Fiction Genre

"Wasteland" (fiction) - New Blood magazine

This has been off my radar for so long, it's not even funny.  "Wasteland" was the first creative thing I ever wrote and completed.  But I didn't do it the way most people would - or, to be honest, the way any normal human would.  To help feel what the narrator was feeling, I stayed awake for 62 straight hours, watching TV and listening to music.  When I knew I couldn't stay awake much longer, I sat down at the computer and wrote this in about one hour.  So, yes, it's ugly and amateurish.  I'll be the first to admit it - hell, I'll announce it.  But it was also an experiment, and I'm pretty glad I did it.  This was back in 1991 or 1992, and I - prodded on by a couple of buddies - submitted this to one small magazine called New Blood that said that they wanted weird, urban, psychological or horror stories.  We sent them "Wasteland."  They bought it.  This is probably the reason they went out of business.  But I thank them.  They were my first, and so is this.

This is rated R - for vulgarity, sexuality, drug use, and gross stupidity.