story

New story by me, out now!

/ Shane / Leave a comment

Just an update to say that a new story by me, “John Henry Was a Steel Driving Man”, is out now in the March/April issue of Analog Magazine! (If you are not a subscriber, a digital issue can be purchased here, or if you’re lucky enough to live by a newsstand or book store that carries Analog, you can pick up a paper copy!)

My, it has been a long time since I’ve had an announcement like this, hasn’t it? I just looked back and I hadn’t had anything new come out in all of 2020. To be honest, I haven’t written much in the past year and a half, or so (mostly for obvious reasons). So here’s to starting 2021 off right, and I will say that I have a few more publications coming up soon to tell you about.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my retelling of John Henry in SPAAAAAACE! As always, I am humbled to grace the pages of Analog (and never more so when I manage to slip in a story about unionizing!) (Unionizing IN SPAAAAAACE!)

Big Anthony and When He Was Born

/ Shane / Leave a comment

By Evelyn Halbach

Chapter 1: Born

When Anthony’s mother was born, I don’t know why, but he was magic. Anthony was there and met Strega Nona. When Strega Nona was littler, she used to meet other people and she already knew that Anthony was born, but Anthony’s mother didn’t know that.

When Anthony’s mother first met him, he was 10. She didn’t know that he was her son. He didn’t know that he was magic, and he didn’t know that his mother was his mother instead of somebody else’s mother. So he decided to find out, and the mayor told him and gave him a golden badge.

Then he was 12 when his father met him. His father didn’t know that he was magic, and his father decided to find out, and he asked the priest if Anthony is magic. He decided to give a speech (the mayor told him).

Chapter 2: Cake

On Anthony’s 13th birthday his sister met him, and she didn’t know he was magic, and she decided to make cupcakes for him anyway, and she planned a big party, but it was already his birthday. And he planned a birthday party for her. Then they had an Easter egg hunt. Then they all ate cakes and made cookies with chocolate. And then they decided to go on vacation and had adventures. And they decided to make a house there – not a real house, but a tree house, and they never came back. They didn’t know it, but it was just a dream. And Strega Nona came and woke them up. And Anthony didn’t have a sister.

Chapter 3: Sister

Anthony, when he was grown up, it seemed like he was 100, and he met Strega Nona who told him to come to her house, but never to touch the magic pasta pot. One day he told the townspeople, and they said, “No”, and he told the priest.

Chapter 4: Die

Big Anthony dead and his sister is crying (this was the best illustration in the book, but there were many others)

When Anthony was dead and he went to heaven, everybody went to heaven, even the angels that were down there seeing Jesus, for it was Christmas night, and it was the first Christmas night. When it was the first Christmas night, Jesus was coming up too, and Mary and Joseph came too. Everybody came, except for Strega Nona because Strega Nona means “grandma witch.” Grandma witch is a mean thing.

The End