Works
I am Martin Brennan, an Australian writer, and above all I enjoy writing genre fiction. I write horror, sci-fi, fantasy, western, and everything else in-between, first in longhand or at the typewriter, then processed into the devil-machine.
My published works and the manuscripts that I am currently working on are listed below, as well as an index of stories that I have written and posted on this blog, and links to various works in full. The links to my current manuscripts are knowledge bases where I write backstory and worldbuilding for these novels.
Published Works
Swamp Lullaby (TL;DR Press Horror Anthology 2020)
A short story I wrote for the TL;DR press NOPE 2 horror anthology. This story was featured on the TL;DR press Twitter, and read along with 5 other published stories and poems at a Halloween reading, receiving a lot of positive feedback.
Big Billy Claret, more than a ghost but less than a man, has been wandering the bayou a long time. Many have tried to kill him for good, but they didn’t know his secret. When Billy takes a young boy called Easton, the boy’s father will stop at nothing to get him back.
Only The Dead (TL;DR Press Family Anthology 2019)
A short story I wrote for the TL;DR press Kindred family anthology. Only the Dead was written as a backstory piece for the primary antagonist of The Thaw, though it is a standalone story in its own right.
Colonel Cortland Briggs reflects on his life of war in a crumbling Columbus, Georgia cemetery, long after an event which plunged America into chaos.
Manuscripts
Each manuscript has a dedicated hub, please pick your poison:
The Thaw
The Thaw is a post-apocalyptic zombie survival novel set in the heart of America in 2003.
Bottom Feeders
Bottom Feeders is a dark comedy crime drama novel set in a fictionalized Californian town called Whiteport in 1984.
The Marrow King Saga (Concept stage)
The Marrow King Saga is a series of fantasy novels set in a yet-unnamed world made up of the kingdoms of Altor, Revana, Zakour, and Lacera.
Louisiana Dreamin’ (Concept stage)
Louisiana Dreamin’ is a young adult horror and dark fantasy novel set in the rural towns and swamps of Louisiana in 1989.
Stories
Along with these short stories I have several short novellas (9-15k words) which I’m not quite sure what to do with, as they seem to be of too strange a size to submit anywhere, and some other stories not published on this blog because they have been submitted to competitions or otherwise held back for future submissions.
- The King (Backstory for Carson Cash in The Thaw, c.f. The King)
- Bloom (TL;DR Press 2021) - Rejected
- False Prophet (TL;DR Press 1000 Word Herd 2021) - Rejected
- Found Wanting (3Elements Review 2021) - Rejected
- Trailblazers (Literary Taxidermy 2019) - Rejected
- Yellowjacket (Third Flatiron Publishing Hidden Histories Anthology 2019) - Rejected
- Unrepentant (Literary Taxidermy 2017) - Rejected
- Tough Break (Swinburne Microfiction 2017) - Rejected
- Curse of the Tropics (Swinburne Microfiction 2017) - Rejected
- Adrift (Swinburne Microfiction 2017) - Rejected
- Dust to Dust (Swinburne Microfiction 2017) - Rejected
- Canto del Jilguero (Swinburne Microfiction 2017) - Rejected
- In The Opening Hours (Metropolis, The Suburban Review, 2013) - Rejected
- It’s Late (2013)