Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales (30 page)

Under the Dryer

I've always had a bit of a concern about what lurks in spaces we can't really see, especially the commonplace areas we become complacent about. Oh, you may scoff, but have you looked under
your
dryer lately? Well, I have; hence this story. Thank goodness for Goliath, is all I have to say.

The Widow

"The Widow” came spinning out of my brain in a flash, if you'll pardon the pun. The inspiration was a writing prompt from a friend. I can't remember the details of the prompt, but I recall thinking that the result felt more like poetry than flash fiction, but what do I know. I just write stuff down.

Black Sleep

I used to write a lot of private poetry. I found it very therapeutic to express my feelings, but I hadn't written a poem for a number of years and never for public consumption. However, when a friendly competition arose with my blogging partners at The Horror Library Blog-O-Rama, I took the challenge.

"Black Sleep” came to my mind in the powerful image of a grief-stricken man laying his head on a pillow of soft, loamy soil. The subject matter wasn't personal (at least not consciously), but it felt good to write poetry again. More than anything I've ever written, it felt scary to share a piece of poetry publicly. I admire fine poets, because I suspect their work comes from a very tender and vulnerable place, and to share such a thing takes courage.

Mashed

"Mashed” was inspired by my love of spring and by my three older brothers who enjoyed a good taunt every now and then ... every day ... endlessly. The story first appeared at The Horror Library in a slightly different form. Incidentally, potatoes are one of my favorite foods.

Special Prayers

This story was inspired by a flash fiction prompt from Dameion Becknell. “Weather” was the topic, and as usual, my mind went about twisting the prompt into something somewhat out of the ordinary. “Special Prayers” is actually one of those stories that I worry about publishing. I happen to really love babies and I'd never want to use a subject that would hurt or offend anyone, but for me this was a powerful story to write. It had a hard edge and somehow felt like it was an expression of a truth I didn't quite understand, but that I needed to write. So please accept my apologies if this story makes you uncomfortable. Oddly enough, at this stage of my life, I think a little discomfort may not always be a bad thing.

Mama's Boy

Mama's Boy
had a strange growth process. It started as a micro-mini flash fiction response to a Valentine's Day writing prompt. The prompt was simply, “And that's why I love you.” I'm really not as horrid as this makes me sound, but the first thing that entered my mind was the image of a woman lying on a cement slab with a man standing over her—and the words that came to mind were: “And that's why I love you,” he said as he trailed the tip of the sharp blade from her collarbone to her heart.

Don't ask me where this stuff comes from—I don't even watch slasher movies. Go figure.

Anyway, MB went from that micro-flash to a short story for a writing class, to a medium length novella for an anthology (ultimately, they rejected it—lucky for me), to a hefty novella published by Insidious Publications. And no one was more surprised than I when it made it through the many layers of judging by the Horror Writers Association to become a finalist for the 2006 Bram Stoker Awards. I was quite stunned, and very honored.

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Writers can write until the cows come home, but if they want their stories to be unleashed on the world in any semblance of order they need the help of a lot of great people, so I'd like to take a moment to show a little love to a few folks. Along with my specific thanks, my love goes out in bunches to the impossibly long list of those not mentioned below.

When
Mama's Boy
needed a new home after its beloved tenure with Insidious Publications, publisher Jason Sizemore rode in on a fancy white stallion (okay, he walked in wearing sneakers, but a girl's got a right to embellish) at the World Horror Convention in Toronto and swept me off my author's feet. Now mind you,
Apex Digest
is my undisputed favorite mag and one of my early writing goals was to be published by Apex, so this event was a little coup of fate according to my sensibilities. Anyway, a deal was made and one of the most pleasurable professional relationships of my life began.

Jason Sizemore is immensely patient, generous, and kind, and through our work together I feel I've gained a lifelong friend. For me, this will be the best personal legacy of writing
Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales
. But don't let that Sizemore mild-mannered façade fool you. I take it you've seen that Apex Global Domination logo? Well, it's real people! You've been forewarned.

Thanks also go to Deb Taber for her magical editing talents. When I received her edits I realized just how sad and inferior I really am. Ms. Taber was gracious, professional, and brutally good.

Tod Clark and Kurt Dinan—where would I be without your eagle-eyed critiques and excellent recommendations? Thank you.

My thanks also go to:

-AJ Brown and the crew at the flash fiction office at Zoetrope. They're responsible for inspiring more than a few of the stories in this collection, as well as helping me regain my mojo after a long and difficult year.

-RJ, Boyd, Bailey, and the gang for keeping the home fires burning at The Horror Library. And of course there are my magnificent bloggers—AJ, Chrispy, Dan, Erik, and Petra from the Horror Library Blog-O-Rama—for their endless support.

-Jennifer Perssons for her magnificent encouragement and for the inspiration to write the collection.

-The master instructors and grunts at the Borderlands Press Boot Camp for the literary calisthenics, and to F. Paul Wilson for reminding me that sometimes really smart people can be wrong.

-Gary Braunbeck for being my unsuspecting mentor with every word he writes, and for his generosity, kindness and inspiration. Unbeknownst to him, his words of encouragement kept me writing through some pretty dark days. As long as I live I don't believe I'll ever receive a more wonderful book introduction. I'm humbled beyond words.

My deepest love and gratitude go to Paul, my husband, my best friend, my harshest critic, and my greatest fan. He's my inspiration and the sole reason I have the luxury to keep hammering words into stories.

And finally, to the kind readers who spend their precious time and money on my work. You're the folks who make the mad hours spent in my writing cave worth every minute. Seeing my books disappearing from the shelves and taking up residence in your homes is simply amazing to me. And your kind words? They give me a thrill you can't imagine. Thank you so very much for letting me tell you stories.

Fran Friel,

Springtime in Connecticut, 2008

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Fran Friel
writes and blogs by the sea on the coast of southern New England where she lives with her wonderful husband and daughter, and a dog named Sandy. Fran is a 2006 Bram Stoker Award finalist and is currently working on a novel about scary things. Please stop by and visit her at www.FranFriel.com and at her blog, Fran Friel's Yada Feast at blog.myspace.com/franfriel.

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Billy Tackett
is a multi-talented artist living in Northern Kentucky. His skills as an artist drift into all things dark and ominous. Billy is also a talented musician, photographer, graphic/web designer, writer, and make-up artist. The self-proclaimed “Creepiest Artist in America,” he is all that and more.

His current projects include being the “Official Artist” of Shane Moore's Abyss Walker book series, creator and writer of the soon to be released graphic novel based on his series of paintings “Dead, White & Blue,” and designing a ling of T-shirts featuring his work.