I have a big announcement. Another one of my stories has been accepted for a new anthology by Transmundane Press!!

You might remember back in January when I had my big health scare. I went into a restaurant and started to write a story and found I couldn’t spell. This is that story! Apparently I did a good job of spelling after all.

This exciting new anthology is all about dreams, nightmares, visions and hallucinations. My contribution is the story of Jacob, a man whose dreams prove to be precognitive. Here’s a short excerpt.

SNOOZE

 

“I’ve never been much of a dreamer.”

No, I can’t say that, I thought as I looked in the mirror and straightened my tie. She’ll assume I’m talking about my hopes for the future.

I couldn’t afford to fuck up this date. At best, I was in a position to have the relationship to end all relationships. At the least, I’d save her life. The tricky part would be not coming across as a nutcase. Something I wasn’t totally convinced of myself.

 

~~* * *~~

“Jacob?” She approached me with an outstretched hand and I plastered a surprised look onto my face. The dating site I’d “found” her through was this newfangled deal where the guy’s photo was visible to the lady, but the woman’s face was a mystery. It was meant to ensure true love or some such crap. That I’d actually managed to choose her was proof enough for me that she was the woman of my dreams. We were fated to meet.

“You must be Susan,” I said as I shook her hand. She took the lead toward the restaurant’s door, confident in her ultra-high heels and black raincoat. Susan looked every bit the reporter—light on the makeup under black-framed glasses. I’d have taken bets there was a notepad and pen in her purse, even if I didn’t already know what her job was.

“I feel like I have an advantage over you,” she said as she settled into her side of the booth in the Japanese restaurant. “The website told me everything about you, but it said they told you next to nothing about me.”

The urge was great to “guess,” but she’d think I’d been stalking her somehow.

“They gave me a few of your interests,” I said. “I know you like to write.”

“But I bet they didn’t tell you I’m an investigative journalist.”

I raised my eyebrows, hoping for the second time she wouldn’t see through me. “Really?” I said. “That must be exciting.”

She shrugged. “It has its moments. And you? What does Jacob do for a living?”

“I’m a … I used to be an elementary school teacher.”

“Used to?”

“Yeah. I got kicked out of school for missing too many days.”

Because I slept in. Because I had to find out what was going to happen to you.

Here’s the anthology’s official back-cover description.

A parallel dimension exists below the surface of reality.

Its doors swing open every time we sleep, allowing us passage into the land of DREAMS, a plane rich with exotic fantasy and limitless bliss. Within this wonder world, however, lurk dark corridors and terrible creatures—some unfortunate travelers never escape the NIGHTMARES waiting in the shadows.

Many have tried bridging our worlds. Seekers and wise men have meditated for VISIONS and ingested intoxicants for HALLUCINATIONS in hopes that the veil between our realms will thin, allowing access to all the thrills, joys, and horrors beyond our senses.

TRANSCENDENT is an open gate, a gangway linking our realm to the shimmering sphere where nothing is certain and anything is possible.

It’s gonna be a good one! The release is set for this fall. I’ll keep you up to speed on the launch and all the goodies that will be available.

Thanks for reading!