The Thing That Turned Me

A diverse group of authors, bloggers, speakers and editors has come together to bring you a unique collection of writings: “The Thing that Turned Me,” an anthology revolving around the people, places and things in our lives that ‘turn’ us, or cause us to change in some way.

A patchwork quilt of talent collaborates on this new and exciting project, inviting a singular synergy to the anthology that will leave you turning pages without delay. Works within the anthology range from Science Fiction and Fantasy to Creative Non-Fiction, and beyond. Poetry blends with prose in this variegated ensemble of stories, poems and essays.

“The Thing That Turned Me” is soon to be available in paperback and ebook.

Imani Allen - “Rehema”
Michelle Athy - “The Disappearance of Miss Mary Dawkins”
Madalyn Beck - “Hard to Love”
Diane Carlisle - “The Window”
Alex J. Cavanaugh - “CassaDawn”
Crystal Collier - “The Shadow King’s Pet”
Cathrina Constantine - “Rising Star~Falling Heart”
Michael Di Gesu - “Through Shades of Gray”
Tonja Drecker - “A Glowworm”
Deanie Humphrys-Dunne - “The Journey”
Sherry Ellis - “Finding My Voice”
Elise Fallson - “Deadly Encounters”
Heather M. Gardner - “Before We Break”
Samantha Redstreake Geary - “Don’t be Koi”
Misha Gerrick - “Ryan”
Krystal Hillsman - “Broken Wings”
Celeste Holloway - “Shadows Falling on Rainbows”
Harper L. Jameson - “The Blanket”
Randi Lee - “Off the Horse”
Terrance Dwayne Mack - “When I Went Crazy”
K.D. Martin - “Invariant”
Tyrean Martinson - “Letting Go: A Siren Song”
Melissa Maygrove - “Malice”
Nana Prah - “Finding the Light”
Christine Rains - “George and the Dragon”
Melanie Schulz - “The Reader”
Elizabeth Seckman - “Shifting Sands”
Tara Tyler - “The Day Dave Broke the Internet”
Jenny Vyas - Artwork for “Don’t be Koi”
Michelle Wallace - “Shades of Deception”
L. Diane Wolfe - “Revelation”
Roland Yeomans - “Wednesday’s Child”

The Origin of Changers - guest post by M. Pepper Langlinais

Origin Story: How Changers: Manifesting Destiny Began 

by M Pepper Langlinais

In February of 2012, fellow author Tara Tyler put out a writing prompt for flash fiction no longer than 500 words. The prompt was “secret admirer.” I wrote the following, which was exactly 500 words (not counting the title):

Secret Admirer

“Who’s it from?” Cee asked. She held the delicate silver chain in her splayed fingers, the key pendant dangling in front of her nose. The diamond at its center flashed hypnotically.

Marcus shrugged and took a seat across the table. “A lot of people like you.”

“Yeah, but not a lot of them could buy me something like this.” Cee returned the necklace to the cotton bedding of the little red box. “And why did you have it?”

“Because no one would dare try to get into your locker.” A corner of Marcus’s mouth twitched in humor. “Even with as nice a key as that one.”

Cee was forced to acknowledge his point; her locker was known for booby traps both physical and magical. She eyed Marcus suspiciously. “It wasn’t you?”

He held up his hands as if to surrender. “You know me well enough to tell when I’m lying.” He opened his eyes wide for her to read them, but Cee didn’t really have to. Marcus was her best friend, and sweet, a poet at heart—and not at all interested in girls. Though Cee wouldn’t have put it past him to buy her a Valentine’s gift, if only to keep from having to listen to her whine if she didn’t get any.

Of course, now Marcus was going to have to listen to her fuss over who had given her this one.

“It was in your locker?” Cee asked him, all business now, ready to cull the facts.

Marcus nodded as he picked at his salad.

“What kind of charms do you keep on it?”

And now Marcus laughed. “None. If someone wants my school books, they’re welcome to them.”

“I need to see the scene of the crime.”

Marcus looked up from his lunch.

“What, now?”

But Cee was already on her feet, taking her tray to the trash bin.

***

“There’s nothing,” Cee marveled. She ran her hands over the locker a fifth time. There had to be something, some little thing she was missing . . .

“Are you going to wear it?” Marcus asked suddenly.

“Not until I know who it’s from.” Cee’s hands paused in their search, hovering over the combination lock. “What . . .?”

Marcus leaned in to look. “Not magic.”

“Why?” Cee asked. “Why physically break into a locker if you could just . . .” Her eyes met Marcus’s.

“Justin?” he suggested. Justin was one of the slower students, not terribly gifted at magic. It would have been like Justin to force a locker rather than charm it open.

But Cee kept staring into Marcus’s eyes.

“Not Justin?” he said at length.

“Marcus,” Cee breathed, “have you morphed yet?”

Marcus flinched at the deeply personal question. “No one morphs at our age.”

“Are you sure?” Cee pressed.

“Of course I’m sure. That’s really rude, Cee. I know we’re friends, but—”

“Don’t panic, Marcus,” Cee said gently, leaning in for a closer look. “But someone else is in there.”

I knew at the time it was something special, something I would need to come back to and flesh out. But it wasn’t until I joined a writing group (now defunct) in 2014 that I would turn this bit of flash into a larger project. The result is Changers: Manifesting Destiny, out now from Evernight Teen. While the necklace scene here doesn’t exist in the novel version, I think this scene informed the relationship dynamic between Cee and Marcus in the longer work. Their friendship is the cornerstone of the story, and Manifesting Destiny is first in a trilogy. And it all started here. So thanks, Tara, for the prompt! You never know when something might become a springboard for something greater.

Buy links:

Evernight Teen * Amazon

St. Peter at the Gate guest post and W4WS event for Septemeber 2013

Welcome to the September 2013 W4WS event! I'm honored to co-host this event with three talented writers, Mary Pax, C.M. Brown, and Stephen Tremp.  The mission of this group is simple: we have a spotlighted author(s) that we strive to help bring awareness of their book(s) to tens of thousands of new people, increase the sales of their book(s), drive new traffic to their blogs and increase followers, and create verbal and viral buzz.
 
We've made this simple and fast. It's as easy as a tweet or a RT, and sharing a status on Facebook. Go to the writer's blog and copy a tweet or RT from the posts with the tag #W4WS. The W4WS Facebook page will have all the updates and links for you.
 
To join the W4WS event, click here for the linky list. It will only take a minute of your time, and you'll have talented writers take a step closer to their dreams. 

Cherie Reich is a self-proclaimed bookworm, a speculative fiction author, a freelance editor, and a book blogger. Her epic YA fantasy novel, REBORN, will be released May of 2014. Right now, her Nightmare Collection is just 99 cents! You can find Cherie on her blog, site, Facebook, and Twitter.

Helen Ginger is the author of three non-fiction books, a short story anthology, and a contemporary fiction novel, ANGEL SOMETIMES. She maintains an informational and interactive blog for writers and a weekly e-newsletter that has been going out to subscribers around the globe for thirteen years. You can find Helen on her site, blog, and Facebook.

Now on to our guest post by the talented M. Pepper Langlinais!

My award-winning novella St. Peter in Chains is currently free on Amazon (Kindle format only). In it, British spy Peter Stoller falls in love and must deal with the consequences when his lover is accused of espionage. And be sure to read the sequel, St. Peter at the Gate, in preparation for the third installment, St. Peter Ascends, which I hope to have out next year. As a fun little exercise, I’ve written a piece that shows Charles and Peter at Peter’s childhood home in Derbyshire. It is Charles’s first visit; Peter almost never goes home. Unlike the novellas, which focus on Peter’s perspective, this bit is told from Charles’s point of view. I hope you enjoy it!

He found Peter seated on a chair in the garden, a book from the house library open on his lap, the morning sun slanting over him in dappled kisses. For some, the honesty of light makes them appear older, but on Peter it had the opposite effect, making him unaccountably unlined, young and innocent. Charles felt ancient by comparison, though there were not a full five years of difference in their actual ages.

Peter knew he was there; Charles was certain of it. The appearance of youth did not bestow a lack of intelligence, and Peter’s work was as embedded in him as any genetic code. But Peter kept his eyes on his book as Charles walked over to join him.

The garden was enclosed in low hedges and ringed in rose bushes that were only just beginning to bud. A flagstone path led to a similarly paved square that held two chairs and a small table between them. The chairs faced out rather than one another, as if it was not expected that two people might want to look at each other while conversing. This simple arrangement told Charles more about Peter’s home life than anything else he’d yet encountered in the house.

But then, they had not yet seen Peter’s mother.

“You’re up early,” Charles remarked as he eased into the vacant chair. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“Mum only allows breakfast until eight,” said Peter, never looking up from his book. “One has to be up early if one wants to eat.”

Charles’s eyes traveled up the lovely grey stone of the house. Beautiful, but not warm. He suddenly understood why Peter had come out into the garden to read; the chairs were not the most comfortable, but there was warmth here that the plush armchairs of the library could not provide. The house radiated cool, even chill; the garden, with its smell of grass and perfume of roses, offered contentment and unspoken kindness.

“It’s a good thing I’m not hungry, then, I suppose,” Charles said. He hesitated, then asked the question that weighed on him. “Will she like me?”

“No.”

The answer came so quickly, and with such certainty, that Charles started where he sat. He looked hard at Peter, who finally deigned to lift his gaze from the pages. “I’m sorry,” Peter went on, though his tone was matter-of-fact, “but better to know the truth. Then you won’t need to waste any time trying to make a good impression. Ah, God,” he sighed, his eyes turning toward the house, and Charles looked too.

She was coming up the path toward them, her spine erect, her face pinched. But what surprised Charles—though why it should, he didn’t know—was how like Peter she looked. Or rather, he looked like her, Charles supposed. The same aristocratic cheekbones and stubborn mouth. And now the faces wore identical expressions, ones akin to two knights readying for the joust.

Pick up your copy of St. Peter in Chains on Amazon.

And you can find St. Peter at the Gate here!

The Big Reveal Bloghop

A big thank you to the wonderful hosts of The Big Reveal Bloghop, Mina Lobo and David Macaulay. What a great opportunity to reveal my theme for the 2013 A to Z Challenge. I also love to peek at other bloggers' themes and see what's coming for next month. This is a bloghop, so please visit the other participants.

Last year's challenge was a fantastic one. I received such a huge response about my story, I self-published it under the title FEARLESS. It's free to download if you haven't read it yet.

I've also gotten a lot of requests to do a sequel. As much fun as it was to write about Abby, Demetrius, and Tawa, I will not be writing any more stories about them at this time.

BUT the world of the Fearless (warriors who battle monsters spawned by children's imaginations) is awesome. There are many Fearless in the world who have their own stories.

This year for the challenge, I will be writing about another warrior. Her name is Danielle, and she's a little wilder than sweet Abby. Her guide Fenn is a straight laced fellow who doesn't tolerate any funny business. Except, being an inanimate object, he can't stop Danielle from doing what she wants. There are children that need to be saved, monsters galore, and a gorgeous single dad.

Last year, I posted the entire story. While readers loved it, I had one complaint: the posts were too long. One thing I greatly appreciated about some of the posts I read last year was that they were short. I could get through several blogs when the posts were 200 words or less. There were blogs that had longer posts that I thoroughly enjoyed, but there were also several clever and entertaining short posts.

I started writing Danielle's story. I meant for it to be shorter than FEARLESS, but it's not going to be. So I had to sit back and make a decision. Do I post the entire story and have posts near 1000 words long, or should I try something different with it?

I'm going to take a chance and go for shorter posts. I'll be posting snippets of 200 to 300 words from the story. I'll be giving you the tale from beginning to end, but just bits. I'm nervous about this decision. I don't want to let anyone down after last year's challenge, but I hope everyone will still love to read it. It will be a challenge in itself to pick out the right snippets to keep readers interested and give the full feeling of the story.

Good luck to everyone participating in this year's A to Z Challenge. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

You have less than one day left to enter The Harbinger blog tour giveaway for your chance to win the first four ebooks of the 13th Floor series!