BIO

KIERAN SHEA’s fiction has appeared in dozens of venues including Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Thuglit, Dogmatika, Word Riot, Plots with Guns, Beat to a Pulp, Crimefactory, and Needle: A Magazine of Noir ...as well as in some beefy-looking anthologies most of which will make you question the tether of his shiny, red balloon. To his self-deprecating astonishment he's also been nominated for the Story South’s Million Writers Award twice without sending the judges so much as a thank you note. He co-edited the satiric transgressive fiction collection D*CKED: DARK FICTION INSPIRED BY DICK CHENEY and his debut novel KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY is out now from Titan Books. Kieran divides his time between 38°58′22.6″N- 76°30′4.17″W and 39.2775° N, 74.5750° W.

10/28/11

Slow, Sad End

Who knows where all this crap people write comes from. Some base their drivel on personal experience or shards of rot stuck in their memories that won't let go. Others lick a finger and stick it in the wind. It's not important I guess...unless you have an axe to grind. This week I crushed 13000 words in five days. Best flow for a while. Taking a break from the WIP that is making me sad and frustrated. Two shorts, one much longer than the other that pushed the limit on the submission front but I threw it at the wall to see if it sticks anyway. The second story was more of a palette cleanser. Wasn't even intentional, but when my iPod shuffled up this classic by Uncle Tupelo while I was driving it sparked a fuse. These are dark times. Onward.

LIFE WORTH LIVIN'

This song is sung for anyone that's listening
This song is for the broken-spirited man
This song is for anyone left standing
After the strain of a slow, sad end

It seems everybody wants what someone else has
There's sorrow enough for all
Just go in any bar and ask
With a beer in each hand and a smile in between
All around's a world grown mean

We've all had our ups and downs
It's been mostly down around here
Now this whole damn mess is becoming quite clear

Looks like we're all looking for a life worth livin'
That's why we drink ourselves to sleep
Yeah, we're all looking for a life worth livin'
That's why we pray for our souls to keep

There's nothing left now but broken pieces
Of one man's broken will to care
And in the end before all is said and done
How many others might follow him there?

This song is sung for anyone that's listening
This song is for the broken-spirited man
This song is for anyone left standing
After the strain of a slow, sad end

Midnight is comin' 'round
Still mostly down around here
Now this whole damn mess is becoming quite clear
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