Awards!

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Awards Season is Here!

No, it’s not time for the Oscar’s or anything normal people care about.  I’m talking about the extremely niche category of mystery short story awards.  The Short Fiction Mystery Society, a volunteer-lead group of short fiction writers annually hosts the Derringer Awards.  Any member is welcome to submit a short story that has been published in the previous year in four categories.  The stories are judged by volunteers from the society membership and ranked on a standardized score card.

The Rage Cage

While novels are my primary format for writing, periodically I do try to stretch my skills and do some short story writing. The format is different and it makes it much easier to try out some different genres. This year I only submitted one of my short stories – The Rage Cage.  It’s a brisk little story about re-evaluating life, questioning self-narratives, Chuck Norris, and of course… revenge.  It’s also about the manager of a Rage Cage, a business that allows you to suit up and go smash whatever you want. Mostly it was a chance to try out the Rural Noir genre and write a story about telling yourself the right kind of personal narrative.  The year that I helped judge I was impressed by both the quality and the variety of stories and I know that the story I submitted is up against some tough competition. However, judging for the Derringer’s runs from February through March, so I know I’ve got until April to find out if my story picks up a nod.

Anthology Awards

However, in a break from previous tradition, this year the SFMS is trying a new award for anthologies and Larceny & Last Chances, the anthology containing The Rage Cage has been listed as a finalist.  With 56 anthologies nominated, getting to the finalist stage is pretty impressive, and I’m extremely happy for all of the authors and our editor, Judy Penz Sheluk. Final awards for the anthologies will also be in announced in April, so send some thoughts and prayers our way. In the meantime, if you’re interested in checking out some award-worthy short stories check out Larceny & Last Chances!

Larceny & Last Chances: https://amzn.to/3xUNg7Z

Sometimes it’s about doing the right thing. Sometimes it’s about getting even. Sometimes it’s about taking what you think you deserve. And sometimes, it’s your last, best, chance. 

Alekos!

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Alekos Now Available!

Whew!  I’ve made it to summer and the final (for now) book of my Rejects Pack trilogy.  Alekos wraps up the storyline started in the books 1 and 2 (Hudson & Killian) in what I hope is a satisfactory conclusion.  Hint: I’m trying to tell you there’s a Happily Ever After without giving away any spoilers.

Challenges

This series tested my creativity in quite a few ways.  I actually started Alekos first and then went back and wrote the first two installments.  This created a challenge in that the first two books were therefore more honed in to their themes and where they had to end up in order for book three to make sense. But that also meant that I had to a fair bit of editing on Alekos in order to make all the little plot jigsaw pieces line up.

I also started it during the pandemic and then was faced with the decision to include or not include the pandemic in the text. I ended up choosing to include it but with only light mentions rather than as a plot point.  One of the most curious things about the 1918 Influenza epidemic is that it seemed virtually unmentioned in fiction of the time.  It was certainly influential as a theme, but most of us haven’t ever read a story that features masks or other remnants of that outbreak.  When that was first pointed out, I couldn’t understand why.  It seems notable and worth a short story or two to try and capture the moment.  I did write one Covid piece of short fiction based on the drag races that sprang up during the lock downs (Fireball Rolled a Seven – Crimecucopia Funny Ha Ha edition), but writers have seen very sharp opinions from readers about mentioning the pandemic in novels mostly they don’t like it.  Reading is for escape and bringing Covid back into the escapist fantasy isn’t always wanted.  However, it was one of the hurdles my heroine had to overcome, so I left it in without dwelling on it. Hopefully, readers now have had enough distance that seeing a mention of a mask in fiction won’t send them scurrying for the door.

What to Expect

But I think I rose to meet the challenges of crafting a Indiana Jones / The Mummy inspired series that gives magical new worlds, globe trotting adventures, and mythological beings, archaeological mysteries, and one very pissed off ancient Egyptian mummy(ish) person. And I can’t wait for readers to be able to share the complete (for now) adventures of the Rejects Pack.

Buy Now: https://amzn.to/3l32CAL

Learn more: Supernaturals

About Alekos:

Alpha wolf, Alexander Ash has forged a family dedicated to finding a cure for the magical wasteland that has stretched across Greece since the devastating Night of 1000 deaths. But on the brink of finally being able to right the wrongs fate has dealt, Alex meets translator Eliandra Smith and finds himself called to her in a way he can’t explain. But as Lia is swept into Alex’s world of mystical beings, magic, and deadly ancient wars, they soon discover that she is tied more closely to his past that she could have imagined. And Alex discovers she might also be the one thing that can kill them all.

 

 

Rejects Pack Trilogy

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