"Buried Alive in a Sallow Grave" in Terror Politico

Read my new story "Buried Alive in a Sallow Grave" in Terror Politico from Scary Dairy Press.

"Buried Alive in a Sallow Grave" is one of those stories that just happened, where everything fell into place. The editor emailed me and asked if I'd be interested in sending a story for a political anthology to be called Terror Poltico. Now writing for themed anthologies isn't usually my thing because I like to do whatever story I need to do at the time with no restrictions or guiderails. However, when she sent it, I immediately had an idea . . . or sort of an idea. I had a first line, and I knew the structure would be separated by quotes, but that was it. I sent her the first line, and she loved it. And it went from there, building over time. As it went, with its theme of tackling insurmountable odds/the powerless taking on the powerful, I thought of Harlan Ellison, because that's his schtick. He does the little guy taking on the giant better than anyone, and about halfway through I decided I'd dedicate this story to him and send it his way when the anthology came out. (The allusion to "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" in the confrontation between the heroine and The Don grew out of this desire to dedicate the story to Harlan.) And when I finished, I thought I'd gotten it right. I also thought I was crazy because of the two codas, but it worked, at least I thought it did. (You can decide for yourself.) I also thought Harlan would get a kick out of it. Sadly, he'll never see it, but I'm glad it's dedicated to him; and I hope you like it.

Note: This story is published under the pseudonym Alice van Harlingen.

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Terror-Politico-Screaming-World-Chaos/dp/1732094608/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1546772558&sr=8-3&keywords=terror+politico

Link to the publisher's webpage: http://scarydairypress.com