The Future is Short, Volume 2

The future is Short and by that I mean SHORT STORIES! I love writing them. Squeezing a story into such a shortened form is a monumental challenge, but it's a challenge that is more than met by the authors of this latest collection.  
I'm happy to announce that the 2nd volume of The Future is Short: Science Fiction in a Flash is available! *Confetti blizzard*

 Here's the press release, prepared by our fantastic TFIS crew member/ editor/ writer Carol Shetler.


THE FUTURE IS SHORT: SCIENCE FICTION IN A FLASH, Volume 2 Now Published
ISBN: 9 781514 151518 (trade paperback) Published June 3, 2015
E-book published June 11, 2015
Thirty-six authors took a leap of faith in January 2015 to contribute their stories to The Future Is Short: Science Fiction in a Flash, Volume 2. Twenty-two of them, published in the inaugural volume in June 2014, returned to present new ideas, tales and imaginative spins on specific topics in this latest edition; over a dozen of Volume 2’s contributors are new writers, many being published for the first time in this anthology. The Future Is Short: Science Fiction in a Flash, Volume 2 includes seventy-six glimpses at what the future might hold, arranged under 14 themes: among these are Apocalypse, It’s a Wonderful Life, Distance, First Contact, Unwanted Gift, Adolescence and Espionage.
The Distance theme, with ten terrific stories, examines distance in light-years or time: the authors also had to include a ship (of any kind), and a decision. Tom Tinney’s “Just Do It” lets us into the mind of a generation-ship traveler who has awakened months too soon; “Birthday” by D C Mills shows us the dilemma of the sole survivor on a far-flung outpost, when a spaceship full of other people comes calling; and Clement Chow’s “Mirrored Front-to-Back” tells of the new skill chosen by a cryogenic sleeper, awakening 150 years into his future.
For December 2014, the final section of The Future Is Short, Volume 2, the theme selected was Life Is Wonderful. Among the six stories here are J. F. Williams’ “Clarence 1.0″ which captures the theme’s essence while turning cyberbullying on its head. “Where Hides the Star of the Sea?” by Heather MacGillivray examines closer communication between humans and our animal co-habitants on this world; and Dean Hardage presents a profound solution to crime and poverty in “Buddha’s Legacy.”
Compiler and project manager Jot Russell is the author of SF thriller, Terra Forma. He also directed production of last year’s The Future Is Short: Science Fiction in a Flash, Volume 1. Editor Carol Shetler has worked on SF manuscripts for several writers, and is a lifelong SF reader and amateur astronomer. Cover artist Jessica Colvin also writes, under her pen name Ami Hart. All of them have stories in this anthology. The contributors come from all over the USA, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Jason Klassi, author of The Everyday Space Traveler, wrote a compelling foreword that highlights the book’s key themes. “When you reach the final words of each journey, you suddenly find yourself in a new place… dramatically transported into an eye-opening future.” (From the Foreword, quoted on the back cover.)
The LinkedIn monthly SF Microstory contest is the root of The Future Is Short anthologies. Volume 1’s stories were submitted during 2013; Volume 2’s from the end of 2013 through 2014. All of the authors vote to choose their one favorite story each month, and the winner’s story heads up each theme section. The monthly contest winner presents the theme for the next month’s tales.
Featuring works by: J.J. Alleson, Philo Ant, Neill Burnham, Clement Chow, Scott Michael Decker, Kalifer Deil, Rejoice Denhere, Carrol Fix, W. A. Fix, Paula Friedman, Kelly Graseck, Andrew Gurcak, Gary Hanson, Dean Hardage, Ami Hart, Thaddeus Howze, Thomas Nevin Huber, R. E. Jones, S. M. Kraftchak, Helmuth Kump, Andy Lake, EJ Lamprey, Richard S. Levine, Jeremy Lichtman, Heather MacGillivray, Andy McKell, Jeremy McLain, D C Mills, JD Mitchell, Timothy Paul, Marianne G. Petrino, Jon Ricson, Jot Russell, Carol Shetler, Tom Tinney and J. F. Williams.
Print copies of The Future Is Short: Science Fiction in a Flash, Volume 2 are available through CreateSpace, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble at a list price of $12.99 US. Smashwords has the e-book version at $3.99 US.
Amazon Link (Paperback)
Smashwords Link (Ebook)
Barnes and Noble (Paperback)

Gearing up for Nano 2014

Here we go ... NaNoWriMo is almost here, otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month. Only a week to go! 
If you are not familiar, Nano is that yearly event where you are tasked with writing 50,000 words in 30 days. I've done it two years running and won both times -- but not without making a splendid mess, naturally. 
(Whispers) "it's OK first drafts are almost always terrible". 
I'm planing to continue with my Liberty (A Fragile empire) rewrite which is sitting at 50,130 words, I'm pretty certain I have another 50,000 words in it.
Here's what I have been working on... Yes the excerpt is rather first drafty and stuff, but heck, I had a tonne of fun writing it. Yes, Nano's a blast! Check it out, maybe even try it! http://nanowrimo.org/dashboard

So, the excerpt below is from the first half, which I wrote during Camp NaNoWriMo. I'm looking forward to tackling the second half from November 1st, and hopefully by 30th November I'll be writing those wonderful words -- THE END. Then I'll have yet another first draft to clean up ... uh yeah, well...

Anyway, that aside, here's the excerpt from The fragile Empire.

 (Excerpt chapter 4) 

Ash cleared his throat, “Um, I could come back.”

“You’ve seen me practically naked now, no backsies from that, you might as well stay.”

Stay, that word definitely had a pervy undertone to it, Fleura. Are you hitting on him now?

She heard him chuckle. It was a deep sexy sound, like a purr from a motherfucking big cat. She turned clutching the front of her towel and looked at him speculatively. He looked nice, clean cut, his blond hair tufting up in long messy spikes of fun, thrown this way and that to give him a designer bed head, She gulped. His tee was classic black, with some retro design and white tube pants with grey trim. They made his legs look long, his hips narrow and his chest, just right, not broad but neither slim. Lean and trim, perfect. Her mind flew ahead of her, wrapping itself around him and throwing him into bed.

“So, get dressed, there’s something I wanted to show you,” he said breaking the spell with a genuine smile and a light conversational tone. All undertones of tension fizzled.

Fleura snapped back to friend zone reality with a cold hard thump. Her hand clutched the towel around her a little tighter. She turned and gathered some clothes — any clothes! The word idiot revolved around inside her head in garish neon red as she slid back into the bathroom cubby, frustration burning beneath her skin. Damn it.

Less than 5 minutes. Body fully covered, Face lightly painted, hair blown dry, she stalked back out into her room, feeling less than peppy. She had dressed in tights and a Mondrianesque tunic — tight geometric fun. She stepped into her one pair of pretty boots. As the faux swede adjusted, shrinking around her feet and legs, she looked up at him, expectant.

He turned toward the door with a smile and she followed. He took her straight to the sliptube. She looked at it dubiously as he silently gestured for her to enter, a small annoyingly secretive smile on his lips. 

“Where are we going?” She asked. 

“Wait and see,” came the cryptic reply.

 In most circumstances she would begin to lose patience with this sort of behavior, but he was too damn intriguing to let go now. Intelligent, rebellious, chivalrous, charming — her internal perfecto meter spazzed glowingly. He took out a small cold colored metallic card and slipped it into a slot beneath the floor buttons. The doors hissed shut and then suddenly Mr Perfection blurred before her. It felt as if her stomach had dropped into the soles of her too-expensive boots. She grabbed at the closest thing, him, and hung pathetically off his arm until she gained some still-wobbly equilibrium.

He patted her hand reassuringly. She gave him a sheepish smile and disentangled herself, explaining “I wasn’t quite ready for that.”

He replied with that small chuckle, and a smile that reached his blue, oh-so-blue eyes.

She looked past him and out the transparent door. The dark blur suddenly disappeared and her gaze plummeted into a sea of stars. Her breath shuddered, as her brain — caught in a spiral of awe-panic — tried to work out whether inhaling or exhaling was more appropriate in the circumstance.