In a distant Arctic village, a young boy encounters a giant snow-dwelling spider. While the spider offers to grant Kyle's wish, it comes at a cost. Kyle must rely on his wits or wind up as the creature's next meal...
A short story to be published in Winter Enchantment.
What inspired your story?
A picture I found on Twitter. (Attached). I don't know the owner or artist, but I was fascinated and couldn't stop thinking about the image.
What do you enjoy reading on a cold winter night?
I love biographies. I find accounts of other people's lives interesting. I have re-discovered Ray Bradbury this year so anything by him.
If the Wish Spider granted you wishes, what would you ask for?
More time to write! And catch up on horror movies.
How does your writing process differ when writing a short story as opposed to a novel?
Focus mostly. A short story I will work faster and harder because I am afraid of losing the thread. A novel I will work the opposite way. I slow down so I can look for all the details in a novel's world. Often I will find short stories waiting inside a novel, side paths with their own treasures--or wishes, if you will.
What is your next writing project about?
Since June I have been working a trio of novellas that compose a single novel. The story is about the supernatural invading the natural as seen through one boy's journey of growing up, specifically how strong women affect and shape him.
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Paul Wilson lives in a suburb much like the one he turned into a horror playground in his novel Hostage.
Since 2018, he has been published multiple times in Theme of Absence and Tales from the Moonlit Path, as well as appearing in Dream of Shadow and Electric Spec. Recent publications include Hallozine, and Vampire Cat. He has work in three WU! Anthologies as well as the Input/Output Press anthology “And the Dead Shall Sleep No More” (October 2021) and Mischief Publishing’s “Love Bites” anthology (December 2021). In January 2022 he published with Bullshit Literature as well as Night Terror Novels’ “Theatre Phantasmagoria” flash fiction series. Black Rose Writing published his fantasy western novel Cassidy Smith Book One September 2021.
He lives with his wife, kids, and two cats. He has worked a spectacular list of jobs including retail district manager, 911 operator, and head of a college security department.
Follow him on Twitter at Storydweller102 or email him at trucalling123@yahoo.com.
https://www.facebook.com/storydweller102
Winter Enchantment, an anthology of magical stories, is coming out this winter.