Tag Archives: short stories

Short or long, stories pack powerful punches

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Today, I’m blogging over at the Whine Sisters, and I posted a link to Porcelain Unicorn, a truly lovely short film. And I mean short. Just three minutes. Pop on over and check it out if you want to see a truly powerful punch packed into just three short minutes.

Compare that to something like Game of Thrones, which I’m currently reading. Or Schindler’s List if we want to stay both on theme and with film. Also gut-wrenching, with deep emotion and strong themes.

There’s a lesson there, you know, and it’s not just that creative folks can make movies to fit the parameters of contests. No, it’s that sometimes the story dictates the length. And if you let the story do that, you’re going to get more bang for your buck because the emotion can either be drawn and milked and developed, as in a longer story, or laid out with heart-wrenching power (or humor or pathos or horror) as in a shorter work.

I haven’t always been a fan of shorter stories–I preferred to meet characters and then stay with them. It’s one of the reasons I love books that are part of series. But I’ve done several shorts now, and I love them. From short short stories to novellas.

Right now, I have three shorter works available, and each of them are exactly the length that they should be (which, frankly, is an advantage of epublishing). The first is a novella, SHADOW KEEPERS: MIDNIGHT, which is the prequel to my upcoming release WHEN PASSION LIES (which got a great review in Publisher’s Weekly and was named Amazon’s best romance for May! Yay!).

When Passion Lies

Shadow Keepers, Book 4

I’ve also got a fun, edgy short story in Love Is Murder…very noir and very short. And, again, just the right length for the story.Love is Murder (ITW anthology) cover

The Demon You Know cover art

Just released in e-format!

And, of course I’ve already chattered on about The Demon You Know, my first foray into indie e-pubbing. (subliminal message…only 99 cents … buy, buy…it’s cheaper than a cuppa coffee….ahem…sorry. Back on track…)

All of which brings me to my ePub Tip of the Day: The cool thing about publishing ebooks is that you truly don’t have to worry about word count. Write the story as the story needs to be written. And doesn’t that just feel great?

Short Stories … Gotta love ‘em!

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I confess that I wasn’t always a fan of the short story; once I got to know characters I wanted to spend TIME with them. But with age brings wisdom (not that I’m old enough to be that wise) and I’ve developed a love for the shorter format. And I’m so psyched to be part of the Love Is Murder anthology edited by the awesome Sandra Brown and being published (soon!) by Mira.

To whet your appetite, here’s the book trailer, just recently released:

HARLEQUIN & The International Thriller Writers, Inc are proud to present the EXCLUSIVE REVEAL of The Thriller 3: Love is Murder Official Book Trailer! Prepare for heart-racing suspense in this original collection by thirty of the hottest bestselling authors and new voices writing romance suspense today.

The truth is, that although I’ve always considered myself a novelist, I’ve had a great time writing the few shorts that I’ve done, including The Honeymoon in Love is Murder and The Demon You Know, which I blogged about yesterday. I also wrote Dead Friends and Other Dating Dilemmas, which is included in the This is Chick-Lit anthology.

I hope you check out Love is Murder — be sure to let me know what you think. And if you like short stories too, I’m working on a whole buncha ‘em for my The Trouble With Demons anthology…coming soon!

New release and a free read!

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Lots of cool stuff. First and foremost, THOSE WHO FIGHT MONSTERS IS OUT! Get your hot off the press copy! From the B&N SciFi and Fantasy Blog:

Revolving around the theme of occult detectives, the 14 stories included within feature beloved heroes and heroines from some of the most popular paranormal fantasy series on the shelves: private investigator John Taylor from Simon R. Green’s Nightside novels, Lilith Saintcrow’s bullwhip-wielding hellbreed hunter Jill Kismet, Julie Kenner’s demon-hunting soccer mom Kate Connor, and Petunia “Pete” Caldecott from Caitlin Kittredge’s Black London saga, to name just a few…

…Kenner’s “The Demon You Know…” is a cautionary tale for all rebellious teenagers – pitting Connor and her 14-year old daughter Allie against someone (or something) who spiked party punch with something much more dangerous than alcohol.

And a nice review from All Things Urban Fantasy: “This was my first foray into this series and I found the mother daughter relationship to be a refreshing changeup from the normal UF relationships. A fun, smart story that manages to convey a lot of series/world building info while still delivering a satisfying story.” Yay!

I’m relatively new to the short story format, but I had a BLAST writing this. I’m thinking there are more Kate and Allie stories in my (and your) future!

And I’m starting a new project…writing an ongoing story with my nine year old daughter. We were going to do it on our own and then surprise her dad when it was done (and if you know her dad, don’t mention it to him, okay? Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll miss this post so we can present him with the whole thing once it’s done). But then we decided it would be fun to Post-As-We-Go. Because, honestly, when you’re nine, doing all that pesky research and plotting ahead of time is just no fun. So we’re going with it.

We’ve got the first two chapters up right now, and we’ll post new content at least once a week. Enjoy…and please feel free to leave comments! You can check it out here or click on the Hour of the Dragon link in the lefthand side bar.

The Occult Detectives are coming!!!

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Oh yeah! Almost release date for Kate’s short story…and is she in dang good company or what? Check it out:

Got Vampires? Ghosts? Monsters? We Can help!

Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives, is your one-stop-shop for Urban Fantasy’s finest anthology of the supernatural. 14 sleuths are gathered together for the first time in all-original tales of unusual cases which require services that go far beyond mere deduction!


Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives brings together popular characters from many Urban Fantasy paranormal investigative series, for your enjoyment.

Meet the Detectives:

Danny Hendrickson – from Laura Anne Gilman’s Casa Nostradamus series.
Kate Connor – from Julie Kenner’s Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series.
John Taylor – from Simon R. Green’s Nightside series.
Jill Kismet – from Lilith Saintcrow’s Jill Kismet series.
Jessi Hardin – from Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville series.
Quincey Morris – from Justin Gustainis’ Morris/Chastain Investigations series.
Marla Mason – from T. R. Pratt’s Marla Mason series.
Tony Foster – from Tanya Huff’s Smoke and Shadows series.
Dawn Madison – from Chris Marie Green’s Vampire Babylon series.
Pete Caldecott – from Caitlin Kittredge’s Black London series.
Tony Giodone – from C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp’s Tales of the Sazi series.
Jezebel – from Jackie Kessler’s Hell on Earth series.
Piers Knight – from C. J. Henderson’s Brooklyn Knight series.
Cassiel – from Rachel Caine’s Outcast Season series.

Demons may lurk, werewolves may prowl, vampires may ride the wind. These are things that go bump in the night, but we are the ones who bump back!
***

Don’t be shy! Pre-order now :)

And remember….”Those who fight monsters should take care that they never become one. For when you stand and look long into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.” ~ Frederich Nietsche

Popcorn

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In some ways, getting slapped in the face is actually worse than getting punched. The physical pain is almost the same. But there’s an added dose of humiliation and shame on top. An overlay of mortification. As if someone dumped a pail of loser juice over your head. Plus, your cheeks get all flushed. And the handprint takes five or ten minutes to fade.

From Not a Poe Fan by Brian Koppelman, posted over at Popcorn Fiction

Don’t you just love that description? An overlay of mortification? Loser juice? I can feel the sting of the slap. Love it, love it, love it.

Now what I want to know is how, how, how did I miss this site before? It’s absolutely fabulous! The uber-talented novelist and screenwriter Derek Haas is the editor, and describes the site as growing “out of a love for pulpy short fiction that used to dominate popular magazines in the mid-20th Century.” Honestly, that’s like he had me at hello.

Check it out. This means you.