It’s My Birthday. Have A New Short Story…

Today’s my forty-sixth birthday, so I’m kicking off today’s post with the traditional unflattering birthday selfie. I gather these have long been robbed of their power to horrify my mother, but I kinda dig having an ongoing archive of my rarely-photographed face to reflect on as the years go by.

This year, my birthday falls on a Saturday, which is also when I post an original story to the Eclectic Projects Patreon every week. I honestly thought this week would be the first time in thirty-eight weeks I skipped a day because I didn’t have a story done—the week before my birthday is always rough for me, and rougher still now the 19th of March is the anniversary of my father’s death—but the weekly short story project has changed my relationship with writing.

First, because I don’t actually want to skip a week after thirty-eight weeks of showing up without fail. Second, because writing a story a week will change your relationship with your writing, and I’m increasingly confident of my ability to produce a short story in a day when the situation requires.

With twenty-four hours to go, I started a brand-new story — THE BIRTHDAY PARTY — and it’s now live over on Patreon. Because it’s my birthday, I’ve made it free to read instead of patron-only, so you can check it out in real time instead of waiting. It’s a slice of pulpy, Twlight Zone-esque sci-fi horror about social media and spectacle.

If you want to give me a birthday gift, give the story a read and maybe send the link to someone who may enjoy it.