Graceful

Graceful is a drabble about a young woman going away to college and leaving her best friend behind.

Generous

Generous is a drabble about a little girl who is being taken against her will to visit her grandparents.

Vliet St.

We wait for him on the corner of Vliet St. She sits on a stump while I kick an old plastic bottle.

"He's late," I say.

She rolls her eyes.

The plastic crunches with another kick. I continue reading...

Steampunk Fairy Tales, Vol. II

It's here!

The second volume of Steampunk Fairy Tales is now out. It's been an honor and a privilege to work with all the talented and creative writers who have contributed to and made this anthology a reality.

You can get a copy on Amazon.

Hope you enjoy the collection!

Also we look forward to readers kindly writing reviews of the anthology and their favorite short stories, particularly if they liked "The Synth, the Stone, and the Airship."

Recharge

Beijing, Delhi, Tokyo. My body hums to vibrations of an airplane, while standing in a bright hotel room. Canberra, Singapore, Hanoi. My body knows it's night. The LED clock disagrees, continuing its advance.

The suitcase bounces on the bed.

(continue reading)

Eclipse

Light bends around darkness, weaving a cosmos on a loom beyond ken. Here and now, darkness slithers closer. It's tongue flickers toward the window of her inextinguishable soul.
Does she notice? Perception: a personal vantage. Sight and experience. Angles and patterns. On what do her gray eyes linger?
Perhaps she sees fear or awe. A child's excitement. A cherished dream from her youth reflected in your inadvertent actions, hidden in windows shuttered by shadow. continue...

Sidewalks

Sidewalks is a drabble about progress steamrolling over people.

Snowmen

Snowmen is a drabble on global warming and a old joke.

Paint

Paint is a comedic drabble about two sisters doing an art project.

Steampunk Fairy Tales

Giveaway on Goodreads!

Stubborn

Stubborn is a drabble inspired by neo-fascism.

Cappadocia

Cappadocia is a drabble about the conflict of nature and technology.

Companion

Companion was a drabble written from a dog's point of view.

Saga

Saga is a story about a little boy with a homework problem.

Steampunk Fairy Tales 2

Do you like steampunk? Fairy tales? Or free stuff? Got you covered. Steampunk Fairy Tales (Volume 1) is available on Amazon for free. Check it out.

And now for piling on more good news. Volume 2 of Steampunk Fairy Tales is undergoing the finishing touches and will be available sometime soon. Yay!

Here is a synopsis on my contribution to this collection of fairy tales gone steampunk.

The Synth, the Stone, and the Airship 

While abroad, a young architecture student prepares for a wedding to the beautiful woman of his dreams only to receive a letter of his father's grave illness from his homeland. Deciding to undertake the perilous voyage home, he is befuddled with his new bride's confounding behavior and must solve the puzzle before his one true love is lost forever.

---

Picture is copyright by HyperXP.com.

Heat Wave

Heat Wave was a drabble to a prompt and a picture of a young woman standing in a fountain.

Karaoke

Karaoke is a drabble about a business trip gone badly and a bit of revenge on the unwary.

Gone South

Gone South is a drabble response to the one word prompt: south.

Just Visiting

Just Visiting is a drabble on a New Yorker returning home for a visit.

Healthy

Healthy is a comedic drabble about friends who decide to eat a healthy lunch.

Crossroads

Crossroads is a drabble inspired by the music of Heather McEntire of Mount Moriah. It's a story of a truck driver returning home, the warp of life, and forgiveness.

The Joy of Giving

The Joy of Giving is a longer flash piece. In this one the main character is faced with a moral dilemma. In the end, she faces the fact that not all love can be measured in the same ways.

Listening to the Night

Listening to the Night is another piece written from the point of view of man's best friend.

Borrowed

Borrowed is a sad drabble about a woman who goes to break off engagement plans with her beau only to be surprised.

The Closet Door

The Closet Door is a drabble about a character facing his imagination down as to what could be inside his new closet.

Snapping Photos

Snapping Photos is a drabble about a pair of photographers caught in Ecuador during an earthquake.

Seeing Breath

Seeing Breath is a story about things not always being as they seem.

Travel Blues

Travel Blues is a drabble about the un-joy of traveling. Hope you enjoy it.

Giggle

Giggle is a drabble about a little boy and his father interacting with each other and having fun.

Bedtime

Bedtime was a funny drabble (intended to be humorous at any rate) about two sleepwalkers.

Newspaper

The drabble Newspaper is about a pair of tourists who are quite disrespectful. The MC's chooses to reply to them in Dutch.

Lake Poopó

Lake Poopó is a drabble about a lake in Ecuador that has dried up. Ecuador has declared the situation a disaster. The wildlife would surely agree.

Board Meeting

Board Meeting is a flash fiction piece about a man who has transitioned from the race to a simpler pace of life.

Outside Green

Outside Green was a drabble about a young girl who dares to dream of living.

Superstition

Superstition is the Overtru story in English.

Tricky

Tricky is a 100 word drabble about a letter that gets lost in the mail. The twist to this piece is that this piece isn't "Nicholas Sparks" and the letter provides the recipient with no closure.

Faraway

Faraway is a drabble about a homeless man.

Street Conversations

The 100-word piece Street Conversations is structured as two parallel dialogues. The characters are on the street in Victoria, B.C.

Walking William

The drabble Walking William is about a little boy in the foster care system.

Clarity

Clarity is a drabble about a young woman who decides to change her life's course.

Concealed

Concealed was a prompt drabble. The main character finds herself in an alien invasion.

Overtru

Torsn var ikke helt en mann, men han hadde ingen bekymring om gåtene i den gamle profet. Hva kunne en krøpling vet om formålet om guder? Den fillete kappe luktet av røyk. Hans ånde luktet enda mer bitter. "Torsn sønn av Turl, han har ikke deg løssluppen."

Da de kom, det hørtes ut som et steinras. Den søvnige landsbyen sto liten sjanse mot flammer og sverd. Skrik fulgt rop. Stillhet drukner stønn.

Torsn kunne ikke kjøre. Han knelte ved brann, holder den jern stangen i flammer. Hva ville hans skjebne være?

Da morderne kom inn, sto han, stangen glødende oransje.

Det er tid, fraren kråke erklært fra vinduet.

---

Photo is copyright by Ian Sanderson.
The translation to Bokmål is mine. Corrections welcomed.

Legacy

Legacy took a bit of an unplanned, poetic twist.

Handwriting

Handwriting was another awkward one-word prompt. This piece ends in an ironic twist. Hope you enjoy it.

Colorful

Colorful is a drabble about choice. The choice of being content or unhappy. The choice of seeing beauty or ugliness. The choice of living life.

Refreshing

What could be more Refreshing than a vacation at the North Pole? Swimming at the North Pole. In bikinis.

Frivolous

Frivolous was a frivolous one-word prompt. What sort of prompt is that, anyway? Anyway, I was fortunate enough to find a ridiculous photo to inspire a response to this frivolous prompt.

Help?

In the drabble, Help? the main character has some rather unusual powers, but then this piece is fantasy.

Secret

Secret is another prompt piece. The characters are two sisters. Will Madeline be able to keep Josie's big secret?

Window

Window was a Daily Post prompt. I really liked the "wrong way" picture and the lighting. The story is about the young woman reading and the shadows cast across her on the sofa: does art imitate life or is it the other way around?

Fight

Fight is a drabble. It was inspired by current events.

Curb Appeal

Curb Appeal is a drouble (200 words) that explores the darker side of human nature.

The Quest

Another lego picture prompt from Josh Mosey, The Quest. This one recalls Arthurian legend.

The Monkey's Pirate

The Monkey's Pirate is meant to be a humorous drabble and is, of course, somewhat inspired by A Horse and His Boy, by C.S. Lewis.

Dirty Brushes

Dirty Brushes is a piece about an autistic painter.

Left on a Shelf

The drabble Left of a Shelf is a dystopian piece, but I clearly drew inspiration from modern events and culture. If any of this resonates with you, you may wish to google search about the dumbing down of America.

Envy

The 100 worder, Envy, was inspired by the picture.

Ornickarr's photo brought back to me memories of walking past the open doors of the Bäckerei in München to Englischer Garten, where the warm air rushed out into the cold, wet streets enveloping me like a blanket, and my stomach growled at the delicious smells of fresh-baked pastries.

Drop

Drop is a trabble (300 words) that is set in Portland. It is about breaking out of negativity and living in the moment.

Incomplete

Incomplete is a story about a girl who stands up for herself, in a Cinderella way.

Misstep

Misstep is a piece about a blind date.

Flow

Flow is a 200 word piece about a Superhero who gets discovered by the authorities.

Secrets

Secrets is a horror drabble.


Die Geister blieb zurück in den Knochen des ausgeweideten Sanatorium. Begraben Geheimnisse, kämpfte die Verlorene ungezählte Geschichten zu verbreiten. Denn unter den Toten waren Märchenerzähler gefoltert.

Vertuschungen sind nie perfekt. Papier Aufzeichnungen verschwanden im Feuerofen . Der Nachweis gelöscht, verwelkt durch die Zeit und die öffentliche Apathie.

Ein Abschiedsbrief fand aus dem Blut das Schicksal vom Sanitätssoldat. Spuren hervorging sprechen zu einer Geschichte der grausig Schrecken.

Die Ermittler tief gegraben. Die moderne Wissenschaft traf alten Verbrechen; Luminol glühte in Schwarzlicht.

Unter verdrehten Eichen kamen die Leichen hervor. Der Erster. Dann mehr.

Geheimnisse sind Aussteiger mit Verachtung für Schloss und Schlüssel.

(Translation mine.)

Object

Object is about the verb rather than the noun. Welcome to the modern courtroom.

Contrast

Contrast is an experimental drabble that offers contrasts in multiple layers.

This is one of my personal favorites.

Dacha

Dacha is a drabble about a writer.

Screen Door

Screen Door is a response to a prompt. I found the picture first, and the story followed.

Connection

Connection is a concept drabble. I'll let this one speak for itself.

Inevitable

Inevitable is a comedic drabble about a dude who resists the need to do laundry.

Salthill

Salthill is a piece written about the picture by Giuseppe Milo. The picture was taken in Salthill near Dublin. The second inspiration was to write a piece about loss. So this one has a darker mood. The character has profound loss, but there is some sense of future hope as well.

Barista Interview

Barista Interview is a bit longer piece, a trabble of 300 words. It has a comedic twist.

Verschwinden

Vanished is a lighter drabble. It's intended to be humorous... anyway.

Fringe Motion

Fringe Motion is a concept piece. I had written this drabble and then searched for a picture to fit the mood and character. I think it came together.

Highland Park

Highland Park is a drabble dedicated to my grandfather.

Sister's Keeper

Sister's Keeper is a drabble about an old woman in a retirement home. It is in memory of my grandmother.

Focal Point

Focal Point is a 100 word drabble. The concept of this one was reality and time and how thought, consciousness, feeling, and memory shape them. When I found the picture, it all pulled together.

Dark State

Dark State is a drabble about a crackdown by the state,

Welcome Mats

Welcome Mats is a drabble on modern life. Self-importance run riot.

Winter Rain

Winter Rain is a creepy 100 word drabble. Enjoy.

The Protester

The Protester was a drabble published by The Drabble.

Athena's Hero

Athena's Hero was a drabble I wrote as a sci-fi/fantasy piece. It is about a warrior finding his inner strength, a gift from a goddess, in the middle of a battle.

She Hates Christmas

She Hates Christmas is a drabble about a kid having a public meltdown.

That Needle Is Bigger Than My Leg

That Needle Is Bigger Than My Leg is another Lego prompt drabble.

Feathers

Feathers was a free write drabble. It was from a daily prompt, but I took that in a different direction.

Friends

Friends is a drabble about two young women and their diametric pursuit of their dreams.

Thar She Blows

Thar She Blows is a drabble based on another Lego prompt.

Christmas with Stacy

Christmas with Stacy is a 100 word story from a photo prompt. The photo is a picture of a little girl, named Stacy, playing on a beach in South Africa.

The Hug

The Hug is a 200 word story about loss.