HEaR TODaY …

The disease known as MNG-U has staked its claim on humanity and ended the world. Most of those who survive have been robbed of their hearing, deafened in this quiet apocalypse. Around the globe, people do what they can to exist in the terrifying silence, even what was once considered unthinkable. Whether in isolation or in new communities, they must persevere amidst a changed and brutal landscape disguised as a world they once knew.

From the world of Dave Jeffery’s A QUIET APOCALYPSE come ten stories with one, ultimate vision … A Silent Dystopia.

Mike is facing the inevitable. He and his wife Leah are racing through the middle of the night to see his addict sister in the hospital on the second anniversary of their father’s death. A situation for which his spiritual mother seems elated. It is a situation Mike knew would be coming, but not for the reasons he anticipated, including that of his own calling.

Essy is released from a psychiatric hospital after orchestrating her mother’s death a few years earlier. She moves to the neighboring town, where she can continue therapy with her psychiatrist. In pursuit of an idealistic happiness and normalcy, she finds herself both haunted and driven by those she hurt.

Inspired by the great Shirley Jackson, “Blood & Gingerbread” is set in a secluded community where bizarre annual rituals keep death at bay. It explores the raw human need to control, holding domain over violence, nature, families, behavior, life, and death. What happens when that power is disrupted?

Small contributor piece on beauty.

Read on page 11 of PR for People’s The Connector – July 2015 issue.

A story of unrequited love and casual violence, “The Last Gun” tells of the Newsman, a self-appointed traveling storyteller, news carrier, and merchant. He pays a routine visit to one of his usual stops – a decrepit American city inhabited by a young population descended from the survivors of a catastrophic civil war. He brings with him news of other communities, old songs, and what is purported to be the last known gun.

Read the full story on section8magazine.com.

Inspired by mid-twentieth century noir, “The Jasper Scarab” tells the story of William Boyd, a lone childhood survivor of the Titanic disaster. An ancient Egyptian artifact appears to be the common thread in a series of tragic events involving loved ones, yet William cannot depart with the object despite his several attempts.

“Cacophony in B Minor” tells the account of Duane, a talented musician and computer programmer, who is wrapped up in his self-loathing over a congenital disability. The combination of his mood, desire, and music opens the gate to a supernatural intervention that permanently alters his life.