News

10/15/24 My stories “Voyage of the Millennium Quester,” “Weathervane Wally,” and “Bringing the Future to You” appear in Ain’t Our First Rodeo: Another Fort Worth Writers Anthology. It’s available here.

4/30/23 My story “Turned Off” appears in The Science Fiction Tarot: Luminous Symbols of All the Tomorrows to Come, edited by Brandon Butler. It’s available here.

3/30/23 I’ve published the book Rebel Spirit in paperback on Amazon. It’s a ghost story told by a member of the first crew of the Confederate submarine CSS Hunley, the first submarine to sink a ship.

11/13/22 TDOTSPEC accepted my story “Turned Off” for publication in their upcoming anthology The Science Fiction Tarot.

10/2/22 On the 150th anniversary of the start of Phileas Fogg’s journey Around the World in Eighty Days, I’ve launched my book, 80 Hours, a modern take on the Jules Verne Classic. It’s available at Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Rakuten Kobo, Tolino, and Vivlio.

9/1/20 CHILLFILTR published my story story “Broken Flute Cave” online here.

6/20/20 On the 150th anniversary of the publication of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Pole to Pole Publishing presents 20,000 Leagues Remembered. It’s an anthology of stories inspired by the classic novel. Along with Senior Editor Kelly A. Harmon, I co-edited this book. It’s available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

12/12/19 Pole to Pole Publishing just launched Not Far From Roswell, containing my story “Reconnaissance Mission.”

11/14/19 Pole to Pole Publishing accepted several of my stories, to be published as a collection with the working title of The Seastead Chronicles.

9/22/19 Pole to Pole Publishing issued a submission call for an anthology I’ll be co-editing with Kelly A. Harmon. Its working title is Twenty Thousand Leagues Remembered, a sesquicentennial tribute to Jules Verne’s novel. Details are here.

4/17/19 Pole to Pole Publishing accepted my story, “Reconnaissance Mission,” for publication in their upcoming anthology Not Far From Roswell.

12/28/18  Pole to Pole Publishing just launched Re-Terrify, containing my story “Moonset.”

10/7/18 Camden Park Press launched Quoth the Raven on the 169th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s death. It contains my story “The Unparalleled Attempt to Rescue One Hans Pfaall.”

9/8/18 Camden Park Press has accepted my story, “”The Unparalleled Attempt to Rescue One Hans Pfaall” for publication in their upcoming anthology, Quoth the Raven.

8/7/18 Pole to Pole Publishing launched Re-Launch, containing my story “Target Practice.”

7/20/18 Gallery of Curiosities issue #3, Summer 2018, was published, containing my story “The Steam Elephant.” It’s available here and here.

7/7/18 Gallery of Curiosities has accepted my story “The Steam Elephant” for publication in The Gallery of Curiosities magazine.

2/20/18 Pole to Pole Publishing accepted my story, “Target Practice,” for publication in their upcoming anthology Re-Launch.

6/18/17 Pole to Pole Publishing accepted my story, “Instability” for publication in their upcoming anthology Dark Luminous Wings.

1/21/17 My story, “After the Martians,” placed 3rd out of 39 entries among science fiction short stories in the 2016 Critters Workshop Preditors & Editors Readers Poll. 

10/22/16 Pole to Pole Publishing just launched In a Cat’s Eye, which contains my story, “The Cats of Nerio-3.” This anthology of cat tales is available here, here, here, and at other outlets.

9/3/16  Pole to Pole Publishing has just accepted my story “The Cats of Nerio-3” for publication in their upcoming anthology, In a Cat’s Eye.

4/23/16  Gypsy Shadow Publishing will publish my story, “After the Martians,” and the launch is expected in early May. It’s the next book in the What Man Hath Wrought series and the cover is hard to resist:

1/23/16  My story, “Ripper’s Ring” placed 4th out of 17 entries among horror short stories in the 2015 Critters Workshop Preditors & Editors Readers Poll. 

9/30/15 My story “Ancient Spin” has appeared in the anthology Hides the Dark Tower, edited by Kelly A. Harmon and Vonnie Winslow Crist. It’s been published by, and is available at, Pole to Pole Publishing. Here’s the cover:

5/3/15 “Ripper’s Ring” launched today, and is available here, here, here, and here.

4/16/15  My story “Ancient Spin” has been accepted for publication in the upcoming anthology Hides the Dark Tower by Pole to Pole Publishing.

2/23/15  My story “A Clouded Affair” has appeared in the anthology Avast, Ye Airships! edited by Rie Sheridan Rose, published by Mocha Memoirs Press, and also available here and here.

1/17/15  My story “The Cometeers” did very well in the 2014 Critters Workshop Preditors & Editors Readers Poll.  It placed 3rd of 7 among Steampunk Short Stories.  My story “Time’s Deformèd Hand” tied for 3rd of 25 in the All Other Short Stories category.  Here are my badges signifying the top ten finishes:

11/15/14  “Time’s Deformèd Hand” launched today, and is available here, here, and here so far.

11/12/14  My short story, “Time’s Deformèd Hand,” has been accepted by Gypsy Shadow Publishing as the next book in the What Man Hath Wrought series. It’s scheduled to launch around November 15th.  Once again, the gifted Charlotte Holley has designed a striking and irresistible cover:

9/1/14  “The Cometeers” launched today, and is available here, here, here, and here so far.  This is what the cover looks like:

8/5/14 My short story, “The Cometeers” has been accepted by Gypsy Shadow Publishing as the next book in the What Man Hath Wrought series, with a launch date of September 1.

7/6/14  My short story, “A Clouded Affair” has been accepted for publication in the upcoming anthology Avast Ye Airships! by Mocha Memoirs Press.

4/27/14  July 1 will be the launch date for two more stories, the next ones in the What Man Hath Wrought series, to be sold in one package:  “To Be First” and “Wheels of Heaven.”  Check out this dazzling cover by Charlotte Holley:

2/11/14  March 1 will be the launch date for two stories, the next in the What Man Hath Wrought series, to be sold in one package:  “Rallying Cry” and “Last Vessel of Atlantis.”  Here’s the cover, by designer Charlotte Holley:

1/22/14  My story “A Tale More True” did very well in the 2013 Critters Workshop Predators & Editors Readers Poll.  It placed 4th among Science Fiction short stories.  Here’s my badge signifying a top ten finish:

10/30/13  My story “Rallying Cry” has been accepted for inclusion in my What Man Hath Wrought series by Gypsy Shadow Publishing.  It will be published in 2014.

6/3/13  “A Tale More True” is now available here and here.

5/27/13  Here is the fascinating cover for “A Tale More True,” the next story in my What Man Hath Wrought series.  Designed by Charlotte Holley, it depicts a view of the Earth from a very different moon, a moon with a gnarled tree and…a plumed tricorn hat?

5/18/13  My story “Making One’s Mark” has been accepted for publication in the upcoming anthology Artifacts: Things Out of Time by Epic Saga Publishing.

4/17/13  My story “A Tale More True” has been accepted for inclusion in my What Man Hath Wrought series by Gypsy Shadow Publishing.

3/22/13  My story “A Steampunk Carol” earned a 3 coffee cup review at Coffee Time Romance.

2/8/13  My story “Betwixt a Roc and a Hard Place” has been accepted for publication in an upcoming anthology to be called The Ministry of Extraordinary Weapons published by Sparkito Press, an imprint of Dark Quest Books.

1/20/13  Two of my stories did very well in the 2012 Critters Workshop Predators & Editors Readers Poll.  “The Six Hundred Dollar Man”  came in 2nd out of 8 steampunk short stories.  “Against All Gods” was tied for 4th in a list of 38 romance short stories.  Here are the badges for top ten finishes:

11/25/12 Author Anne H. Petzer blogged about my story “A Steampunk Carol” on her site.  Thanks, Anne!

11/21/12 My story “A Steampunk Carol” is now available here, (in time for the holidays!) and my story “The Six Hundred Dollar Man” is available here.

11/10/12 My story “The Six Hundred Dollar Man got accepted by Gypsy Shadow Publishing, and here is the cover, one that will cause double-takes, I’m sure.  Notice the cowboy’s smokestack and his mechanical left hand?  The talented Charlotte Holley designed this cover.

10/26/12 My story “A Steampunk Carol” got accepted by Gypsy Shadow Publishing, and here is the cover, an eye-grabber designed by Charlotte Holley:

10/15/12  My story “The Six Hundred Dollar Man” has been accepted for publication by Gypsy Shadow Publishing as the next part of the What Man Hath Wrought series!

7/30/12 “Against All Gods” is now available for purchase here.

4/30/12 Here’s the cover for “Against All Gods,” designed by the talented Charlotte Holley.  This story combines a trireme, two lovers, and the Wonders of the Ancient World, and it should be available soon at Gypsy Shadow Publishing.

3/28/12  My story “Against All Gods” has been accepted for publication by the wonderful folks at Gypsy Shadow Publishing as the next part of the What Man Hath Wrought series!

11/27/11  I spent a wonderful weekend at DarkoverCon.  I spoke on my first panel at a writer’s conference along with co-panelists Mark P. Donnelly, Elektra Hammond, and Kevin Houghton.  We talked about Steampunk literature.  I have to especially thank Elektra for introducing me to DarkoverCon, and to Amber Dionne (who arranged all the steampunk programming) for allowing me to speak on one of the panels.

9/17/11  “Leonardo’s Lion” is now available for purchase here.

9/2/11 Here’s the colorful, bold cover Charlotte Holley has designed for my story “Leonardo’s Lion.”  You should be able to buy the story soon.

8/25/11 My story “Leonardo’s Lion” has been accepted for publication by Gypsy Shadow Publishing as the next part of the What Man Hath Wrought series!

7/2/11  My story “Bringing the Future to You” has appeared in the anthology Cheer Up, Universe! by editor Ahmed A. Khan, published by (and available at) Whortleberry Press.  Here’s the cheerful cover: 6/30/11  “A Sea-Fairy Tale” received a great review in Amazon, written by Allison, who reviews as NebraskaIceberg.  Thank you, Allison!

4/22/11 My story “A Sea-Fairy Tale” has been published in The New Fairy Tales Anthology by the Aurora Wolf Literary Journal.  It’s available here and here.

3/29/11 “Alexander’s Odyssey” is now available for purchase here, here, here, and here.

3/20/11  My story “Alexander’s Odyssey” will be published again, this time in a rewritten, much longer format with more scenes and characters.  Denise Bartlett and Charlotte Holley at Gypsy Shadow Publishing will publish it as the third in my series of historical short stories called What Man Hath Wrought.  I’ll let you know when it’s available.  Here’s the bold cover Charlotte created:

3/17/11  Aurora of the Sun, by the Aurora Wolf Literary Journal, with my story “Seasteadia,” is now available here.  Use purchase code  9RWWE4QP to get a $2 discount.

12/14/10  My story “Blood in the River,” within the Dead Bait anthology, got a good review on Amazon.  Asmodeus was reviewing the book, and favorably mentioned my tale:  “…Moving on, “Blood in the River” by Steven R. Southard features one of my favorite species in the entire animal kingdom, the candiru. If you’re not familiar with candirus, they’re pencil-thin catfish indigenous to the Amazon river that are famous for lodging themselves in human urethras. That’s worth the price of admission by itself. And Southard combines one with a shape-shifting, human vampire. That’s just wrong (but it feels so right)…”  Thank you very much, Asmodeus!

10/29/10  “Within Victorian Mists” is available at Gypsy Shadow Publishing and, in Kindle edition, at Amazon.

10/14/10  Here’s the wonderful cover Charlotte Holley created for my story, “Within Victorian Mists,” soon to appear at Gypsy Shadow Publishing!

9/1/10  My story “Seasteadia” is now available at Aurora Wolf Literary Journal!

8/21/10  Here’s the irresistible cover developed for my story, “The Wind-Sphere Ship” by artist Charlotte Holley.  The story is available for purchase at Gypsy Shadow Publishing.  It’s also available in Kindle format on Amazon.

8/1/10  “A Sea-Fairy Tale” is now available at Aurora Wolf Literary Journal!

7/27/10  My story “Seasteadia” has been accepted for publication by Aurora Wolf Literary Journal!

7/17/10  My steampunk romance story, “Within Victorian Mists,” has been accepted for publication by Gypsy Shadow Publishing!

7/6/10  My story, “A Sea-Fairy Tale” has been accepted for publication by Aurora Wolf Literary Journal!

6/30/10  Wow!  Gypsy Shadow Publishing is planning to publish a series of my historical short stories as e-books, and then publish the entire collection as a print book.  The book is tentatively titled, What Man Hath Wrought.  Stay tuned for more news on that as it develops.

4/3/10  My story “The Wind-Sphere Ship” has been accepted for publication by Gypsy Shadow Publishing!

3/19/10  My story “Blood in the River” from Dead Bait got a good review here.

3/12/10  The Quest for Atlantis, published by Pill Hill Press, with my story “The Vessel,” is now available at Amazon.

3/5/10  My story, “The Vessel,” has been accepted by Pill Hill Press for their upcoming anthology, The Quest for Atlantis.

2/27/10 At the Crossroads Writing Conference in Macon, GA, I read from my story “Within Victorian Mists.”  Picture of me reading here.  I appeared with other steampunk authors Emilie P. Bush, Kathryn Hinds, Alexander White, Lainey Welsch, Dwayne DeBardelaben, and Austin Sirkin.

2/7/10  2012 AD, published by Severed Press, with my story “The Finality” is now available at Amazon!  You probably should get a copy before…well, before time runs out!

1/14/10  “The Steam Elephant” is now available at Steampunktales.com and at Mobipocket ebooks.  It’s in Steampunk Tales, Issue 5, and here’s the cover:

12/3/09  My story “The Steam Elephant” has been accepted for publication in Issue 5 of Steampunk Tales!

9/20/09  Dead Bait (with my story “Blood in the River”) is available at Amazon!

9/15/09  Here’s the cover of Dead Bait, the anthology by Severed Press in which my story “Blood in the River” will appear:

7/31/09  My story “The Finality” has been accepted by Severed Press for publication in their 2012AD anthology.

6/28/09  “The Sea-Wagon of Yantai got a good review at You Gotta Read Reviews!

6/13/09  “The Sea-Wagon of Yantai” is now available in print version at Amazon!

6/7/09  Eternal Press has launched my story, “The Sea-Wagon of Yantai.”  It’s also available at Mobipocket eBooks and CyberRead.

… and look at the wonderful, eye-catching cover that Amanda Kelsey at Eternal Press has created for the story:

2/8/09  My first horror story, “Blood in the River,” got accepted by Severed Press for their forthcoming anthology Dead Bait.

1/1/09  The anthology Magic & Mechanica, containing my short story “Alexander’s Odyssey,”  has been published by Ricasso Press and is available at Ricasso Press, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, and here’s the cover: