Greetings from Fireland

2026 // SLO CA

Hello what is up, my name is Joshua Allen. Lately I’ve been going by the name Josh Fireland since there are too many other Josh Allens out there. (Fireland is the name of my internet homepage.) (Here are some snapshots if you want to see what it’s looked like over the years.)

Anyway what follows is a collection of all the various eras of my writing, starting with the most recent (my novel) and going back to the beginning (extremely ancient internet days).

If you’d like to get in touch, I’ve had the same email address my whole life: josh at fireland dot com.

Chokeville

2026 // NOVEL // EBOOK // AUDIOBOOK

This maritime fantasy noir adventure novel was in the hopper for literal decades but the work mostly got done from 2020 to 2025. If you only read one thing, it should be this. And I don’t mean one thing by me, I mean one thing ever in your life.

KNIFE FITE

2017 // STORY COLLECTION // EBOOK

Somewhere between like 2010 and 2016 I wrote a bunch of short comedy pieces on sites called Ten Sexy Ladies, Wiretap Follies, et al. This book compiles a lot of that hilarious material.

The House of Wigs

2015 // CUBICLE DIARY // EBOOK

I wrote an anonymous blog in 2003-2004 about my job as a copywriter at an advertising agency, then I got scared of getting caught so I stopped. Years later I bravely put it out as a book.

Selected Twitter Works

Jul 2007—Sep 2022

I was on Twitter early (too early), posting one little joke/story each weekday. Here are a couple hundred of those.

The Knowledge for Thirst

May 2003—Oct 2008

My friend kfan and I reviewed beverages for several years at this site. Frankly, he did all the heavy lifting, consistently putting out beautiful work while I rode his coattails, but whatever it‘s good.

The Morning News

Dec 2001—Apr 2008

I was a writer at The Morning News in its early days. Big hits included Two Minutes and 42 Seconds in Heaven and Mix Tape for Dead Girl. The others were not big hits.

⟡˙⋆Intermission⋆˙⟡

The rest of this page is stuff I wrote for fireland dot com a long time ago. I can‘t bring myself to look at it but maybe you‘ll find something you like.

Glowstick, Sunburned, Bottomless

Jul 2003—Nov 2003 // NORWALK CT

I‘ve Been Wincing for the Entire Duration

Jan 2003—Mar 2003

Theophrenia

Oct 2001—Dec 2002

  1. I Was Born in 1973
  2. Greetings to You and Yours!
  3. I‘m Ice Fishing
  4. When I Was Working the Coat Check
  5. The Minty Gel
  6. Shinkicker
  7. Nina Garland
  8. The Mailman
  9. The Water Pipes
  10. Fix Your Kerning!
  11. The Flask
  12. The Image Generator
  13. I‘m Talking About Desalinization
  14. The Candlepin Lanes
  15. Where‘s the Escape Hatch
  16. Mary‘s Baby‘s Head
  17. The Poetry Box
  18. I Lit a Candle at St. Barnabas
  19. The Black Eye
  20. A Surprise Visit from Viola
  21. My Compass Ring
  22. I Like Mitch the Second Best
  23. I Have a Post Office Box
  24. The Firecracker Dome
  25. Finch‘s is Only Open From Seven to Nine
  26. I Give Myself Amnesia
  27. A Strain 17 Reader
  28. Five Seconds of Me
  29. The Woman Who Lances My Boils
  30. Ring Fingers Gone Numb
  31. A Week at KAGACON
  32. The Philtre Bee
  33. The Thing Was She Was Suicidal Anyway
  34. The Dead Balustrades
  35. Maybe One Fifth
  36. The Autarch
  37. Back from Sacramento, Calif.
  38. The Job Interview
  39. I Tear a Hole in Heaven
  40. Yesterday the Trees Were Encased in Ice
  41. Six Small Welts
  42. Phenylephrine Sunstroke

I‘m a Vibrating Angel of Pure Delight

Feb 2002—Apr 2002

The Story So Far

Jan 2002

A recap of the first six years of this website made up of excerpts from this website.

Nine True Stories About the Past

Nov 2001—Jan 2002

  1. Cunning Old Fury
  2. Some Trajectories
  3. Pour Dimes in Diamond Jim
  4. The Knot or Dragon or Vine
  5. Oh Yeah Bravo
  6. You‘re Really Only Very small
  7. Misdirected
  8. The Jousting Match
  9. The Holy Bible

Dirigo

Apr 2001—Oct 2001 // PORTLAND ME

I Shredded Some Documents

Feb 2001 // PHILADELPHIA PA

Permanent Hunch

Jan 1998—Jan 2000 // MOUNTAIN VIEW CA

The Bloviate

Jun 1998—Jun 1999

  1. The Voleurnym
  2. Dream Pants Comet IX
  3. The Tubers Say It‘s 4:09PM
  4. I Can‘t Type With My Arms Around Jesus
  5. Vocal Q
  6. Sunday Afternoon, Pudendae Ablaze
  7. My Adventures in the Rental Car
  8. Private AOL Chat Transcript No. 16
  9. Bulletozoa
  10. The Flipbook Story
  11. The Eyebleeders
  12. Epileptic Aether
  13. Fifteen Stories
  14. The Unedited Holiday Diary
  15. HATE EIGHT TRIPS
  16. x

My Swollen and Sweaty Head

Nov 1995—Dec 1997 // SAN FRANCISCO CA

The Fireland Motto

31 OCT 1995

Here‘s the first thing I posted on this website: A Recipe for Zesty Living

The End

THANK YOU FOR READING

All right we‘re done here. FYI I have an email newsletter called Dictated But Not Read and an ambient music concern called Orifex. I‘m also at these places on a semi-regular basis:

©2026 ✹ OK GOOD TALK