I grew dissatisfied with the original covers for the Short Fiction Lab releases over the weekend.
My original goal with the series wast putting together a consistent design scheme that also forced me to write a bunch of blurbs–practicing skills that I hadn’t needed as a writer. It worked, to an extent, but getting blurbs down involves a lot of tweaking and adjusting for keywords, and that meant the covers would end up lagging behind.
On top of that, I just wanted something that looked a little better as I started lining up the releases side-by-side, so I went back to the drawing board and rebuilt the series design from the ground up.
Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to do something about that with Brain Jar, so I’m debuting a fresh look for Winged, With Sharp Teeth and Eight Minutes of Usable Daylight.
Wait, you say, there are three stories on that banner? I’m glad you noticed.
Right now, I’m also gearing up to release The Early Experiments–a mini-collection of previous published stories that served as the spiritual precursors to the Fiction Lab line. I’m doing final proofs and uploads on this instalment today, and it’ll be going out as a free download to my newsletter subscribers ahead of going on sale later this week. so expect to see if available for sale later in the week.
In short, if you’re subscribed to Notes from the Brain Jar, The Early Experiments will join You Don’t Want To Be Published as a free giveaway to my weekly readers.
While I spend a lot of time talking about writing and creative business in the newsletter, I wanted something in the subscriber pack to give people some insight into who I am as a fiction writer as well.
Often strange, always unforgettable, this mini-collection brings together four short tales featuring spacefaring dinosaurs, bullet catchers, ghosts, and brides from the land of bees.
Upon Discovering of A Ghost in the Five Star
There’s a ghost in the Five Star Laundromat. The worst thing you can do is accept her balloon when she tries to give it to you. Nick’s interest in the dead girl is causing problems with his boyfriend… but he isn’t sure he’s ready to give her up just yet.
Counting Down
Phil thinks he can catch a bullet as a party trick, but he needs someone to pull the trigger. Mattie isn’t sure he’s got what it takes to fire the antique Luger at his friend, but he’s also caught a glimpse of the bats living inside Phil’s skull and knows what it means if they get out.
The Place Beyond the Brambles
The women who emerge from the land beyond the brambles are always strange and always beautiful. They’re also prone to returning home, long before the men who marry them hope they will depart. Ethan’s wife has left him to do exactly that, leaving behind a daughter and a memory that only Ethan can recall.
The Things You Do When The War Breaks Out
Henry and his dad are going to the moon for a holiday. The dinosaurs who occupy the dark side of the moon are no longer content to share it with humanity. When war breaks out and the moon is evacuated, Henry’s father sees an opportunity to resolve some old grudges.
The Short Fiction Lab series from Brain Jar Press: home to stand-alone short story experiments in fantasy, science fiction, horror, and fabulist literature. The Early Experiments has been filed under: mini-collection, short-shorts, ghost stories, faerie stories, weird sci-fi and horror.
