Short Fiction & Anthologies
These are my "general" fiction stories. See horror & zombie fiction page for other stories.
* Flash and Short Fiction samples *
* See some short writing tips on my site blog:*
* Flat and Fluffy Writing - * Seven Deadly Sins of Writing
* Flash and Short Fiction samples *
* See some short writing tips on my site blog:*
* Flat and Fluffy Writing - * Seven Deadly Sins of Writing
Coming soon!
My story, "Wildfire," (based on the song), will be in the anthology, (I Just) Died In Your Arms: Crime Fiction Inspired by One-Hit Wonders, Volume I. Should be coming out in December. (See blog for details.) 
Becca (from GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie) helps solve the mystery of the (dreaded) missing cranberries in "The Nearly Ruined Thanksgiving" - out for Thanksgiving in Mystery Weekly.
Sign up for email list for weekly stories - Subscribers can read the story online here. BUY: (Back issue - Digital issues - iTunes App) 
Athena's Daughters Anthology - Includes my story, "The Songbird's Search."
Buy eBook: Website - Kindle (Print now out. See cover below.) In my story, "The Songbird's Search," Marietta hopes to find something that has eluded her in every town she's visited... love. And she's running out of time... -- Read an excerpt. |
Happy Homicides 3: Summertime Crime features an assortment of summery stories from a dozen authors.
Includes my story, "Surf's Up," where Becca (from GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie) helps solve a murder mystery and visits a miniatures competition! Buy: Kindle 
Another Becca story! (Since it isn't exactly a horror story I also linked it here.)
Not even Becca (from GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie) can resist a cute German Shepherd puppy. But when the pup goes missing, she'll face her fear of other dogs and fight off a few (bad) zombies to solve the mystery in my story, "Puppy Love & Zombies" BUY: Print - Kindle 
"Say It With Flowers" - A Valentine's Day story with a twist
- short story at King's River Life Magazine |
"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 The Corner Cafe
The 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. (*No longer available. Will be reprinting story.) "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.
(* Out of print) "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
(Out of print) |