Michael Picco, Author

Full disclosure: I hardly ever look at my reviews on Goodreads. It's not a platform that generates a lot of traffic or sales for me, so it tends to get overlooked when I am promoting or reviewing what readers say about my work. Still, it came as a bit of shock to see the low star ratings piling up there.   Independent authors and publishers rely on HONEST (and thoughtful) reviews. Whenever I send out a story or a collection, I ALWAYS mention the  thoughtful  part to the reviewer. EVERYONE has an opinion. But, if you can't justify it (or at least explain how you arrived at that opinion), it's JUST an opinion. Most of these sorts of reviews say more about the reviewer than the work itself. Shrug. Trolls are gonna troll.  I saw a book dedication once that read: "This is not for you." That really resonated with me, and I might just make that a boiler plate dedication for future books that Sisyphus produces. Why? I write because I LOVE to do it! It's challenging an...

The latest revision of the cover from the publisher. I am happy to announce that my Italian Sonnet "The Vampyre's Last Dawn" will be included in the 2018 collection of poetry ( Speculations ) from the Weird Poets Society!  The volume is due to be released in January or February of this year!

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 am seriously contemplating writing a second of short stories (put together much like  Scenes From The Carnival Lounge ). This story is definitely a contender for that! Stay tuned, kids!

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!>>

I was trying to estimate just how many hours I spent putting this collection together. I thought maybe a couple of hundred at first, but then calculated that amount to be only a couple of months! This project took YEARS to complete...many thousands of hours, I suspect. Great to finally have it FINISHED and in hand!