Hot Air and Strange Odors -- Introduction

After contemplating publishing my own work on my blog, I have decided to begin with a story that was published a few years back of which I own the rights to.  Probably not many of you, if any, have read this story due to the magazine it was published in.  I NEVER talk badly about any of my publishers, and for the most part I have had nothing but good experiences, but the so-called publisher who published "Hot Air and Strange Odors" is infamous and due to his rants and foolish behavior I split ways.  I never should have submitted a story to him in the first place, but I hadn't done my homework.  I consider the original publication of this story a case of live-and-learn, and I would like to make the story available as a three-part series here on my blog, because I do believe it is quite an eerie tale and deserves to be read.

As for all the other publishers I've worked with in the past several years, I thank each and every one of you.  I won't let one bad apple spoil the whole damn bunch.

As for "Hot Air and Strange Odors," it is a tale of deprivation, triumph, and tragedy.  Erin has been living in a windowless room sleeping on a concrete slap, day after excruciating day, her life shrouded in despair and nightly blackouts.  Deprivation can either eat away at one's soul like cancer, or cause one to become stronger willed, particularly if they have something worth fighting for, something more valuable than their own life.  Perhaps a family.  Fighting through stifling captivation, Erin discovers the secrets to her misery and the truth of the hot air and strange odors.

I will post part one in the next few days, with parts two and three to follow as a three-part weekly serial.  I hope those of you who read the story enjoy the fruits of my madness.  Feel free to comment.  It took me a while, but I finally found out how to reply to comments.  (Yeah, I know, I'm technologically challenged.)