Release: Renewal – Queer Sci-Fi’s annual flash fiction anthology

September 13, 2017September 27, 2018 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

For the last two years, I’ve written a 300-word long story for Queer Sci-Fi’s annual flash fiction anthology, and I did so this year too. Every year it’s a different topic, the first year I participated it was Discovery, the second it was Flight, and this year it’s Renewal. Today it’s release day! Renewal is an anthology including 110 speculative stories from different authors.

If you’re in to flash fiction, check it out!

QSF has a new book out, the latest in our series of flash fiction anthologies:

Re.new.al (noun)

1) Resuming an activity after an interruption, or
2) Extending a contract, subscription or license, or
3) Replacing or repairing something that is worn out, run-down, or broken, or
4) Rebirth after death.

Four definitions to spark inspiration, a limitless number of stories to be conceived. Only 110 made the cut.

Thrilling to hopeful, Renewal features 300-word speculative fiction ficlets about sexual and gender minorities to entice readers.

Welcome to Renewal.

Mischief Corner Books (info only) | Get book here | Goodreads

Excerpt

Because these stories are only 300 words each, we’re not supplying long excerpts, but here are the first lines of several of the stories. Enjoy!

“Griselda pulled the weeds from between the rows of Valerianella locusta plants in the garden, careful not to disturb the buds that would grow into the babies that were her only real income-producing crop.” —The Witches’ Garden, by Rie Sheridan Rose

“I didn’t know how truly the world was in trouble until I went journeying to look for Anisette’s bluebonnets.” —Bluebonnets, by Emily Horner

“The ship’s drive malfunctioned at the worst possible time.” —The Return, by Andrea Speed

“Before we continue, there’s a rather macabre fact about me I should share.” —Rejuvenation, by Christine Wright

“When I died they buried me at the bottom of the garden and returned to the fields.” —Below the Hill, by Matthew Bright

“The world is ending and I can’t look away from your eyes.” —Sunrise, by Brigitte Winter

““Losing one’s superpowers to your arch nemesis sucks donkey nuts, I tell ya. And trust me when I say I suck a lot of them.” —Rainbow Powers, by Dustin Karpovich

“The day I was born again was damp, rainy—a good day for rebirth, all things considered.” —The Birthing Pod, by Michelle Browne

“Intwir’s twelve eyes roved over the container, taking in the cracked outer lock and the elasticated fabric stretched tightly over its exterior.” —In a Bind, by S R Jones

“‘You’ve reached Androgyne HelpLine. Press one to start service. Press two to interrupt or cancel service. Press three—’” —Auto-Renew, by Ginger Streusel

“The doctor tells me that my wife is dying, but I already know.” —I Will Be Your Shelter, by Carey Ford Compton

“‘San Francisco was the first to go dark, followed by Los Angeles.’” —When Light Left, by Lex Chase

“My fingers lingered on the synthetic skin, trailing soft patterns across my work.” —Miss You, by Stephanie Shaffer

Included Authors

‘Nathan Burgoine
A.M. Leibowitz
A.M. Soto
Abby Bartle
Aidee Ladnier
Alexis Woods
Andi Deacon
Andrea Felber Seligman
Andrea Speed
Andrea Stanet
Anne McPherson
Bey Deckard
Brigitte Winter
Carey Ford Compton
Carol Holland March
Carrie Pack
Catherine Lundoff
CB Lee
Christine Wright
Colton Aalto
Daniel Mitton
Dustin Blottenberger
Dustin Karpovich
E R Zhang
E.J. Russell
E.W. Murks
Ell Schulman
Ellery Jude
Eloreen Moon
Elsa M León
Emily Horner
Eric Alan Westfall
F.T. Lukens
Fenrir Cerebellion
Foster Bridget Cassidy
Ginger Streusel
Hannah Henry
Irene Preston
J. Alan Veerkamp
J. P. Egry
J. Summerset
J.S. Fields
Jaap Boekestein
Jackie Keswick
Jana Denardo
Jeff Baker
Jenn Burke
Joe Baumann
John Moralee
Jon Keys
Jude Dunn
K.C. Faelan
Kelly Haworth
Kiterie Aine
Kristen Lee
L M Somerton
L. Brian Carroll
L.M. Brown
L.V. Lloyd
Laurie Treacy
Leigh M. Lorien
Lex Chase
Lia Harding
Lin Kelly
Lloyd A. Meeker
Lyda Morehouse
M.D. Grimm
Martha J. Allard
Mary E. Lowd
Matt Doyle
Matthew Bright
Mia Koutras
Michelle Browne
Milo Owen
Mindy Leana Shuman
Naomi Tajedler
Natsuya Uesugi
Nephy Hart
Nicole Dennis
Ofelia Gränd
Patricia Scott
Paul Stevens
PW Covington
R R Angell
R.L. Merrill
Rebecca Cohen
Redfern Jon Barrett
Reni Kieffer
Richard Amos
RL Mosswood
Robyn Walker
Rory Ni Coileain
Rose Blackthorn
Ross Common
S R Jones
Sacchi Green
Sarah Einstein
Shilo Quetchenbach
Siri Paulson
Soren Summers
Stephanie Shaffer
Steve Fuson
Tam Ames
Terry Poole
Tray Ellis
Vivien Dean
Wendy Rathbone
Xenia Melzer
Zen DiPietro
Zev de Valera

Friday Reads: Down South

September 8, 2017February 12, 2019 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

Friday again and this week I actually read something. I picked up Down South by C.E. Kilgore a week or so ago – what girl doesn’t want to read about a post-apocalyptic cowboy??

I really liked the first half of the story. We got to see the apocalypse happen, and maybe I read the wrong kinds of books, but most often we are thrown into a world where the apocalypse already has taken place. I liked that we got to be there, I liked the characters and the way the story built, but then when the end came I felt a little cheated. There are more books in this series but they’re all stand-alones so it won’t be of Gabe and Liam and the others.

***spoiler***

I’m just bitching now, but I have to let it out. I did like the story, but those who know me know I can’t stand too sweet and this turned into way too sweet for me. You know in the college movies when the guy tells the girl he loves her and the entire audience in huge stadium get to their feet to applaud him? I turn off the TV when that happens, can’t stand it, would rather shoot myself in the foot than endure it, and I’m sad to say that there I was enjoying myself out on the ranch when suddenly the shooting myself in foot moment came. I’m not saying that to be mean, I, in fact, think it can be an asset because the average reader loves a big love declaration with a clapping audience. I, on the other hand, was hoping for the neighbours to attack…

Now don’t get me wrong, I really liked this story, and I might pick up another book or two in the series. If you like a cowboy getting his boy despite being out of electricity and working cars, this is the story for you!

books2read.com/DownSouth

Where do you want to be when the world ends?

An apocalyptic M/M Romance. Electricity is gone. Society is on its knees. The heart’s compass becomes the light in the darkness.

Gabe’s a Texas rancher who’s always kept part of himself on a separate paddock from his ranch hands and the small town of Post. When your hometown’s population is barely over five-thousand, chances are high you’re the only gay man for miles, and that coming out would do more harm than good. When the power goes out, a very lost and very far from home man named Liam stumbles onto his land. Stuck on the wrong side of the pond with no way home, Liam, a writer for a British travel magazine, struggles with culture shock. Gabe struggles to save his cattle from the apocalypse, and to ignore the attractive Liam’s obvious interest in more than friendship.

About the Heart’s Compass series:
Our heart has its own compass. It knows where we should be heading, even if the rest of us doesn’t. Through loss and love, our heart’s compass guides us through life, often to somewhere completely unexpected. When the world ends, the heart’s compass of several people has them headed in directions they may have never traveled otherwise.

Each book in the series is a stand-alone, novella-length story, but is written within the same fictional setting in which the Earth has just been struck with several massive solar flares. All modern technology has been rendered inoperable. Cars, computers, city infrastructure, phones – all gone in an instant and without warning. In the days directly following the end of the modern world, people must learn to depend on each other, and on their heart’s compass, if they hope to survive.

* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Friday Reads| Dear Mona Lisa

August 11, 2017February 12, 2019 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

There are many things that are great about being a writer but one of the absolute greatest is having author friends. Not only are they someone you can swap ideas with or ask for help, you also get to take part of their writing process. I was there when Dear Mona Lisa… by Claire Davis and Al Stewart was born, I read it when it when it was a draft, and then again when it was finished, and tomorrow I’ll get to see it published.

I’m almost more excited about my friends’ release dates than I am about my own, perhaps because I have greater expectations on theirs.

Dear Mona Lisa… is another favourite (though I think Shut Your Face, Anthony Pace! always will be number one for me) and I was snivelling every time I read it despite knowing exactly what would happen.

Tom steals my heart, as do the foxes. I love that every dawn has a colour, that Tom has shitty parents that despite being shitty are great grandparents and that his ex-wife was his best friend at six-years-old and at forty. There is no black and white – there are apricot yellows, fizzy orange, flooding pink, but also purple rage, yellow shame, sickly yellow, midnight blue, scarlet, and scattered silver. There are foxes and birds and stomach cramps. And Love. Love for a friend, for a partner, for an ex-wife, for a husband, a lost son, and a daughter.

This book shouldn’t be missed!

books2read.com/DearMonaLisa

Tom, shy office clerk by day and drawer of foxes by night wakes up one Monday knowing the most extraordinary week of his life is about to begin. In five days time a lifelong ‘secret’ will be made gloriously public—but will it mean losing the person he loves most?

Getting married…

It seems like only yesterday Tom changed nappies and sang nursery rhymes to a laughing baby. He relishes the demands of being a daddy; especially teaching his little girl to draw and paint as she grows up.
But the years tick by and times change. Long-buried secrets must come to the surface which may test even the strongest ties.

Tom and Lawrence…

He writes a list of all the things he has to do before the weekend and sticks it in the middle of his wall. The names and goals hang like threads of a spider’s web, inevitably leading to the centre, and all to the same place.

Dear Mona Lisa…

How to explain?
Each morning he notes the colours of dawn, listens to the birds and waits for the perfect moment. In one hand rests the balance of life and a terrible responsibility, in the other a wedding ring. Difficult days and the past loom, but his friends rally round and one by one the words come to life.
Everyone waits as Tom finds the strength to open up and set free the secrets of his heart in a celebration of family, friendship and love.
A quirky story of modern life, set within the breathtaking landscape of Bradford.

* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.