JJ Litke

the neural pathways less traveled

UFO8 anthology, now with more JJ!

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Up for some fun? The classic humor SFF anthology Unidentified Funny Objects is about to release UFO8, including my story “The Unwelcome Mat,” featuring Mathilde Coburn, Appliance Exorcist.

Pretty sweet, huh!

October 13 is the official release date. Makes a great gift! No seriously, the world is on fucking fire right now, and everyone could use a break from that, even for just a few minutes (ha ha ha, ow). Check out the names on the cover, too. It still bowls me over to be part of this. I really love UFO, and getting the chance to work with Alex Shvartsman was a pretty sweet deal, too.

We could all use a little more good news, so feel free to add a comment about anything that’s going well for you right now, I’d love to hear it.

Fun to hate: mimes

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According to TV Tropes, everyone hates mimes. Okay, maybe not everyone, but mimes are not exactly beloved by one and all.

Just look at this guy. You don’t want him coming anywhere near you, do you?

What’s with all the mime hate? TV Tropes theorizes it’s an Uncanny Valley effect, that is, when something gets very close to appearing human but isn’t quite all the way there (think ventriloquist dummy or clown) it creeps the hell out of people. Probably a lot to do with it, but I suspect it doesn’t help that mimes are also associated with street performers who follow people around and mock them. You make someone feel foolish and they can unleash a crazy amount of hate for it.

But I think it has everything to do with that painted face. Which I think is the same reason people are creeped out by clowns. And aren’t mimes really just a subset of clowns?

Anyway, in my latest story, The Invisible Box, a woman uses the idea that people would avoid a mime like the plague to get revenge. Personally I love how absurd the concept is, but it’s still so dark at the same time. Maybe that’s just me and my weirdo sense of humor, though.

Newly published story: When the Planets Left

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My flash story—When the Planets Left—is live at Cast of Wonders!

It’s one of their Little Wonders episodes that combine flash stories together. My story is second, starting at about 9:15. The first story is The There-It-Is Store by Adam Gaylord.

The episode theme is Embracing Change. I knew my story involved a concept of change (I know because I wrote it), but it was eerie to listen to the entire episode and see what an amazing job they did of blending my little story into a deeply meaningful theme.

Enjoy!

Harbinie of Death!

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Farstrider2CoverArtA circling raven is never a good sign, even when it’s riding a bicycle.

At last, Harbinie of Death is live at Farstrider Magazine!

I really love this story, and I’ve gotten really great, encouraging feedback on it from other writers (thank you, Slugtribe!). In fact I’d have to give this story credit as one of the main pieces that helped me feel like I’m really part of a writing community instead of an outsider peeking in the windows.

The amazing Damoclian wrote a review for it on his blog. I’m not sure the story does his review justice, but it’s a little thrilling to let myself imagine that it does.

I’m currently working on a novel based in this same world that I hope to start querying soon. Yay, querying, right? Nothing’s more fun than that!