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For my next tidbit, I’m going to share a photo edit that I made from DeviantArt stock photos. I’ll be sharing more pieces of concept art from time to time when the dreaded writer’s block hits 🙂

Here’s the link for my newest short story on Amazon Kindle.

Unfortunately, I took down the link for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep until I can find or design a better cover. The famous artist’s doubt has crept up of me and I couldn’t leave a bad cover up there. I hope to republish it soon.

Even though my first draft is far from finished, I’d like to show y’all just a little sampling of what I’ve got so far. Here’s an excerpt from the first chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Melody

She stumbled through the dark, damp alleyway, oblivious to the broken liquor bottles slicing into her already blistered feet. For nearly two days she had been on the run, and she had lost her hospital-issue slippers somewhere along the way. She couldn’t stop, though.

They were coming for her.

They claimed they were trying to help her. They said that if she took her “medicine” every day the voices would stop. They lied.

She knew they were really trying to poison her. Melody Harrow was no fool. They wouldn’t have strapped her down, force-fed her through a tube, and injected her against her will if they’d been trying to help her.

The poison had been a long-acting one—that much she could tell; it was still working its way out of her system. Even real, untainted food, stolen from a Dumpster behind a reputable restaurant, would not stay in her stomach. “Medicine,” indeed.

“You shouldn’t have run away, Melody,” a soft voice echoed through the alley. “You should have stayed where you were safe. You need to go back.”

“Shut up!” she screamed, looking for her tormentor. Weak from lack of sleep and poor nutrition, her vision blurred. None of the vague shapes in the darkness appeared to be human. “They were trying to kill me! You’re all trying to kill me!”

Another, deeper voice chimed in, though she still appeared to be alone. “Do you really think this is better? Do you think you could be safe anywhere? Nothing you do can save the world from what is coming.”

“Anything is better than that dungeon!” Where were they? She still couldn’t see anyone with her in the alley. The poison must be affecting her vision, she decided. It was the only thing that made any sense.

“It’s a hospital, Melody.” The soft-spoken voice again. “You’re sick. You need their help. If you don’t turn back right now, something horrible will happen. Something that you can never undo.”

These strange invisible people, whoever they might be, made her more agitated than she already was. “I’m not sick! I know what’s really going on! You both tell the ‘doctor’ at that ‘hospital’ that I’m going to the newspapers! The New York Times! I’m going to tell everyone what they did to me. None of you will get away with it!”

The second voice chimed in with a sinister tone. “Who’s going to listen to you? A runaway from the psych ward who’s yelling at no one. Hell, woman, you’re still wearing that filthy paper gown, wandering aimlessly in the middle of the night. You’ve even forgotten to take off your hospital I.D. band. All anyone is going to do is take you straight back there.”

She raised her arm high above her head for the disembodied voices to see. “I didn’t forget to take it off! This is my proof! They can’t deny keeping me prisoner as long as I have this!”

Lightning flashed, illuminating the outline of a tall man standing at the other end of the alley. Was his the second voice?

“You’ve doomed yourself,” the first voice said, “and you’ve doomed us all.”

The second voice laughed. “I told you that you weren’t safe. By the time this night is through, you will be begging for the serenity and hope that the medications would have provided.”

Even though I have an excerpt from my novel scheduled to post later today, I thought I’d share a poem from Kamikaze Butterflies as well. It fits with my mood as of late.

Faded Memories

Remember back in high school

When we said we’d keep in touch?

Oh, how long ago that was

I’ve forgotten oh, so much

The names and all the faces

Of people that I knew

Are gone from all my memories

When lists I go sifting through

I use the social search engine

To try to find old friends

But when I see that I’ve forgot

The search comes to an end

I look at all the faces

On all of the profiles

And sadly I think to myself

“This will take a while”

The only way it seems for me

To remember names and faces

Is to find my old yearbooks

In their old hiding places

I feel a twinge of sadness

And also a bit of guilt

That it seems that I’ve forsaken

The friendships that I built

If you come to read this

And you were once my friend

Feel free to send a message

So old friendships we can mend

My short story is now live on Amazon as a Kindle ebook! Please forgive the horrible cover, I think I’m going to redo it in better detail and with better colors and shading, but if you’re interested, check out the story in the meantime! Here’s the link:

Tomorrow I should have another short story loaded (with a much cleaner cover), so keep an eye out on my Amazon author page for more 🙂

Good news, everyone! I have a new short story pending on Amazon KDP. The cover isn’t perfect, but I’m proud simply because I designed it myself.

In roughly a day or two, my author page on Amazon should have the link for it up. Go to amazon.com/author/ajmullican and check it out. I’ll update this blog when it goes live. Also, remember that Kamikaze Butterflies is still available in Kindle or paperback format through Amazon or the above author link.

I’m going to try to produce more short story material in the next few days, so keep checking this blog for more info. If anyone has a particular topic they’d like me to write about, let me know 🙂 As always, you can comment on WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, or G+

Thanks to a suggestion from an admin of a writer’s group I follow, I may start publishing some short stories for purchase.

Unfortunately, that means I need covers for them.

Oh, wait, that means I get to draw! I’ve been short on inspiration for drawing lately, but now I have given myself a good excuse to design and draw a couple of covers. 🙂

Here it is, the final serial killer short that I wrote almost a decade ago. My #writing has improved exponentially since then, so I’m excited to finish my #novel first draft and get to the revision stage. (Again, I apologize for the formatting. I find it easier to copy and paste than to jump back and forth between screens to retype the whole thing)

Serial Killer: Endgame

I stand as the jury comes out

Finished deliberating

Verdict pending

I am confident in my testimony

And its explanation

Of why I must kill

The foreman stands

And speaks:

“Guilty on all counts”

My heart sinks in my chest

How could this be?

Can they not see

That my actions were justified?

I am in such a daze

That I almost do not hear

The unbelievable sentence recommendation

Death

I am to be put to death

For doing what comes so naturally

The months fly by

Wasted on appeals

Empty efforts

Simply going through the motions

They do not give me the last meal I requested

Human flesh is not served

On death row

I settle for steak

Extra rare

But it pales in comparison

Minutes tick by

No reprieve from the Governor

Will come on this night

I am led in my shackles

To the last room

In which I shall draw breath

It is so cold, so methodical

Strapping me down

Inserting the i.v.

This is no way to kill a person

I told them the proper way

But to be killed as I wish to be killed

Is considered “cruel and unusual”

So I am left to this

Defeated

I do not have the heart to fight

My reign is over

I watch the injection

Pushed ever so slowly

A heaviness fills me

My eyes slide closed

And the she-killer is no more