I am happy to announce that my short story The Weiralla will be included in the fourteenth edition of the Dark Lane Anthology series!
I have always said that I do not write or seek publication for renumeration. I write because I love it. Relating the stories that bubble up from the muck and mire of my mind gives them voice and a chance to be heard. And as I have said in the past, I seek out projects and prompts that excite me. So when I found Dark Lane Books – a publisher based in the UK – and read some of the stories they have published in other editions, I felt an immediate connection. The vibe of the stories is darker but with rays of light, the artwork is gothic and muted in color but portentous, and they have the perfect stance on A.I.
A little background on this story. I wrote it more than a year ago on a prompt from my writing group. It grew fast and I knew right away it would be a longer piece. The story felt like it needed space and a different structure than I usually write in, so I spent a lot of time organizing and balancing the pieces. The result is story that shifts between two connected events. I tried to give each its own set of rules in terms of imagery and language so they could feel separate yet still part of the same narrative.
The Weiralla is, as you might expect, a monster story of sorts, inspired by some reading I had done, a song I had on repeat for a few weeks, and something odd that happened to me as a boy. I had the name in my head but could not settle on a spelling for it. Luckily, my wife came to the rescue – as she so often does when I am completely stuck – and got it right on her first crack. If you’re not sure exactly how to pronounce it . . . well, there’s a clue at the end of the story.
The anthology is scheduled to be published late March/early April 2026 and it will be available on Amazon. Be on the lookout – I will post relevant links here as soon they are available.
Thanks to Tim and everyone at Dark Lane Books for this opportunity to be a part of the anthology. It is an honor to be included alongside some fantastic writers and artists. I cannot wait to see the finished book.
(Remember I said that I had 2 stories accepted for publication in 2025. This was the first. I will be posting information about the second soon.)