We Had Stars Once

What an excellent title for an anthology, don’t you agree?

I’m sure you’ve already heard of We Had Stars Once. Organised by some of the folks from io9.com, this anthology celebrates three years of Thursday Tales (a weekly writing meme).

Why am I telling you this?

Firstly, because the cover is so damn cool. Check it out:

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Join a girl discovering her true, supernatural origins. Follow a famous babysitter into space. Journey through dystopia with a man who has lost everything, and experience the exhilaration of finally making it home.

Aliens, cocky knights, and superheroes do battle with inner darkness and things that go bump in the night. From the writers of Thursday Tales comes an imaginative anthology of darkness, adventure, betrayal and mystery. From sixteen minds come sixteen tales of fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

A world of worlds awaits.

* * *

Secondly, because it includes my (silly) story “Rescue Missions”.

I have read every story in there and can guarantee you’ll like some (if not all) of them. My story acts as comic relief amidst excellent speculative fiction tales of action and adventure and danger.

What are you waiting for?

You can grab the hardback or the paperback or the ebook! Woo!

(Or if you run a book blog and are interested in review copies, give me a shout and I’ll see what we can do!

A Senseless Ending

I admit it: I suck.

The past few weeks have flown by and it completely slipped my mind to do a final wrap up post for the Senseless Challenge. So first and foremost: I’m sorry.

Truth is I was overwhelmed by how many people took part. I’d assumed only three or four other people would join me – making the weekly round ups and the final voting for best story completely manageable.

Instead I was blown away by the number of people who took part and who took the challenge to places I had never imagined.

In total over 14 people took part, producing more than 57 stories.

Participants: thank you. You rock.

It would be impossible to pick one deserving story out of the 57. ALL of you deserve a prize for taking part. I would like to give you an e-copy of Above Ground or Hungry For You – drop me a note with your email and format preference and I’ll send it along.

The fact is that lately I’ve been remiss with my online presence, and the Senseless Challenge not only rekindled my love for the online community, but also reminded me what I’m missing out on.

For anyone who missed the challenge, here’s a long list of excellent short stories to check out.

The Senseless Challenge: Taste Round Up

The celebrations for National Short Story Month continue with even more #flashsense stories this week.

Missed previous weeks? Check out Sight (May 3rd), Sound (May 10th), and Smell (May 17th).

The second to last Friday of the month, May 24th, was dedicated to taste.

Here’s a round up of week four’s stories.

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THE SENSELESS CHALLENGE: TASTE

Hunger by Deanna Schrayer
I swiped above my lips with the back of my hand and tasted dirt.

Lollipops In The Snow by Laura Besley
Danny from down the road said they taste like lollipops.

Taste by Christopher Munroe
A letter to local Viet restaurants.

Life, on the Tip of my Tongue by Tim VanSant
Metallic. That’s the only way I can describe it.

Of bubble gums and other cravings by Brinda Banerjee
Within five seconds the flower was gone.

Best Served Cold by A.M. Harte
Beneath the decay, he tasted of guilt.

The Taste of Water by Lee-Ann Khoh
Water wasn’t supposed to taste like anything.

Leila by Laura Amos
You know you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

With Syrup by Shelli Proffitt Howells
The smell of bacon pulled Kaylie from a restless sleep.

Taste Test by Peggy McFarland
Not that she expected a free meal, but dating involved food.

Homecooked by N.M. Martinez
Salt mixed with her saliva.

* * *

Did I forget to include your story? Drop me a link in the comments.

This Friday 31st is dedicated to touch – it’s your LAST chance to join in and tweet your story with #flashsense!

It’s not too late to get involved – just tweet your story on Friday using #flashsense.

The Senseless Challenge: Smell Round Up

The celebrations for National Short Story Month continue with even more #flashsense stories this week.

Missed previous weeks? Check out Sight (May 3rd) and Sound (May 10th).

The third Friday of the month, May 17th, was dedicated to smell.

Here’s a round up of week three’s stories.

* * *

THE SENSELESS CHALLENGE: SMELL

Private Nose by Peggy McFarland
It’s going to rain today, mark my words. I can smell it.

Smell by Christopher Munroe
A month after you quit smoking, you get your sense of smell back.

Sweet by N.M. Martinez
Blanca’s nose burned as if being licked by a little flame.

Mouse by Shelly Proffitt Howells
You are such a mouse, Harold.

StorySkippers Anonymous by Laura Amos
Bars didn’t smell like cigarettes anymore.

Making Sense by Chuck Allen
She loved the smell of being clean.

Bottled Shame by Kelly Stapleton
I smelled Missy before I saw her.

Oh, Nose! by Tim VanSant
There was something rotten in the state of Denmark.

A Great Story by Laura Besley
The only smell in the tiny dark room was her own.

Fumes of Love by Brinda Banerjee
It was dank, reminiscent of the garbage landfill nearby.

The Hunter by A.M. Harte
The air was sweet and cold, moonlight-sharp.

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Did I forget to include your story? Drop me a link in the comments.

This Friday 24th is dedicated to taste – join in and tweet your story with #flashsense!

It’s not too late to get involved – just drop me a comment on the challenge post or tweet your story using #flashsense.

THE HUNTER

It smelled dark.

The air was sweet and cold, moonlight-sharp. The flowers had closed their blooms, their scent gone pale without sunlight.

The hunter slid through the shadows, head tilted, her tongue flickering in and out of her mouth. Great battles had robbed her of both eyes and riddled her fur with scars, but she – the last of her kind – remained the greatest killer of man.

The leaves beneath her paws were damp with decay, their cloying scent all-but masking the sweet earthiness of the insects wriggling in their midst.

She had bigger prey to catch.

There! A gust of stale breath on the air, the sour stench of sweat.

She stopped, lifted her head into the breeze to triangulate her quarry. The trail was faint but as she crept forwards it grew stronger.

Soon she was close. All but masked beneath the richness of deer excrement was the scent of man.

“How much longer do we have to wait?” a boy whispered in the darkness.

She couldn’t hear him, but his stale breath was enough.

“Patience,” a woman replied. Her breath was fainter, laced with mint.

The hunter breathed slowly, mapping the clearing.

“I’m scared, momma,” the boy whispered. “I want to go home.”

“The beast has found our home before. Do you want that to happen again?”

A pause. “No.” The boy barely exhaled as he spoke, and the hunter didn’t smell it.

“We’ll get it, son. We’ll make it pay for what it did.”

“It wouldn’t have done it if we hadn’t–”

The woman raised an arm, sending a wave of deer scent through the air, tinged with fear. The hunter froze.

“It’s coming,” the woman breathed.

The hunter padded through the trees, circling her prey, using the earthiness of tree moss to guide her.

Then, when the scents were right, she stopped. She gathered her legs beneath her, took one last deep sniff, and leaped.

Her jaws collided with a bundle of straw and cloth that smelled human but had none of the salty richness of blood beneath.

The sweet pile of damp leaves that should have softened her fall crumbled beneath her. She fell deep into the earth, past the sweet worms and the musty soil. Upon impact, the scent of blood and fear overtook everything else.

Far above, tainting the fresh air, was the woman. She stood at the edge of the pit, reeking with satisfaction.

“I told you she’d come back for her eyes.”

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To celebrate National Short Story Month, I’m running the Senseless Challenge throughout May. Each Friday is dedicated to a different sense – the challenge is to write a piece of flash fiction inspired by that sense. The third week was dedicated to smell.