Old Magic & Destiny
ERICA MILES
Stories rooted in the South for people who notice things.
Old houses. Bad bargains.
Magic that works, whether it should or not.
The Truth
The South Keeps Ledgers
The South is very good at remembering.
It remembers debts.
It remembers favors.
It remembers what you thought you got away with.
I write stories set in ordinary places where something has already gone wrong, and pretending otherwise only makes it worse.
Featured Story: Zero-Sum
Zero-Sum is a Southern Gothic short story about miracles, money, and what gets taken when no one is watching.
When pawn shop owner Delphine Jackson discovers her disbelief creates miracles, she learns that miracles are never free.
The town of Thorpe wants a saint.
Delphine knows she is really a thief dealing in stolen breath.
Balance and Debt
There’s an intricate dance between what is owed and what is given, where every miracle has its price.
Miracles and Consequences
The cost of belief is measured in the currency of consequence.
A Quiet Violence
The subtle yet profound impact of actions that seek to make things right, revealing the hidden costs of redemption.
Where Belief and Reality Converge
ABOUT
I write fiction for readers who don’t need everything explained.
These stories start quietly. The magic behaves. The rules seem reasonable.
Then something shifts, and the consequences become impossible to ignore.
If you like your dread slow-burning and your endings brutally honest, you’re in the right place.
National award–recognized short fiction.
Contest-finalist work.
Stories that tend to linger.
No guarantees beyond that.
Anticipate the Next Chapter
COMING WORK
Exit, Stage Left
Picture Perfect
SKIN
BONES
The Courting of Lori Blue
Some stories are finished.
Some are still deciding how deeply they’ll cut.
SKIN
BONES
These novels go deeper.
Family histories that refuse to stay buried.
Magic that binds itself to flesh and bone.
Debts that don’t disappear just because time passes.
The kind of legacy that keeps collecting, even after you say no.
Exit, Stage Left
Picture Perfect
The Courting of Lori Blue
These stories start with something ordinary and push until it breaks.
A vanishing act.
A picture that tells the wrong truth.
A courtship that asks for more than affection.
Step Into the Ledger
If you’d like a place to start, take Zero-Sum.
It will tell you whether my work is for you.
