Friday, August 1, 2025

42 Stories Anthology Presents: John Gerard Fagan

 



42 Stories Spotlight: John Gerard Fagan

Author of “IN DREAMS, JUST AS IN LIFE, TO DIE IS TO DIE”

Location: Scotland

Writing Space: Home

Social Media: @JohnGerardFagan | Website

Bio:

John Gerard Fagan is a Scottish writer and author of the Japan-based memoir Fish Town and Scottish literature novel Silent Riders of the Sea. He writes in Gaelic, Scots, and English and has published over 100 short stories and poems.


Featured in 42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42²

Award-Winning Story: IN DREAMS, JUST AS IN LIFE, TO DIE IS TO DIE


Favorites:

Books/Authors: Suttree by Cormac McCarthy, Fires on the Plain by Shohei Ooka, and The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe

Places: The Isle of Skye and Hokkaido


On Writing:

“To write what you want to read. Forget about an audience, outlining, or trying to copy a popular style or author and just write and see what comes out. If you’re writing just to make money, then you’ll never write something worth reading.”









Greatest Achievement in Writing:

Having my memoir Fish Town selling worldwide.


First Creation:

“When I was 10, I wrote a comic strip about a superhero toddler called Super Sulk and his best pal Wee Jimmy Nothin who beat up a group of criminals trying to rob their gym. They went on lots of adventures, mainly fighting baddies all over the world. It was never published, nor should it have been, but it started my love of writing. I still have it all these years later.”


Writing Goals:

To keep improving my craft and be a better writer year on year. My debut in fiction, a Scottish literature verse novel, Silent Riders of the Sea, will be published in November 2024 and has been a long time in the making. I hope it will emulate the success of my memoir Fish Town.












You can find the full anthology at 42storiesanthology.com

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42 Stories Anthology Presents: Sharon Black

 


πŸ–‹ Interview: Sharon Black – 42 Stories Anthology Contributor & Promoter

Full Name: Sharon Black

Story Title in the Anthology: A HAIR BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL A HAIR

Location: Smith Center, Kansas

Writing Space: Home and at work


🧠 Bio

Sharon Black has written stories for thirty years and one film, Home on the Range. She was an extra in the movie Sod and Stubble. Sharon writes for Positive News for You and has won several writing awards in Kansas.


🎢 Favorite Things


Songs/Bands: Simple Minds – “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”

Movies/Shows/Actors: Ed Harris, Johnny Depp


🎧 While Creating…

I listen to Classical Music when I write, because the music inspires a plot or character.


🧬 Creative Roots...

I discovered Eudora Welty is a relative through ancestry search on the Black side.


πŸ’‘ What Inspires You?

I make art with objects such as shells, jewelry, junk. I recently became interested in Tramp Art.

Mainly, for writing, I find a true story and write about it, either fiction or nonfiction. I have begun to write more screenplays, and to my amazement have placed in contests.


πŸ“˜ First Published Work

“Deeply Rooted” published in Hadrosaur Tales.

πŸ”— Links of work

🌐 www.positivenewsforyou.com


πŸ“š 42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42²

Featuring Sharon Black and over 1,200 other unique voices across 42 themed chaps.

Explore the full anthology here: https://42storiesanthology.com


42 Stories Anthology Presents: Jessica Sarlin

 


✦ Interview with Jessica Sarlin ✦







Location: New Jersey, USA

Works in the Anthology

- Fight Chapter Cover 

- No Time For Canoodling; Toss Me That Wrench  

    (J. Sarling: Steampunk)

- I Think I Left The Stove On Back On Earth (L. 

   Cairns: Satire)

- Enough About Alim; Take My Picture Already 

   (Drea Casters: Sports)

Creative Space: Home

Website: jesssarlinwriter.wordpress.com


✦ Bio

Jessica Sarlin (she/her) is a freelance writer and artist from New Jersey. Her work can be found in Door Is a Jar Literary Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Coffin Bell Journal, Gargantua (Air and Nothingness Press), The Forge, and other cool places.


✦ Favorites

Movies/Shows/Actors

The Sting (with Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and a hundred other amazing actors) is one of my favorites. It’s a nearly perfect movie. There is a fair amount of nostalgia there for me, too, because I remember watching it with my grandfather.

Islands/Beaches

I finally got to see Hawaii this year and it did not disappoint. Travel is so inspiring because it reminds you that you can get stuck in one perspective.


✦ Writing Focus

Who is your target audience? Why?

I think my target audience is myself, essentially, because I write better when I am tickled by my own work. Luckily, my sense of self is hazy, so I could be anyone!


✦ Process & Reflection

How do you relax?

My new thing is very long walks by myself in nature. I always find something surprising.


How do you handle rejection, and celebrate acceptance?

By now, I have a tough skin for the rejections. Some sting more than others, but I’m able to remind myself that it’s not personal or a catastrophic verdict on my work in general. I do have an ongoing struggle with celebrating the acceptances, though. I am uncomfortable tooting my own horn, even when a happy social media post (or a congratulatory cupcake!) is perfectly warranted and necessary. I’m getting better at it. GO TEAM GO.


What was the first piece you made, and was it purchased? Elaborate.

When I first started pursuing art as a career, I went back to school for graphic design. Most of my classmates were half my age. For one assignment, I made a larger decorative piece with recycled materials. I hand-painted birds on bottlecaps and plastic lids and pasted them on a flat tree structure made out of newspaper and cardboard. It was a hot mess, but cool. After class, a student asked if she could BUY it from me. I declined, but I was completely flattered and confused. Someone wanted to buy my homework?


Socials & More:

https://jesssarlinwriter.wordpress.com


πŸ›’ Check out the full 42 Stories Anthology here: https://www.42storiesanthology.com

Γ₯🎁 Anthology merch, mugs, and more: https://www.redbubble.com/people/bamwrites/shop


42 Stories Anthology Presents: Scott Russell Morris

 



πŸ–‹️ Author Feature: Scott Russell Morris

πŸ“Location: Mount Vernon, Iowa, USA

🧠 Writing Space: My office on campus, sometimes at home, often in cafeterias for pre-writing


42 Stories Anthology Contribution:

Title: THE BEAST WHO HAUNTS THE MOON-FILLED WOODS

Name: Scott Russell Morris


🌐 Find More from Scott:

πŸ”— Website: www.skoticus.com

πŸ“Έ Instagram: @magpiezines


πŸ“š Bio

Scott Russell Morris is a writer and enthusiast. He teaches at Cornell College. Scott is the creator and editor of Magpie Zines and the author of the essay collection Points of Tangency. He's obsessed with squirrels and owns over two-hundred boardgames.


🍫 Favorite Sweets

Warm brownies, slightly undercooked, with vanilla ice cream. But also, all sweets. I have an incurable sweet-tooth and love trying new foods.


πŸ‘₯ Do You Have a Writer Circle?

I used to have one, but I’ve just moved (from South Korea to Iowa, USA) and I haven’t really established an artists group yet. It’s on my to-do list. The group in Korea got me through a lot of low points in my creative life, so I really appreciate the power of meeting regularly with people who encourage your practice.


✍️ What’s the Best Way to Write?

To sit down and not think too much about it. I’m a big proponent of just letting it come out. I refine and revise later, but at first, it needs to be a bit spontaneous, messy, imperfect.


πŸ› ️ On Editing...?

I do a little of all of them: I always have a few people—my partner, my writing group—look over the essays and stories I write before publishing them. I have hired professional work for my book-length projects.


πŸ’‘ What Inspires You?

Not entirely sure that this is “inspiration,” but I get really grumpy when I haven’t had time to do something creative. And it can be really anything: cooking a nice meal, coloring with the kids, doodling on a piece of paper. I just feel most at ease when I am being creative, it’s an excellent mental health thing for me.

I suppose you could say that the inspiration part for me is that I find real pleasure in having made something, and that I am also really pleased with seeing what others make. There’s no grand social goal (though I suppose I have some) but there is just a general overall good when I am being creative and appreciating creative work.


πŸ—‚️ How Do You Organize Your Creative Talents?

Very poorly… I have a full time job, kids, and too many hobbies. I have a long to-do list of creative projects I’d love to tackle (zines to make, novels to write, collage arts, book arts).

Luckily, my job as a professor encourages artistic practice, but it’s still up to me to carve the time in.

It helps when I tell my partner what I have on my project wish-list because then she’ll encourage me to go do it. I’ve usually got a sticky-note (or five) with project ideas on my desk at all times. I have art supplies at home and at my office, and I go pretty much everywhere with my notebook, so I’m always ready when inspiration strikes.



About 42 Stories Anthology

πŸ›️ Merch:

https://www.redbubble.com/people/bamwrites/shop

πŸ“– Website:

https://42storiesanthology.com


42 Stories Anthology Presents: Jacqui Greaves Interview

 

42 Stories Anthology Presents: Jacqui Greaves Interview

Story in the anthology:
CITY PLAN FOR BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF HUMANS

Location: Aotearoa / New Zealand
Writing Space: Home office

Author Bio:
Jacqui Greaves is an award nominated, published author of speculative fiction from New Zealand. Most of her stories are weird and some are unnecessarily spicy. She doesn’t believe in happily-ever-after. She’s childless and lives with a cat, who has very sharp teeth.


Do you have a writing circle?

Yes. I have an in-person critique group who are award-winning powerhouses of speculative fiction in New Zealand. Some days I pinch myself to make sure this life is real.


What fuels your writing sessions?

Can’t start without coffee, then fueled by buckets of tea.


What should humanity stop doing?

Hating women. I’m a feminist and make no bones about it.


How do you unwind?

I read and stream weird shit. I also play golf, because my body requires exercise and I need to interact with others for my mental health.


What drives your creativity?

I have a ridiculous imagination combined with an abundance of female rage. Writing permits me to express my fury in a way that doesn’t endanger lives. Speculative fiction allows me to challenge and critique aspects of human behaviours, society and culture from a safe perspective. I love stupid humans, and I want and expect more for and from us. My hope is that through my stories readers will not only be entertained, but they will also unwittingly question their values and unconscious prejudices.


How do you manage your creative projects?

Messily. I struggle with the 24-hour system and sleep odd hours. I do my best to write five days a week. I’m a slow writer, so set myself the goal of writing 800 words per session. If I write over 1000 words in a day, I reward myself with wine. Right now, I’m juggling six interconnected space-opera novellas and writing to a deadline. It involves a teetering pile of bright coloured folders, a collection-bible festooned with sticky labels and a fat notebook filled with things to check and go back to. Organised chaos.


Where can readers find you?


πŸ“˜ About 42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42²

42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42² features 1,764 stories, each exactly 42 words long, spanning 42 different genres. This global collection brings together 1,281 authors from around the world—new voices, seasoned writers, and everything in between—united by the challenge of saying more with less.

Available now in print, ebook, and audiobook formats:
πŸ”— www.42storiesanthology.com
πŸ›️ Merch & author designs: BAMWrites Redbubble Shop