So, last year two great things happened:

- My story The Man in the Brown Coat was published at the wonderful podcast The Way of the Buffalo. This is an audio magazine, and it’s free – but the accept donations so they can pay their authors, so I think it’s pretty darned cool.

- My story Beyond the Border got an honorable mention in L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest, which is pretty cool.

How I managed to get anything at all published and looked at was I wrote a bunch during a semi-concentrated period of time, but more importantly I edited and submitted my work as much as possible during that same period of time.  The story which got published was the 14th submitted in a three-month time span.  Out of that 14 submissions, I submitted The Man in the Brown Coat twice.  After the first rejection, I took a look at the story, at the title (it was originally called View from a Room) and reworked it.  So now I’m trying to a) sit on a story after I write it for at least a week so I can get an objective viewpoint and make it better, b) submit, submit, submit, and c) listen to other writer’s advice on how to make stories better.  It’s always hard to edit, but I’m working on it.

Anyway, you can now listen to The Man in the Brown Coat read by the gorgeous voice actress Laura Diemer. I will attempt to finish up the short story challenges given to me in 2011 within this year – and hopefully give you some other new fiction, as well as new published works.

Cheers and Happy 2012!

Anyway, I finally got to the stories requested by several of my friends!  Yay!  I have actually been working on other stories and have been diligently submitting them to various short story publications in my off time.  So far I’ve been rejected, but I remain hopeful!  I have about fourteen stories out at the moment.

But, you don’t read these posts to listen to me jabber on about myself! 

Here’s the first of 2011′s story requests:

“A mystery involving a late-night Zoo security guard.” – T.G.

This story involves some swearing, animal shenanigans and strange zoo guards.  I hope you enjoy Why is that Sheep Wearing Clothes?

Okay, onto the story.  This one is called Take Your Daughter to Work Day and it’s by me… of course. 

Be forewarned: This story contains zombies, cannibalism, necrophilia (of sorts), undead children and office window-sized views of a zombie apocalypse.  All in all it’s not for those of you who do not like to read about gore or violence… or zombies.  You get the drift.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

This story is rated R for violence, death, evil seaweed and other surprises.

Message in a Bottle

I don’t know why I like the beach so much. I was never taught to swim, seagulls startle me with their accusing caws and seaweed looks like tentacles rising from the deep, attempting to draw me down, down, down. But, when I want to be alone with my thoughts, the beach is where I go.

Maybe it’s because my little brother adored the beach and used to drag me and my phobias there constantly. That was before he died.

Right now I’m sitting in the sand, writing this message on a piece of paper that the packaging said was made out of seaweed. When I’m done, I’ll put it in a bottle and cast it out to sea. I cannot think of a better memorial for my little brother, Mike.

It all started when Mike pleaded with me to take him to the beach. He was eleven and I was sixteen. I had a permit so I could drive – though technically not with him. Technically, I was supposed to drive with an adult in the car. But, Mikey had always been better than me at everything, driving included. Dad thought that since Mikey was a boy, it’d be okay to teach him things like driving a car or speedboat, how to swim, shooting guns, all that guy-bonding stuff. Stuff dad promised he’d do with me, but never go around to.

So, since Mikey was quick to point out that he was way better than me at driving, I said I’d take him to the beach without an adult present.

You have to understand, my family lives in Portland, Oregon, so going to the beach is no small task. It takes an hour or so to drive each way on these crazy, winding highways. Not only that, but the weather out there is way different than the weather in Portland. So, by the time we got there, I was exhausted from worry that a cop would pull me over and find out that I was driving with only a permit, AND it was freezing outside. Mikey didn’t care.

He unpacked his wet suit and peeled it onto his body. Those things are tight as hell and I had to help him zip it up. He grinned at me and grabbed a knee board.

“You comin’, sis?” he asked.

“You know I’m not,” I told him.

He gave me his irritating, know-it-all smile and patting my shoulder. Mikey was younger than me, but he was almost as tall as me already. With his thick, blonde hair and athletic build, I knew the girls at school would soon be dying to date him. My hair is thin and mouse brown and I’m kind of pudgy because I hate exercise. I’m better at driving to the beach and tossing bottles into the ocean.

Anyway, Mikey turned and ran to the freezing cold water. He didn’t hesitate for a second when he got to the shoreline, just jumped right into the frigid abyss. I trailed behind with the towels and cooler and blanket and all that crap. I set up and watched Mikey for a while. The ever present fog began to lift. A bunch of people on horseback were also enjoying the beach and were interrupting Mikey’s boarding. He was trying to coast on the tumultuous water at the shoreline. He gave the people and their horses a glare and struck out to the real waves. I watched him closer.

Presently, the people on horseback left. The beach was empty and clouds once again concealed the sun, creating an early twilight. I was wearing a swim suit and, when the sky seemed appropriately dark, I unwrapped myself from my blanket and headed to the water.

The frigid salt water sloshed around my ankles and goosebumps ran their way up and down my flesh, but I was undeterred. When the water came up to my waist, I dived under a wave and struck out, heading toward my brother.

Seagulls dived and cawed at me, scolding me, telling me to turn away. Seaweed clutched at my legs, trying to drag me down into the murky world below the water’s surface. I kicked and thrashed through the freezing waves, never taking my eyes off my brother.

When I reached him, I grabbed one of his legs and yanked him as hard as I could. His balance was superb, but he was caught off guard. Besides, all the rage that I’d carefully concealed over the years fueled me. Dad was supposed to teach me to swim, me to drive. He was supposed to take me out on the speedboat, me camping in the summer. But no, it was always him. Always little Mikey, that fucking brat. They left me behind to wallow in my own fat. To consume chocolate for endorphins and caffeine.

Adrenaline powered my arms as I yanked at my little brother, pulling him into the deep, deep ocean.

Before I was able to get his head underwater, he saw it was I who would drown him. The pure astonishment on his face was priceless. He didn’t know I could swim.

—-
The End

www.Juliascottdouglas.com
This story has been released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, no derivative license. You cannot change this story, nor can you sell it. You can, however, copy the WHOLE WORK (including the author name – meaning you attribute it to Julia Scott-Douglas) and send it along to others to enjoy.

Reader A.N. wrote me on Facebook for this one. His request was: “Do a story from the view point of the villain where you only really realize he is the villain by the end.”
I hope this story fulfilled his request.

So, in response to this cry for serious literature featuring Teletubbies, I give you: Teletubbies – A Horror Story.

Please note: I got all my info on Teletubbies from Wikipedia and other fine resources on the interwebs. I know jack-all about Teletubbies and so may make a glaring error. By all means, let me know if I did screw up. Otherwise, enjoy the story!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

My response to your imagined demands?  Yes.  Or… maybe.  Forty two?  I don’t know, just read the damn story already.

This one was inspired by my friend and reader J.K.  He posted his request on Facebook.  Here’s exactly what he said: “Lol! A story that uses an unusual “villain” (I.e.: not government and not classic horror; vampires, werewolves or zombies) from a 3rd person perspective, with a twist of terror and a bit of humor (time period unspecified)….. that should be vague yet specific enough for you to work your creativity, no?”

Thank you for that request, J.K.  Now, I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing it.  Onto: Attack of the Killer Unicorns by Julia Scott-Douglas.

Please note that this story is rated R for gore, violence, and innocence lost.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Grahame’s request was: “How about a sporting event with humans versus zombies (or some other non-human creatures)?”

I took this to heart and created “The Zombgames”. Please note that this story contains profanity, zombies, cannibalism and decapitation. Reader discretion is advised.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

I present: What Dreams May Come by Julia Scott-Douglas.

Oh, and let me know what you think of this one. If you have suggestions on how I could make the story better, I’d appreciate them.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

It’s the last day of my journey – I’m going to land in Portland today and there I shall stay… until July when I drive down to LA.

Anyway, I saw my horoscope and it seemed particularly relevant in that vague way horoscopes do. It is (ahem):

“You are coming to the end of an intensely emotional period and it’s a smart idea to tie up as many loose ends as you can. Soon you will start a new project, but you aren’t out of the woods on the previous one yet. The Moon’s entry into your sign tonight can remind you of the instability of your changing needs. Even if you are uncomfortable with basing a long-term decision on your fluctuating feelings, they are still more trustworthy now than your logical analysis.”

Seems appropriate, this being the last day of my trip and all. I don’t really want it to end, so perhaps more travel is in my future.