"Venous" and Weird Plants ... with a little Lovecraft thrown in for good measure

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Venous, a story of mine about a botanist who brings a plant specimen back from an Amazonian expedition has just been published as an Editor’s Choice selection on Freedom Fiction Journal. Without giving too much away, let’s just say, that the aforementioned plant has a mind of its own. (The illustration that accompanies the story is fabulous.)

Although “Venous” has a decidedly Lovecraftian feel, the more proximate inspiration was the book, Weird Plants by botanist Chris Thorogood. The author catalogs an amazing array of unusual and downright outrĂ© plants from around the world. In fact, the places where many of these specimens can be found are as exotic as the plants themselves.

The suggestive manner in which Thorogood classifies the plants in his book gives you a sense of their characteristics even before you begin reading – Vampires, Killers, Fraudsters, Accomplices, Jailors, Hitchhikers and Survivors.

Those with – and without – green thumbs should enjoy both my story and Thorogood’s book.

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