Michael Picco, Author

Review notes from Instagram Reviewer Danielle V. "luna13darke."  I think my favorite comment from her review was "Ho. Lee. Shit." ;-)  

When I tell someone that I'm an author, usually the first thing they ask me is: "Have you published anything?"  Of course, the easiest way to check my publishing credentials is  HERE Or, if you prefer the longer way around… Award-Winning Essayist: Odd Fellows and Rebekahs Pilgrimage for Youth (Colorado Winner), 1986. Anode II Publishing: “ The Vampyre’s Last Dawn” (poetry), 1990. Mountain Thought Review: “ The Vampyre’s Last Dawn ” (poetry),  “Perspectives (A Politically-Incorrect Short Story)”, 1992. Western State College: “Nemesis” (playwriting). Performed by WSC Honors Theater Group, 1992 (Directed by Theresa Hicks). Mile High Poetry Society: Olympus : “Charnal Love” (poetry), 1993. CTales Publishing: Fraser: The Disappearance of Michael Pitts (novel, written with Mark Clodi), 2014.  Get it here Bloodshot Books:  Not Your Average Monster Anthology, Vol II . Editor: Pete Kahle. “The Esurient Hyrst” (short story), 2015.  Get it here Wolf Singer Publica...

My contributor copies for  Stranded: Lone Survivor Deserted Island Horror Stories   arrived in the mail yesterday!  This anthology from Dark Regions Press, contains my flash fiction short story, "Isle for One?" — which took Fourth Place in their writing contest this last summer!  Considering that there were "over 1,000 entries" in the contest, I consider this a pretty big deal (like in the 99.5 percentile!)!  It's great to be a part of this anthology — especially from such a well-respected publisher. 

I felt that this story would've been a good capstone to Scenes… but, due to deadlines and space, I didn't quite have time to squeeze it in. Like the story All of Yesterday's Yesterdays , it deals with the unaware dead and the afterlife — particularly as it relates to the notion of the Bardo {from Wiki: “Used loosely, the term "bardo" refers to the state of existence intermediate between two lives on earth. According to Tibetan tradition, after death and before one's next birth, when one's consciousness is not connected with a physical body, one experiences a variety of phenomena. These usually follow a particular sequence of degeneration from, just after death, the clearest experiences of reality of which one is spiritually capable, and then proceeding to terrifying hallucinations that arise from the impulses of one's previous unskillful actions.”}.  I found the idea of the Bardo similar to the Christian idea of Purgatory, except that in th...

I've been steadily working on a new short story called, The Bark Men . It takes place in my back yard, (Ouray, Colorado) and is told from the perspective of a thirteen year old boy (someone whose voice I can hear quite plainly. A testament to the tough little kid still alive and kicking in my head after all these years!). The story is an offshoot of the Dust Bunny Monster ... it's progenitor, really. I came to realize this fall that I was trying to tell two separate stories, and have since separated the two. Now at nearly 6,000 words, The Bark Men  is nearly three times the length of the Dust Bunny Monster and has gained a lot of momentum. Hopefully I will have it completed by the end of the year. Here's an excerpt:

I was thrilled to see this Four Star review on Amazon for Scenes this afternoon... "Scenes From The Carnival Lounge explores, 17 short stories, the dark and disturbing recesses of what is possible through interesting, and sometimes complex, characters. Each story leads the reader through a macabre passageway into the character’s reality that, with each turned page, becomes more inky until the character and reader alike are unsure whether the character has gone mad or has always been mad. These are quick reads, that are engrossing and visceral." <<happy dance!>>