Love Stories: Short stories

When I was in the eighth grade, I had a poem published in a literary book. My mom recently visited and brought me a copy of the book. Inside was another entry I'd submitted (a short story) which I actually like much more than the poem that was selected, so I thought I'd share it with you! To be fair, I have retyped it word for word, including typos (these were the days before spell check, after all!).

ATTACK!

The black and white kitten entered the room and found a bright orange ball of yarn across the floor waiting for him. The kitten approached it slowly and cautiously and became less sure of himself with every step. He laid on his stomach, crouched down very low, waiting for the right moment. The ball, about one foot away from the kitten, stood still, waiting for the exact time the kitten would strike. The small feline edged closer to the ball of orange yarn and stared continuosly at it. Suddenly the ball moved away from the kitten and he leaped to the side. He was breathing very hard now and his heart beat rapidly. The kitten, once again, dared to move toward the orange ball with constant awareness of all about him. His ears were perked and his hair stood straight on end as a quiver ran down his spine.

The ball looked innocent, as if unaware of him, but he would not be fooled by an orange ball. He know that this yarn knew exactly when he would strike and so he decided he must trick it. He walked slowly around the ball as if to surround it. The orange ball of yarn looked at the kitten with beady eyes as if to say, "You'll never get me! I'm too good for you!" He knew this look, for he had seen it many times before, but he knew he must conquer this yarn, for he was the king.

He continued on around the object and hissed fiercely. Finally, he knew the right moment had come. He leaped high into the air with all his strength and landed with a crash on the small orange ball. Alas! A small string of yarn came bleeding out of the orange ball and he stood tall on the wounded yarn, for he knew he had won!

Then suddenly, the ball was lifted onto the forbidden shelf and he was alone again. So on the carpet he laid, and rested his eyes while he basked in his victory.

The utterly fabulous Shannon Mayer has put together a promotion so simple and full of awesome that I am bursting at the seams to share it with you! *squee*

With this contest, there is something for everyone and it’s SO simple to be in on the winning!

On November 28 and/or 29, purchase 1 or all 4 of the debut authors' books listed here. Then forward proof of purchase (the receipt Amazon sends you will do just fine) to motionsrider@yahoo.ca and get up to 4 entries into a draw for a $100 Amazon gift card!

It’s that easy: no reviews, no hoops to jump through. Just a great .99 book or two. Or three or four. AND, if the person who wins the $100 Amazon Gift Card has purchased all 4 books, an additional $25 Amazon Gift Card will be awarded to the winner!

On top of that, 2 random commenters picked from 2 of our participating blogs will receive $5 gift Amazon gift cards. So be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think of the promo, the books, or the authors. Don't forget a contact email in your comment in case you win!

Winners will be chosen randomly. One entry per person, per book.

All winners will be announced on December 7^th on Shannon's site Wringing Out Words.

So without further ado (what is ado, really? LOL), here are the four books in the order Shannon gave them to me (just in case you thought I was vain for putting mine first):

It just figures that the love of Lindsey Water's life isn't alive at all, but the grim reaper, complete with a dimpled smile, and Scottish accent.

After transporting souls to heaven for the last 300 years, Aiden MacRae has all but given up on finding the one whose love will redeem him and allow him entry through the pearly gates.

Torn between her growing attraction to Aiden and heaven's siren song, Lindsey must learn the hard way whether love really can transcend all boundaries.

Available from Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iBooks. Prefer a paperback? Order your personalized copy using the widget in the upper right corner of this blog.

When darkness falls, whose side will you be on?

For the past six years, Zoë has been anything but “normal.” Struggling to accept her immortality and thrown into a war that’s been waging in the shadows for over a thousand years, Zoë must now become who she was meant to be, joining the other Chosen to save what’s left of humanity. When the endless night falls over the Earth, will she be able to save the one man who reminds her of what it is to be human, or will it be too late?

Until Dawn: Last Light is a story of death and despair, love and longing, hope and hopelessness, and the ability to survive and keep going even when it seems impossible – when you want nothing more than to give up.

Grab your copy of Until Dawn: Last Light on Amazon for only 99 cents to be entered in the drawing!

A stranger enters a dying town and makes a desperate plea…

The Kayson Cycle introduces the Kayson Brothers, a pair of faith healers who once wowed crowds in a traveling show but went their separate ways after a night in which a healing took a dark turn. Jeffrey Kayson disappeared into the wilderness and William Kayson, wracked by guilt, moved to the failing mining town of Calico Hills to build a nice, quiet life – one that has lasted for over ten years.

His quiet, predictable life crumbles when a mysterious stranger walks into his tavern bearing a proposal to find his long-lost brother and do the one thing that William has sworn to never do again - have his brother heal a woman. William soon learns that he can’t escape his family – or his destiny.

Includes an exclusive sample chapter of The Corridors of the Dead. Please note that this is a Kindle Single, and around 6,000 words in length.

The Kayson Cycle is available from Smashwords, Amazon or Barnes & Noble for less than a buck!

A miracle drug, Nevermore, spreads like wildfire throughout the world allowing people to eat what they want, and still lose weight. It is everything the human population has ever dreamed of and Mara is no different. Only a simple twist of fate stops her from taking Nevermore.

As the weeks roll by, it becomes apparent that Nevermore is not the miracle it claimed. A true to life nightmare, the drug steals the very essence that makes up humanity and unleashes a new and deadly species on the world that is bent on filling its belly. Locked down within their small farm home, Mara and her husband Sebastian struggle against increasingly bad odds, fighting off marauders and monsters alike.

But Sebastian carries a dark secret, one that more than threatens to tear them apart, it threatens to destroy them both and the love they have for each other.

Now Mara must make the ultimate choice. Will she live for love, or will she live to survive?