Do you have any advice for aspiring writers? Find a group of authors who are starting out as well, they’ll keep you in the game. I have a small group that I’ve known since being published a couple years ago and they are my best supporters outside of family. They are also invaluable with feedback on writing. Also, don’t get discouraged with rejections and bad reviews! You’ll develop a thick skin, just stick with it, plus chances are you’ll learn how to strengthen your writing.
Christmas Lites
An Anthology
The Creative Reviews group on GoodReads is filled to the brim with writers, reviewers, editors, proofreaders and crazy people. We decided to pull all our abilities to do something for others. Born: Christmas Lites. It’s a Short Story Anthology with the overall theme of Christmas. It will be available in Ebook and Print this November.
26 authors submitted a short story to be included in the anthology and ALL the proceeds will be donated to the NCADV - National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. It’s a wonderful charity that we are honored to support. We are also donating FREE Ecopies to the deployed troops overseas via Operation Ebook Drop.
Blurb:
Once upon a time, a rough and tumble seven year old caught Santa sliding down the chimney…
Then a ninja elf came and broke Santa out, no net is strong enough to keep out this ninja elf! Off past the faithful family pet they ran and jumped in the sleigh. They raced to another house but refused to stop when ghosts were there to greet them. Santa doesn’t tangle with ghosts. He doesn’t tangle with vampires, either.
At the next stop, he met a runaway gingerbread man who yelled, “You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!” Santa didn’t bother to catch him; he had things to do.
On his way to his next delivery, he passed a werewolf jumping out of a plane and dodged a zombie hungry for his brain.
He finally touched down in a nice, normal town full of tidings and great joy…
Or did he?
Dive into a world of variety—a world of spirit with this Creative Reviews anthology. What better way to celebrate the holiday season than with some short stories that entertain and encompass the true meaning of Christmas? All proceeds of this book will be donated to the NCADV (national coalition against domestic violence). Debut authors and published authors have come together in this one-of-a-kind compilation – please help support a great cause and plunge deep into our imaginations.
Titles and Authors:
Shane Stilson: Higher Ground
E.C. Stilson: How I Found My Soul Mate and Turkey Avenger
Vered Ehsani: Christmas Ghost
C.S. Splitter: Whimper
Phil Cantrill: Christmas Story
Brett Talley: Last Year’s Eggnog
Catherine Forbes: The Gateway Incident
Mark Koning: Sweet Child
Tricia Kristufek: Accidentally Gift Wrapped
Paige Kellerman: Christmas Disco
L.A. Wright: Star of Christmas
S. Patrick Pothier: The Road to Comfort
Cassie McCown: Mirror
Angel Armstead: All I want for Christmas
Ottilie Weber: ‘Tis the Holiday Spirit
Amy Eye: The Hunt
JA Clement: A Sprig of Holly
Richard Phelan: Memories of the Splendid Splinter
Mark Mackey: An Amy Harkstone Chrismtas
Lizzie Ford: Santa’s Ninja Elf
Nicholette Alexandr: Broken Glass
Mark Faulkner: Face
Cambria Hebert: The Perfect Ornament, Blank
Angela Yukiro-Smith: Only That Day Dawns
Mysti Parker: The Carpenter’s Wife
Credits:
Amy Eye: Formatting, Editing
Vered Ehsani: Editing
Proofreaders:
Tricia Kristufek, Cassie McCown, Alan Zendell
Cover Design and Print Formatting: Dafeenah Jameel, www.indiedesignz.com
Christmas Tree Glyph: Regina Wamba, www.maeidesign.com
NCADV coordinator: Jenn Pringle
National coalition against domestic violence.
Site: www.ncadv.org
Info of what they do:
NCADV believes violence against women and children results from the use of force or threat to achieve and maintain control over others in intimate relationships, and from societal abuse of power and domination in the forms of sexism, racism, homophobia, classism, anti-Semitism, able-bodyism, ageism and other oppressions. NCADV recognizes that the abuses of power in society foster battering by perpetuating conditions, which condone violence against women and children. Therefore, it is the mission of NCADV to work for major societal changes necessary to eliminate both personal and societal violence against all women and children.
NCADV's work includes coalition building at the local, state, regional and national levels; support for the provision of community-based, non-violent alternatives - such as safe home and shelter programs - for battered women and their children; public education and technical assistance; policy development and innovative legislation; focus on the leadership of NCADV's caucuses developed to represent the concerns of organizationally underrepresented groups; and efforts to eradicate social conditions which contribute to violence against women and children.
“Thankful”
By Terra Kelly
So many years ago you gave birth to me
Struggled and fought to bring me into the light
Over the years you have raised and taken care of me
Sacrificed and loved me
I am thankful that I have you
I am thankful that you taught me how to stand on my own two feet
That you gave me the strength to live and fight like you
You have given me so much over the years
I don't give nearly as much back
But I am thankful for you
Thankful for all the sacrifices you have made
Thankful that you love me
Thankful that you are my mother.
“Deliberate Disaster”
By Jamie Danzer
Deliberate disaster
How she knew you were trouble
That she would only get hurt
Delicate disease
Your love slowly poisons
Eating away at her heart
Deadly December
She embodies a numbness of emotions
The lack of feeling not from cold
Dreadful death
Toxic and painful
For to you she's been dead
“Moments With Words”
Denny Marshall
The words spoken
With so much love
I turned silent
Inside, vibrations taking over
Felt it going up my spine
Shook when it hit the top
Oh, those words
Like a thousand pictures
“Summer Stack”
Thomas Michael McDade
The public housing
smokestack
by the playground
waits for winter
and offers its ladder
like a monkey bar
extension.
Climb the chain
link fence, stand
on top and you’re
on your way!
Kids on swings,
seesaws and slides,
the checker players,
beanbag tossers,
and shuffleboarders
manage to
resist temptation.
A horseshoe
feels to some like one
of the stack rungs
or a radiator rib
and ringers clang
like frigid January
nights when stack bricks
are hot and dreams
crest in the snapping
of its lightning rods
like cop car antennas.