My new story: “Contraband,” published by Litro Magazine
My latest blog post: Mindful mess
Dave is a lifelong writer who has always loved short stories. His contemporary Southern fiction has appeared in Adelaide Literary Magazine, the Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Flora Fiction, and the Birmingham Arts Journal. His noir pieces, some with a hint of “The Twilight Zone,” have been published by Close To The Bone, the Fictional Café, the Red Fez, and elsewhere.
When he’s not creating new stories or working on a novel, Dave blogs about life, football (Go Blue!), music, the English language, and the perils of advancing age. He works as a freelance editor, helps wrangle social media for the Atlanta Writers Club, and keeps busy with his own platform (whatever “platform” means). In the earlier stages of life Dave was a radio journalist, disc jockey, and cab driver. He was NOT the “David Swan” described in this story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Life, the South, and other mysteries
- New! Contraband – A member of the abortion rights underground is asked to help a desperate young woman. Published by Litro Magazine.
- Now You Never Call Me Anymore – Past and present collide in New Orleans when a woman visits a dying ex-boyfriend. Adelaide Literary Magazine.
- Wednesday’s Road – Sometimes we need a little help to reach the end of our journey. Flora Fiction
- From The Moon To The Earth – The moon man lives in the woods and comes out at night. Sledgehammer Lit
- My Late Friend Laura Ann Randall – She was a good person. Wasn’t she? Red Fez
- Flag Day – Confederate flags don’t hurt anybody. Right? Birmingham Arts Journal
- Bobby Dean Goes Viral – Football as religion, including the Golden Rule. The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature
- High Tide – Anniversaries, beaches, and most of all, love. Dead Mule
- Reefer and Jesus – It’s amazing what you can find on the south side of town. Birmingham Arts Journal
- The Fourteenth Pelican – An environmental private eye tangles with sick seabirds. Available on Amazon.
Noir, crime, and war
- Come Sing It Plain – Based on an old British murder ballad of a mother’s hatred and a daughter’s revenge. Close To The Bone
- Algorithms and Lies – An old-school crime writer gets a life-changing bad review from an AI bot. The Fictional Cafe
- Actual Events – When your rideshare passenger has a terrifying “taxicab confession.” Close To The Bone
- The Man With the Six-Foot Soul – Illusion and reality shift amid the pandemic. The Red Fez
- Country Dark – A desperate wife tries to escape an abusive relationship. Flora Fiction
- The Milk of Human Innocence – The truth behind the urban legend of the milkman. Red Fez
- A New Grateful Nation – Back from Afghanistan, she’s fighting a different war at home. Amazon.
Writing about writing
- Freelance or “Free Lunch?” – That great gig may not be what it seems. From eQuill, the Atlanta Writers Club newsletter.
- Better Writing Through Bots – What it’s like to have your book analyzed by AI. eQuill.
- Pants on the ground and the brain – Pros and cons of “pantsing” and “plotting.”
- The Worst They Can Do – The big R (rejection). eQuill.
- Writing Our Way Through the Storm – Adapting to the pandemic. eQuill.
- Watch that slanguage! Grammar tips from Uncle Grumpy (me).
Photos by Janet Stevenson and Dave Swan. Header photo by Pexels.com.
Dave Swan, Author 