Anyway, Sanctioned Shadows is FREE in all Kindle markets until March 6, 2017. Some stories in this book are around 5 years old others are more recent. There is a maturity in this collection of stories as opposed my other story collections. Many I have tweaked and tweaked again until I felt they were the best I could possibly do (and I had to beat down Negative Nancy as she always like to say my stories are boring and suck).
Sanctioned Shadows is a collection of 15 stories that explore humanity's dark side. When I began to collect and write stories for this short story collection, I had plans of calling the collection "Depravity" but the title, Sanctioned Shadows, popped in my head and I think it fits better.
Let's take a closer look at each of the 15 tales.
"Train Number 9" This is one of my favorite stories in the collection. It was inspired by a true event, of a man beating another man with a hammer on a Septa train. However, the story is pure fiction. Centered around this one event, the story unfolds from different points of view of the other passengers, the victim and the beater.
"A Fresh Start" In this flash fiction story, Enola is homeless and gets s job as a phone sex operator but things don't work out. And then she makes a decision to change her life.
"Lifeboat" This is a story of guilt, obsession and suicide. Amanda's toxic relationship with her best friend, Andy comes to an end when he kills himself. Amanda weaves the backstory with how she is feeling after she learns of his suicide.
"Songbird's Last Delivery" Tim is a gay high school senior who prefers to stay in the proverbial closet until college. That is until Caleb, star baseball player, assaults him. As mild-mannered Tim tries to prevent another assault, he does something that can never be taken back.
"Gunpoint" Former addict and drug dealer, Easter Jackson, is in a pickle when she recognizes the guy who robs her at gunpoint at the store she works at. The guy is her longtime crush and she doesn't turn him in. Easter's voice is unique and memorable and you can't help but to root for everything to turn out for Easter.
"A Place for You" Timid the leprechaun joins a midget fight club to earn money.
"Sam's Slumber Party" Samara is a loyal employee that is until she takes her colleagues hostage on the overnight shift. Even the sweet ones snap at one time or another.
"Saturation" Lia is a divorced woman who decides to skinny dip one summer night at the local lake. But Lia comes to realize what happiness is a little too late.
"Letting Go of Steffi" Chip Waters is obsessed with Steffi, the rich girl next door, and this affects his future lovers. And then one day, Chip sees the world for what it is.
"For Love's Sake Alone" An abusive woman and her man. He takes things into his own hands and finds freedom.
"Sometimes the Garbage Must be Buried for Things to Grow" Skyler Michelle can't get over her ex. But he shows up one night and records their love making to blackmail Skyler's mother for money. The story doesn't end there and there is more to it, but I don't want to give a lot away. The ending for this one was recently gutted and rewritten.
"Birthday Girl" It's Solara's birthday and she works at the soda factory. Evan used to work at the soda factory but got himself fired when his ex-girlfriend became supervisor. Evan has a brilliant plan for revenge but sweet Solara finds herself the victim.
"June 29" One thing that is pretty common in this collection is the snapshot collection of various viewpoints. Like "Train Number 9" this story is told from various viewpoints about a plane crash.
"2166" Two women touch a fern in the woods and are transported a 150 years in the future. And even though they are in the same town everything is in ruins and the women have to try and survive in this bleak future world.
"Save my Soul" This is my other favorite story. A grieving dad has a near death experience where he sees his son in an inbetween place. His sons wants to trade places where the son goes to "heaven" and the dad's soul is stuck in the inbetween place for a 100 years.
Please grab a copy of this book and when you are done, could you leave a review? I think it was Hemingway who said we [writers] are always apprentices in a craft and never become masters. With that I am always learning. Sure, I had a bunch of classes but they can only teach so much. People reading my work and telling what worked and what didn't will go beyond the classroom for learning on this craft. This craft I call writing, which is, for better or for worse, my life.
Till next time....
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