Loving You To Death ~ An Anthology of Murder

During the month of February ~ the month of love, the month of passion ~ 38 murderous writers gathered in graveyard buried deep within Facebook to plot, plan and cause the death of jilted lovers, cheating spouses, unattainable crushes and heartbroken sweethearts all in the name of love.

There are many different types of love and many different ways to die. Loving You To Death brings them together in 250-word expressions of the deepest love there is ~ deadly love.

Nothing says I love you like a stab through the rib cage, a lovely bottle of cyanide or a chest full of heart worms. Just in time to bring a little more love and romance to your Valentine's Day, Loving You To Death is now available on Amazon. 

And as a special treat that's better than a box of chocolates, the anthology is available free February 14th! Happy Valentine's Day!


Table of Contents

Charles Alley ~ The Note
Rose Anderson / Madeline Archer ~ Starting Over
Steve Barber ~ Church Bulletin
Candace C. Bowen ~ The Crush
Candy Burke ~ Love Hurts
Geoff Collins-White ~ Desert Surprise
Terri Lynn Coop ~ The Brain Eaters
Dovey Mayali Cralk ~ The Dutiful Wife
Paul R. DeLancey ~ Twice The Man
SK Delph ~ Blow Me ... Away
Wayne DePriest ~ The Kiss
Bryan Dodd ~ Thawless Love
Barry Dowdeswell ~ Cleft
Douglas Dutcher ~ Honeymoon Cruise
Ellorien ~ A Bad Match
Amy Gettinger ~ Chocolates for His Sweetie
Denise Hemphill ~ My Ear Family
Foinah Jameson ~ Bad Dog
RJ Jeffreys ~ An Act of Ablution
Karen Oldham-Kidd ~ Split Decision
H.A. Lamb ~ The Last Supper
Elizabeth M. Lawrence ~ Forever
Desiree Lee ~ Second Chances
D.K. Mason ~ Funky Chicken
Eileen Matsumuro ~ Valentine Blues
James McShane ~ Blighted Spirits
Cathy Pace Matthews ~ The Bridge
Carole Oldroyd ~ Let Her Eat Cake
Leona Pence ~ A Mother's Love
Riley Ross ~ Bad Blood
Kim Shaddix ~ The Giver
Kally Jo Surbeck  ~ Warned
M.J. Sydney ~ You Did This
Laurie Tom ~ Til' Death
Kristen Tsetsi ~ Love You Always
Carol R. Ward ~ Love You Forever
Shirley Wetzel ~ Honor Thy Mother
Woodrow Wilkins ~ The Sting of Love

Elsie Mae's Dream

Photo Courtesy DMedina at Morguefile

I first wrote Elsie Mae's Dream in January of 2011 (which seems more like 50 years ago now) as part of a Black History Month flash fiction competition for a now defunct website. It was one of my first attempts at flash fiction – the second to be exact. With a few (very) minor revisions, here is Elsie Mae's story.

Elsie Mae's Dream

by M.J. Sydney 

Martin Luther King had a dream that one day we would all be equal. That one day we would all be free. He dreamed of a world where everyone is treated fairly and with respect. His dream was for the nation. For all people. For me.

My name is Elsie Mae. I am eight years old and I too have a dream. I have a dream that one day my parents will stop getting hurt, that my brother will stop killing and that I can go to bed at night without feeling hungry and cold. I dream of the day I can walk to school without being shot at and walk home without fear of being kidnapped.

In my dream, the sirens next door are silenced and the meth house on the corner is vacant. The streets are safe, the water is clean and the roof doesn't leak. I dream of a life with a real family, with parents that have enough money to stop selling on the streets.

I have a dream that one day I can go to a nice school with teachers who want to teach and kids that want to learn. I dream of becoming a nurse, a lawyer, a teacher, a dentist, an accountant, a ballerina. I dream of opportunities – the same opportunities as the rich kids in the next town over.

I have a dream that one day I can read the wonderful stories of Mark Twain without being censored. That I can be free to choose what I read. I dream that one day I will be treated with respect and understanding. That I will be given the opportunity to prove myself and show the world what I am capable of.

I have a dream that my children will grow up to love everyone as I do, that they will be given the opportunities I do not have and that they will never witness the evils of the world as I have. I dream of a future for my children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren – a happy life, full of love and compassion. A life without fear.

I have a dream that one day all of my pain and suffering will not be a waste, that my life will have meaning. I have a dream that one day all children can just be children. That the people in my neighborhood will once again find love and compassion for others.

That was my dream. My dream ended that night – the night those men came into my home. They took everything. They took my parents, they took my brother, they took my life. My name was Elsie Mae, I was eight years old and I had a dream.

Original ©2011 and revised 2016.

One Year and Ten Months Later ...

Photo Courtesy of MorgueFile user curlsdiva and used with permission.

Dear readers and fans, ghouls and fiends and anyone else unfortunate enough to stumble upon my random ramblings:

It's been nearly two years since my last posting, one year and ten months to be exact. Forgive me for I have failed. Failed to come up with a good excuse, that is. There isn't one.

I won't bore you with the details of the uneventful happenings over the last 22 months but during that time, there was a significant amount of soul-searching and mind revamping, on a personal level as well as a professional level.

With that, it's time to get back to writing.

Run, Run! ~ A Flash Fiction Christmas Story

Apex Publications' "A Merry Little Apex Christmas Apex Flash Fiction Contest" ran from November 11th to December 16th. The challenge was to write a Christmas story, Apex-style, in 250 words. Every entrant received a copy of Apex Magazine and the winner to be published on the Apex blog December 23rd.

Congratulations to the winner, Thea Hutcheson, with Stockings Hung at the Hearth! And congratulations to the second through fifth place winners ~ Cameron Suey, Amy Sisson, Cynthia Dawn Griffin and Christina M. Parker.

My submission didn't make the final cut but I had a lot of fun writing this goofy little story. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Photo courtesy of and copyright huppypie, Some Rights Reserved

RUN, RUN!

Police arrived at the home of Steve and Becky Sanders at a quarter to ten. Detective Jensen rolled over and turned the volume up on the department issued radio.

"Please, not another one," he pulled himself out of bed and into his jeans. After four years, he knew the routine. If his instincts were right, and he prayed they weren't, this was only the first of three murders tonight. Detective Jensen brewed a cup of coffee and waited.

"Detective Jensen."

"I'm sure you have better ways to spend Christmas Eve but it looks like it's going to be a long night. Jensen. He's changed his MO," his partner said.

"Changed? How?"

"He left us two cookies, each with the arms bitten off. And two bodies. Jensen, their arms are missing."

"Jesus. I'm on my way."

***

Across town, Thomas and Dorothy Whittaker cuddled by the fire, watching A Christmas Story, tree lights flickering in the background. A knock at the door saves Ralphie from shooting his eye out.

"Who could that be?"

"Fred probably locked himself out again. I'll be right back," Thomas kissed his wife's cheek.

A tall, burly man stood at the door.

"Can I help you?"

"I just moved in down the street. I brought you cookies," the man held up an axe and two gingerbread cookies with the heads broken off.

"Dor..." Thomas's head hit the floor.

"Thomas, who..." Dorothy started.

"Run! Run! As fast as you can! You can't escape me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
       

Cellar Door II: Words of Beauty, Tales of Terror Released!

Linguists call it the most beautiful phrase in the English language, but what lurks behind the Cellar Door is far more sinister and terrifying.

Edited by James Ward Kirk with amazing cover artwork by Stephen Cooney, Cellar Door Volume 2 is a beautifully terrifying display of poetry, artwork, fiction and photography (including my story, Ellensburg Blue).

Continuing the tradition of Volume 1 ~ Words of Beauty, Tales of Terror ~ here's a glimpse of what lurks behind the Cellar Door.
 
 POETRY

~ Essence of Ebon, Preserved by Alex S. Johnson
~ Smoky Bottles by Mathias Jansson
~ The Door by Dona Fox
~ Me and My... by Dona Fox
~ Magur by Dona Fox
~ The Wonder Cave by Dona Fox
~ A Darkness in the Cellar by DJ Tyrer
~ Cellar Door by DJ Tyrer
~ Foundations by DJ Tyrer
~ The Soul Worms by Robert E. Petras

 FLASH FICTION

~ Wooden Lips by K.Z. Morano
~ Dalliance by Essel Pratt

SHORT STORIES

~ The Last Eulogy by Dale Hollin
~ The Angel's Kiss by Mike Jansen
~ A Late Summer Afternoon on Cranberry Farm by Neil Baker
~ The Gates of Lament by Michael Thomas Knight
~ Forevermore by Dona Fox
~ Sempiternal Denouement by Greg McWhorter
~ The Esoteric Espial by David Eccles
~ Numen by Matt Cowan
~ Ellensburg Blue by M.J. Sydney
~ Little Pony Ride by David Perlmutter
~ Karni Mata by Lee Forsyth
~ Geisha White by Justin Hunter
~ A Soul's Lullaby by K. Trap Jones
~ Angels Behind Glass by Lori Safranek
~ A Halcyon Panacea by Suzy Saylor
~ Last Words by Patrick Lacey
~ The Scent of Jasmine by Kevin Rogers
~ Video Nasty by Matthew Wilson 
~ Leannan Sídhe by Michael Randolph
~ Horrorwerk by Gary Murphy
~ Buried by Adam Blampied
~ Scarecrow Fields by Jason Wolfgang Gehlert

Is it safe to come out yet?

November is over (if you're reading this, you already knew that) and I managed to survive the last few days without pushing myself off the edge of the mountain (again, obvious to anyone reading this).

It took a little creative juggling (meaning a lot) to increase the word count well above the 50,000 mark. After failing NaNoWriMo five years in a row and determined not to make it six, I can honestly say that joining the secret society known as the NaNo Winner's Circle is over-rated and makes absolutely no difference.

Really, anyone with an hour or two per day can easily punch out 50,000 random words on the keyboard over the course of thirty days. So what? Over the course of a twelve month period, I probably average at least that on a monthly basis (I'm not a mathematician, so don't quote me on that).

Sure, it's what I do for a living and it's not necessarily what I want to write, nor does it require a lot of creativity or originality on my part. But that's not my point. Now, before anyone gets the idea that I'm putting down those who made great accomplishments during NaNoWriMo, I'm not.

The idea behind NaNoWriMo ~ to get as many words as possible out onto paper without worrying about corrections ~ is a nice motivational challenge for those who need a jump start or have difficulty getting started (or finished).

The challenge, for me, isn't to spew out as much incoherent gibberish as possible in a short time. I already know I can do that. And my last thirty-or-so thousand words of shazbot proves it. Those last words may as well have been written in Orkan.

'Now that it's out of your head, you have material to go back and revise' ~ or so the theory goes. Not for me. I don't speak Orkan and won't be revisiting, rereading or revising anything from the last few days.

Should I be proud that 'at least I did it'? No.not really. I didn't set out to accomplish the real challenge I set for myself ~ to write fifteen to twenty completed stories ready to compile or send out.

Will I take the NaNo challenge again next year? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I won't wait until next year. Maybe I'll pick one week out of every month and come up with a new challenge each month. Or maybe I'll challenge myself as a writer daily.

The point to all this rambling is that I need to challenge myself in order to grow. And one month word count challenge per year isn't going to do that. However, some of the perks offered by the event's sponsors might be useful.

Take this poorly designed banner with horrible graphics for example:

It all boils down to this ~ If you want to be a writer, take it seriously and challenge yourself. It doesn't matter if you succeed or fail at NaNoWriMo. Find what motivates you and sit down and do it.

I'm not Mork from Ork, but I leave you with this ~

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wherever you are, whatever you do, whoever you're with ~ Have a Happy Thanksgiving!