Big Fish, Little Fish at Sex and Murder Magazine

It's here, it's here.  My first crime short Big Fish, Little Fish is now available in the new release of Sex and Murder Magazine (Volume 1 - Issue 19 - July, 2011).  You can check it out here.  The issue is available online and in Ebook formats for free.  You can also buy the print version for $7.99 plus shipping.

Spread the word and give Sex and Murder Magazine some support for helping out new authors.  Oh, and for those who are a bit squimish, this warning comes from the front page of Sex and Murder's website:


"WARNING: Most, if not all, of the material on this site is of an extreme nature. At some point you will find it objectionable, crude, blasphemous, disgusting, and just plain wrong. If the magazine's title didn't tip you off, let this stand as warning that what we have to offer is not for the faint of heart."

Explore its contents at your own risk. 

Arthur Phillips Howard

In case you couldn't tell by my recently created bio, I've been on a real short story "classics" reading binge lately.  And by classics I mean those serialized pulpy shorts by Robert E. Howard (Conan), H.P. Lovecraft (Cthulhu) and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes).  Oh, and a little Edgar Allen Poe for good measure.  Great stuff!

I  have been thinking these type of serialized short stories that can stand alone but feature reoccurring characters would be the perfect type of thing for the Ebook/Kindle/Nook market that has emerged.  I have a few different characters I will be developing and fleshing out to be featured in such a series of shorts.  Over the month of July I will be putting together some pitches for each character and posting them here for everyone to preview.

Oh, and hope you all have a happy fourth!

Image from Far Out Shirts

Bio Shocked

Well, the bio has officially been written.  I had a hard time not making it sound like a personal ad from a psychopath, so instead I decided to just go with it thanks to some encouragement from my Facebook friends.  Although given the fact that 90% of the stuff in it is technically true, hopefully it does not sound too much like a psychopath.

Anyway, here it is in all its glory:

Simon Weathers enjoys long walks through the forests of Cimmeria, visits to the seaport of Innsmouth, and the occasional puff from his calabash pipe.  He spends his days investigating automobile accidents and his nights curled up next to a warm gun.  In his spare time Simon likes to write about crime, horror, and fantasy type stuff in the form of short fiction, blog fiction, and comic book scripts.  When he is not busy transcribing what the voices in his head tell him to, Mr. Weathers can be found blogging on his personal website at www.simonweathers.com.

Happy Tuesday

Stop the presses.  I am no longer looking to e-publish “Big Fish, Little Fish” myself.  That’s right folks, it has been picked up for publication by Sex and Murder Magazine for their 19th issue which is slated for release “soon”.  It will be available in print or you can purchase it in various Ebook formats at their website; http://sexandmurder.com.

For those of you who need a reminder, “Big Fish, Little Fish” is my short crime fiction story I started submitting to publications back in February.  It seems that notification from Sex and Murder to let me know that they were going to publish my story somehow managed to elude my inbox.  Damn spam filters. 

Anyway, to my surprise I received the proof for the next issue for my review and a request for a short bio to be placed in the issue my story appears.  Now I just have to figure out what to put in my bio.

Moving Forward

Well, I received some good feedback, most of it sent directly to me.  Among the suggestions, ones that stick out to me are to make Ken Jay a more likable character and to play up the aspect that he is doing it all for his son a bit more.  It has also been suggested to give the dialogue more personality to help contrast the three characters more.  I originally was specifically trying to not do this as it is too easy to read as stereotyping but I like the idea of trying to use it to better contrast the characters.

Any other suggestions or thoughts on these changes, feel free to post in the comments or send to me.  I'll take a couple of weeks to rewrite then look into E-publishing.

Chaos Commence

Welcome to my personal blog.  You will find info about what I am up to, projects I’m working on, and other random things posted here.  I am also planning to use this space as an area to post first drafts of stories I am working on.  The idea will be to get some feedback on my work from the people who like to read it.  

Fair warning, the stories I post here will be drafts not final product.  They will change before I consider them finished and reading them in an early form may ruin the final story for you.  If you don’t mind that, then please read them and feel free to leave your honest opinions in the comments.  Also keep in mind that the stories I post on here will not remain here indefinitely.  If some publication decides to pick a story up I will remove it from this blog.  

As far as what I do with the stories that don’t get picked up, I am still not sure.  I am seriously considering leaving the drafts posted here and self-publishing the final stories to the E-reader markets like Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, etc.