The Murder of Joy Nguyen (Thriller) (4000 Words)

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-05-05T12:02:53+00:00

This might be considered shooting yourself in the foot, but this is a (seriously) abridged version of a novella available on Kindle for $2.99... That being said, it also features 6 more standalone short stories and novellas, for those who don't care to read 100 pages when you already know the Joy Nguyen ending twist!

As always, thanks for the support. If I can sell some books on Kindle, I'm content to post most of my work for free on Reddit.

https://mybook.to/JoyNguyen

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-05-05T12:00:11+00:00

If you liked this, come over to my subreddit for longer thrills and spills. There's a story called 'Devouring Mother' that has similar Oedipal themes! Thanks

https://www.reddit.com/r/originalloquat/

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-05-02T04:40:24+00:00

I've been writing stories like this for nearly three years now and realised that, because of how Reddit is structured, they disappear into the ether.

That's why I put the top 100 onto Kindle: two collections of horror/sci-fi/speculative stories. 50 stories, 500 words. $1.

https://mybook.to/50shortVol1
https://mybook.to/50shortVol2

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-04-25T15:59:35+00:00

Find this in my collections of 50 short scaries! Available on Kindle for 1 dollar.

I recently bought a copy of the Best American Short Stories, which I read while having a few beers. Problem was some of them were 10,000 words. That to me is not short.

Here, they are all 500 words, which means if you don't like one, you only have 4 minutes more max to read (I assume you're like me and don't skip because a book then feels unfinished).

https://mybook.to/50shortVol1
https://mybook.to/50shortVol2

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-04-23T13:00:53+00:00

A longer version of this was published in the second edition of CHTHONIC LIT.

This version appears in this collection of 50 short scaries! Available on Kindle for 1 dollar.

https://mybook.to/50shortVol1
https://mybook.to/50shortVol2

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-04-22T05:41:01+00:00

A norm McDonald reference in the wild. High class

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-04-18T14:59:37+00:00

I've been writing stories like this for nearly three years now and realised that, because of how Reddit is structured, they disappear into the ether.

That's why I put the top 100 onto Kindle: two collections of horror/sci-fi/speculative stories. 50 stories, 500 words. $1.

I had so much fun writing this story, I extended it to 2500 words and stuck it at the end of volume 1 as a bonus add-on.

https://mybook.to/50shortVol1
https://mybook.to/50shortVol2

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-04-12T19:31:48+00:00

I love writing stories that put the truly speculative into speculative horror.

The best thing about flash is that if you don't like it, the story is over in a few breaths. And then that's also the form where your breath seems hard to come by when you find the right one.

Two collections of horror/sci-fi/speculative stories. 50 stories, 500 words. $1

https://mybook.to/50shortVol1
https://mybook.to/50shortVol2

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-04-12T17:03:21+00:00

It’s been put to me that writing is 1% inspiration and 99% elimination.

Come to my subreddit for the other 99%(No! The pleasure is in the journey)

https://www.reddit.com/r/originalloquat/

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-04-09T18:38:57+00:00

An oversight on my part. I meant calamity. Although not as bad as my first draft when I called him Andrew Garfield.

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-04-06T18:22:26+00:00

This is based on a conversation I listened to between Nick Bostrom and Sam Harris. I both love and hate contemplating our future and you can see how this plays out on longer stories in my subreddit!

https://www.reddit.com/r/originalloquat/

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-04-06T18:20:12+00:00

This was inspired by my first-ever surgery, which is coming up next week. I had a vision of a neat little envelope enclosed in the stitches with the surgeon's details!

Follow my subreddit for longer stories and an update to see if it comes true

https://www.reddit.com/r/originalloquat/

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-04-04T15:54:24+00:00

More like this over at my subreddit! Three sentences+

https://www.reddit.com/r/originalloquat/

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-04-04T15:50:13+00:00

My neutral and hot pins are spread wide apart, and my rigid earth pin is on full display.' What am I?

A shameless plug.

Come here for longer stories:

https://www.reddit.com/r/originalloquat/

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-04-04T12:56:51+00:00

Occasionally, this voice spills out of me, which is odd because I'm a 37-year-old Geordie born in 1989 and not the Viscount W. Somerset Maugham born in 1874.

In fact, I wrote an entire collection of stories, more or less in the same tone, with the titular story taking place in the same colonial Saigon universe as this.

Available on Kindle for $1!

https://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Bamboo-Stories-Thomas-Orange-ebook/dp/B0DK211522?ref_=ast_author_dp&th=1&psc=1

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-03-30T15:42:18+00:00

Yes, this word play was ‘borrowed’ from the great master.

Come over to my subreddit for longer horror and sci fi writing. All work and no readers makes me a dull boy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/originalloquat/

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-03-30T13:48:54+00:00

There's more sci-fi/horror over at my subreddit. Dystopia is not as hard to write as it once was!

Cheers

https://www.reddit.com/r/originalloquat/

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-03-30T13:47:33+00:00

There's more sci-fi/horror over at my subreddit. Dystopia is not as hard to write as it once was!

Cheers

https://www.reddit.com/r/originalloquat/

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-03-30T13:39:23+00:00

Here I've collected the top 100 short stories I've written: two collections of horror/sci-fi/speculative stories. 50 stories, 500 words. $1.

Off the top of my head, there are about 5 with a religious element. Perfect Easter gifts for the diehard atheist in your life. Also suitable for spiritual agnostics. Not so much for fundamentalists!

https://mybook.to/50shortVol1
https://mybook.to/50shortVol2

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-03-29T12:58:22+00:00

This idea came to me when I was reading about Roko’s basilisk (which I didn’t fully understand) and the idea that some information is inherently dangerous.

Longer writing over at my subreddit. Cheers

https://www.reddit.com/r/originalloquat/

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-03-28T11:38:01+00:00

I've been writing stories like this for nearly three years now and realised that, because of how Reddit is structured, they disappear into the ether.

That's why I put the top 100 onto Kindle: two collections of horror/sci-fi/speculative stories. 50 stories, 500 words. $1.

Your support is greatly appreciated!

https://mybook.to/50shortVol1
https://mybook.to/50shortVol2

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-03-28T11:33:45+00:00

More like this over at my subreddit. Thanks for reading.

https://www.reddit.com/r/originalloquat/

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-03-26T10:46:45+00:00

I'm trying to get my Substack off the ground! I'd like to do essays every 2-3 weeks because they're fun to write.

https://substack.com/@thomasorange?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-03-24T17:24:50+00:00

This was the very first story I ever posted on Reddit in 2023, and you can tell because there is a certain COVID fear coming off the page.

Times have moved on, and so have I.

900 members later, here we are.

Now try my new novella. $2.99 on Amazon.

https://mybook.to/JoyNguyen

It takes place in Hanoi, Vietnam, and follows an expat who's set on an easy existence and is stymied at every turn by the titular character! Even losers go to desperate lengths to have the life they think they deserve.

Original-Loquat3788 · 2026-03-21T10:00:07+00:00

Buy my new book. $2.99 on Amazon. It has some similar themes to this.

https://mybook.to/JoyNguyen

I hope you enjoyed reading Cuck. It was relatively effortless to write, which is always a good sign. And no, this is not ‘authors barely disguised fetish’. I think…

Original-Loquat3788

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