April 2014
Here's a stomach-churning story of parking lot carnival angst, published in the Dead Mule journal.

www.deadmule.com/fiction/al-lyons-tilt-o-whirl

April 2014
Growing up near Tampa, FL.

During season, our old man would wake us up early to pick grits from the grove of grits trees up the road. We would gather the necessary equipment: a burlap grits sack, magnifying glass, tweezers and a tall ladder. The biggest, ripest grits are always at the top of the tree. We would carefully select the grits, one by one, gently plucking them off the branch with our tweezers, then depositing them into the burlap sack on our back. As a child, I could only fill one sack before noon.

I was always amazed by my father, who could adeptly climb up and down the ladder, quickly and methodically picking the finest grits, like an artisan at work. He would fill 3 or 4 bags, before we sat down to our packed lunch of scratch biscuits and strawberry jam. As the day grew late, we would make our way back to the house, dragging the full grits sacks behind us. 

12/22/2013
Maybe my favorite story - Boxcars Burning - Published in the Journal of Microliterature

http://www.microliterature.org/boxcars-burning-by-al-lyons

October 2013

www.deadmule.com/blog/photo-on-the-cover-of-our-october-issue-by-al-lyons

he literary journal of the Dead Mule School of Southern Literature used my photo for their issue this month!

Doing some preliminary research for a short story, I stumbled across this interesting factoid: There is only one ATM on the entire continent of Antarctica, located at the McMurdo Station, a science station housing between 200-1000 personnel, depending on season. The ATM is operated by Wells Fargo...

9/11/1013
Here's one of my early short stories, published in the Cider Press of Gainesville, FL in 1988, "Steak Knives, Vacuums, and Friends for Dinner."

6/15/2013
Great news! "Saturday Afternoon at the Drive In" has been published in the literary journal of the Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. Regarding the story, Editor/Valerie MacEwan wrote, "We love this story because it rings so true. Real Stories of Real Folks Posted as Real Fiction."

My (Old) Dead Mule School Southern Legitimacy Statement: "I was born and raised in sunny St. Petersburg, FL during the time of Webb’s City, where the mermaid show was free and the ice cream cones were 10-cents each. Once, in my youth, I attended a donkey-baseball game. I spent many a Saturday watching Creature Feature and Professional Wrestling on TV-44, while carefully adjusting the rabbit ears and tinfoil on the back of the set. In college, I waited tables dressed in bib overalls and a straw hat at Skeeter’s Home of the Big Biscuit. I believe eggs and bacon should always be served with grits, as the good Lord intended, although I do endorse the sacrilege of added cheese. I know in my heart that God is a Gator. Several years ago I escaped to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Western NC. I have a homemade camper and a homemade fiddle, and I can be found wandering in the mountains, when I lose track of time".