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Upcoming Conferences & Events
April 26th, 6-8:30pm: Last-Picked Books Press Launch
Poetry Lounge (313 North Avenue, Millvale, PA)
The official launch celebration for new Pittsburgh-based small press Last-Picked Books, partnering up with fellow new local publisher Death Drive Press for a fun night of readings and music.
May 11th: Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books (Pittsburgh, PA)
Find the After Happy Hour/Scribble House/Last-Picked Books table in the exhibitor area to pick up Cryptid Bits, prompt journals, and the newly released AHH Contest Issue #3.
June 3rd, 7pm: Feedback Open Mic
Nico's Recovery Room (178 Pearl Street, Pittsburgh, PA)
The launch of a new quarterly reading series run by Scribble House where readers share their work aloud and get written feedback from the audience (it's an open mic and workshop all in one!).
July 26th-28th: Confluence SFF Conference (Coraopolis, PA)
The AHH/Scribble House/Last-Picked Books trio will have a table in the Dealer's Room, stop by and see us!
October 5th: Albatwitch Day (Columbia, PA)
What better place for Last-Picked Books than a celebration of cryptids? The press will have a table in the authors area, more details to come closer to the event!
Jess Simms is the author of the flash fiction chapbook Cryptid Bits (Last Picked Books, 2024) and the managing editor of After Happy Hour Review. They earned their MFA in Creative Writing from Chatham University in 2012 and later that year they joined the Rahnd Table workshop group, which they've been a member of since. In 2022, they co-founded Scribble House with fellow Rahnd Table member Liz Abeling, with the goal of connecting writers in western Pennsylvania with knowledge, resources, and support.
In 2023, their micro-chapbook Shapeshifter Diaries was published as part of Rinky Dink Press' 10th series. Their short fiction has also appeared in more than 20 other journals and anthologies (some of which you can read further down the page if you're curious). Among their favorite things to nerd out about are mythology and languages, and they've tried their hand at creating both to varying levels of success. Cooking and gardening are foremost among their more normal areas of interest. They are mildly addicted to traveling, taking advantage of their digital nomad powers to meander around the world whenever possible, and are particularly drawn to ancient sites and ruins. They are also a life-long SFF geek, weaned first on stories like Animorphs, Redwall, and Goosebumps, then finding early influences in the Dune Series, the Wheel of Time, Star Trek, Star Wars, and novels by Anne Rice and Stephen King. They live with four cats and two humans in an old house in Pittsburgh, where they work as a freelance writer and editor.
Get in Touch
My other projectsNerd for Hire blogBook reviews, advice about writing, editing, publishing, and freelancing, and general musings about storytelling. Updated weekly (mostly).
After Happy Hour Review
Scribble House Guided Prompt Journals
Friends & further reading |
If you're interested in reading some of my short fiction, here are some of the places where you can find it. Read stories onlineGame MisconductRind Literary Magazine, Issue #9Backup goaltender Jason Heater finally gets a starter role, then has to fight to keep it (literary, short story).
Last Saturday there was a werewolf at the farmer's marketHOOT Online, issue 82Even a werewolf needs to eat his vegetables (contemporary fantasy, micro-fiction).
Lucky DevilWraparound SouthNeurotic college student learns his future from a fortune teller who reads scratch-offs (literary, short story).
ShardsMenda City Review, issue 29A bong commission from an ex prompts a glass-blower to think about her future (literary, short story).
The Vampire at the Blood DriveMonster Flash: Small Stories, Big MonstersVampires can give back, too (contemporary fantasy, micro-fiction).
Print journals and anthologiesMore Than BloodBardic Tales and Sage Advice, Volume X2nd-place winner of the Bards and Sages Charity Writing Contest Rebellious heir to a powerful crime family makes a series of bad decisions and learns painful lessons about consequences (alien-world sci-fi, long short story).
Pipe DreamsThe Oakland Review, Volume XLIIIA case study in inertia (literary, flash fiction).
Shapeshifter DiariesRinky Dink Press, series 10Six pieces embracing your inner animals (literary fantasy, micro-fiction).
Third ShiftGeek Out II: Queer Pop Lit, Art, & IdeasOvernight convenience store clerk discovers the brownies who have been secretly working alongside her at night (contemporary fantasy, short story).
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