On June 1, I’m going to be releasing a short fiction collection called Living and Dying. It will contain eight stories, totaling approximately 5,000 words.
The centrepiece of the collection is a short story called Saucer that I originally wrote back in 2004 (give or take a year; it was a long time ago!). Since I originally wrote it, I’ve edited and rewritten portions of it several times, but this time it’s finally complete, and I am satisfied that it conveys what I want it to convey. Saucer is a sci-fi story about a man who has been imprisoned for dissension against the government, and I’m really proud of it. I think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written.
I’m also including the first example of a new format I’ve created called the 555, where I take a story title and write three different stories for it, one that’s only 5 words, one that’s 50 words, and one that’s 500 words. In Trust No Gun, the three stories aren’t directly related to one another, but in the future I’m hoping to experiment with using the three stories to support or expand on one another in interesting ways.
The rest of the stories are edited and expanded versions of things I’ve posted to SixMinuteStory.com and TypeTrigger.com over the past month or two. These two websites have really kick-started my creativity, and they’re the reason I decided to finally get out there and start releasing some of my non-fifty-word-story writing. Check the sites out and see what comes through your keyboard!
I hope some of you are as excited to read my stories as I have been to write them and prepare them for release. It’s a fun experience!
I’m going to have a special offer or two available either upon release, or shortly prior to it. There will be opportunities both for you to get free stuff, and to help me out with spreading the word, so stay tuned for that.