our realization we are connected to others.

I’ve long imagined what mining would be like in the asteroid belt, a vast region rich with precious metals, yet forbidding and treacherous. To me, the combination of grizzled prospectors of the Old West and space exploration is endlessly fascinating. My first foray to the asteroid Psyche was “The Calculus of Karma,” the cover story in the June, 2020 issue of Mystery Weekly Magazine.

The return trip there was long overdue, and I’m thrilled with the result. Check it out! It’s available on Amazon as a Kindle or paperback.

Fantasy Fiction, Publication day

Due Diligence

24 Comments

On Spec Magazine has just released its Winter 2023 issue, and I am pleased to announce it includes my short story “Due Diligence.”

Lucille Moon is not your ordinary realtor. Born with the ability to sense the presence of ghosts, she specializes in finding haunted houses for her buyers, mostly rap singers and movie stars looking for the ultimate thrill. However, Grayson and Eve Sterling have their own reasons for moving in with a ghost, which they hide from their realtor. Lucille can’t read the minds of the living, but the ghost haunting the mansion the Sterlings want to buy can. And deceit makes this ghost angry.

A frequent winner of the Aurora Award, On Spec prides itself for being more of a literary magazine than the typical science fiction and fantasy magazine. It is Canada’s longest-running, and, according to Hugo-winning author Robert J. Sawyer, most successful speculative fiction magazine. Since their goal is to highlight mostly Canadian writers, it’s a special honor to have my work appear here.

Two of my beta readers told me this was the saddest tale I’ve ever written. Maybe so, but it ends with a promise of hope and healing. The loss of a loved one is an unending emotional ache, something we cannot conquer or ignore. All we can do is deal with it the best way we can. Writing this story was my way.

Click here to buy On Spec #126 (and support your favorite author).

Publication day, Science fiction

Winter Star

13 Comments

Renowned fiction podcaster Tall Tale TV has published my short story “Winter Star.” Here’s what managing editor Chris Herron had to say: “Have just read your story. I loved it. It feels almost nostalgic in the way you wrote it. Like an 80’s sci-fi movie.“

I’m honored. I was aiming for a retro feel, something along the lines of Stand By Me, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Super 8.

It’s 1988. High school senior Trey Evans borrows his father’s pickup to haul a shortwave radio to the top of Winter Star Mountain, one of the highest peaks in the southern Appalachians. Trey and his friend Booney hope to intercept rare, elusive transmissions with the help of their high altitude monitoring post and a once-in-a-lifetime solar storm.

But their efforts attract unexpected attention from a mysterious visitor.

Tall Tale TV features sci-fi and fantasy authors from around the world. The site was a finalist for the now-discontinued Parsec Awards, which recognized outstanding science fiction podcasters.

This little story is my love letter to the glory days of shortwave radio. In its heyday, shortwave was the Wild West of the radio spectrum, where you might hear spies, drug smugglers, or NASA. There’s also a wistful nod to my camping expeditions of long ago to the dark, magnificent Appalachian Mountains.

Nostalgia, suspense, adventure — it’s all there. It’s also available on YouTube and Facebook.

Publication day, Science fiction

Hexagon Year One Anthology

13 Comments
Hexagon Anthology

Now this is an unexpected surprise. The Year One Anthology for Hexagon Speculative Fiction Magazine features all 20 pieces from Hexagon’s successful and groundbreaking first year. There are bonus pieces as well, such as author interviews and new cover concept art.

The anthology includes my flash fiction story Mirrors, which was published in the magazine’s premiere issue. I wrote it after re-reading Dr. Lewis Thomas’ book, The Lives of a Cell, which made me realize how an alien species would marvel at how cooperative humans are despite our aggressive tendencies. I was pleased at Didi Oviatt’s review: “Tuggle’s story of an insight about predatory creatures is a thought-provoking read.”

You’ll find the thought-provoking, the beautiful, and the sublime in the Hexagon Year One Anthology.

Crime Fiction, mystery, Publication day

Absence of Evidence

13 Comments

Mystery Weekly Magazine has published my novelette “Absence of Evidence.”

Treka Dunn, the senior investigator for the county Medical Examiner’s office, is positive the deceased in her latest case, Davis Washburn, died of natural causes. However, Davis’s autistic son Ron believes his father was poisoned. When a toxicology exam reveals no evidence of foul play, Treka tries to explain the findings to Ron.

But when Ron tells her about his last conversation with his father, Treka realizes she’s made a serious mistake.

This is my second appearance in Mystery Weekly Magazine. My first story with them, “The Calculus of Karma,” was a sci-fi/mystery mash-up. “Absence of Evidence” is a procedural crime story, with a gold mine of technical detail. For me, the background research for a story is a huge part of the joy of writing, and “Absence” was a challenge that occupied me nearly two months. The plot also owes a great deal to my years as a workflow analyst.

Which proves that with enough effort and just the right amount of devilish imagination, you can write a story about anything.

I want to give special thanks to two technical advisers who provided invaluable information about the inner workings of hospitals. One is my daughter, Lt. Jessica Fields, an experienced RN who’s now an Air Force nurse. The other is Betty Vuncannon Crowley, an RN who went on to hospital administration. I am eternally grateful to both.

Mystery Weekly Magazine is a Mystery Writers of America approved publisher, and is available in digital and print formats on Amazon.

Flannery O'Connor, Modern life, Publication day

A Good Couple

13 Comments

A Good Couple
Idle Ink has published my latest flash story, “A Good Couple.” It pays tribute to Flannery O’Connor, one of my favorite authors. Like the Grandmother in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” the characters in “A Good Couple” are so busy condemning the sins of others that they cannot see their own.

This is one of my rare literary pieces. I enjoyed writing it, even though I had to chase down the muse to capture the story on paper.

Idle Ink is the perfect home for this story. This lively magazine publishes fiction “too weird to be published anywhere else” as well as “articles that poke fun at modern life.” After you’ve read my story, treat yourself to the book and movie reviews, the challenging opinion pieces, and intriguing artwork.

PS – Fellow Idle Ink and Hexagon contributor Ioanna Papadopoulou has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize for her story “The Drowned King.” Congratulations, Ioanna!

Detective Fiction, Publication day, Science fiction

The Calculus of Karma

14 Comments

Mystery Weekly

Mystery Weekly Magazine has published my short story “The Calculus of Karma.” It’s a mashup of science fiction and detective fiction, two of my favorite genres. The gorgeous cover art by Robin Grenville Evans captures the story’s tone perfectly.

In the year 2454, Malcolm Lamb is a rookie deputy marshal assigned to a mining colony on the asteroid 16 Psyche. Lamb and his fellow deputies have to constantly break up clashes between Damani Corporation miners and wildcatters. Under its grim surface, Psyche hides a fortune in precious metals, and competition for it ignites raw passions.

When a dead miner is found in an alley behind a popular bar, Malcolm Lamb must find the killer to prevent an escalation in the deadly turf war between the corporate and wildcat miners. With no murder weapon, no suspect, and no clue how the miner was killed, Lamb has to interpret conflicting pieces of evidence before time runs out.

This story was a blast to research and write. A beta reader called it a Wild-West-inspired space adventure with a big chunk of Columbo thrown in. Malcolm Lamb is a bit of a departure from the kind of protagonist I usually write about, but he does embody an heroic principle I admire, best defined by Robert Penn Warren: “If poetry is the little myth we make, history is the big myth we live, and in our living, constantly remake.”

Mystery Weekly is a Mystery Writers of America approved publisher that features original short stories by the world’s best-known and emerging mystery writers. You can buy a Kindle or print copy through Amazon, or get a digital subscription to “the world’s most-read monthly mystery magazine” on Kindle Newstand.

Publication day, Science fiction

Mirrors

11 Comments

Hexagon

Patreon subscribers to Hexagon Speculative Fiction Magazine now have early access to its premiere issue. It features my flash fiction story “Mirrors.”

While conducting a solo study of the fauna on Specula C3, Dr. Annette Thatcher witnesses the crash-landing of an alien spacecraft. She rescues Gregarin, the lone survivor of a ship from Etzi, a previously unknown planet. During the weeks Thatcher and Gregarin wait for an Earth rescue shuttle, they learn about each other’s language and culture — and surprising truths about themselves.

The idea for this story came to me while re-reading Dr. Lewis Thomas’ marvelous book, The Lives of a Cell, a beautifully written treasure chest of insights into the interconnectedness of all life. Thomas’ thoughts on collective societies that behave like single organisms got me to imagining how human society would appear to an alien species.

Hexagon Speculative Fiction is a new Canadian publication featuring poetry, fiction, and mixed media from all over the world. Its goal is to blend the fantastic, the absurd, the horrifying, and the humorous.

The debut issue also includes the work of Evan Marcroft, Nicholas C. Smith, Michael M. Jones, and John Grey.

Publication day, Science fiction

Unbound – The First Collection

23 Comments

Unbound

I was pleasantly surprised to see my short story “Hunting Ground” included in DAOwens Publications’ Unbound – The First Collection. It’s an exciting blend of fantasy and science fiction stories, featuring the themes of the successful Unbound series, including Lost Friends, Changed Worlds, and Goodbye Earth.

Here’s what one reviewer had to say: “I enjoyed M.C. Tuggle’s “Hunting Ground” for its unusual antagonist. CHANGED WORLDS (Unbound Book 2) is a great read for those wanting to spice up their lives with something new.” Ben A. Sharpton, author of 2nd Sight.

Available at Kobo. Check it out!