Little Libraries

by Dan Stout

I love Little Libraries, both as a way to build community and a way to share literature. And I'm so happy to be part of the Hemingway Shorts collection, which will be distributed to Little Libraries around the Chicago area. 

If you want to learn more about Little Libraries or The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, just follow these links or let Google be your guide. They're both well worth checking out!

I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.

STEM Romances

by Dan Stout

The Romance genre has undergone a major transformation with the advent of e-books and mobile readers. The pool of authors has changed, and so have the readers. And with new readers and creators come new expectations.

One of the most interesting of these shifts has been in the roles, interests, and occupations of women characters. Specifically, the increase in characters who work in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). These women provide readers -- especially young readers-- the chance to see women as having both brains and bodies, logic and emotion, rather than being constrained to only one at a time.

If you'd like to learn more about these kind of romance novels, this NPR article by Maya Rodale looks at three modern romances with female leads in the STEM fields, and is a great introduction. 

I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.

"Autumn's Daughter" in Andromeda Spaceways

by Dan Stout in

My story "Autumn's Daughter" is in the latest issue of Andromeda Spaceways. It's about parenthood, and how the fear of that staggering responsibility battles with the desire to protect and provide for your children.
It's also got creepy clowns and a lot of running around and screaming in the woods. Because those things are part of parenthood as well.

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I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.

Books, Storytelling, & New Friends

by Dan Stout

I spent the weekend at the World Fantasy Convention. The panels & lectures were interesting, but the real magic was in the casual conversations at the bar and in the hallways. I was amazed by how many talented and kind-hearted people

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I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.

Cast a Deadly Spell turns 25

by Dan Stout

Today marks twenty-five years since HBO’s CAST A DEADLY SPELL was released onto an unexpecting TV audience. A Lovecraftian horror story laced with comedy and cast in a noir mold, it’s a mad mix of genres that preceded both the Urban Fantasy boom in fiction and the rising tide of pop-culture Cthulhu mania...

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I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.

Cover Art

by Dan Stout

I love it when a publisher illustrates one of my stories, but in this case my story IS the illustration. Designed by Ogilvy & Mather, the cover of the Hemingway Shorts collection features a silhouette of Hemingway created solely with text from my story, "A Memory of Elephants."

Every time I look at it, I can't stop smiling.

I'm about halfway through the book, and I'm tremendously impressed with the quality of the work included. Hats off to the other authors, editor David Berner, and the production team at the Hemingway Foundation.

I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.

"A Memory of Elephants" Wins Hemingway Foundation Short Story Contest

by Dan Stout in

I'm thrilled to announce that my short story, "A Memory of Elephants" has been named the winner of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park's 2016 Short Story Contest. 

The results were announced at the Hemingway Foundation's recent gala fundraiser, and while I wasn't able to attend in person, I am delighted that I now have an excuse to use the word, "gala" in conversation.

Gala, gala, gala!

My entry, along with all the other finalists, will be included in an upcoming anthology. I'm looking forward to seeing the collected works, and I'm happy to say that the fundraiser was a huge success. For more details, here's a quick write-up about the event from The Chicago Tribune. 

 

I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.

"Outpatient" Reprinted at Digital Fiction

by Dan Stout

My short story "Outpatient", which originally appeared in Nature, has been reprinted over at Digital Fiction.  

I'm happy to give this story a chance to encounter some new readers, and glad to be in the company of some mighty fine writers on the Digital Fiction site. 

I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.

Saturday Evening Post features "The Hula-Hoop Heart"

by Dan Stout

My story "The Hula-Hoop Heart" is now live at The Saturday Evening Post website. 

The Post has published fiction by William Faulkner, Agatha Christie, Kurt Vonnegut, and now... some little bald dude in Ohio. I'm delighted to have my work appear in this publication, and I'm delighted to share it with you. 

"The Hula-Hoop Heart" is a noir crime thriller that takes place on a middle-school playground. It's available to read here, free of charge. If you get a chance to check it out, let me know what you think! 

I'm Dan Stout, a joyfully collaborative storyteller who loves rocket ships, dinosaurs, and monsters that skulk through shadows.