Timeless Quenchers
Showing posts with label short story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short story. Show all posts
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Timeless Quenchers by Ichirou B
Friday, March 13, 2015
'Gore Girls (Twisted Tales & Poems)' by Jackson Dean Chase
Now available - the fourth offering from YA horror writer Jackson Dean Chase. Check out the poems and stories in Gore Girls.
BLURB:
Beware—here comes the Ultimate Bloodbath of Young Adult Horror! These pages are packed with zombies, demons, witches, and worse! Get ready for the most disgusting, insane tales ever, plus morbid poems for damaged minds...
You get 40 stories and poems for one low price: Two sisters hide in their attic from the zombie apocalypse... An unpopular girl's suicide leads to a father's ghastly revenge... An alien blob turn teens into slimy monsters... Evil spirits promise power to a face-stealing maniac... A crush on the boy next door becomes a deadly obsession... and much, much more!
You get 40 stories and poems for one low price: Two sisters hide in their attic from the zombie apocalypse... An unpopular girl's suicide leads to a father's ghastly revenge... An alien blob turn teens into slimy monsters... Evil spirits promise power to a face-stealing maniac... A crush on the boy next door becomes a deadly obsession... and much, much more!
Read a poem from the collection:
EVIL SPIRITS
There are evil spirits that lurk
in far and distant corners.
Waiting to come in,
to be invited
by the bored and broken,
the desperate and angry,
by those too curious for their own good.
These spirits do not live,
yet they exist!
Their sole purpose to destroy
the weak and strong alike.
They are waiting
for your invitation,
that one welcoming word:
“Yes.”
Read an excerpt from "My Own Decisions":
I peeked out the window. I didn't much like looking outside anymore, not since the dead started coming back to life. It was pretty gross seeing strangers walking around all dead and rotting, but friends and neighbors were the worst. Like old Mrs. McGruder next door, who'd been like a grandmother to me, but now walked around in circles on her front lawn with half her face chewed off. Or that cute boy, Eric Westin, who lived two houses over. He'd been my first kiss last summer.
It hadn't worked out with him, thanks to stupid Angela Overton, who'd stolen Eric from me a week later. No, I wouldn't be making out with Eric again, and not just because he was a zombie. Angela still had him, and they were undead together, all vacant-eyed and drooly-mouthed.
I saw them now, stumbling up and down the street, holding hands like it still mattered. Nothing much mattered, but at least they had each other and that was something. What did I have? A smelly attic, a few days worth of food, and a sister who hated me. Something had to change...
He lives near Seattle with two cats and no fear.
Check out Jackson Dean Chase's other YA horror books on Amazon!
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Read an excerpt from 'Adventures with Ragweed' by Linda Lou Crosby
Humor
Date Published: February 10, 2014
Whimsy - Humorous Tales of Adventure, Friendship and Outdoor Ventures For Young Adult Readers and those young at Heart
Adventures with Ragweed is a collection of humorous short stories filled with adventure and family themes.
Ragweed is a tribute to the whimsical part of each of us. Follow this young teen and her best friend, Marney as they travel to Mexico for a fishing trip, where the family is to shoot a pilot for a television show, instead, find themselves in an unexpected sea storm.
Laugh out loud as Ragweed takes on the tennis elite at the country club or attempts to rearrange their perfectly cut lawns.
Always one to learn new things, this young freckled face gal with the unruly blonde hair, builds a float, rides a horse and grows a garden - always getting into unintentional trouble and conning her friends to partake. Each task done with her own unique vies of the world.
Light Hearted and Funny
These stories are meant to entertain. It's difficult to narrow it down to one specific genre as the book is a collection of short stories suitable for young adults as well as for an older crowd with a sense of humor. Family Relationships, Friendships, Essays and Humor are categories all presented within the pages of this book.
If you like the outdoors you might enjoy reading about Ragweed's horse riding exploits or her compost-creating stunts. She spends a great deal of time playing sports and in the garden. Most of the stories are based on the author's own experiences when she was a young adult but some of us know that inner youth tends to follow us into adulthood - so if you have similar backgrounds, these tales will make you grin.
Beautifully Illustrated
Each story in this humorous collection is beautifully illustrated. The pictures capture the character and facial expressions of the gals in these short stories and in our opinion add to the text. There is also an animated video on the author's page that is worth watching. The artist tried to capture the fun-spirited character of Ragweed and when the pictures were put into film, the story came alive visually. It's like a short cartoon.
Read an excerpt:
Ragweed Grows a Garden - LL
It was a lovely spring day. Clouds circled slowly
over the San Fernando Valley. The blue sky was really blue. And although
Ragweed was a mere five years old, she was old enough to recognize that her
parents perfectly manicured lawn and garden was boring. It lacked luster. It
lacked…well, plants.
Ragweed loved Lupines. They popped up unannounced
in the spring, all purple and fun. You never knew where they might be, but you
knew they were coming any day. Why people mowed down perfectly good flowers that
smelled delicious, and put in camellia bushes, that were dull and didn’t smell
at all, and a lawn, was an astonishing thing to Ragweed. And the gardener that
came weekly to mow grass, pull weeds, and generally flatten the landscape was
completely convinced that anything uninvited was “outta there.”
The gardener, Carl, was a nice enough guy, but he
lacked vision. He apparently thought that life consisted of mowing anything
uninvited down. In his serious minded fashion, his job was to mow things. Once
Ragweed had “dropped” a stuffed bear underneath the kitchen window, just to see
what would happen. Sure enough, it got mowed. Unfortunately for Carl, it was a
windy day, and the stuffing flew everywhere. Although that was fairly
satisfying to Ragweed, something else needed to be done. Ragweed’s manicured
parents would never understand. They thought lawns were great. They never
walked on them, or had picnics on them, or even noticed them really…unless
there was an issue of some sort, like a brown spot, which Carl would never
allow.
Ragweed hated lawns. They were ridiculous in her
eyes. Once they were grown, and mowed, then you couldn’t weren’t allowed to run
and play on them anymore. So what was the point? Of course, back East you have
to mow the grass, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to find your home in about a
month. But that was different. That was about survival. This was Southern
California. Grass just wasn’t a normal thing. Yet people thought nothing about
how much watering it took to keep the grass green and growing, only to turn
around and mow it down.
One day, for no apparent reason that Ragweed
could fathom, Moms and Pops told Ragweed she could have a little part of the
yard for her very own first ever garden.
“I would like to plant a garden,” Ragweed told
her parents, who lent their support to the idea even providing seeds and tools.
Ragweed planted a few things, and ran out everyday to see how the seeds were
doing.
Relatives and friends of the family were surprised with Ragweed’s
interest in the garden, as many believed her to be allergic to plants and flowers.
After all, Ragweed got her nickname because she sneezed so often. Her parents
thought it was allergies. Little did
anyone know it was foolishness that spurred the symptoms – for instance when
asked to wash dishes, Ragweed had a sneezing fit. And after Ragweed had sneezed all over the dishes, no one wanted her
help anyhow. Being given orders of any kind also seemed to bring about a sneezing
attack, like “It’s bedtime.” Ragweed’s sneezing would clear out the den, then
she had the TV to herself for the night.
Truth be told, Ragweed loved the outdoors, the
smell of the earth, the way each wildflower perfumed the air. As long as things
were going her way, Ragweed never really needed to sneeze.
Taking the seeds Mom and Pops gave her, Ragweed
planted little onions, carrots and tomatoes. She delighted in watching the
little seeds sprout. Every day she would run out to see if her garden had
flourished. And Carl could barely keep himself contained as he would leer over
at Ragweed’s little garden, with his mower at full throttle, and scowl. “Too
bad”, thought Ragweed. “Scowl away.”
Once Ragweed’s ”garden plot” began to take shape,
the grass surrounding it looked even more disgusting, and another “plot” began
to form. Strolling along the edge of the lawn, Ragweed contemplated on just how
to change a bigger part of the landscape, without anyone knowing how it
happened. But how? She thought about an overnight planting of Elephant Ear with
its giant leaves. “It might be a little hard to sneak those past Carl,” chuckled
Ragweed. Plus it would be a huge amount of work, which Ragweed was really
allergic to. Then, all of a sudden, she remembered her beanbag toys, and a
smile began to lighten up her face.
The ever-resourceful Ragweed would plant her own
beans. She would miss her two beanbag toys, but those beans would do the trick.
They would get watered; they would grow; they would annoy. With her “plot”
hatched, Ragweed crept inside, and grabbed the beanbag toys. She then meticulously
cut a hole in each bag, just big enough to let a few beans out at a time, and
then snuck back outside, strolling casually across the grass; going about the
entire yard, planting “bean” seeds everywhere. To tell the truth, Ragweed was
more than a little amazed at how many beans it took to put a toy together. Then
Ragweed sat back and waited.
With all the water and fertilizer, it didn’t take
long for little bean plants to sprout; all over the place; in no certain order.
Up they came. Much to Ragweed’s delight, Carl, the gardener, was mystified on a
weekly basis with the sprouting of these little plants. Every week he would
come, more would be sprouting up out of that highly manicured grass, in
different spots than the week before. He mumbled things like. “What on earth
are these? I don’t understand what is going on. I used the same grass seed.
Where did these things come from? And why are they ruining my lawn?” Just when
Carl thought he had gotten them all, more would pop up in defiance. He
apologized many times over to Moms and Pops, who thought Carl had probably been
tipping a bit of the “sauce”, and should spend more time paying attention to
their lawn.
Ragweed just watched and smiled as a symphony of Mother Nature’s making
was played out on the lawn. For a short period of time, the lawn had become a
wild place where anything could happen and it was fun to watch. Finally the
seeds quit sprouting up, but Ragweed didn’t care. And even
when there were no more sprouts, Carl continued to come out each week with a
giant vat of poison, just in case a sprout would rear its ugly head. He was
crazed over his lack of lawn control. It was great. He would never be the same.
Ragweed never told anyone what she had done, and
never would. It was a delicious memory; a mystery that only she would know
about. And whenever Moms would bring up the odd little plants that sprung up
from nowhere, Ragweed would smile. And Carl would get a crazed look on his
face, and go home early.
Linda Lou Crosby is a video producer, storyteller and former professional athlete. Like Ragweed, she has a unique approach to life. Ragweed is a part of herself she wanted to share with others. Linda Lou has a great sense of humor and likes to laugh and make others laugh too.
She currently lives with her husband in Montana and California where on clear days you can find her fishing, hunting or hiking.
She and Ragweed hope you will enjoy each tale in this book as much as Ragweed enjoyed living the adventures.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
'Uncharted Storms: Short Stories of Hearts at Risk' by Jackie Anton
Uncharted Storms: Short Stories of Hearts at Risk
by Jackie Anton
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Weather is our constant companion, and when it behaves like a benevolent parent we pay little attention to it. Angry or out of control it becomes terrifying and can change the landscape as well as lives. So I asked my characters to take a ride on the wild side of weather. “Uncharted Storms” takes readers on a journey from a gentle summer rain to raging storms in the cosmos.
What if you were caught up in Uncharted Storms?
What if? Erica’s world didn’t come to an end in 2012 while she was in middle school? She manages to make it through college before an apocalyptic event changes her life forever. The science fiction story Terra Beyond 2012 shares Erica’s voyage.
What if? You and your best friend were traveling down the highway on the way home from an extended trip when you are caught in a blinding thunderstorm, and then are hit by lightning? To make matters worse you are injured, and wake in a strange world. Find out what happens to Chris in the tale Riding Lightning.
What if? You were on your way to meet a friend for dinner and caught in a flash flood? That is exactly what happens to Alexandra in the story Flashflood Texas Style.
What if? A boy you haven’t seen in two decades winds up sitting on your front porch? Find out what Casey comes up with on A Rainy Night.
What if? You were caught out in a winter storm on icy, drifted, walks and streets when a skidding car comes directly at you? Find out what happened to eighteen-year-old Annie when she is hit from behind in the short story A Tumble in the Snow.
Buy links
Autographed Paperback Copies are available at Jackie’s Author’s Den:
U.S. Readers click on the cover of your choice and follow the Signed Book link to order.
Jackie Anton is the mother of two grown children, and grandmother of two. She and her husband, of forty-three years, continue to ride daily. They live on a mini-farm in rural Ohio, and share their little slice of horse heaven with two Quarter Horses, a Haflinger, a rescued dog, and a calico barn cat.
Jackie is an accomplished equestrian, with a life time of experience: as trainer, exhibitor, 4-H and youth club coach, as well as a horse show judge; the author brings many years of experience working with horses and young riders to her award winning Backyard Horse Tales Series:
Uncharted Storms: Short stories are aimed at the Young Adult and older reader. Look for more short tales in the future.
Backyard Horse Tales: Sox 2nd Edition Brings to light the mutual love between a handicapped colt and a lonely child with a learning disability. Find out how this pair team up to triumph over life’s roadblocks, and why their story won the prestigious Mom’s Choice Award of Excellence for Family Friendly Media. (Reading level age 8 thru Adult)
BYHT 2 “Frosty and the Nightstalker” was one of four finalists in the E-Book Fiction category for the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, then the paperback went on to earn the Mom’s Choice Award for Juvenile Historical Fiction.
Jackie is hard at work on BYHT 3 Don’t Call Me Love. You can catch a peek at her beautiful cover on the Backyard Horse Tales Face Book Fan Page: : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Backyard-Horse-Tales/190283981002767
Author Website: http://talesbyjackie.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jackie.anton2
FB Adult Novel Fan Page: page: http://www.facebook.com/authorjmanton?ref=hl
Email: talesbyjackie@gmail.com
Online Autographed Book Covers: http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/backyardhorse
Blog: Writing for readers in a .com world http://jackieanton.com/
Jackie will be awarding a paperback edition of “Wind River Refuge” penned as J.M. Anton (US only) or a digital edition of "Fateful Waters" (INT) to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Follow the tour for more chances to win!
Sunday, July 14, 2013
FREE through 7/17 - 'Last Bus Home' by Robert Fowler
Blurb:
This short story kindle book is taking a look at the different lives of teens on the streets today. It is a fiction short stories book about teenagers who come from completely different backgrounds.
A chance meeting in a coffee shop begins an eventful evening for fifteen-year-old schoolboy Scott Williams. Dressed in full school uniform, and in town to buy a book, he finds himself accosted by a strange girl, dressed boyishly, with red flecks in her hair. Although they are the same age, she is far more streetwise than the naive Scott; her life almost the reverse of the boy’s.
Scott lives in an affluent area, with his parents and sister; Jet lives in a second floor flat with her alcoholic single mother. Scott is at a private school, Jet’s education is the streets she spends her nights walking.
For some inexplicable reason, instead of ignoring Jet and catching the next bus home, Scott allows the girl to manipulate him into missing it. As the evening becomes more bizarre, he becomes mesmerized by the world she inhabits. Sadly the evening will have tragic consequences for both of them.
Please Note: This book contains some strong language, it is relative to the story line, but may/could offend.
Read an excerpt:
All of a sudden my stomach rolled and turned in a hundred directions, my breathing increased and I was certain that the temperature had gone up. I began to panic.
‘Why do you want to kiss me?’ I asked.
‘Why not?’
‘But we don’t go out with each other.’
‘You are a prat sometimes, my mum snogs everyone when she’s pissed.’
I took a step back, to be honest there was nothing else I wanted to do but kiss her, but the thought of it scared me. The light from the bridge barely touched her, but I could see her silhouette against an almost clear September evening sky, she looked good.
Jet walked back to the light; I suddenly realised that if we were to kiss, then I would have preferred to have done it in the dark.
‘How the fuck am I going to kiss you from over there?’
I edged my way forward. ‘Okay?’ I whispered.
‘Nearer,’ she replied.
‘Here?’
‘That will do.’
She leaned forward and I closed my eyes and opened my mouth at the same moment. Nothing happened, not immediately anyway, then Jet burst into a fit of giggling, I opened my eyes as she fell to her knees, her laughter out of control.
‘You sho…’ She stopped as the laughter took over, before trying again. ‘You should see your…’ Again the giggling made it impossible for her to talk, or for me to understand what she was trying to say. It was now beginning to annoy me. It was obvious that the joke was on me, when she would finally be able to talk, it would all be down to me.
‘Stuff you,’ I said, the butterflies in my stomach replaced by anger, right now I wanted to throw her into the canal. I turned and began to walk towards the concrete steps.
‘Wait… Wait.’
I stopped, but did not turn round.
Available through Amazon
Bio:
Robert Fowler fiction author of historical fiction, romance and
romantic suspense novels and short stories. Born in June 1954 in Bethnal
Green, London, to an English father and an Italian mother. I live and
work in Hertfordshire and I'm married with one daughter.
I left school at fifteen with GCE Maths, English and History.
I left school at fifteen with GCE Maths, English and History.
My first job was working in a warehouse that sold plumbing and heating supplies. I still remain in the industry today, running my own company which I started in 1988.
Over the years I've had four operations on my hips. The medical name for my condition is Ankylosing Spondylitis, a form of arthitis. This Arthritis affects the spine, pelvis, knee and other joints. It will stiffen your shoulders, restrict your neck movements and can cause problems with your eyes and breathing.
I have also been a football manager for over 20 years, you become therapist, bank manager, marriage guidance, job finder and counsellor. What inspired me to start writing was when I wrote about having to stop playing football at 24, because I had early arthritis. My body began to be riddled with it, and my hip was replaced when I was 25. I went through a bad time and I found writing down all the thoughts that were going through my head at the time, made it a bit easier to deal with. It was written by me for me, not to tell the world; it was to help allow me to understand that my life was not over at 25.
Friday, November 2, 2012
'The Bone Knife' Book Tour and Short Story Review
Welcome to the book tour for The Bone Knife by Intisar Khanani, presented by Enchanted Book Promotions!
Title:
The Bone Knife
Author:
Intisar Khanani
Genre:
YA Fantasy, Short Story
Blurb: Rae
knows how to look out for family. Born with a deformed foot, she
feigns indifference to the pity and insults that come her way. Wary
of all things beautiful, Rae instantly distrusts their latest
visitor: an appallingly attractive faerie. Further, his presence
imperils the secret her sister guards. But when the local townspeople
show up demanding his blood, Rae must find a way to protect both her
sister’s secret and their guest. Even if that means risking
herself.
Read an excerpt:
“What did you mean he’s trouble?”
I hesitate, uncertain of so many things: what to tell her, how to protect her, exactly what I had seen a handful of minutes earlier. Looking over the low mud brick and adobe wall bounding the kitchen yard, it had taken me a moment to understand that the man I saw walking down our drive, a journey bag slung over his shoulder, was not a man at all. It had been there in the impenetrable obsidian of his eyes, the flawlessly sculpted features, the strange paleness of his skin. The paleness alone would have set him apart from the people of our land, but it was the exquisite grace of his movements, the agelessness of his face, that marked him as something other.
**My thoughts**Leaning on the wall, watching him, I had forgotten myself: forgotten that young women should beware of the Fair Folk; forgotten that my sister with her life’s secret was within; forgotten, impossibly, my own unremarkable features, my deformed foot. Only as he neared the corner of the house had he glanced at me, amusement in the turn of his lips, as if to say, Did you think I didn’t see you?
This short story serves as a teaser and prequel for an upcoming trilogy, The Theft of Sunlight, which is due in the spring of 2013. The trilogy is a companion to the book Thorn. In this story, we meet Rae, who shows strength of character in spite of her physical deformity. Usually her sisters are the ones who get all of the attention for their beauty and talent. The visiting fae seems to recognize this in her and applauds it as she saves both him and her family from the townspeople. It seems like there are many more secrets being hidden in this family and lots of potential for some great adventures. And for a mere 99 cents, you can't go wrong with checking it out!
Buy link on Amazon: http://amzn.to/RFaHTi
Amazon blurb about The Thorn:
Princess Alyrra's strength lies in silence. Scorned by her
family, she avoids the court, spending her time with servants. When her
marriage is unexpectedly arranged with the prince of a powerful
neighboring kingdom, Alyrra feels trapped. As the court celebrates her
match, dark rumors spread about the unexplained deaths of the women of
her new family. Alyrra begins her journey with mounting trepidation.
Betrayed while traveling, she seizes an opportunity to start a life away
from court.
Walking away from a prince whom she doesn't know should have been easy. But from the moment she sets eyes on him, Alyrra realizes that her freedom could cost him his life. Without any magical defense of her own, she is plunged into a lethal game of sorcery and deceit. Now Alyrra must decide whom she can trust and what she's willing to fight for--before her silence proves fatal.
What people are saying:
"A
troubled princess, an unknown prince, a betrothal, a magnificent white
horse, a dangerous sorceress, a wanted thief, magic, mystery, and
danger. What more could you want? How about an interesting, in-depth
plot that deals with issues such as abuse, grief, justice, loss, pain,
revenge, and betrayal? This book has all of these and more." -
Vendethiel, Amazon review 7/1/2012
"Princess Alyrra/Thorn is the most engaging main character I have met in a long time. All she wants is to be left alone and yet, when push comes to shove, she does step up and do the right thing. She is humble and compassionate and brave, though she doesn't believe it." - Author Elisabeth Wheatley
"The climax is a bit of a show-stopper, a wonderful outbreak of magical manipulation with everything at stake, and no real certainty of how things will go." - Pauline's Fantasy Reviews 8/24/2012
Readers of Robin McKinley and Mercedes Lackey are sure to enjoy this retelling of the classic Grimm's fairy tale, "The Goose Girl."
Buy Thorn on Amazon: http://amzn.to/PqWjjN
Intisar Khanani grew
up a nomad and world traveler. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in
five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red
Sea. She first remembers seeing snow on a wintry street in Zurich,
Switzerland, and vaguely recollects having breakfast with the
orangutans at the Singapore Zoo when she was five. She currently
resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and two young
daughters. Until recently, Intisar wrote grants and developed
projects to address community health with the Cincinnati Health
Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world.
Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and
writing fantasy. Her approach to writing reflects her lifelong love
for stories from different cultures. Her next project is a companion
trilogy to her debut novel Thorn, with
Rae as her new heroine.
Links
Intisar’s website
& author newsletter: http://www.thornthenovel.com
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/booksbyintisar
Twitter:
@IntisarKhanani
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