Square Pegs
Page 3
The Art of Cigarette Smoking
Forget what your parents, teachers, and doctors told you. Smoking is cool. Cool enough, in fact, to become an Olympic sport.
Forthcoming
What Friends Are For
(Crossing The Divide: Book 4)
Find out more at
jbreynolds.net
About the Author
J.B. Reynolds lives in rural Northland, New Zealand, where he raises children and chickens. He writes humorous short fiction, where tragedy meets comedy and character reigns supreme. His first short story was published while he was a university student, and in between that and a return to serious writing in 2016, he has worked as a graphic designer, landscaper, ski and snowboard technician, librarian, apple picker, and baker of muffins and teacakes.
Nowadays, when not writing, he’s a husband, father, and high school teacher (not necessarily in that order). He enjoys sailing, cycling, and playing music, really loud, when his wife and kids aren’t at home. He has a big garden, where he likes to get his fingernails dirty, and he loves to eat the things that grow in it.
Find out more at
jbreynolds.net
Acknowledgements
Many people have helped me with this story and I’m hugely thankful for the time and energy they contributed to it. I’d especially like to thank my editor, Lesley Marshall, who brought my attention to problems I was completely unaware of and whose suggestions significantly improved the final manuscript.
Next, I must thank my beta readers; Matt and Amber Colville, Peter Graham, Cara Wood and Michael Grantham—your kind and helpful comments gave me the confidence to push on with developing Square Pegs.
Thank you to those from the wonderful literary community at Scribophile who critiqued or commented on my story; Ronald Neal, Marcello Schweitzer, H. W. Hanlon, Kathleen West, Carlos Barreda, Kimberly Edwards, Peter Califano, and Georgina Catto—you gave me some excellent suggestions and Square Pegs is a better story because of your input.
Thanks to Savannah Serene for suggesting the name for the cross-dressing, hard-drinking character of Alex.
Thank you to my launch team, the Tsubaki Samurais, especially Rachel Burnett, Ian King, and Takiri Pumipi.
Lastly, I’d like to thank my amazing wife, Leanne, for putting up with my obsession and stepping into the breach when I was writing instead of parenting.