Tom Marcinko
Stories about human and other imaginary beings.
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Tom Marcinko's short fiction has appeared in Rosebud, Interzone, Realms of Fantasy, Science Fiction Age, Ellen Datlow’s EventHorizon.com, and other venues. He is shopping a novel, writing another one, and getting frighteningly close to earning his Master’s in Humanities.
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Heretics
Published Feb 15, 2021 · 3,242 words (12 minutes) · 43 views
Science Fiction aliens religion teleportation catholic church
The usual warning for me: This story contains sex and religion in ways that might not be considered nice by everybody. It appeared in the first issue of Future Orbits, edited by Tom Vander Neut. There's a nice entry about the magazine on the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
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Fiction
Deep Space Sein
Published Feb 15, 2021 · 1,925 words (7 minutes) · 39 views
Science Fiction Newman parody Borg star trek crossover Seinfeld Deep Space Nine comedy clubs Gamma Quadrant
For some reason this story feels like an artifact of the 1990s. Scott Edelman published it in Science Fiction Age with a beautiful and hilarious illustration by Charles Demorat. I'll see if I can get permission to post it.
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Whiter Teeth, Fresher Breath
Published Jan 17, 2021 · 3,976 words (15 minutes) · 114 views
Science Fiction allegorical vampirism #alien invasion Alien drugs dentistry consumer goods nightclubs
Author note: Caution: This story includes alien sex and dentistry (also alien). This was my first fiction sale ever, to David Pringle at Interzone, in the remote former lifetime that was 1994. I'll see if I can get the OK to post the gorgeous illustrations here.
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The Nixon Wrangler's Tale
Published Jan 10, 2021 · 3,089 words (12 minutes) · 96 views
Humor Satire Science Fiction Elvis political satire Marilyn Costa Rica Madonna law enforcement artificial intelligence Kennedy copyright infringement politics Sinatra artificial life gardening cobain Nixon replicant
A warning: This story contains many things that might offend some readers, including semi-explicit sex, "sci-fi violence," four-letter words that somehow retain a certain power, and a general spirit of meanness. Ellen Datlow said she liked it in spite of herself, and published it in 1998 on EventHorizon.com, a site you need the Wayback Machine to find today. The theme park name in this story was stolen from Judith Berman, who I hope forgives me.
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Henry the Human Flea
Published Dec 2, 2020 · 1,016 words (4 minutes) · 115 views
Science Fiction reader 1960s red scare Superheroes fleas insects parody alternate worlds j. edgar hoover
This story was published way back in the last century, in a British magazine called The Edge, edited by Graham Evans. It was originally conceived as a pitch for an anthology of Spider-Man stories, but the editor who sent me a polite rejection said it was "too weird for Marvel." (How's that, again?) It's fortunate that I was able to capitalize on the superhero craze years before it was ripe for monetization.
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A Close Personal Relationship
Published Dec 2, 2020 · 3,714 words (14 minutes) · 137 views
Fantasy Science Fiction theocracy authoritarianism Dinosaurs censorship Theological fantasy Heresy cosmology
Some people might be offended by this story's language, to say nothing of its religious concepts. This story was published in Realms of Fantasy, edited by Shawna McCarthy, in 2010. An earlier version was published in New Writings in the Fantastic, ed. John Grant.
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