Posted in Short Stories

Passageways

A long, narrow way, typically having walls either side, that allows access between buildings or to different rooms within a building.

When you hear the word ‘passageway’ you may think of a hallway. You have one in your home: a space that is in-between. Neither here, nor there. You don’t sit down and hang out in a hallway, you travel through it into other rooms. It is what referred to as a ‘liminal space,’ a threshold between two realities.

In this case, a threshold between the room you left and the room you’re going to. Another example of a liminal space is the airport. You don’t hang out in the airport on purpose, you travel through it in order to go from one destination to another.

In the same way the upcoming Passageways anthology is a hallway between different worlds. One of those doors opens to the universe of The Fae Child Trilogy, to a short story that I have written to give you a taste of what you can experience in my full-length book. Once you step out of my story you will find another door open to you, perhaps the one into the universe of The Faoii Chronicles (pronounced “fa-YEE”). Written by the very talented Tahani Nelson, her story will transport you into a world of warrior women and magic.

Another few doors might take you into the science fiction realms of Evan Graham, or S. E. Soldwedel, or to Susan Hamilton’s urban fantasy universe. The beauty of Passageways is that you don’t have to only travel from one place to another, you can go to all of the different destinations that are connected through this liminal literary space.

Once you get a feel for each writer’s style and book series, you can move more fully into their ‘universe’ and read their full-length novels. I am very happy to have been invited to take part in the inaugural edition of Passageways, and I hope you will pick up a copy once it is published at the end of the year.

Posted in Fiction, Short Stories

Writing Fairy Stories

a second-person tiny adventure

I have been writing choose-your-own-adventure type stories on a well-known message board for longer than I’d like to admit. (Mainly because they’re still ongoing and I haven’t managed to finish one yet!) The current political climate/global pandemic has been a muse killer, and I haven’t been writing much.

Of course, I’ve edited Fae Child and done a lot of ‘marketing’ for its release. Which is to say, I’ve done a lot of staring at my laptop and pretending I know what I’m doing. And yet, regardless of all that, I wish to always be creating NEW stories. It’s the spark for creating something new out of the ether that has been hard to grasp lately, so I have been dipping my toes into the creative water, so to speak.

Writing something new, and yet familiar. Something collaborative (with the ‘players’ who read along on the message board and vote on options at different points in the story), and with an ENDPOINT so I don’t just ramble on for a year or so.

And so, Adventures in Winter was created, a story set in the Fae Child universe. And you can read the results on my Ko-Fi! I will be posting the story of Treadle, a Winter fairy/pixie who has more bravado than brains and is on an EPIC QUEST to find their kinfolk, Pan, and possibly recover a long lost magical item. Will they succeed? Will they die?! It’s up in the air at this point.

Follow along on Ko-Fi, and I hope you enjoy.

Posted in Publishing, Short Stories

DECEPTION: coming soon

img_3536I didn’t announce it on my blog (update a blog? they’re for staring at, not writing on, obvously) but I have a short story coming out in an upcoming anthology! DECEPTION: A Writing Bloc anthology is accepting preorders now. It is $2.99 for an ebook and the collection will download on Halloween.

My story is titled “The Cleansing,” and it is about a young couple in a maybe-haunted house, and the elderly medium they hire to rid them of whatever presence has lodged itself in their home.

Obviously you’ll buy it just for my contribution, but there are 23 other authors involved and all the stories are great! Paperback edition will be coming, but for now pick up the ebook! You won’t regret it.

Posted in Publishing, Scattered Thoughts, Short Stories

time to write

Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month, for the uninitiated) is fast approaching! I am going to take part this year and write the sequel to Fae Child, The Furious Host. I have it all mapped out I just need to light a fire under my butt and get to work. Hopefully Nanowrimo will help! (add me as “jainhollie” to track my progress!)

DECEPTION! an anthology by Writing Bloc will be published very soon – my short story “The Cleansing” is in it and I am very proud to be included with some of my favorite up-and-coming authors. “The Cleansing,” is about a young couple with differing opinions on the paranormal, and the elderly medium they’ve hired to exorcise their home.

I will share the preorder link as soon as it’s available! There are 24 short stories in the anthology, and you’ll be able to buy it as an ebook or a paperback. And, if it needs to be said, DECEPTION! is not a children’s book.

Thanks for reading!