Michaele Jordan’s ‘Afterwards’ in WordCrafter Press’ Midnight Roost Anthology

I asked fellow Midnight Roost anthology contributors to share some things about themselves prior to publication and those generous enough to do so will be appearing here for the next week or so.

Each entry gives a taste of their contribution, a little about them, how to contact them, how their story came about, and definitely a link to Midnight Roost (which you should purchase because it would make each and every one of us happy.
you do want to make us happy, don’t you?
i mean, considering what we wrote, you want us to know you’re a good person, right?).

Let’s start with a Hallowe’en-themed introduction to the anthology as a whole:

Michaela’s contribution is Afterwards. Here’s the opening:

“And you had the light?”
“Huh?” Brad stared, wondering what the officer was saying (and struggling to focus his eyes). Light? The light at the end of the tunnel? Was he near death? He felt fine.
“The light, Sir,” repeated the officer. “You had the green?”
Oh, the traffic light! “Yeah, sure. Of course.” Of course he had the light. He’d He’d have stopped if the light had been red, wouldn’t he? Obviously, he would have. He twisted his neck, trying to see past the EMT lifting him into the ambulance. He failed. “Put me down, you guys. I don’t need an ambulance. I’m fine.”

How the story came about:
I’m afraid I can’t tell you how this story came about. I just don’t remember. I got an idea somewhere or other, and I wrote it down. That happens to me a lot.

(fascinating how that happens to authors. more often than most readers would suspect, me thinks)

About Michaele Jordan:
Michaele Jordan was born in Los Angeles, bred in the Midwest, educated in Liberal Arts at Bard College and in computers at Southern Ohio College. She has worked at a kennel and a Hebrew School, AT&T and a church. She’s a bit odd. In her spare time she writes, supervised by a long-suffering husband and a couple of domineering cats.
Her credits include her period occult thriller, Mirror Maze, and a previous novel serialized in Jim Baen’s Universe, Blade Light. You will find her short stories floating around the ether-including Wizard in F&SF, Message of War in Infinite Science Fiction, and Farewell, my Miko in Visions. The Once and Future Cake is just one of her numerous stories in Buzzy Mag (Check out their website!). Horror fans might also enjoy her Blossom series in The Crimson Pact anthologies.
Her website is undergoing extensive reconstruction, but just grab your hard hat, and come on in.

Paul Kane’s ‘The White Lady’ in WordCrafter Press’ Midnight Roost Anthology

I asked fellow Midnight Roost anthology contributors to share some things about themselves prior to publication and those generous enough to do so will be appearing here for the next week or so.

Each entry gives a taste of their contribution, a little about them, how to contact them, how their story came about, and definitely a link to Midnight Roost (which you should purchase because it would make each and every one of us happy.
you do want to make us happy, don’t you?
i mean, considering what we wrote, you want us to know you’re a good person, right?).

Let’s start with a Hallowe’en-themed introduction to the anthology as a whole:

Paul’s contribution is The White Lady. Here’s the opening:

It had been a stroke of luck to find The White Lady.
The White Lady in a whiteout. A sudden blizzard that had appeared out of nowhere, forcing him off the road. Behind him, at his back in the rear-view mirror, practically chasing him. Visibility had dropped to nothing, conditions treacherous even after he slowed down, something he’d been reluctant to do. Which explained why he’d skidded and ended up veering sideways into that ditch. Why he’d had to eventually abandon the BMW, its tyres spinning uselessly like Wile E. Coyote’s legs off the side of a cliff. Everyone knew that those kinds of cars were hopeless in the snow, but then there wasn’t supposed to be any snow, was there?

Continue reading “Paul Kane’s ‘The White Lady’ in WordCrafter Press’ Midnight Roost Anthology”

Great Opening Lines – and Why! (August 2023’s Great Opening Lines)

I wrote in Great Opening Lines – and Why! (Part 3 – Some Great Opening Lines) that I’d share more great opening lines as I found them.

My last entry in this category was January 2023’s Great Opening Lines – and Why! (January 2023’s Great Opening Lines) which covered Lidia Yuknavitch’s‘s The Chronology of Water. This entry in the Great Opening Lines – And Why! posts is Angela PanayotopulosThe Wake Up.
Continue reading “Great Opening Lines – and Why! (August 2023’s Great Opening Lines)”

Rob and Joan Carter’s MEET THE AUTHOR interview Snippet 4 – Current Titles

I mentioned Rob and John Carter and I chatting on their MEET THE AUTHOR show in previous blog posts.

This post is the fourth in a series of thirteen snippets taken from the full interview video. You can also listen to the interview via podcast

Today’s snippet deals with my currently available titles (both wholly mine, anthologies I appear in, fiction and non-fiction).

I mean, that’s what’s happened with The Alibi, and that’s turning into one heck of a piece.

Enjoy!

 

John Haas’ “Spider Dance” now in Rabbit Hole V anthology

I’m lucky enough to have my work included in The Rabbit Hole Volume 5: Just…Plain…Weird anthology along with quite a group of talented authors. I especially love the teaser

Welcome to the Rabbit Hole. On our fifth excursion into the warren of the odd, 37 authors lead us down their own little burrows of strangeness : an army of penguins, music that cures, aliens that communicate through old cartoons, images of the future that save, unwanted visions of the now, and, oh yes, it is raining lawyers. All have one thing in common, they are just…plain…weird.
Weird can be funny, weird can be sad, weird can be thoughtful, weird can be mad, but the one thing in common is that weird shares experiences you have, thankfully, never had.
Just be careful, all little bunnies are not nice, but they are memorable.

 
About the Author
John Haas is a Canadian author living in Ottawa with his two wonderful sons, who give him plenty of motivation to succeed. In 2018 his story Damned Voyage won 3rd place in the Writers of the Future contest. His The Reluctant Barbarian trilogy is published by Renaissance Press, while his latest novel, Cults of Death and Madness is published by Wordfire Press.

 
How the stories came about? Continue reading “John Haas’ “Spider Dance” now in Rabbit Hole V anthology”