I’ve got a new book. Sort of.

In my ongoing effort to resell stuff I’ve already written, I’m releasing a paperback version of my triptych short story collection, Past, Present, Future. It’s not just a triptych anymore, either. It’s a…decarology?

Not sure if that’s the right word, but I’m using it anyway. This is a newly introduced and expanded edition, with 10 entries: Some reprints, some reimaginings, and some originals. All of them are appearing in print for the first time.

Now I’d like to give you a little insight into each of them, starting with…

“Hundredfingers”

Of the three stories that appeared in the original Past, Present, Future., this one has changed the most.

In January, I read Up Jumped the Devil, a biography of blues guitarist Robert Johnson, and I was struck by how reductive his legend has become. As the story goes, Johnson went down to the crossroads to sell his soul to the devil in exchange for guitar prowess. This folk tale is the driving inspiration behind “Hundredfingers.” (Note that Johnny was born the same year Robert died.)

It’s an entertaining yarn, but it’s unfair to the late great Johnson. He wasn’t given that talent—he earned it. And so, with my reimagining of this story, I tried to illustrate that point. I also added more humor, since my original version was far too self-serious.

“Are You Gonna Finish That?”

I find myself continuing to write about my old-world Italian grandparents. This probably won’t be the last time, either, since you still haven’t heard the story about Grandma and the hard-boiled egg. In this essay, I discuss my love of leftovers, and why it probably came from Grandma and Nonno.

“…So Then Ragnarok Came Early, And I Was Like…”

This is a drabble, or a story that’s exactly 100 words in length. I wrote it for an open submission call at Black Ink Fiction, with the theme being “snow.” It’s one of those rare instances where the story emerged pretty much as-is from the get-go.

…Except for New Jersey as the setting. That I added later. It just seems fitting that an apocalypse would start in New Jersey.

“About Cats”

A few months ago, I was reading an anthology about cats (it’s called On Cats). I was profoundly bummed to miss an opportunity to contribute, so I thought I’d just write my own essay on the subject. This is the result.

“Mad Scientist Seeking Intern for Spring Semester”

Aside from some touch-ups on a few of the jokes, this one’s unchanged from its original version. I toyed with the idea of providing a real email address for readers to send their resumes to, but once I saw how much work that would require, I gave up.

“A Sudden Stop on a Late Night Drive”

I’ve made many attempts at poetry, but this might be the only one that really, truly worked.

It sounds like a poem, it looks like a poem, and it tells a coherent story throughout. My writers’ group informed me that this story is quite similar to the film Harry and the Hendersons, which was a bothersome discovery. But rather than alter a work I was quite happy with, I acknowledged the similarity in the poem itself, then took a cheap shot at the movie for good measure.

“Earth’s Next Triple Threat”

This is another reprint based on a prompt, the prompt being that you’ve been abducted by aliens and need to convince them to return you to earth. The protagonist is me, right down to the Magic cards in the closet. You’ll have to read to find out if I made it back home.

“The Best Worst Holiday Gifts”

This is an entry from my blog, and I’m classifying it as “fictional nonfiction” because it feels like some of these products might one day exist (also, Chuck Klosterman once used this designation, and I thought it was cool).

The Covid Home Test Magic 8 Ball is probably my favorite on this list. You’ll have to tell me yours.

“Palm Reader”

This is one of the weirder things I’ve ever written, mostly because I don’t really know what it means or why I wrote it. It just sort of appeared on the page.

It probably has no meaning, though it feels like it might. There could be symbolism hidden inside, but if there is, I’m not privy to it. It is what it is, I suppose, which is to say, it’s an oddity. Or maybe not.

“Keyword”

This is the first and only romance I’ve ever written, though it’s pretty one-sided, since the whole conceit is that the narrator is a search engine. For legal reasons, I can’t tell you which search engine it is, but I can tell you which it’s not. It’s not Bing.

Get Your Copy

You can read the digital version of Past, Present, Future. for free by subscribing to my newsletter. Or, you can purchase a paperback copy from Amazon at this link. Either way, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy it!

Kyle A. Massa is a comedy author of some sort living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife, their daughter, and three wild animals. His published works include five books, along with several short stories, essays, and poems. When he’s not writing, he enjoys reading, running, and drinking coffee.