More Fiction Posts
Mostly Experimental Employment Tales
I’m going to start posting chapters from my novel Witching Snakes starting Sunday. Except for the first chapter (or maybe the first two chapters), the book will be mostly for paid subscribers. Since I’m also going to log off tonight and not come back until tomorrow, I am going to put links to more stories.
First, there’s “Attitude Quiz for Potential Employees”, which isn’t necessarily fiction, but is also fiction. I don’t know how to classify this one. I just wrote it because I got sick of taking attitude quizzes that weren’t trying to gauge my personality so much as whether or not I was stupid enough to answer these questions honestly. (Why yes, I think it’s perfectly fine to steal office equipment. Strongly Agree!!!)
Attitude Quiz for Potential Employees (Smartass Extra)
I wrote this one after I tried applying for one of those census taker jobs. I didn't get the job. I got this out of it. And yes, I am neurodivergent enough to have actually answered a “no wrong answers” survey like this honestly, only to learn that “sometimes my boss is too bossy” was not something I should have ever answered in the positive. Honestly, …
Then there’s “Bus Stop at Night” which was a story that I sold to Fusing Horizons, and I’m not sure if I can find it again. I’ll probably sell it to other markets. It’s pretty rough as far as my fiction is concerned, but I do love these stories where characters are trapped in their own heads but also interacting based on their biases (I’m currently reading Mrs. Dalloway and I’m I right in assuming that Virginia Woolf depicted Peter as a total dickhead? I’m getting hateful mansplaining dickhead vibes whenever he’s in the book. Even when Mrs. Dalloway “fondly” remembers him, she’s describing the worst boyfriend). This story is not nearly as good as Mrs. Dalloway.
"Bus Stop at Night" by Tim Lieder (Fiction Extra)
I’m still working on the next John Cheever article. It’s for “The Children” which is like Pot of Gold but much funnier and messier. Only this week I got a bunch of jobs. Those college students must have learned that their professors can now detect AI (aka plagiarism software) all at once. Very exhausting week. Anyhow this short story was originally published in “Fusing Horizons” and I think that was a zine so I could probably sell first rights again since I don’t know if you can even find it in the wild. That said, I like this story much better than I thought I would. I do enjoy playing with limited perspective and I manage to balance it nicely.
And finally, there’s “Company Policy.” Many years ago, I was invited to an anthology that incorporated aliens and urban legends. I definitely knew the assignment but they still didn’t buy it. I sold it to a few other markets since then. I like this one. Again, this is inspired by all the years I spent working temp jobs and looking for real jobs. Now I am also looking for jobs since the fucking tech bros ruin everything.
"Company Policy" by Tim Lieder (Fiction Extra)
The article on John Cheever’s “The Day the Pig Fell in the Well” is taking longer than I thought. It’s a deceptively simple story about telling stories so my ADHD brain is struggling to figure out what I want to say about it without referencing everything from The Canterbury Tales to Israel to Game of Thrones with dozens of personal stories and the “a…
Again, I am a professional writer/editor. So if you need some help editing your doctoral thesis or revising your resume or writing your personal statement to get into law school feel free to
Sadly, ChatGPT stole most of my customers (and the dumb professors don’t automatically fail them for turning in AI written papers), so please contribute to my Gofundme.
I’ve been meaning to review Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite for years (especially since I could then send him the ARC copy which he could sign and sell on eBay. He did help me out when I was moving my mom to a nursing home). So until I write that review, you can join his Patreon.
Since we are still in the major Jewish holidays, why not buy a biography of Rashi? You might not get it before Simchat Torah, but you can give a Hanukkah gift.