Sunday Sci Fi--the Next Big Thing

I  have a minor in geology and always had a soft spot for trilobites. I wrote this story for a contest a few years ago. 

The Next Big Thing

Priscilla Newnam had seen some peculiar things in her 87 years, but she had never seen anything like the bug that crawled across her spotless kitchen floor one sunny July morning as she was eating her oatmeal.
 

  For one thing it was huge, at least a foot long, maybe more.  And it was strange in a disturbing way.  It looked like what you’d get if you mated a roachy bug to a lobster.  She decided it probably was some kind of mutated crustacean that had somehow crawled up from the harbor and found its way into her house.  And now she was going to have to deal with it before she’d had a chance to finish her coffee.

riscilla Newnam had seen some peculiar things in her 87 years, but she had never seen anything like the bug that crawled across her spotless kitchen floor one sunny July morning as she was eating her oatmeal.

There wasn’t much that Priscilla Newnam was afraid of but the sight of the creature scuttling across her kitchen linoleum was…unsettling.  Priscilla’s husband Tom had been a lobster man, and once or twice he’d brought home some strange things he’d found in his pots.  There’d been a yellow lobster once, a freakish thing that he’d sold to the owner of a clam bar in Massachusetts who wanted to keep it in a tank to attract customers. 

A reporter and photographer from the Cape Courier had come up to the house to interview Tom.  The photographer, a young fellow named Julien Thibidoux, had take Tom’s picture holding the yellow lobster up by one claw.  Then Julien had taken a picture of Tom and Priscilla just because he wanted to and sent it to them later.  That had been nice of him.  She still had the picture on her bedside table.

As she watched the thing move from one end of the kitchen to the other, Priscilla decided that she was going to play the “age card” and turn the problem over to someone else.  She hardly ever did that because she didn’t want people to start thinking of her as an old biddy, someone who’d outlived her usefulness. But just this once, she decided she would call animal control and let them deal with it. 

Patricia Abbott picks her favorite short stories

Edgar Award finalist Patricia Abbott, author of Shot in Detroit, Concrete Angel, and a new collection of short fiction, I Bring Sorrow and Other Stories of Transgression, has written more than 150 short stories that have appeared in print and online publications. She won the Derringer Award in 2008 for her story "My Hero." She is co-editor of the anthology Discount Noir. She has published two previous collection of short stories, Monkey Justice and Other Stories and Home Invasion. She also maintains one of the most entertaining blogs around, Pattinase, which features everything from author interviews, to a regular Friday column, "Forgotten Books." I don't know anyone I'd rather talk short stories with. Here are her favorite picks today. 

My Ten Favorite Short Stories (today)

Since I have spent most of the last twenty years writing short stories, I also read a lot of them. For me, a good short story is closer to a good poem than a good novel. It manages to tell you something, hopefully something important, in a few pages. I always read them in one sitting. (Except perhaps here for the Munro story which is quite long.)

Here are a few of my favorites. Ask me next week and they might change but for now this is the ten. Incidentally nearly all of them are available in PDFs online.

1. So Much Water, So Close to Home, Raymond Carver

A group of men on a camping trip stumble on a dead girl as soon as they arrive, but do not let this detail interfere with their good times. Truly a chilling story and there is a good film of it called JINDABYNE.

Author interview...Sadie Carter

Bestselling author, Sadie Carter wanted to blend her love of writing, Sci-Fi (why did they cancel Firefly - sobs) and sexy, dominant males. Sadie lives in gorgeous New Zealand where she dreams up stories about strong, sassy heroines and sexy, Alpha aliens. Her story, “A Christmas Most Alien,” appears in the limited-edition boxed set, Wicked Winter Tails.

You live in New Zealand. One of the most otherworldly experiences I ever had was gong to Waitomo Cave and seeing the glow worms. If a traveler could only visit three places/cities in New Zealand, where would you suggest they go? So many places to choose!! But my favorite area of New Zealand is Queenstown. It’s absolutely beautiful with mountains and lakes. Next, I’d choose Bay of Islands and lastly, I’d choose the West Coast of the South Island.

I know you loved Firefly (Who didn’t?).What are your favorite science fiction books? Any writers whose books you can’t wait to read? Sci-fi romance is one of my favorite genres. And Ruby Dixon has to be my top pick. If you haven’t read her Ice Planet Barbarians then you need to!!

When you wrote your first Zerconian Warrior book did you conceive it as a series or were you happily surprised by the reader response? I was amazed when the first book sold so well! I did see it as a series but I may not have moved past book three if it hadn’t been for my amazing readers!

Your long-running Zerconian Warrior series is set in the same world as your story for Wicked Winter Tails,  “A Christmas Most Alien.”  Did you invent Tiran (the matriarchal location of the story) for this tale or is it mentioned in the other books? The setting for A Christmas Most Alien isn’t in the other books. It was made for this story.

Wicked Magic is here....

If you're looking for something to read this weekend--I've got you covered. Wicked Magic has just published and it's 99 cents on Amazon (or free if you're in Kindle Unlimited.)  Pick up  your copy here.

Here's the sales pitch:

A little bit of wickedness can be fun ...

Six novels and two bonus novellas of twisted magical tales with romance, adventure, and enchantment. Meet trickster fae, dark elves, mercurial heroes, faery queens, southwestern witches, shifters, draghans, and vampires. See the Devil himself get his due and fall in love, right along with these extraordinary heroes and heroines.

None of these stories are available anywhere else, and this is a special limited-time curated collection. Don't miss any of the wicked fun -- download it today!

About the Books
Soul Marked ~ C. Gockel
From the USA Today bestselling author of I Bring the Fire. When Tara finds a man passed out in her alley she hopes he's just a junkie ... and then she sees his pointed ears.

Sympathy for the Devil ~ Christine Pope
From the USA TODAY bestselling author of the Witches of Cleopatra Hill series. The Devil has never met a bargain he didn't like...but he might have met his match in one mortal woman.

Queen Mab ~ Kate Danley
MCDOUGALL PREVIEWS AWARD-BEST FANTASY OF THE YEAR. When Faunus, the god of daydreams, breaks the heart of Queen Mab, revenge is the only answer. But when this bitter fairy queen meets a gentleman named Mercutio, she will do anything, even if it means destroying the world, to save him.

Wicked Grove ~ by Alexia Purdy
As operatives of the elite Wicked Grove Supernatural Regulatory Agency, three fiercely independent and unstoppable siblings, Amy, Jay, and Craig, know the risks that come with the job. Get contaminated by one of the magicals, and you're screwed. Scratched by a werewolf? You're going to be howling come full moon. Bitten by a vampire? You might as well stamp "bloodsucker" on your face. You certainly won't be welcomed at the agency anymore. It's a no-brainer.

Elfhame ~ by Anthea Sharp
From USA Today bestselling author Anthea Sharp, a richly-imagined fantasy romance uniting an adventurous young woman and a fearsome Dark Elf warrior, in a magical tale reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast.

New title for the blog formerly known as Kattomic Energy

Because most of my writing is now done under my pseudonym "Kat Parrish," I'm renaming the blog to reflect that. Welcome to Eye of the Kat. Same content. Same me. But new name.

Fantastic Fantasy Freebies!

Just click here to choose from among three dozen free science fiction and fantasy books.

Shakespeare in Historical Fiction

I am a fan of Bernard Cornwell's historical fiction and this new book, Fools and Mortals looks like it belongs on my TBR shelf.

Here's the pitch:

New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell makes a dramatic departure with this enthralling, action-packed standalone novel that tells the story of the first production of A Midsummer Night's Dream—as related by William Shakespeare’s estranged younger brother.

Lord, what fools these mortals be . . .

In the heart of Elizabethan England, Richard Shakespeare dreams of a glittering career in one of the London playhouses, a world dominated by his older brother, William. But he is a penniless actor, making ends meet through a combination of a beautiful face, petty theft and a silver tongue. As William’s star rises, Richard’s onetime gratitude is souring and he is sorely tempted to abandon family loyalty.

So when a priceless manuscript goes missing, suspicion falls upon Richard, forcing him onto a perilous path through a bawdy and frequently brutal London. Entangled in a high-stakes game of duplicity and betrayal which threatens not only his career and potential fortune, but also the lives of his fellow players, Richard has to call on all he has now learned from the brightest stages and the darkest alleyways of the city. To avoid the gallows, he must play the part of a lifetime . . . .

Showcasing the superb storytelling skill that has won Bernard Cornwell international renown, Fools and Mortals is a richly portrayed tour de force that brings to life a vivid world of intricate stagecraft, fierce competition, and consuming ambition.