In the spirit of the holidays, and inspired by Greg's wonderful "In the Late December", I am presenting, free of charge for a limited time, my Christmas story "Night Off", which originally appeared in Four Seasons in One Day. I read this story at the small press party during World Fantasy to a room of very cool and intimidating people (like Kelly Link, Gavin Grant, Susan Marie Groppi, Karen Meisner, Christopher Rowe, Gwenda Bond, Jenn Reese, and several others that I don't quite remember in my nervousness), and it seemed to go over well. At least, people didn't throw things and boo me out of the room, which is something.

So whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, Yule, Festivus or nothing at all, I hope you'll enjoy the following story. If so, I further hope that you'll be enticed into purchasing the aforementioned chapbook to sample some more of my writing.

I've submitted this story to Luís Rodrigues at Fantastic Metropolis, but may have waited too late for it to appear in that online venue for the Christmas season; if he does accept it, I'll take this entry down and point you thereward. In the meantime, enjoy, and have a wonderful holiday.

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[UPDATE (12.27.03): "Night Off" was accepted by Luís Rodrigues for reprint at Fantastic Metropolis, and can now be accessed via the image below. Just click the picture for free holiday goodness.]

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Now Reading:
Say...Aren't You Dead? edited by the RoweBond duo

Stories Out to Publishers:
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Books Read This Year:
59

Zines/Chapbooks/Fiction Mags Read This Year:
41