Short stories used to be incredibly important. For over a century, the path to success for a mainstream, “genre” author was through multiple publications via small periodicals until they were eventually able to accrue enough industry acumen to get a book deal. The likes of Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, H.P. Lovecraft, and Ray Bradbury all followed this well-worn path to success. But entertainment has changed.
In many ways, written stories as a medium have become an archaic art form, forced to compete with streaming services, video games, and an evolving trend towards ever shorter, more bombastic forms of entertainment. This isn’t unprecedented. All forms of art wax and wane in popularity as fashions, trends, and technologies change and adapt. Of course, there are still periodicals that will publish short fiction, just like there are still operas being performed and new paintings being hung in galleries. But the significance of short fiction in the entertainment industry has certainly diminished.
But that hasn’t kept me and a lot of other authors from doing our part to preserve this important art form, though I’ll admit that my first attempts at short stories were not motivated by a genuine desire to explore the medium. Early in my writing career, I tried following advice that was over a hundred years old to get my novels published by writing subpar short fiction to earn my writing credentials. I’m happy to say that I was not financially rewarded for these efforts, as it forced me to develop my craft out of a more sincere desire to both improve myself as an artist and to inspire and uplift my readers.
And now, here we are. Ten years since the publication of my first novel and much longer since I first decided to seriously pursue writing as my career. In addition to plays, novels, and more recently a fledgling YouTube channel, I now have a dozen-and-a-half short stories to my name. Some have received honors, some have already been published elsewhere, and some have never seen the light of day before now. It’s exciting and humbling to offer these short snippets of my daydreams and flashes of inspiration for your reading pleasure. May you enjoy them as much as I have.
You can now own my latest book The Dragon Within: and Other Short Stories. Click the link below to purchase it from your preferred online retailer:
The Dragon Within: and Other Short Stories
As always, a big shout-out to the fantastic members of my Fan Community:
Randall Hodgson, Matthew Paxman, Yoshiyuki Nishikawa, Wil Sisney, Jarred Walton, and Joel Stanger.
If you’d like to learn more about my Fan Community, check out the following link:
