It's the end of the world...and I feel fine

     When the Morpheus Tales Apocalypse Special Issue announcement came out, I knew I wanted to be part of it.  When one of my stories was chosen to be in their biopunk special issue a few months back, I was pleasantly surprised at the beautiful quality and diversity of the writing and the range of story choices, not to mention the fantastic cover art.  These guys knew what they were doing, and any story I sent them would be in good hands.  And now an Apocalypse Special Issue?  What an opportunity: ending the world.  The trick was to solve a couple of problems first.

     The first problem was how to make the idea something new.  Vampires?   Done.  Pandemic disease?  Done.  Alien Invasion?  Done.  Zombies?  Fucking overdone.

     The other problem, obviously, was how to end the world in 3000 words or less.  Global catastrophe, limited space.

      My solution was "Songs of Goodbye," a story of a girl and her father at the end of the world.  I focused on the two of them and their relationship as they face impending doom, instead of the death of the planet overall.

      When I sent it out, I was unsure the editor would choose it.  In my opinion, it wasn't a horror story, as such.  Morpheus Tales usually tends toward those creepy stories that make you wonder what that soft thump was in the other room when you're suddenly awake at 2AM, and "Songs of Goodbye" didn't really fit that mold.  It was quiet, honest, personal, and a little bit sad.  When my wife read it, she said she could picture one of our daughters and me having similar interactions.

      Self-doubt notwithstanding, I sent it in and it was chosen for publication.  The editor said in response, "The ending really got to me."     While I haven't had a chance to read the issue yet, I'm sure it's another example of the good stuff.

      Take a look.  You won't be sorry you did.