My short story “Derry Daring Rides” can be read in The Loose Canon, an online journal from Montreal. Zsolt Alapi, co-editor of Siren Song Publishing, knew my writing through Black Bile Press in Ottawa and asked if I could send a couple stories his way. I thought “Derry” would be a good fit for The Loose Canon, and so did he!
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| Evel Kneivel vs. Derry Daring |
“Derry Daring Rides” excerpt:
My glorious minions. Fred says. I know you’ve been waiting to hear me unveil my sentimental favourite. I loved Steve Austin too, Dougie, and Lee Majors did a bang-up job on TV, but for me, nothing beat the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle Stadium.
I sit and turn up the volume.
That’s right, folks. Evel—that long-forgotten genius of daredevil. A man who wasn’t afraid to face his fears. A man driving a legacy. A man who lingers in the minds of men everywhere. Evel and his awesome stars and stripes motorcycle came with a ramp, launch pad, and fold-out stadium stands. That sucker went a mile! Okay, maybe not a mile but at least ten feet. And the sky-hook, don’t get me started on the sky-hook! That was his coup de grâce…
…It’s Angie on the line, Fred says. Okay Angie, let it ride. What was your ultimate toy?
“Derry Daring,” I say. “She was to Evel Knievel who Pinky Tuscadero was to The Fonz.”
“Derry Daring Rides” went through many incarnations and is part of my first collection, Men and the Drink. This story was inspired by Evel Kneivel, the 1970s toy Derry Daring and my favourite Toronto dive bar from days gone by, The Duke of Connaught.
Dive Bars: 10 Quintessential Quirks
Other stories you can read online…
“Thank You for Disappearing” in PANK
“Little Hawk” in Little Fiction
“Rivals” in Joyland
“The Promise of Puppies” in Dragnet Magazine
“Hybrid Love” in Lies With Occasional Truth