Opinions of a Wolf

In addition to being a reviewer, I’m an author. 

This page links to my published works in this order:

• Novellas
• Short Stories
• Theater
• Nonfiction (as Amanda Nevius)

Please feel free to contact me at mcneil.author[at]gmail[dot]com.

Novellas

Waiting for Daybreak
Second edition June 2022
First edition June 2012 (Blog Tour and Reviews Page)
blend of post-apocalyptic science fiction and women’s fiction
Length: 138 pages digital, 176 pages paperback
Kindle, $2.99 regularly, free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Paperback, $7.99

I just want to live like normal people. But my Borderline Personality Disorder fills each day with emotional pain. And drives other people away. Not that there’s anyone to drive away anymore…

Frieda’s a struggling twenty-something young professional when the apocalypse comes. Overnight, Boston falls apart as a rapidly spreading virus makes her neighbors crave brains. Enough to kill for them.

She survives alone for a whole year in her urban studio apartment. And she surprises herself by managing her mental illness better than she did before. When her beloved cat becomes ill, Frieda goes on a quest to save her. It sets off a chain of events that challenges everything.

Reviews of the first edition call this a “dynamic” read that’s a “great story with a twist I didn’t foresee.” This places a character you’d expect in a women’s fiction novel at the heart of a zombie apocalypse.

This second edition includes edits throughout the book, as well as an author’s note and content note. Please be sure to check the content note before you read by previewing the book. It’s at the beginning right after the author’s note.

Ecstatic Evil
July 2011
paranormal romance (f/m)
Length: 79 pages
Kindle, 99 cents regularly, free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

Tova Gallagher isn’t just your average Bostonian. She also happens to be half-demon, and the demons and fairies have just issued a deadline for her to choose sides. But it’s hard to worry about the battle of good versus rebel when she’s just met a sexy stranger on the edge of the Charles River.

Short Stories

Published in a variety of print and online magazines.  Free publications are noted.

• “Sister Prudence on the Beach” in Solarpunk Magazine
  Issue #6, Lunarpunk Special, Nov/Dec 2022, free
  hopepunk
  Sister Prudence settles down for her full moon meditation on the beach. But a young one passing by interrupts not just her meditation but perhaps her retirement as well.
• “Bostonians Aren’t Friends With Our Neighbors” in Wyrms: An Anthology of Dragon Drabbles
  July 1, 2022, $3 digital, $6 print
  fantasy
  The first line is “Deadrodents.com said the box on the triple-decker’s porch next door.”
• “The University of Late-Night Moans” in Decoded Pride: A science fiction, fantasy, and horror story-a-day anthology for Pride month
  June 9, 2022, issue 3, $14.99
  fantasy romance (sapphic / wlw)
  It’s 1998, and Leonora’s friend Virginia is helping her investigate the moans coming from the cemetery across the train tracks from her dorm.
  Reviewed in Locus Magazine on October 3, 2022 by Charles Payseur.
• “Freedom Freerunner” in Dark Fire Fiction
  December 2013, rolling publication, electronic, free
  dark fantasy
  The Dark Ones have taken over the city. Come along as a band of freerunners battle them with parkour skills and swords.
• “Closest Thing to Heaven” in Crack The Spine
  September 2012, issue 40, electronic, free
  literary
  Mama’s sleeping, and it’s super-hot out, so Brother says he’ll take me to the swimmin holler.
• “The Most Lovely Morning” in Down in the Dirt
  February 2012, volume 103, electronic, free, print, $7.67
  Note: the website does not create links directly to the issue.  Click on “Scars” on left-hand side, then on “Down in the Dirt magazine” in the middle of the webpage, then “Issues,” then scroll down to select “v103” to view the issue.
  literary
  Tag along on an elderly woman’s morning in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• “The Tale of Leroy of the Backwoods of Vermont” in 69 Flavors of Paranoia
  August 2011, volume 3, menu 13, electronic, free
  Note: This zine is now defunct, and they did not create an archive of their publications.  The Internet Archive record of the table of contents in the issue I was published in may be viewed here.  You can see my story’s name under the section “Uppers.”  There unfortunately is not an Internet Archive record of the page containing my full short story.  The link now goes to the complete short story available free on my own website.
  humor
  Hear the rural legend of Leroy and his untimely death.

Theater

Recordings available free online unless otherwise noted.

• “The Cheesy Poofs that Broke the Camel’s Back“
  De Frente Productions Monologue Marathon, May 23, 2021
  Performed by: Hannah Elizabeth Williams
  Runtime – 2 minutes
• “One Glass of Wine with Dinner“
  De Frente Productions Monologue Marathon, December 5, 2020
  Performed by: Casey Marie Ecker
  Runtime – 4 minutes

Nonfiction (as Amanda Nevius)

• “The Science of Rock Dust and Carbon Removal with Enhanced Weathering” in Remineralize the Earth
  January 1, 2023, free
  popular science
• “Rock Dust Can Remediate Harmful Nickel Contamination” in Remineralize the Earth
  October 30, 2022, free
  popular science
• “These Boots Were Made for Who?” in Just Femme & Dandy
  July 4, 2022, issue 3, free
  digital magazine version (page 105) or html/accessible version
  literary fashion magazine through a queer lens
  I explore how my favorite pair of thrifted boots helped me develop my queer, bisexual fashion sense and sustained me throughout the pandemic.