Published Works
Portfolio
Below is a selection of my professionally published short fiction. These stories range from visceral survival thrillers to satirical explorations of the absurd.
Visceral Grit and Action
Long and Graceful* | Flash Fiction A poignant story of sacrifice and survival in the face of a sudden disaster. Originally published in Everyday Fiction.
In Short Supply* | Grounded Mystery A remote survivalist discovers that isolation does not guarantee peace. Originally published in Everyday Fiction.
The Rest Was Only Ash | Visceral Historical Fiction A Scottish mercenary unit during the Thirty Years' War tasked with extracting an alchemist who has invented a terrifying new weapon. Originally published on Substack by Palisatrium.
Hot Re-Entry | Intense Science Fiction An orbital flight instructor is on a routine training mission with a student when her interceptor has a malfunction and starts burning up on Re-entry. Originally published in Bullet Points Volume 13 - Combat Motivation.
Sharp Satire and the Absurd
The View from Erebus* | Satirical Speculative Fiction A corporate guide leads a tour through a commodified version of Dante’s Inferno. Featured in Professor Feiff’s Trans-Dimensional Travelogue.
Dead Men Tell No Tales (But They File in Triplicate)* | Bureaucratic Satire An agency operative attempts to enforce regulations on the undead high seas. Featured in the Planks and Plunder (Raconteur Press Anthologies Book 61).
A Tidy Little Apocalypse* | Whimsical Fantasy A wizard’s apprentice accidentally triggers a cleaning-based catastrophe. Featured in Artifact Origins (Raconteur Press Anthologies Book 57).
Pruning with Extreme Prejudice| Whimsical Action When a group of retired gardening enthusiasts learn that their neighbor’s new kudzu might be a threat to national security, they bust out the big gardening tools and their specific set of skills. Featured in Auntie Heroes (Raconteur Press Anthologies Book 74).
The Unknown
What the Fire Keeps* | Gothic Ghost Story A young girl must keep a tradition alive to protect her family from the shadows of the winter. Featured in White Witch’s Hat & other Yuletide ghost stories.
Children’s Books
The Sisters of Bloom and Stone* | Two young fairy sister’s with magical powers compete with each other but eventually learn the greater power of working together.
*Published as Michael P. Boettcher Jr.