Tag: short stories

A Year of Short Stories with Lightning Quick Reads

December 11, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

My final short story for Lightning Quick Reads go up today! It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since the blog started…and that I’ve produced 12 short stories for it. There were definitely months where I was sweating to get a story done by the 11th (my posting date), but I feel like I ended up with a body of work to be proud of.

Many of them were in the Tales From the Field series about a women’s high school soccer team. These were really fun to write and I pulled so much from my own high school soccer experiences. It was a world that I felt like I really knew inside and out, and it was really easy to immerse myself in it as I wrote. I was worried that that stories wouldn’t interest a wide audience, but they seemed to receive a positive reception from readers. This series isn’t complete, so I suppose, I’ll have to get the rest of the players’ stories written and figure out what I want to do with them going forward.

I was most surprised to find that several stories from my writing archives (meaning they had been hanging out in a folder on my computer for several years untouched) got such a great response. These stories required far fewer edits than I expected when I pulled them out and dusted them off (figuratively!).

April’s tale, “Odeletta, Princess of Spring,” was a myth story from the ELIXIR BOUND (which I believe is still only 99 cents right now! Hint, hint!) world. And I’m ending the run on Lightning Quick Reads with an ELIXIR related story as well. Here’s a sneak peek:

Winter Solstice Offerings by Katie L. Carroll

This short story takes place before the events of ELIXIR BOUND. Siblings Katora, Kylene, and Bhar Kase are performing their annual celebration of the Winter Solstice.

“Do you have the acorns and your offering for the sacrifice?” Bhar asked with an impish grin and a glint in his blue eyes.

“Sacrifice?” Katora raised her right eyebrow and thumped her younger brother on the shoulder. “You know the Great Mother doesn’t approve of sacrifices. I do have all but one of the offereings, and Kylene should be getting it right now.”

Bhar laughed as he ran deeper into the trees of Faway Forest. Katora shook her head in annoyance and wondered if Bhar would ever be serious about anything. She shifted her backpack and followed his indelicate footsteps.

She stopped in a small clearing. Bhar stood in the center, a series of stacked rocks interspersed at regular intervals around him. She dropped her pack outside the rocks and sat inside the circle, legs crossed.

Katora had been coming to this place on the Winter Solstice for as long as she could remember. Her two older sisters used to participate in the ceremony, but they had recently moved out of the family home. They now held their own traditions. This was the first year they wouldn’t be there, and Katora wasn’t sure she wanted to be there either. Maybe she was getting too old for such traditions…

I’d love for you to check out the rest of the story on the Lightning Quick Reads Blog, and thanks for reading all year long with me!

Spotlight on Lightning Quick Reads

June 11, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

I wanted to take today to highlight Lightning Quick Reads (#LQR), a flash fiction blog I contribute to, along with ten other authors. There is a theme every month and we each write a short story and post it on our designated day (mine is the 11th). There are also author spotlights, event announcements, a reader flash where readers can share their shorts, and the occasional giveaway. There are a ton of great stories coming out of the blog!

Most of my stories are a part of series I’m calling Tales From the Field about a women’s high school soccer team. Each piece is from a different players perspective, and I’m really pleased with how the stories are coming out. I was a pretty competitive soccer player growing up and find it really easy to think of material. And it’s not just about soccer because in high school all of life’s issues seems to get tangled up into one big messy ball. It’s about soccer, competition, pressure, love, and life.

With the World Cup (I refuse to use the qualifier “women’s”…of course I’m not talking about the men’s World Cup, that was last year!) going on, I thought it would be fun to give you a sneak peek of my June story (check out the full story on LQR).

Tale From the Field: Olivia’s Camp Fail by Katie L. Carroll

Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is yourself.

The table sags under heaping containers of salad, pasta, and rolls at our pregame party the night before the big match against our cross-town rivals Valley High. But all it takes for me to lose my appetite is one comment from team captain Megan.

“We don’t want a repeat of camp finals.”

The low rumble of conversation and the smack of full mouths immediately ceases as nearly every player on the Central High women’s soccer team looks at me. I lock my gaze on the fat meatball atop a pile of spaghetti covered with tomato sauce, which I’m sure matches the color of my face right now.

“What happened at camp?” asks Brooke. An innocent enough question, if you don’t know what happened this summer—which she doesn’t because freshmen don’t attend camp—but a terribly taboo one if you do know what happened.

A Sweet Valentine’s Post from Penny Estelle Author of A Float Down the Canal

February 14, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

A sweet treat for all of you on Valentine’s Day from Penny Estelle, author of the MG short A Float Down the Canal. Leave a comment and your email address for a chance to win a copy. Welcome, Penny!

Since Katie was nice enough to let me visit her blog on Valentine’s Day, I though I would talk about what some folks have done for their sweethearts on this special day. I put out a request for some of my blog followers and friends as to what they have actually done. I received many stories of going to dinner, receiving candy and jewelry, going to a favorite Bed and Breakfast, etc…..all wonderful stories. I did receive three that I thought were quite unique.

1. Mr. X happened to be off work on this particular Valentine’s Day and flipped the TV to the Oprah Show. She suggested having her favorite dinner ready, spreading rose petals from the front door to the couch where a new nightie would be spread out. Run a bubble bath for her just before she gets home and have chilled champagne waiting for her at the door. He ran out and bought all the above and completely set this scenario. He had just finished the bubble bath when Mrs. X drove into the driveway. He grabbed the two glasses of champagne and waited at the door. The door opened and in walked his wife, with their neighbor’s twelve year old son. (The neighbor’s other son had broken his wrist at school and asked Mrs. X to pick up her other son.) Now this is why men should NEVER go off track with a proven, first class, plan), He decided to be naked…with a rose tied to his….uhm…best friend. After Mr. X ran to the bedroom, the neighbor’s son said, “Somebody’s planning on getting lucky tonight!”

2. This time Mrs. X went to where her husband works and completely decorated his car. She painted all the windows with “Happy Valentines Day” “Hurry home for a big surprise”. She put helium filled balloons inside the car with messages about what her plans for him were when he got home. Pairs of sexy panties were laying in the front seat complete with a picture of Mrs. X in a bubble bath holding a glass of champagne and blowing him a kiss. Well he was hurrying home when he got pulled over by a policeman, because he felt his car was a distraction. With a penlight, the policeman, saw the panties and read some of the balloons. He looked at Mr. X and said, “You are one lucky man. Drive safe!”

3. THIS WAS MY FAVORITE – This Mr. and Mrs. X lived off the PacificBeach. Mr. X loved steamed clams. The day before Valentines Day, at night, Mrs. X and a friend went to the beach and buried a bottle of champagne, plastic glasses, clams (in Ziploc bags) a deep sauce pan, two gallons of water and lighter fluid. She also had wood that she hid up against a cliff wall. Now it’s not warm in February, so as the sun was just starting to rise, Mrs. X got Mr. X up and headed to the beach, with a blanket. She drew a huge sigh of relief when nothing was bothered. So as the sun rose into the sky Mr. and Mrs. X had a fire going, clams steaming and toasting champagne. Now that’s love!!!

A Float Down the Canal blurb:

Not a Valentine’s Day story, but a sweet story of puppy love

and one where the underdog finally wins!!!

Twelve-year old Pam Simpson gets dumped on when her mother is called into work. She must cancel her plans for the mall to babysit her younger brother and his friend and take them to the public pool. To make matters worse her cousin, Candy, is also coming over for the day. She doesn’t even like Candy!

Much to Candy’s dismay, transportation to the pool is on inner tubes, floating down the canal. One thing leads to another and it is Pam who, once again, must save the day.

When things couldn’t seem worse, the day takes a drastic turn for the better and it is Candy, and the float down the canal, that makes this the best day of Pam’s life!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CUQEZYE

About the Author:

I write stories for the young and for the young at heart. More about my stores and myself can be found at the following links. Stop by anytime. I love visitors!

http://www.amazon.com/Penny-Estelle/e/B006S62XBY

www.pennystales.com

www.pennyestelle.blogspot.com

https://twitter.com/Pennystales

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5820078.Penny_Estelle

http://www.facebook.com/pennystales

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=146&Itemid=82

Thanks to Katie for having me today. I would love to offer a PDF copy of A Float Down the Canal to one commenter who stops by and leaves an email address!