Martin Ott

"With crisp, gimlet-eyed storytelling, Martin Ott's Shadow Dance dramatizes compellingly the tough truth that, whether you're enlisted in Afghanistan, home in Louisiana, or trying to do right in Los Angeles, war never ends." 

-- Mark Wish, author of Watch Me Go, founding editor of Coolest American Stories

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“Dream State is a story of survival, blending Lord of the Flies with Yellowjackets, and adding a dash of Fantasy Island just for fun. Loyalties will be tested, horrors seen, and not everyone will make it to the end. A powerful, gripping story that will make you think twice about that next island retreat.” 
-- Richard Thomas, author of Spontaneous Human Combustion

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Check out my short story Election of the Fittest 
in Another Chicago Magazine. 

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Martin Ott is the author of twelve books of fiction and poetry. His first book of poetry Captive, focusing on his time as a US army interrogator, won the De Novo Prize. His second book of poetry Underdays won the Sandeen Prize, University of Notre Dame Press. A former copywriter and communications professional, Martin has always written in a variety of genres and develops for TV and film between other writing projects. His fiction often spans literary and other genres, including his most recent novel Shadow Dance, Regal House, an urban noir thriller currently in development by Palm Tree Pictures. His writing has appeared in more than 20 anthologies and 300 magazines, including Asimov’s Science Fiction, Epoch, Harvard Review, North American Review, Prairie Schooner, and Zyzzyva. His newest book Sharks vs. Selfies, Black Spring Press Group, will be published in 2027. He is currently a resident of Lisbon, Portugal.