Short Fiction & Anthologies
* Flash and Short Fiction samples *
* See some short writing tips on my site blog:*
* Flat and Fluffy Writing - * Seven Deadly Sins of Writing
* See some short writing tips on my site blog:*
* Flat and Fluffy Writing - * Seven Deadly Sins of Writing
New story, "Say It With Flowers"
A Valentine's Day twist - read my short story at King's River Life Magazine
The Corner Cafe
The new anthology, The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories, features an eclectic assortment of stories from the BBT Cafe authors.
In my story, "Perfect Timing," a rescued pup helps cafe owner Gina Mason find love and thwart a would-be robber. BUY: Kindle
Excerpt from "Perfect Timing":
Gina Mason rubbed her tired eyes and stared at the giant mound of paper covering her desk. She’d opened the TO BEAN OR NOT TO BEAN CORNER CAFÉ because she loved coffee. "Not the paperwork that goes with it," she mumbled.
A sound outside made her realize she should've been home an hour ago. With a sigh, she grabbed her mug and grimaced at the black sludge inside. "Ugh, wonder what the customers would think if they saw my cup?"
Grungy cup in the sink and the lights off, she stepped outside only to find more annoyances. A mass of papers and a bundle of rags littered the steps. Picking up the papers with a gripe, "no one picks up after themselves anymore," she almost shoved the rags aside with her foot when a slight movement caught her eye. No, wait. She had to be seeing things. A minute later, the bundle twitched again and a small white leg popped out.
With a gasp, she reached out and unwrapped the cloths, stunned at the sight of a dirty white and black face. The dog trembled in her arms and stared at her, eyes dull. Gina unfolded the dirty coverings and swore under her breath at the dog's thin frame and terrible condition. Blood spots streaked his face, side and legs. She noticed several small gouges. He looked like skin over bone.
"Oh, poor thing. You’re just a baby," she whispered.
After locking up, she nestled the whimpering pup against her chest and hurried to the car. The dog could barely lift his head as she settled him into the jacket on her front seat and cranked the engine after making a quick call.
Her heart pounded almost as fast as the car's engine as she sped around the corner, her mind full of questions. Who would do this? Why? What if she hadn't been there? She reached out and patted the small bundle. "Dr. Milton will fix you right up. You'll be okay."
In my story, "Perfect Timing," a rescued pup helps cafe owner Gina Mason find love and thwart a would-be robber. BUY: Kindle
Excerpt from "Perfect Timing":
Gina Mason rubbed her tired eyes and stared at the giant mound of paper covering her desk. She’d opened the TO BEAN OR NOT TO BEAN CORNER CAFÉ because she loved coffee. "Not the paperwork that goes with it," she mumbled.
A sound outside made her realize she should've been home an hour ago. With a sigh, she grabbed her mug and grimaced at the black sludge inside. "Ugh, wonder what the customers would think if they saw my cup?"
Grungy cup in the sink and the lights off, she stepped outside only to find more annoyances. A mass of papers and a bundle of rags littered the steps. Picking up the papers with a gripe, "no one picks up after themselves anymore," she almost shoved the rags aside with her foot when a slight movement caught her eye. No, wait. She had to be seeing things. A minute later, the bundle twitched again and a small white leg popped out.
With a gasp, she reached out and unwrapped the cloths, stunned at the sight of a dirty white and black face. The dog trembled in her arms and stared at her, eyes dull. Gina unfolded the dirty coverings and swore under her breath at the dog's thin frame and terrible condition. Blood spots streaked his face, side and legs. She noticed several small gouges. He looked like skin over bone.
"Oh, poor thing. You’re just a baby," she whispered.
After locking up, she nestled the whimpering pup against her chest and hurried to the car. The dog could barely lift his head as she settled him into the jacket on her front seat and cranked the engine after making a quick call.
Her heart pounded almost as fast as the car's engine as she sped around the corner, her mind full of questions. Who would do this? Why? What if she hadn't been there? She reached out and patted the small bundle. "Dr. Milton will fix you right up. You'll be okay."
"Ghouls Like Us" - A Girl Z zombie story
The story is based on the characters from my upcoming novel, GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie (coming summer, 2013!)
Read the rest of the story at Wattpad.
"Ghouls Like Us"
The first day of school and we learn we're the different ones.
By C.A. Verstraete
Like most everything else in my life, I even did this zombie thing half-way.
Modern medicine and the amazing line of "Ghouls Like Us" cosmetics luckily lets me and other kids infected with the Z virus function almost like normal—if you consider no discernible heartbeat, a weird grayish, blotched skin and a bunch of other awful stuff—normal. I sure don't.
At least I wasn't like them. Not that being a part-Z was any better, especially the food part. No more of my Tia's spicy tacos, my favorite, or mom's yummy tortilla soup. Now all I had was a freakish fascination with raw food. Ick. Of course, you know, it sure beat the alternative.
So, I had to make the best of being a part-Z, and that meant going back to school. Big change there, too, warned my cousin, ever the bearer of bad news. Forget our old school, Carm said.
The dread ballooned inside, though I couldn't much feel the physical effects anymore. Not that I missed the huge headaches I'd get whenever I was upset. My head probably would've exploded by now.
"What do you mean, big change? Carm, quit joking."
My cousin gave me a serious look and went back to rummaging in my closet. "Becca, I'm not kidding. Somebody from the school office called my mom. Said the principal and most of the staff are gone. No one knows where they went, and there's no time to find enough new teachers. So we're going to Barracuda for our last year. Hey, it'll be fine. I like this green shirt. You wearing it?"
"Like that'll go with my pasty grey skin?" I barked. "Take it."
I turned away, ignoring her hurt look. I'd apologize later. First, I had to sort out what this meant.
Barracuda High had a reputation for taking in the kids no one else wanted—the troubled and the troublemakers, the near-dropouts, the druggies, the disengaged. I gulped. And now part Z's like me?
--- Read the rest at Wattpad.
"Kinetic Dreams"
New story, "Kinetic Dreams" insteampunk/romance anthology, "Hot and Steamy: Tales of Steampunk Romance" from DAW Books.
The saga of Alva Edison and her famous brother, Thomas, (introduced in STEAMPUNK'D) continues with newly married Alva realizing her life isn't as she thought it was. Can she help Thomas get back to the past and escape a threat from the future? BUY: Amazon Print/Kindle - B&N-Print/Nook "Edison Kinetic Light & Steam Power"
An unexpected accident has Alva Edison assisting her brother Thomas in developing some of their time's most amazing discoveries, and improving on some of H.G. Wells' work in my latest story, "Edison Kinetic Light and Steam Power" in the STEAMPUNK'D anthology from DAW Books.
BUY: B&N's Print/Nook - Amazon Print/Kindle * Excerpt from front title page of book (from my story!): Alva Edison knew her life would never be the same. "It can be done, sister, I know it can," he told her again. "Thomas, I keep telling you, remember Mr. Franklin? The founding father never signed the Declaration because he foolishly stood out in a rainstorm, with a kite of all things. And stringing a key on the end? How foolhardy. Anyone with common sense knows that you do not want to be near any metal in a storm. No surprise that he was electrocuted. It was such a tragedy that could have been averted." "But his idea was right," Thomas insisted. "The power of those thunderbolts can be harnessed as a new energy source." She snorted at that. "Thomas, dear, next you'll be saying that thunderbolts can do all kinds of things, like that kooky Dr. Frankenstein and his outlandish, sacrilegious ideas about life and death. They took him off to the sanitarium and not soon enough, I say. Please stop such talk. I do not want to lose my only brother to some ridiculous notion." - From "Edison Kinetic Light and Steam Power" by C. A. Verstraete |
"A Night to Forget"
Visitors to this time travel agency can travel almost anywhere. In my story, "A Night to Forget," one woman finds an exhibit about the Titanic more real than she ever expected. Out Now: in TIMESHARES by DAW Books, edited by Martin Greenberg and Jean Rabe. (In KINDLE too.)
Buy: B&N Print/Nook - Amazon "My Dear Mrs. Jones"
To secure her family's financial future, Elsbeth agrees to marry the charismatic but secretive sea captain in my story, "My Dear Mrs. Jones" in "The Bitter End: Tales of Nautical Terror" anthology.
"The Dream Child"
An uneasy mother in medieval Belgium copes with an unusual child who says he sees dragons... does he? Or will he put his whole family in danger? A new fantasy story, "The Dream Child" in DRAGONS COMPOSED, Kerlak Publishing
Buy: B&N Print - Amazon Print |
