Enter the ruins of the castle towers above onto a world where the bones of alien hands swaying on a fence make a signal loud enough to be heard by starships, or where the conundrums of Oklahoma reverberate like its man-made earthquakes, or to a lonely village in the Emptiness by the Tall Grass Sea, where a nameless necromancer has no face to remember by the women he kidnaps. Walk alongside the heroes, common folk, nobles (or anti-nobles) in the strange circumstances of my imagination. You won’t be disappointed.
And thanks for dropping by my website here at http://bjthrower.osfw.online, where you’re adding to the counter, reading my three bibliographies, wondering about my latest writing news, absorbing my opinions on writing and publishing, and being polite enough to pay attention to my modest writing career. Please use the Contact page to send me messages, or to order trade paperbacks of anthologies I’m published in which are no longer available for purchase online. Unless indicated, nearly everything I’ve published in since 2018, (both magazines, anthologies or online), is available at Amazon, including a few older publications too. There’s new short fiction for you to read, including SF, cyberpunk, dark fantasy or horror. See the latest written lists below.
Total Website Visits: 16602 |
2020: The first Year of Corona Virus, but not the first year of ongoing threats to our democracy (see House of Representatives), but this is an author’s website. Writing-wise, I sold two short stories to the same publisher early in 2020, but both were withdrawn when the company closed June 1. Modified details are posted in the #1 and #2 Bibliographies and in The Numbers (Subject to Change) pages. Each of these stories “qualified” for extra mentions on the Oddball Bibliography #3 page, which you might find interesting. They were legitimate sales with contracts, galleys and payment, and will continue to be counted in my inventory. There are ups and downs in this business, and this was one of the “downs.” But one of the stories resold later in 2020, and the year ended positively with yet another short story sale! I’m excited about this one because it’s science fiction. See Bibliographies for the details.
Work has mostly halted on my epic fantasy series, but there’s a reason: I’ve sold twenty-one sf/f/df/h short fiction stories since late 2018, and had one notable notice. See Bibliographies for the latest new fiction sales (including reprints).
Since we’re visiting, the website had a major facelift in 2020. All three Bibliographies are now on a drop down menu under the Bibliography header. There is a new header, Professional, where the drop-down menu includes my organization memberships, sales numbers and the brand-new page, Convention Appearances. To accommodate drop-down menus, headers were moved around, and now there are fewer of them.
A new page was completed: YouTube/Podcasts/Interviews. A Reviews section was added to the Title for Sale Online post.
We deleted an ancient “Tornado Alley” post, and I try to be timely with quick updates on the website. On the subject of Posts, you can now see them under the Posts header, but posts are different than pages. Just click on the prompt “READ MORE” to see the entire post content. They are also still visible on the screen, depending on the screen size you’re using. Posts carried over from an older website begin with extra-large first letters. I like the look, but no decision has been made yet to eliminate, or add, them elsewhere.
My intention to add cover images of the anthologies, magazines, or online venues I’ve published in–plus all other relevant images–hit a snag. I’ll attempt to load the pix I have on my phone to my pc, and we’ll take it from there, if possible. For now, covers are posted on my Facebook page (B. J. Thrower), including links to either published, or upcoming publications which all seem to include covers.
But I finally figured out how to add links to my fiction available online! I am gradually updating all the links throughout the website, but the principle page for this purpose is the Titles for Sale/Reviews Online post. Should you be interested in my work, please click on and /or buy what you find!
On Facebook, I mentioned that I’m considering putting together my first collection of sf\f\df\h short fiction, perhaps with a previously published article. I now have a tentative title, emphasis on tentative: “Looking for Nessie, A Collection of Weird Short Fiction”, but this title is still up for debate.
2021: In January, several strong reviews appeared on Goodreads and Amazon of the Nightmare Press anthology, Todd Sullivan Presents: The Vampire Connoisseur; links now available here on the website.
In February, I was paid for two stories. One story was published online (see Bibliographies). There are reader comments available below the last page of this story. I also sold a new horror short story, co-authored with my daughter, Karen Thrower, on the last day of the month.
In April, two of my dark fantasy drabbles were published on Kindle by the same publisher (please see the Bibliographies). I received my first copy of the trade paperback in early May. Hardcover copies of the anthology arrived in early June, along with ordered copies of the trade paperback.
Galleys of the upcoming co-authored horror short story were sent in June, and were returned to the editor with both author bios. We received MOBI and PDF files of the book, and it’s splendid.
I also received the galleys of my latest sale, a horror drabble, and the anthology publication is imminent.
BJT is published again! “Fledglings/Crones,” my horror short storywith epic fantasy flavoring, co-authored with Karen Thrower, is available on Amazon Kindle, and in trade paperback in Bodies Full of Burning: An Anthology of Menopause-Themed Horror by Sliced-Up Press, a British publisher.
My sf/h flash fiction piece “Graveyard,” is also available on Amazon Kindle and in trade paperback in the anthology Dark Drabbles #666 by Black Hare Press. There is a hardcover version, too.
October has been a remarkable but unsettling month for me, during which I sold four new stories. The first sale announcement is waiting for permission from the publisher, but I announced the other October sales on my Facebook page, including a hard sf flash fiction piece, “The Change,” and a humorous horror flash fiction story, “The Red Peeler”. These two were added to the Bibliographies here on the website, and one has already been published online. The fourth October sale was a sf short story reprint of “Fence of Palms” to Jayhenge Publications. Please see details on the Bibliographies pages.
Overall, October 2021 was gloomy, because I lost my 101-year-old mother and laid her to rest. But she was my biggest fan, so I know she’ll expect me to keep writing, and when appropriate, announcing sales.
November 15, 2021, I sold another short story reprint to Jayhenge Publications, my uf short story “The Home Town Boy”. As usual, details are on the Bibliography pages.
2022:
A slow start to the year writing-wise, mostly due to the mysterious “R” and I moving. We returned to the city of Tulsa, where everything is much more convenient than the quasi-country of Creek County. We’re now only three miles from our oldest daughter and her family. The new house is on the eastern edge of midtown (in my old high school district if not the same neighborhood I grew up in). It’s not a ranch, but a two-story contemporary with a nice front porch. It had an excellent flip; two living areas (one tiny, one large), a roomy, updated kitchen with a pantry and plenty of storage, a big laundry room and a half-bath downstairs. Upstairs are four decent bedrooms, three of them with enormous closets (more storage, yay), and two fully renovated bathrooms.
Our Creek County home was partially renovated (both bathrooms, some drywall repair, painting etc.) by the same contractor/owner who flipped the new house. The Kiefer house went live April 3, and in thirty hours, we accepted one of our five offers. The house officially sold in early May. Not bad!
Speaking of sales, it wasn’t until March that I sold my first short fiction story of the year. “Deer Woman” is an Oklahoma-based YA-ish, light horror short story (3200 words) that was bought by Conspiracies & Cryptids Vols. 1 and 2 at Multiminded/HDWP, Inc. The contract was sent with the acceptance email, which was promptly signed and returned. See more details in Bibliographies 1 & 2. I’ve always believed my strongest work is set in my home state, and it took less than a year to sell “Deer Woman.”
My second sale of the year followed fairly quickly, a reprint sale of my df flash fiction piece “Bones, Then Teeth, Then Wings” to WYRMS at Shacklebound Books, which is a drabble-only, dragon anthology. Received my electronic contributor’s copy 06-21-22, and was paid 06-27-22. The book went live on Kindle and in trade paperback on Amazon, 07-01-22.
These sales followed a big disappointment at the beginning of March. A short story I sold last fall to a good market was dropped from the anthology by the editor/publisher, who called the sale “unauthorized,” presumably by his co-editor. Details are on the Oddball Bibliography #3 page. But at least with “Deer Woman,” my sale numbers are now back up where they were when I thought I sold this other story. And I’ve increased this number with my second sale of the year.
My third sale in early June, was a brand-new horror flash fiction piece “Wasted Treats” to Black Hare Press for their anthology NOM NOM, HALLOWEEN. See details in the Bibliographies pages. The anthology went live October 1, 2022.
In late July, and although my flash submission to a solarpunk magazine was rejected, they asked for a longer version of the story (taken from my previously published sf novelette (“The Vulture-Watching Woman”) for the magazine. TF, a longer version already exists, which I will cut to fit their guidelines; but the long version of the story was ultimately rejected.
On August 2, I received a contract and an updated anthology title for my second reprint sale to Jayhenge Publications, my sf short story “Fence of Palms.” The Kindle edition went live on August 10, 2022, in Professor Feiff’s Compleat Pocket Guide to Xenobiology for the Galactic Traveller on the Move. Note: R. A. Lafferty once told me that I’d definitely sell this particular story, and this is its third sale.
My dark sf flash fiction story “Bones, Then Teeth” (1500 word version) was a finalist for the Crystal Lake Publishing’s July Flash Fiction Contest (unthemed)! Notified August 8, 2022 by Founder/CEO Joe Mynhardt. The story was posted on Crystal Lake’s Patreon Page August 19, 2022.; only Patreon members read and vote on the stories in the $5 tiers or higher. Voting didn’t start until all 21 finalists were online. “Bones, Then Teeth” was available at: https://www.patreon.com/posts.70736222, but by September 2, 2022 the voting results were in. The story tied for 14th Place taking it out of eligibility for sale or publication. But this was definitely a notable notice added to my Bibliographies.
On December 7 (Pearl Harbor Day), I sold my Oklahoma-based, somewhat humorous df short story “Charlie Blackhawk and the Blue Whale of Catoosa” (5700 word version) to Jayhenge Publications for the anthology The Back Forty. It’s slated for publication in 2023.
With four fiction sales and one notable notice, my writing achievement for 2022 is that I was published five times (see Bibliography #1).
Also see: Convention Appearances. I was booked as an author panelist at Soonercon 30 the last three-day weekend of June, 2022. I added my Soonercon schedule to the website.
I posted about the con several times on my Facebook page.; I met some new friends, met up with current friends, and in general enjoyed myself. The shopping seemed scarcer, but my panels went fairly well (panels aren’t my favorite thing). For the first time ever at my author signing, I actually sold copies of my work, including the anthology PUNK (featuring my cyberpunk drabble “The Change”) and a copy of GRANDPA’S DEEP SPACE DINER (featuring my reprint urban fantasy short story “The Home Town Boy) from Jayhenge Publications!
Karen and I had a quick drive back to Tulsa. I woke up Monday to a scratchy throat and runny nose, which worsened. By Tuesday afternoon, in spite of the fact I’d had my second booster for Omicron six weeks prior, I tested positive for Covid. My doctor said it was the Omicron variant, which acts so fast it might have made me (or you) sick in two days. I assume I caught it at Soonercon; the con immediately reported nine positive readings linked to the convention. I worried about Karen’s and my husband’s exposure, and about my friends at Soonercon, too, but none of them ever got sick.
At the convention, I washed or sterilized my hands often, but didn’t wear my mask enough. But with two vaccinations and two booster shots, Covid is like a very bad cold with a fever. My fever lasted two days, my oxygen levels were generally good, and I took antibiotics for the secondary symptoms (not the Covid). So, July debuted in the unpleasant category, and I’ll need to re-think my convention appearances from now on, since the virus is here to stay thanks to all the unvaccinated people. Oklahoma has yet to reach 60% vaccinated status. I almost wish this was Ebola. With blood seeping from their ears, they’d be lined-up screaming for vaccinations (not that an Ebola vaccine exists yet).
2023:
First sale of the new year occurred January 6, 2023 when I sold my h flash fiction piece “Victorian,” to Love Me, Love Me Not: Dark Tales of Love, Lust and Lunacy, a horror drabble anthology from Black Hare Press. Contract sent with the acceptance email; signed and returned same day. Kindle pre-orders are available on Amazon now at https://readerlinks.com/1/2961945. Trade paperback and hardcover editions were published February 4, 2023, available everywhere.
By the middle of January, I had a serious rewrite request for one of my long h novelettes. The final version was re-submitted to the editor February 7, 2023. Fingers crossed!
Sales 2 through 5 happened April 6, 2023, when I sold four new h flash fiction pieces, “White Rabbit”, “Black Rabbit”, “Red Rabbit” and “Gold Rabbit” to Black Hare Press for their anthology Run, Rabbit, Run. The anthology is now published (publication dates, April 18 – April 20, 2023), and available everywhere.
These tiny stories were inspired by my obsession with original, framed, very small oil paintings on Artfinder; of rabbit faces, of course. I finally managed to buy one before it was snatched-up for my farm animal faces wall in my guest bedroom. The cover is the first one I’ve been able to add to my website!
Received email contract from Jayhenge Publications for my somewhat humorous, contemporary df short story, “Charlie Blackhawk and the Blue Whale of Catoosa” on May 25. Returned the next day with an Author Bio and other requested info. Paid May 28, 2023. The Back Forty anthology was published June 6, 2023 on Kindle, in trade paperback and hardcover.
I’m still waiting to hear about my long h novelette, but that’s how it goes in Writing World. Recent update: the editor is still reading/working on the special issue as of September 1.
Rough Summer. Although we enjoyed a trip to Branson, M.O. with one of our daughters and one granddaughter in early June, Tulsa experienced a severe thunderstorm on the night of June 18 with 100 m.p.h. straight winds. As I hid in a closet under the stairs, I heard a tremendous, continuous creaking sound, and then enormous slow-motion-like crashes. The storm brought down most of two of our big trees, and parts of the other three, falling into the street (cleared to the curb that same day). A large branch penetrated the ceiling in the master bath upstairs, and patio furniture, a grill, fire pit and fencing was destroyed. Power was out in our neighborhood for five days and we lived in a motel on the south side of town. There was massive damage in central Tulsa west to the Arkansas River. The last of our tree debris was picked up for free by the city just two weeks ago, and we’re getting a new roof.
But after attending Soonercon 31 in Norman, OK, as a panelist in late July, both I and my husband spent a week in the hospital at the beginning–and end–of August. We’re in recovery mode now, and this is the first summer in years I didn’t sell any fiction.
B. J. Thrower, September, 2023