Life-changing discoveries.
Wisdom from a woman in a mirror.
A secret experiment gone awry.
A character revising their story.
Help from unexpected quarters.
Lacy is too old to spy on her parents, but she can’t resist, until she learns something which sends her spinning from her hiding place. After disaster hits the continent, Geraldine Foster tries to prevent hatred from destroying her beloved community. Josephine and Sarah discover that they never really knew their mothers. Nancy Olsen’s desire to help her country and her attraction to the darkly handsome Julius lead her down a dangerous path.
These are just a few of the themes explored in these thirteen short stories and flash fiction pieces by emerging author Ann Stanley. Using contemporary situations, sometimes with a touch of magical realism, or future scenarios, these pieces explore our connections to ourselves and others, and ways we can overcome obstacles to lead fulfilling lives.
That’s the tentative blurb for the back cover of my new short story book.
Way back in June I had an idea. I would set my novel-writing aside and create a collection of short stories. It should be easy, I thought, since I already had a lot of material. I’d been writing short stories for shortfictionbreak.com, and I could revise a few of those, add one or two new ones, and perhaps one of the stories from Mosaic, and I’d have a neat little book, all ready to go. I could finish it in time for the Christmas season.
Wrong! Here it is, half-way through February, and the book isn’t finished. A lot of the reason, honestly, is my own fear. I seem to have to agonize over every tiny step.
Still, it’s creeping along and should be out within the next month. I’ve heavily revised almost every story. A few went through editors. The rest went through my critique group (that’s what took so long as we have a 1500 word soft limit every two weeks). And then I decided to send the “final” out to a few beta readers (which could mean more editing/changes).
I also have a cover design, and I wish I could reveal it here, but I’m still waiting on my designer to purchase the image so I can legally post the design. The title though, is (drum-roll please):
After one of the stories in the book. Bella being a tattoo artist.