"Reverie" @ The Gloaming Magazine

"In Reverie, a young man in a far-flung future must choose between the known safety of alien enslavement and un-known fate of freedom." — Angela Roberts, Editor

Here's how it opens:

Every night the dream is the same—implanted into our subconscious as we sleep, fertile soil for it to take root and grow. In the Dreamscape, the nexus of our collective mind's eye, our Protectors guide us, teaching us what to fear, showing us what it means to be safe from all harm.

But some have begun to inject themselves with stimulants to stay awake, to free their minds of the Dream. They are taken to the Protectorate for examination. We never see them again.

You must guard your thoughts, or they will betray you.

This story survived nine rejections over ten months of submissions, so I'm very pleased to see it finally find a good home. In addition to the online version of the magazine, there is also a print edition that will be available later this month with additional content.

In other news, my tweet-tale "Writerly Advice" is up at Trapeze, and I've received good news regarding my  Write1Sub1 Week18 story "Pearls Before Swine," which I submitted to Tor's new Criminal Element site. One of the senior editors requested a rewrite! More on that in the near future...