Stories of the Week for July 31, 2013

The photo for this week is courtesy of my visitor--a praying mantis, methinks--who was kind enough to pose for a few pictures on my screen door the other day.  I got the camera as close as possible in the hopes it would look like a scene from an old monster movie.  I think this one would be called "The Day the Mantis Ate Chicago."

No tip to Beat the Heat this week, as it's been quite pleasant where I am.  The Heat has been Beaten for now, at least in my neck of the woods. 

Speaking of woods, I've started a new story this week after seeing a call for submissions for an upcoming anthology.  The theme is environmental horror.  At first, all I could think of was M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening (which I haven't seen, but I haven't exactly heard great things about it.), but I put my old thinking cap on and came up with an idea that I really like.  It deals with the delicate balance of nature, and how important predators are to maintaining that balance. 

I'm only about 600 words in, having started it last night (it's supposed to be between 3,000-5,000 words when complete), so I can't say too much else yet. 

It's kind of refreshing to write a story about nature, though, as my first novel took place in purgatory (not a ton of nature there), and a lot of my other stories tend to take place in urban environments or within residential buildings, with an occasional apocalyptic wasteland tossed in for good measure. 



I guess you could say I'm "branching" out as a writer... 



Anyway, more to come next week, hopefully without the terrible puns.