In response to the 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, the editorial team at Rogue Owl Press decided to pull together an anthology with 100% of proceeds going to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety. This may seem an unusual move for a press that often publishes stories labelled under the horror genre.

Many of the members of the press's editorial team, however, attended Univ. of Southern Maine's Stonecoast MFA program, and they knew how writers connected to the state wanted to find a way to help survivors move through this--horror. Their anthology will be called Maine Character Energy, and like other Rogue Owl publications, stories included will be expected to startle readers. By that, they mean stories that "jolt" and "provide an opening to fall into another reality."

My Penobscot River flash fiction, "Glass Eels", will be included in this anthology. As is the nature of flash fiction in general, the intent is to startle readers awake, to open us to an understanding of the world that shifts something, in our hearts, or in our minds. If you'd like to be part of a positive shift in our societies, look for this anthology coming out in late January.