When challenged to use the word "horticulture" in a sentence, Dorothy Parker quickly quipped: You can lead a whore to culture, but you can't make her think. Parker knew the struggle of trying to make a living as a writer. And I know just how she feels.

Royalties don't just magically appear. Did you know that? People actually have to buy your stories or books. Publishing is easy, selling your work is hard. Big name authors with big name publishers take out full page ads in the New York Times Book Review; or advertise on subway cars. I don't have those kinds of publishers or resources. Yet.

With this in mind, I am shamelessly shilling my longish-short story "All of Me" -- a story of love, suspense and medical procedures-- is now available on Forbidden Publications.

Here's the blurb:

Susan Bean works in the research department of a large law firm. Her life has always been calm, ordered and unexciting. Romance was never in the cards for her. Things change suddenly from the moment she meets new attorney, Gordon Davis. As over the weeks they become close, discovering similar interests, similar attitudes, she is convinced that they belong together. Susan will anything to prove she loves Gordon. Anything. So when Gordon becomes seriously ill, Susan donates her own liver. Then her blood. Then a kidney. She doesn’t mind; she likes to think of it as she and Gordon becoming like one flesh. And after many years of illness, Susan’s donations bring Gordon a new perspective on life, work, sports, food – and love. But when his perspectives start to veer from hers, Susan decides she needs to show Gordon the light. Which she does – in an unexpected way.

At the Forbidden website, you can find the story by the title ("All of Me"), or my name (b. lynch black). Just click on the cover, which will take you to the purchase information. Choose your reading method (pdf, html or lit) and it will take you to the checkout. The average price of a story seems to be $2.99.

Further: my other short story, "Sitting at the Gate of the Temple" can be found at Amazon in this anthology:

This is a rather timely political/speculative fiction piece, contained in a mixed bag anthology. Here's an excerpt:

….The variety of material was interesting: reluctant poets, fantasy writers who refused to fantasize, a science writer who felt that science “was dead” and no longer “spoke” to him. One rep had two serious novelists from different areas of the world who were refusing to even talk to him. And all of them were refusing to supply demanded goods. It took only a little digging to find out which ones knew Ms. Griffith. I confronted Ms. Griffith with this information and she didn’t seem surprised by my knowledge. Or disturbed by it, either. “Ms. Griffith, are you organizing the other clients into resisting our offers?” “No, Mr. Kavner. One or two of us discussed our positions and opinions on the matter of producing work on the demand of others.” “Are you using undue influence on them, Ms. Griffith?” “How would I do that? I have no power to exert. I have no legal or financial hold over them. What authority could I possibly bring to bear?” …the answer that popped into my head so shocked me that I couldn’t give expression to it. And all the way back to the office the answer that I didn’t give kept drumming through my brain with a soft but persistent beat. Moral authority.