Book Launch Party

I'm heading up to Lynchburg, VA tomorrow (Nov. 8th) for the launch party for my first novel. If you've come within a hundred miles of this blog in the past few weeks, you know that Dreaming Creek has recently been released. Now I'm having the official launch party; it's going to be at Givens Books (2236 LAKESIDE DR., LYNCHBURG, VA 24501). I'm doing a workshop with my good friend and fellow writer, Dena Harris, at 4:30 p.m., and then the party/reading/signing starts at 6 p.m. If you're anywhere near the area, please stop by. When I'm back on Monday I'll post some pics a brief party report.

In the mean time -- just to keep you entertained -- here are the two shortest stories I ever wrote, both exactly 69 words long. They were written for a now-defunct magazine called NFG, which used to have a contest every issue to see who could write the best story in exactly sixty-nine words. I wrote two, and they were published in August of 2004 and July of 2005 respectively.



A Mid-Winter's Hydro-Engineering Project


"By my calculations, the structural integrity of this thing has become seriously compromised," Billy said.

Freddie glanced at him. "Naturally. The cohesiveness of any crystalline-based structure with a mass-to-weight ratio like this is going to be suspect."

Watching from inside the house, their mother shook her head as the boy's four-foot snowball collapsed under its own weight.

She looked at her husband and sighed. "They grow up so fast."

The End




A Solid Deal


Constantino eyed the devil. "We're agreed?"

"Absolutely," said Lucifer. "I get my usual fee; you get this enchanted pouch of gemstones. As long as you hold it, it will never possess less than twenty perfect gems and I guarantee you'll hold it for over 2,000 years."

Constantino grinned, accepting Lucifer's handshake. "I'm going to be the richest man in Italy."

The devil smirked. "Or at least Pompeii."

Vesuvius rumbled.

The End