I have a new story, “Locks and Keys and the Truth at the Heart of It,” in Pulphouse #17. I’m super-excited about this one because when the story came to me, it was in a different style than I’ve tried before. I trusted my subconscious and went for it. So happy to see this one get a home.
It falls on the literary side of things, perhaps magic realism? but I’m calling it fantasy for ease of filing.
Available Now
Women Who Love Dogs: A Page-Turning Crime Short Story
A rapist haunts the beaches of Southern California, but nobody can clearly identify him.
He always looks different, and he always has a different dog.
Then Vanessa’s dog, Merlin, provides a crucial clue….
A page-turning crime story from an award-nominated mystery author!
“Women Who Love Dogs” originally appeared in Me Too Short Stories(Level Best Books, 2019).
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Brittani Menchin, decidedly not popular high school student, gained a reputation when she rescued some popular kids from their own stupidity.
A reputation as the Fixer.
When a fellow band geek gets harassed for being gay, she intervenes, even though she’s not the type to wade into fights, despite being almost six feet of boobs and sarcasm.
Unfortunately for Brittani, her school has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to violence.
Unfortunately for her school, Brittani finds a way to fight back.
Fans of Veronica Mars will love this first story featuring justice-seeking Brittani Menchin, not-quite-six-feet-tall math nerd and high school Fixer.
“Zero Tolerance” originally appeared in Fiction River: Dark and Deadly Passions, 2021.
Available Now
An Ocean of Secrets in Her Eyes
The 1940s. A time when Hollywood studios owned their talent.
Which included making sure the talent avoided scandal.
Shining star Tabitha St. Claire has a secret. PI Sam Belmont accepts the job to learn what that secret is.
To devastating results…
A standalone story in the popular Nikki Ashburne series, “An Ocean of Secrets in Her Eyes” originally appeared in Fiction River: Chances, 2021.
Whether you’re in cold and rain (here in OR), or under snow (I hear you, friends in MN!), or dealing with heat (CA, Australia…), maybe you crave holiday stories. Not just Christmas stories, but Thanksgiving and Hannukah and Solstice and more; not just plain holiday stories, but ones that intertwine with crime or romance or fantasy and magic.
I certainly do.
Plus, short stories don’t take a lot of time to read. On your phone while you’re standing in line at the Post Office or the grocery story. While you’re waiting for the oven to preheat. A few stolen minutes before you fall asleep.
Hopefully dreaming of dancing sugarplums (whatever they are).
If you’re like me, then let me tell you about a wonderful Storybundle of eleven holiday collections—which comes out to a whopping seventy-two stories.
For $5, you get four ebooks; for $15 or more, you get all eleven.
You can also donate to a special charity, AbleGamers: “Creating opportunities that enable play in order to combat social isolation, foster inclusive communities, and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.” This is so important during the pandemic shutdown, and especially during the holidays.
My collection, Winter Wonderlands: Ten Tales of Holiday Magic is only available through this project. I’ll probably put it up for sale next holiday season, but that’s eons away.
But hurry: this Storybundle vanishes like Santa at the end of December!
For more information and to purchase this amazing deal, check out Storybundle.
If that’s not enough holiday cheer for you (is there ever enough?!), then check out the WMG Holiday Spectacular. It’s an advent calendar of stories, one appearing in your In Box every day from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day.
Yes, I know it’s the middle of December already! It doesn’t matter. If you subscribe between now and December 27, you’ll get an email of every story you missed. If you wait until after December 27, you’ll get the email on January 3 (but what’s the point of reading all the stories after the holidays?).
Either way, you’ll also receive The Holiday Spectacular #3 ebook compilation, which includes all thirty-eight stories and introductions, in July 2022.
In this advent calendar of stories, I have a sweet Solstice romance set in Wales. I have no idea on which day it’ll appear…but that’s part of the fun!
(Hint: Both of these make great last-minute holiday gifts for the readers on your list.)
Left Behind, She Waited
When petty criminals Angela and Mike stumble across an abandoned coal mining facility in a Tennessee forest, they plan to stay for the night.
The next morning, Angela finds Mike and all their possessions gone.
And she learns why the mining company closed its doors, and what haunts its halls….
Eerie and unique, “Left Behind, She Waited” will give you chills and make you think twice about redemption.
“Left Behind, She Waited” originally appeared in Unexpected Heroines (Kydala Publishing, 2020).
Girl With a Mission
Brittani Menchin, decidedly not popular high school student, gained a reputation when she rescued some popular kids from their own stupidity.
A reputation as the Fixer.
And now head cheerleader Tara Kildare wants her help.
The parents of Tara’s girlfriend, Chaya, want Tara arrested for the statutory rape of their daughter, because they don’t condone the lesbian relationship.
That makes Brittani’s blood boil….
Fans of Veronica Mars will love this first story featuring justice-seeking Brittani Menchin, not-quite-six-feet-tall math nerd and high school Fixer.
“Girl With a Mission” originally appeared in Fiction River: Hard Choices, 2018, and was republished in Powerful Girls: A YA Short Story Collection, 2020.
Custard: A Romeo and Juliet Story (Sort Of)
Brownies—not the little girls or the fudgy treat kind, but the Scottish pixie kind—help take care of households by being superior with household chores.
Agnes and Neil, from different brownie clans and working at different manor houses, both pride themselves in their custard. Custard, which requires the best, freshest eggs.
A chance meeting over a favorite clutch of eggs starts Agnes and Neil on an adventure, and the chance to create something new.
Their story will never be forgotten.
Editor Dean Wesley Smith says of “Custard,” “Dayle Dermatis…is a storyteller whose compelling and playful prose I will follow down virtually any path.”
“Custard: A Romeo and Juliet Story (Sort Of)” originally appeared in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, 2021.
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Bothering With the Details: A Copyediting Cozy Mystery Short Story
Longtime copyeditor Lydia Menchin prides herself in having memorized The Chicago Manual of Style and being able to focus despite distractions. But the tech company she works for still fires her, assuming her age made her unable to understand electronic newsletters.
Lydia still reads the newsletter and finds the mistakes the new, clearly inferior editor misses.
Until she starts to suspect the errors might just be intentional….
“Bothering With the Details” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, 2018.
Dragons. Who doesn’t love them?But this collection isn’t just about the brutes or beasts. No, there are philosophical dragons. Technological dragons. Even sexy dragons.Not just fantasy dragons. But science fantasy. Or straight science fiction. Historic and future dragons.You’re going to meet dragons from all walks of life in the pages of this anthology. Mostly unexpected. Not the kinds of dragons you’ve met before.
Come and explore all the myriad facets of these fascinating creatures.
Available in both ebook and print.
This anthology contains my story “Beautiful Soul,” set in Victorian London.
Set your cauldron to bubbling, and read these fifteen tales of magic, sorcery, and enchantment!What if you could smell magic—or go to a bar and get a shot of magic to go with your cocktail? Will an aging sorcerer’s last pupil ever learn anything? And what could possibly go wrong when a pair of witches enter the local chili cook-off?Includes stories by DeAnna Knippling, Leah R. Cutter, Robert Jeschonek, Debbie Mumford, Annie Reed, Rei Rosenquist, Alicia Cay, James Pyles, Grayson Towler, Jamie Ferguson, Dayle A. Dermatis, Thea Hutcheson, Leslie Claire Walker, Sharon Kae Reamer, and Steve Vernon.This anthology contains a reprint of my story “Telling the Bees,” part of the Holly and Willow hedgewitch series.
The Florentine Exchange:
A Page-Turning Spy Story Full of Twists and Turns
During a sultry summer in Florence, Italy, rule-following Libby must make an information exchange when her mentor, Antonia, sprains her ankle.
But then she discovers Antonia had two identical thumb drives. Was Antonia planning to give the wrong one to her contact?
Libby must make split-second decisions while her own life is on the line.
Clever spy thriller “The Florentine Exchange” transports readers to the sticky sumer humidity and historical beauty of Italy and keeps them on the edge of their seats, as only accomplished writer Dayle A. Dermatis can do.
“The Florentine Exchange” originally appeared in Fiction River Special Edition: Spies, 2019, and was reprinted in Voices Carry, and Other Stories of Women and Crime, 2020.
Custard: A Romeo and Juliet Story (Sort Of)
Brownies—not the little girls or the fudgy treat kind, but the Scottish pixie kind—help take care of households by being superior with household chores.
Agnes and Neil, from different brownie clans and working at different manor houses, both pride themselves in their custard. Custard, which requires the best, freshest eggs.
A chance meeting over a favorite clutch of eggs starts Agnes and Neil on an adventure, and the chance to create something new.
Their story will never be forgotten.
Editor Dean Wesley Smith says of “Custard,” “Dayle Dermatis…is a storyteller whose compelling and playful prose I will follow down virtually any path.”
“Custard: A Romeo and Juliet Story (Sort Of)” originally appeared in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, 2021.
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Enjoy the urban fantasy stories of the Uncollected Anthology: Alchemy now collected in this bundle.
Learn the secrets of a ghostly businessman or enjoy your perfect friends. Sip some very special booze and change a patron with love. Find a magical keepsake in a stoppered bottle of potion before jetting to ponder a special wall in Rome.
Explore the Uncollected Anthology with Alchemy!
My story in this issue is “Protected in Every Way.”
Amabella: intelligent, inquisitive, artistic, sporty. She leads a perfect life, with perfect friends.
Until she discovers something terribly, frighteningly wrong with her friends.
Surely there must be someone real Amabella can trust?
Gripping story “Protected in Every Way” is part of Uncollected Anthology 24: Alchemy.
“Dermatis has a love of lush language….” – Tangent Online
Dark and deadly passions fuel crime. Often violent crime. The stories in this compelling volume traverse an emotional rollercoaster. Some revenge stories uplift, while the very darkest stories shine a light on the disturbing underbelly of human nature. But heroism—or at least an attempt to do the right thing—provides hope. So, brace yourself for a swirl of emotions—and some dark and deadly passions.
My story, “Zero Tolerance,” is another in my series about justice-seeking Brittani Menchin, a not-quite-six-feet-tall math nerd, bank geek, and high school Fixer.
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