The second book is titled Campfire Stories. No real significance to the title, except that I could see some of these stories being told at night, around a campfire.
I've been seriously writing since 1977, the day after I saw Star Wars. I had actually started in '75, but I don't like to talk about the Space: 1999 fics I wrote. Let's just say they were...not of acceptable quality. Thankfully all copies were lost.
Despite all the writing and submitting, I wasn't published until 2005. Lightning struck twice and I was published again in 2005. I had started to think my luck was starting to change.
I wasn't published again until 2009, then again in 2010.
Anyone who writes knows the frustration of getting rejection slips. The first ones I received were devestating. Over the years, they came to mean nothing to me. Whenever I received one, my only thought would be, "Your loss."
After a while, though, it got frustrating. So I decided to take a different course.
That's what led me to publish With Eyes Open... on Lulu and Campfire Stories on Smashwords.
The eight stories in Campfire Stories aren't arranged in the order I wrote them. Instead, they're arranged in the order they occur in the history of my fictional universe. All the stories and novels take place in the same universe, in one consistent time life running from thirteen-point-eight billion years plus one day ago to about the year 7784. There are two stories that weren't included. The first, titled "Wanderer" is actually the first part of a novel so I decided to leave it out of this collection. The second, titled "Brianna and the Three" is in no condition to be published anywhere. It needs a lot of work and will probably be included in another collection...once I get more stories completed.
The stories are both science fiction and fantasy, so there should be something for everyone...
1) "The End of Seconds": One of the questions that has yet to be answered is, what happened before the Big Bang. I was thinking about this, along with the story of Genesis. This story deals with the end of one universe, the beginning of the next and answers the annoying question, so where did God come from? (I can accept an omniscent being powerful enough to create all of existence with the snap of his fingers...but all beings, including all powerful ones, had to come from somewhere.)
2) "Games of Life and Cold": At one time, I had planned to write about a race of genetically engineered soldiers invading Earth. This story was going to be part of the backstory. I had planned to write more about these characters but never had the chance. It's the story of a planetary explorations/first contact that goes terribly wrong.
3) "If You Listen Softly...": A what-if story, something I tried for the feel of a Twilight Zone episode. What if you woke up one morning and found things different from the day before...and you were the only one who realized it? Something to make you go...huh?
4) "All My Yesterdays, Remembered": What if you best friend turned out to be more than you ever expected?
5) "Symmetry": She woke up on a subway with no memory of how she got there. Just what is going on...and who is the Conductor?
6) "Signpost": Back into the realm of science fiction for a story about discovery. Who were the Mengharans? What was the purpose of their Solids?
7) "Last Light": Essentially a hostage crisis set in the last twenty-second century. You'll be seeing these characters again.
8) "The Shape of the Truth": Like "Wanderer", this was part of a larger work. Unlike "Wanderer", it had nothing to do with the rest of the novel. So I pulled it out, polished it up and included it here. It's the story of Dari Loq, a shape-changing investigator as she searches for another of her people. You'll be seeing Dari again, too.
At the moment, Campfire Stories is only available on Smashwords. It's been approved for inclusion in their Premium Catalog, so it'll be distributed to other outlets. I'll let you know when and where.
For now, you can find Campfire Stories at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/308397
So that's all for now. I do have other completed stories that I'm getting ready to submit. Watch here for more.
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