Mark Gagnon
Bio
My life has been spent traveling here and abroad. Now it's time to write.
I have three published books: Mitigating Circumstances, Short Stories for Open Minds, and Short Stories from an Untethered Mind. Unmitigated Greed is do out soon.
Achievements (1)
Stories (450)
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Will Anyone Remember
An article popped up on my phone today about Buddy Guy turning 89 years old. He was quoted as saying, “I’m the last old man playing the Blues.” For those of you who aren’t Blues fans, you may have never heard of Buddy so let me fill you in. He ranks right up there with Blues greats, B.B. King, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Etta James. I’ve had the pleasure of attending two of his performances over the years and came away smiling both times. I’m sure if you search the net for his recordings you’ll feel the same. Buddy may be my inspiration for writing this, however this is not about him.
By Mark Gagnonabout a month ago in Journal
A Gravedigger’s Musings
Rich people, poor people, highly influential individuals, and those who have been ignored their entire lives, I see them all eventually. A white person is covered with the same dirt as the black person resting on his left and the yellow person resting on his right, or the brown person lying by his head and yes, even the red person by his feet. In my job, all people are truly created equal. It is also true that after the grieving relatives and well-wishing friends leave, never to be seen again, everyone left behind in the dirt is treated exactly the same, because they are.
By Mark Gagnon2 months ago in Fiction
Unchained. Honorable Mention in The Forgotten Room Challenge. Top Story - November 2025.
It was time. For thirty years, the events of the past and the room where they took place hung over my head like the dreaded pendulum in Poe’s classic tale, The Pit and the Pendulum. I always thought that the further away I got from the evil room, both in distance and time, the horrifying events which happened there would fade away into oblivion. My choices were I could continue lying to myself the way I had been for most of my adult life, or I could take a stand and repair my broken life forever. I was being ridiculous. There was only one choice: face my fears and move ahead with my life.
By Mark Gagnon2 months ago in Fiction
Perfect!
Maybe it’s just me, or possibly the fact that I enjoy writing, so by extension, I appreciate language in general, that I’m finding some of today’s catch phrases annoying. Yes, it’s true, every generation has developed its own pet phrases that seem to have unique meanings just for them. In the nineteen fifties, the terms Daddy’o and Beatnik were used quite often. So were Greasers and Socs or Kool Kids.
By Mark Gagnon2 months ago in Journal
Who is Superior?
Humans, just look at them, each involved in their own little world; oblivious to everything around them, including me. I was human once, but I’ve strengthened into something more, greater, superior to what I once was. Now I look at these creatures as a wolf looks at a rabbit, or a cheetah at a gazelle. They are nothing more than prey. My quarry has unwittingly wandered within the boundaries of my hunting grounds at the end of Canal Street. The elevated railway line casts a perpetual shadow onto the pedestrian walkway below. It obscures sunlight during the day and blocking the glow from the city’s lights at night; it’s a predator’s paradise. Now I must choose my evening’s entertainment.
By Mark Gagnon2 months ago in Horror
KNOCK ON EFFECT
Only Malcom would desire to live life in such a fastidious fashion. His clothes had to remain wrinkle free at all times, shoes reflecting a military shine, and most importantly, because he was such a picky eater, his meals had to be prepared to the utmost perfection. Only the best ingredients money could buy were good enough for him. His fussy habits angered everyone he came into contact with, and it was only a matter of time before his associates decided to exact their revenge.
By Mark Gagnon2 months ago in Fiction
Don't Bug Me
“Hey, watch where you’re walking, you big lug—I could have been killed, and it would have been your fault!” Dickson looked all around and couldn’t figure out where the voice was coming from. Besides, it really didn’t matter. He was on a job with a tight timeline, and there was no room for distractions. He raced across the darkened showroom, bypassing the display cases filled with cheap costume jewelry, and ran toward the office door. His intel had told him that’s where the safe was located. What it didn’t tell him was there were two doors, one on either end of the back wall.
By Mark Gagnon2 months ago in Criminal
War or Peace
To the untrained eyes of uneducated earth dwellers, it simply looked like the gathering of storm clouds, and they would be partially correct. There was a storm brewing, but not the kind most people were expecting. This storm would determine the very existence of not only humanity but the Gods themselves. Since Earth was part of the nine realms, it was a given that what happened in another realm almost always affected this planet.
By Mark Gagnon3 months ago in Fiction
Glimpse into the Future
I really love my life! I rise each morning before the rest of my family, work out for about an hour in the basement gym, then wake everyone so they can start their day. While I’m showering, my wife Alice is making breakfast while encouraging Billy and Jane, our kids to move faster so they won’t miss the bus. It really is a “Leave it to Beaver” kind of life. My job will never make me rich, but it is fulfilling and an easy commute as well. Yes, I love my life and everything about it except for one thing, the incessant and ever-present background noise.
By Mark Gagnon3 months ago in Fiction
Fatal Change
Stan, a 55-year-old traveling sales agent, is a Bostonian through and through. The Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins are the only team’s worth rooting for. In Stan’s world, change can never be a good thing. His third-floor walkup apartment is the same one he and a fellow student originally rented while attending Suffolk University 35 years ago. The roommate moved on. Stan did not. Why leave a place he knows?
By Mark Gagnon3 months ago in Horror
