I'm pleased to announce my novelette "Through the Guts of a Beggar" is now available for download. From the introduction:
In high school I’d written a horror short story called “In the Tall Grass.” As is the case with almost all of my early work, it evolved through the years and was expanded into a 10,000-word novelette called “Through the Guts of a Beggar.” It was eventually accepted for the pulpy monster horror anthology Tooth & Claw, edited by J. F. Gonzalez and Garrett Peck. The response to the anthology was greater than the editors had at first anticipated, and so they decided to split the anthology into two volumes. The first was released in 2002, with the idea that the second volume—containing my novelette—would be released the next year.
Unfortunately, the publisher folded before the second volume could be released. At the time there was talk the second volume might see the light of day elsewhere, but then more years passed and it became clear my novelette was now homeless. And as I was working on other projects and placed the novelette on a backburner, it remained homeless until now, where I’m presenting it as a free e-book.
With recent talks of enhanced e-books, I wanted to try something different with this project. The original story by itself is available for free download at Smashwords on almost every format imaginable. There is also a special edition, which contains an alternate ending (3,000 words), as well as two bonus short stories: "Dead Weight," which originally appeared in Fifty-Two Stitches, and "Castle Hybrid," which originally appeared in Allen K's Inhuman Magazine, and which is the author's preferred version. Both combined makes about 5,000 words, meaning the special edition includes the original 10,000-word novelette, as well as nearly 8,000 more words. This special edition can be downloaded at Smashwords and at the Kindle Store for 99 cents.
Here's the simple description of the novelette:
Josh wakes up one morning to find his ten-year-old brother filling in a grave in the backyard. From there, the day just gets worse.
Basically, if you like pulpy monster horror, this might be your thing. If you don't like pulpy monster horror, this might not be your thing. But as they say, you won't know until you try it. So go ahead and try it.