ELIZABETH BROADBENT
Ink Vine
Emmy's mother tells her: Stay out of the swamp. Deep in its cypress-forest, Emmy meets a green-eyed stranger offering love, comfort, understanding—everything the world isn't willing to give. But there's something strange about Zara. Something about her secrets . . .
Lower Congaree calls Emmy a whore. It doesn’t help that she’s a stripper. It doesn’t help that she’s one of those Joiner girls, trailer trash, destined for welfare or the chicken plant. Worst of all, she likes girls better than guys, and in a town like Lower Congaree, bi girls are smart enough to keep their mouths shut.
Emmy can stay with her family, play by the crooked rules of Lower Congaree, and accept her fate, or she can follow that half-hidden trail into the heart of the swamp. In that place of tangling moss and rioting vines, Zara’s offering something Emmy wants. Its pay may be more than she's willing to pay.
From RDSP managing editor, Jennifer Barnes,
“I’m excited about this addition because I feel there’s still much to explore in the realm of generational horror and the horrors of daily life. Blood Cypress peers into some dark corners that have been long overlooked and deserve closer examination.”
From managing editor R.J. Joseph, "Broadbent uses the confessional trope to plunder emotional depths in this Southern Gothic story of family and loyalty. Quite an admirable feat, considering so many details are packed into the short, novella form. I enjoyed the overwhelming discomfort this story brought.”
See more at Raw Dog Screaming Press
Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2025
Blood Cypress
No one cares when Lila Carson’s ten-year-old brother Beau disappears. He can’t speak. He throws tantrums. He’s a useless Carson, one of those kids in a broken-shuttered house that lost its glory when his father died. When the sheriff and his good ol’ boy deputies show up to investigate, they eye up Lila and call her twin brother, Quentin, names. A closeted bisexual girl in the South, she’s terrified.
Lower Congaree recites it like an eleventh commandment: Don’t go in that swamp. But as the long night drags on, it’s clear Beau disappeared behind those ancient trees. The sheriff’s deputies won’t risk going back there.
Lila might not have a choice.
Naked & Famous
ELJ Editions, 2023
Sixteen-year-olds Harlan, Brooks, and Don't-Call-Me-Tiffany-Sue T. S. have zilch to do during their summer in a podunk Southern swamp town. T. S., who'd give a lesser toe (or maybe pose in Playboy) to escape, hits on an idea: if a bad tabloid can play cut-and-paste with Bigfoot photos, why can't they serve up the real thing? But as sightings spiral out of control, Brooks finds himself playing her fake boyfriend—and wishing he were the real thing. When money doesn't rain down as planned, Harlan begins to have doubts. But Brooks is crushing hard, and T. S. still wants more . . .
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