Category: Stories

Gotta Go!

Glad you could join us for the next grueling episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot G
Photo credit Grayson Hartman

Deep in the underbrush, Elliot finally stopped to rest. Sweat dripped from his eye stalks down the back of his neck, trickling under the front edge of his shell. “Great,” he muttered, “now I’ll get an itchy salt rash, and I won’t even be able to scratch it.”

An exotically accented, soft female voice emerged from the undergrowth ahead. “It is soundink to me as if you are needink a friend — a vife, perhaps.”

Curious, Elliot stretched his neck toward the sweet sound. “Who’s there?” he asked hopefully.

But when the leaves parted, Elliot’s eyes bulged in terror.

Continue reading “Gotta Go!”

Frantic Food

Glad you could join us for the next fiendish episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot F
Photo credit: Mike Shaw

“Wait! Wait!” Elliot screamed.

The bird belonging to the beak above him jerked back in alarm. “What?! What?!”

“Please,” Elliot begged, “please let me go! Surely you can’t have rescued me from that spinning siren just to eat me? Please! I implore you, have mercy!”

Continue reading “Frantic Food”

Everybody Eats

Glad you could join us for the next extreme episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot E
Photo credit: Wes Lum

From the shadows of Elliot’s mind, came a whistling chirp. “Is this what dying sounds like?” he wondered idly as darkness stole over his eyes and his body rose above the coarse black rocks. “If it weren’t for the squeezing sensation, I would think this was an out-of-body experience.” Continue reading “Everybody Eats”

A to Z Fiction, Anyone?

Quill
A writer’s word is never done… (Photo credit: S.T. Ranscht)

How many writers are creating fictional stories for the #AtoZChallenge this year? Are you? Have you come across someone whose stories you’d like to share?

Continue reading “A to Z Fiction, Anyone?”

Boldly Going

Glad you could join us for the next beguiling episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot B
Photo credit: S.T. Ranscht

Feeling an itch for excitement in the very soul of his single-footed self, Elliot forged a path up the hill that stretched further than even his fully extended eyes could see.

As his muscles, undulating beneath his glimmering skin, drove him ever forward, the sun rolled lazily across the sky, slowly stirring the air in its wake to blow a warm dry breath over his streamlined form, mocking his efforts with the very real threat of dehydration. His confidently rapid gait struggled against the parching wind and the thirst it left behind, and his progress slowed to the pace of a sleeping sloth.

A dark tendril of doubt crept over the crest of this endless uphill landscape. Should he admit defeat and turn back? Can a person ever go home again?

Continue reading “Boldly Going”

Adventure!

Elliot A
Photo credit: S.T. Ranscht

Elliot couldn’t escape his previous cramped quarters quickly enough. Sparing them one brief backward glance, he raced off to seek adventure and fortune. And who knew? Maybe even romance.

To be continued…

Next time . . .

“Wait a minute. That’s it? That’s all? You call yourself a writer?” You, feeling cheated by such brevity.

Yes, that’s it, that’s all, and I do call myself a writer, thank you very much. But I want you to get your money’s worth be happy, so I’m offering you a twofer.

Continue reading “Adventure!”

Happy Hulloween!

tohullback2016frontcover
One of my stories is in this book! (Am I allowed to be this excited?)

To Hull and Back 2016 is now available!

The To Hull and Back 2016 Short Story Competition Anthology contains a humorous short story by yours truly! (It also contains 19 other short-listed humorous stories as well as 1 each by the 9 authors who judged the competition — it is an anthology, after all.)

It’s immediately available in print for $12.99 (£10.61), as an ebook for $6.49 (£8.99), and as a PDF for $4.88 (£3.99), so you can judge for yourself. I’d love to know what you honestly think about the anthology in whole or in part. Yes, even my part.

I’ve read the Grand Prize winner’s and the available portion of the Second Prize winner’s on Amazon, and I’m familiar with mine, so I think I’m not risking my credibility to tell you there are probably as many styles of humorous writing showcased here as there are authors.

Please take a look, and consider purchasing a copy for yourself or someone you know who appreciates good writing and likes to laugh. Thanks very much!