"A" is for August....and Anthologies

I feel like a broken record. And I feel like one of those authors who runs around going, "Hey, look at all my books! Look at meeeeeee!" I hate that feeling.


But. (*evil grin*)


This has been a stellar month for me regarding anthologies. First, there was the release of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just for Preteens, which technically hit on July 26th, but that's darn close to August. Then, there was Aquasynthesis, which I have been yammering about for days now because it has three stories of mine as well as some of the most brilliant short stories I've read by other Splashdown Books authors.

Now, the anthology I've been waiting a while for is finally out. While the Morning Stars Sing just released from Residential Aliens, and it features my story "The Guitar." 


This, I must admit, is my favorite of my short stories. It stars my favorite character in Finding Angel--a bit of back story about him, told from the pov of his best friend. He's Elven, a musician (with leather and tattoos and pointed ears lost in really great hair...) and has an amazing magic Talent. 


Here's the opening of the story:

“Dude, please, you gotta take me with you this time.”
Kalek perched on a low branch of a Platinum Oak, his Elven ears poking through a massive mound of ragged curls. I cringed at the way his onyx eyes gleamed. He’d convince me, I was sure, but I wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“No way,” I said, “I’m going camping. Alone. That means without you, so forget it.”
He jumped down from the tree, lithe as a panther, and stood in front of me. “C’mon. I’ve never been off the island. Just this once.”
“Your father will be furious.”
“I know, dude, all the more reason.”

You can order WtMSS by clicking HERE.

And lastly, coming later this month (no exact date yet) will be my story "Ordinary Folk" in the Dark Heroes anthology by Pill Hill Press. This is my longest published short story to date. Dark Heroes is an anthology of stories in which a character that would normally play the part of the villain is actually the hero. Think vampires and monsters, fur and fangs. 

My dark hero? Janey, whose husband and doctor are looking at ordinary things to explain her extraordinary symptoms...but Janey knows there has to be more to it and decides to visit her parents' hometown in search of answers. She finds answers, all right, as well as a chance for revenge.

So, there you have it. My month of anthologies. I will now turn off the record player :P.