New(ish) missionary story: "After the Earthquake a Fire"

My novelette "After the Earthquake a Fire" is now available as a 99¢ ebook.

This story tells a fictionalized version of some of my experiences as a Mormon missionary in Idaho after I was ejected from Canada. If you finished reading The Accidental Terrorist and wondered what what the rest of my mission was like ... well, I hope you won't read too much into this.

Be aware that this story includes scenes of animal cruelty which may be disturbing to some readers.

Um, I hope you like it.

"After the Earthquake a Fire" was originally published online in 2015 in the second issue of Bloodstone Review, but since, sadly, that publication appears to have vanished from the web, I wanted to make the story available to my readers again.


After the Earthquake a Fire


'After the Earthquake a Fire' by William Shunn

Release date: 25 April 2017

Elder Rigby is a young Mormon from Utah serving a mission in northern Idaho, though to him the experience is more like serving a prison sentence. He and his partner, Elder Crews, do their best to fill their days with meaningful work, but there are only so many doorbells to ring in a town as small as Bonners Ferry.

Then, between the boredom and broken rules, they meet Minnie, an elderly Russian Jew scarred by some of the worst atrocities of the early 20th century. She will force Elder Rigby to confront the bleakness of his own existence, and the limits of his faith.

This novelette, based on the author’s experiences as a missionary and originally published in Bloodstone Review, is now available for the first time as a standalone ebook.  


Crossposted from Inhuman Swill

About Sinister Regard

Sinister Regard is a small independent press based in New York City. We publish fiction and memoirs in handsome print and electronic editions.