MY SHORT STORY BLURBS
For fiction readers who have an overwhelming urge to read (for FREE!) one of my stories but don't know which one to choose (Shhh! Please allow me my delusions), I decided I should provide enticing blurbs that explain each story. I love blurbs. 99% of the time, they're what sells me on a book or short story, whether to buy or just to read. Turns out, though, they're a lot harder to write than they are to read.
So, here are blurbs for the first ten of my sixteen short stories. They include the genre(s), a generalized rating similar to movie ratings, a word count (my short stories have a tendency to not always be, um, short), and the titles are links to each story.
By the way, if you happen to read one or more of my stories and you leave a comment(s), should I at some point in the near future receive any super powers, I will use them for the betterment of human kind, or to fix it so you win the lottery. Your choice.
I'm listing these blurbs according to how much I love the stories. And thus, we begin with my three favorites...
SHADOWS AND SMOKE
Warning: Violence (Seriously - if you have triggers, skip this story)
(Urban Fantasy/Horror/Speculative Fiction) Rating: R
(7,700 words)
If you were a writer whose peaceful #amwriting hours were regularly destroyed by a pain-in-the-ass neighbor who enjoyed tormenting you, and you came from a family with dark, impressive magical powers, would you use those powers against him...or not? Oh, come on - you know you would.
But when those powers are released, a heroine can become a villain, a squirrel can become a burglar, and dark matter can form itself into intimidating human shapes on a murderous mission in the middle of the night.
...........................
SANCTUARY
(Scifi/Speculative Fiction/Fantasy) Rating: PG (10,560 words)
Someone awakens on a beautiful beach with two (count 'em, two!) setting suns. They have no recollection of who (or even what) they themselves are; enticed by a sea that seems to draw them in, and confused and frightened by snippets of memory that pull them in another direction - to deep space, and war, and starships being torn apart. Do they belong in either place, or is there something else going on?
..........................
CEYLUS ALPHA IV: THE TELLTALE BURP
(Science Fiction) Rating: PG (430 words)
A little tale of an astronaut, a huge, gelatinous creature, and a reveal that says humor is universal.
..........................
A ZOMBIE ATE MY CONGRESSMAN
(Horror/Science Fiction/Speculative Fiction/Humor)
Rating: PG-13 (2,000 words)
Snarky goth girl Layla Moran isn't traumatized by the zombie apocalypse playing-out in the streets below her high-rise apartment and worldwide on TV. To her, it has all the earmarks of a wacky Japanese game show. So, nuke some popcorn and pull up a chair. Let the games begin!
........................
UNDEAD DEADLINE
(Horror/Humor) Rating: PG-13 (2,000 words)
Even in Hell, it's not easy to write an obit for a demon whose bad habits (eating other demons' children, for instance) has left him with a bad rep, even after death. But DEMON DIMENSION DAILY GAZETTE reporter Remm intends to try.
........................
FUGITIVE
(I'm just going to put this one under the "Thriller" genre, so as not to give away the twist ending)
Rating: PG (800 words)
Deep in the woods, a murder suspect who is the object of a massive police search is cold and lonely, and harbors a surprising secret.
........................
FAERIES
(Fantasy/Urban Fantasy/Speculative Fiction)
Rating: PG-13 (850 words)
If you're a faery who is not much bigger than a quarter, glittery wings and all, you should probably make sure you don't get trapped inside a house in the suburbs, like a fly that can't get back out the door. Within those walls, there are kids and cats and peanut butter, oh my!
.........................
POOF!
(Science Fiction) RATING: PG (3,300 words)
A 4-year-old girl finds a cute little alien device that works like an intergalactic Dyson vacuum cleaner, powerfully sucking in any object (or person) she wishes - as small as a grasshopper or as big as a city. Their destination? Who knows. But virtually everything on earth exists here - or doesn't - on her whim. A preschooler. Someone who gets cranky if she misses her nap. An adorable, curly-haired moppet no one, including the police, would ever suspect. Would you?
..........................
POOF! 2: PRINCESS
(Science Fiction) Rating: PG (7,600 words)
The continuing tale of a 4-year-old who has in her possession the most powerful device in the world, and the chaos that ensues. Portions of the country are in the middle of an apocalypse that cannot be defined by those in charge of stopping it. And the little girl at the heart of it all is as adorable and innocent-looking as ever.
..........................
THE HALLOWEEN TREAT
(Horror/Holiday/Speculative Fiction) Rating: PG-13
(3,700 words)
A smalltown terrorist and an ancient curse, on Halloween night. A strange, deadly little creature - still in an embryonic state - is injected into a wrapped chocolate candy, to be given out on Halloween. Who will eat it and become its victim? And what will the creature do, once it has tasted blood?
For fiction readers who have an overwhelming urge to read (for FREE!) one of my stories but don't know which one to choose (Shhh! Please allow me my delusions), I decided I should provide enticing blurbs that explain each story. I love blurbs. 99% of the time, they're what sells me on a book or short story, whether to buy or just to read. Turns out, though, they're a lot harder to write than they are to read.
So, here are blurbs for the first ten of my sixteen short stories. They include the genre(s), a generalized rating similar to movie ratings, a word count (my short stories have a tendency to not always be, um, short), and the titles are links to each story.
By the way, if you happen to read one or more of my stories and you leave a comment(s), should I at some point in the near future receive any super powers, I will use them for the betterment of human kind, or to fix it so you win the lottery. Your choice.
I'm listing these blurbs according to how much I love the stories. And thus, we begin with my three favorites...
SHADOWS AND SMOKE
Warning: Violence (Seriously - if you have triggers, skip this story)
(Urban Fantasy/Horror/Speculative Fiction) Rating: R
(7,700 words)
If you were a writer whose peaceful #amwriting hours were regularly destroyed by a pain-in-the-ass neighbor who enjoyed tormenting you, and you came from a family with dark, impressive magical powers, would you use those powers against him...or not? Oh, come on - you know you would.
But when those powers are released, a heroine can become a villain, a squirrel can become a burglar, and dark matter can form itself into intimidating human shapes on a murderous mission in the middle of the night.
...........................
SANCTUARY
(Scifi/Speculative Fiction/Fantasy) Rating: PG (10,560 words)
Someone awakens on a beautiful beach with two (count 'em, two!) setting suns. They have no recollection of who (or even what) they themselves are; enticed by a sea that seems to draw them in, and confused and frightened by snippets of memory that pull them in another direction - to deep space, and war, and starships being torn apart. Do they belong in either place, or is there something else going on?
..........................
CEYLUS ALPHA IV: THE TELLTALE BURP
(Science Fiction) Rating: PG (430 words)
A little tale of an astronaut, a huge, gelatinous creature, and a reveal that says humor is universal.
..........................
A ZOMBIE ATE MY CONGRESSMAN
(Horror/Science Fiction/Speculative Fiction/Humor)
Rating: PG-13 (2,000 words)
Snarky goth girl Layla Moran isn't traumatized by the zombie apocalypse playing-out in the streets below her high-rise apartment and worldwide on TV. To her, it has all the earmarks of a wacky Japanese game show. So, nuke some popcorn and pull up a chair. Let the games begin!
........................
UNDEAD DEADLINE
(Horror/Humor) Rating: PG-13 (2,000 words)
Even in Hell, it's not easy to write an obit for a demon whose bad habits (eating other demons' children, for instance) has left him with a bad rep, even after death. But DEMON DIMENSION DAILY GAZETTE reporter Remm intends to try.
........................
FUGITIVE
(I'm just going to put this one under the "Thriller" genre, so as not to give away the twist ending)
Rating: PG (800 words)
Deep in the woods, a murder suspect who is the object of a massive police search is cold and lonely, and harbors a surprising secret.
........................
FAERIES
(Fantasy/Urban Fantasy/Speculative Fiction)
Rating: PG-13 (850 words)
If you're a faery who is not much bigger than a quarter, glittery wings and all, you should probably make sure you don't get trapped inside a house in the suburbs, like a fly that can't get back out the door. Within those walls, there are kids and cats and peanut butter, oh my!
.........................
POOF!
(Science Fiction) RATING: PG (3,300 words)
A 4-year-old girl finds a cute little alien device that works like an intergalactic Dyson vacuum cleaner, powerfully sucking in any object (or person) she wishes - as small as a grasshopper or as big as a city. Their destination? Who knows. But virtually everything on earth exists here - or doesn't - on her whim. A preschooler. Someone who gets cranky if she misses her nap. An adorable, curly-haired moppet no one, including the police, would ever suspect. Would you?
..........................
POOF! 2: PRINCESS
(Science Fiction) Rating: PG (7,600 words)
The continuing tale of a 4-year-old who has in her possession the most powerful device in the world, and the chaos that ensues. Portions of the country are in the middle of an apocalypse that cannot be defined by those in charge of stopping it. And the little girl at the heart of it all is as adorable and innocent-looking as ever.
..........................
THE HALLOWEEN TREAT
(Horror/Holiday/Speculative Fiction) Rating: PG-13
(3,700 words)
A smalltown terrorist and an ancient curse, on Halloween night. A strange, deadly little creature - still in an embryonic state - is injected into a wrapped chocolate candy, to be given out on Halloween. Who will eat it and become its victim? And what will the creature do, once it has tasted blood?
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