My Thirteenth Anthology Publication – The Devil You Know by Dragon Soul Press

Happy Devil’s Eve, and happy publication day to The Devil You Know by Dragon Soul Press. This is my thirteenth anthology publication, and that couldn’t be more fitting, given the superstitions surrounding the number thirteen.

My young adult quiet horror, “Strokes of Time,” is in this anthology, and I’m so glad this story found a home.

You can get a copy of The Devil You Know through Amazon.

A Peek Into “Strokes of Time”

Since falling in love with the horror genre, I have explored various subgenres. “Strokes of Time” is my first quiet horror story.

When Trixy visits the famed Phobia Relief Gallery in Venice, she has high hopes she’ll finally be freed from her life-long fear of clocks, chronomentrophobia. All she needs to do is paint her fear into existence. But once Trixy begins illustrating a clock, she soon spirals into madness as the line between what’s real and imagined blurs.

I’m going to be honest, after writing this story, the sound of a ticking clock creeped me out for a while.

Never Give Up on a Short Story

This is my biggest takeaway from my experience submitting “Strokes of Time.”

I wrote this story toward the beginning of the year. My friends who read it and gave me feedback absolutely loved it.

But then, the story got a pass.

I was heartbroken. Still, from being in the query trenches with my books, I know how subjective publishing is. I have always believed in “Strokes of Time,” and I knew I would find it a home.

So, I decided to submit “Strokes of Time” to another anthology after making some tweaks and developing the story slightly to raise the word count. During the summer, Dragon Soul Press had a submission call for their horror anthology, Terror Reigns. I submitted “Strokes of Time,” and soon after the deadline, I received my acceptance.

But wait.

The publisher decided to add a second anthology, The Devil You Know, and “Strokes of Time” got accepted for this one.

So, to all my author friends out there, never stop believing in a story, no matter how many passes you receive.

Opening My Copy of The Devil You Know

The anthology was published today, October 30, so I loved opening my copy to celebrate publication day. You can watch my video on YouTube.

And yes, I obviously wore my devil costume from high school.

Thank you so much to the Dragon Soul Press team for giving “Strokes of Time” a home in The Devil You Know. I couldn’t be more grateful. The anthology is now on my bookshelf with all my others.

I would like to wrap up with some advice. Painting your fear into existence might not be the best idea. You have been warned.