The Joy of Listening

I love audiobooks.  I do a lot of traveling in my jalopy and having a book for a companion on my journeys from point A to point B is a truly wonderful thing to be transported to another place while, well, being transported to another place.  It also avoids the awful mess of flipping pages while driving which, I might add, eliminates the possibility of losing one’s place in the story.  

I just listened to an interesting collection of short stories about supernatural beings who go on vacation called, "Death's Excellent Vacation".  Hey, everyone needs a break now and again – including vampires, demons, & werewolves.  This is the third short story analogy from Charlain Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, the other’s being supernatural tales revolving around Christmas, “Wolfsbane and Mistletoe” and another that centers on vampires called, “Many Bloody Returns”.  I haven’t read / listened to those yet but after, “Death’s Excellent Vacation” I plan to track them down. 

   

As with any collection of short stories, there are some that you may like better than others but, “Death’s Excellent Vacation”, is pretty solid.  The tales that stand out in my mind are, “The Boys Go Fishing” by Sarah Smith, “Meanwhile, Far Across the Caspian Sea…” by Daniel Stashower, “The Innsmouth Nook” by A. Lee Martinez, “The Demon in the Dunes” by Chris Grabenstein, and “Home from America” by Sharan Newman.   

Grab some R & R.  Find yourself a copy and discover what your favorites are for yourself.  “Death’s Excellent Vacation” is worth the excursion.  

 

Ever After Review First Issue

The very first electronic issue of the Ever After Review is up and running.  I haven't had a chance to sit down and check it out yet but when I do this: http://www.everafterreview.com/Issues.html is where I'll look.

The Ever After Review is a great concept for short stories, flash fiction and photography.  Short fiction has taken a hit over the years with what has happened to print and the craft has suffered.  The Ever After Review is the marriage of the medium with the ever emerging world of technology.  I don't know if there is an iPhone or Android App yet but it there's not then that development is only a matter of time. 

The story will find a way to be told.  Stories have a way of doing that.  The Ever After Review is a new 'story delivery vehicle' and that's a good thing.  It is a wonderful concept and I hope this is the first of a million and two issues.

The Ever After Literary Review

I ran into something accidentally this morning on Twitter.  Someone that I follow, Mr. Dule Hill, retweeted a little blurb from something called the Ever After Review.  It turns out that they are a non-profit bi-monthly literary publication that is now asking for short and very short story submissions.  Here’s their site: http://www.everafterreview.com/Home_Page.php.  You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.  

As their homepage says, “Ever After Review is a literary journal that focuses on Fiction short stories and Flash Fiction. We accept stories from published and unpublished authors.”  That being said, Gentle Reader, I know for a fact that more than a few of you are Gentle Writers too.  I gently lifted the following from their About Us section; “Ever After Review is a new literary journal that focuses on works of short fiction (up to 5,000 words) and flash fiction (up to 1,000 words). Any genre will be considered for publication. We will accept published and unpublished authors, but we will NOT accept previously published works.

This is a non-profit journal that will be published bi-monthly. The first issue is set to release in January 2012. Each issue will vary in the quantity of stories.

The journal is free; therefore, we do not pay for stories. This is a chance to get your work known by many readers. Please use the submissions link to submit a story.”

The deadline for the January 2012 issue is December 31, 2011.  Now I ask you, how cool is that?  Very cool, indeed, says I

Happy Writing!