The Peacock

My neo-noir short story, now available from Inkfish Magazine

Inkfish Magazine’s cover image for “The Peacock.”

“In the twilight of my twenties I boarded a Southwest 737 to San Diego. That trip, I wasn’t just trying to solve a military conspiracy, but rekindle a relationship, recover inner truths I’d lost, secrets I’d buried so deep they might never come out. It was probably too ambitious for Labor Day Weekend.”

From “The Peacock”

A podcast producer haunted by tragedy. A mystery in his California hometown. A cast of colorful and eccentric characters. A love story of desire deferred. A conspiracy with atmospheric implications. And a mysterious, flamboyant bird.

These are the elements of my neo-noir short story “The Peacock,” previously produced as a podcast radioplay by PenDust Radio, and now available to read from a new UK-based online magazine, Inkfish Magazine.

It’s a story that is very near and dear to my heart, a tale that captures a modern version of a classic genre that I have always been captivated by.

Check out the story here.

In celebration of the second publication of “The Peacock,” here are a bunch of photos of peacock-related art (and actual peacocks) that I’ve come across in my travels:

From left: A peacock mosaic in an ancient church in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, an actual living peacock in Nicosia, Cyprus, a bronze peacock in the Vatican Museums (from the tomb of Emperor Hadrian) and a mosaic at the monastery of Kykkos, in the Troodos mountains of Cyprus. (© Harrison Blackman, 2022).

Many thanks to the Inkfish editors Peter and Kate for their enthusiastic support of the story! And thanks to all of you, for taking the time to read.

Next week, we’ll return to The Usonian’s regularly scheduled programming. Stay tuned!