Month: July 2013

Book Brief: Goddess Rising

Goddess Rising
by Melissa Bowersock
Genre: spiritual fantasy
Word count: 147,300

It is the future, and the end of the world as we know it does not come through nuclear war or an asteroid impact, but from within the earth itself. A global geologic holocaust has destroyed civilization, leaving only a tiny fraction of people to rebuild scattered colonies. Reduced to a primitive state, they live close to the earth and cultivate a Goddess worship, and chosen ones dream a prophecy that Greer, a female savior, will return them to greatness.

An epic and magical story of one woman’s exceptional destiny during exceptional times, Goddess Rising follows Greer’s journey from simple obscurity to prophesied reign. Acknowledged as the face of the Goddess on earth, Greer discovers the rewards of power—and its price—as she struggles through her own labyrinth of fear and desire, sexuality and sacrifice, love and death.

This book is available from Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.

Continue reading “Book Brief: Goddess Rising”

Flash Fiction Challenge: Dominator

Photo by K.S. Brooks

On the ranch, there was one pasture we called the far-back. It was 260 acres of good grazing, but it was well away from the house. The far-back was over a little ridge and a devil to get to if the creek was up.

My grandfather was always worried about the wild horses getting in there with the cattle. He said they’d eat the forage and bring in disease. There was no arguing with him on the issue. He made a point of running them off whenever he found them there.

When I got older, he’d send me out there alone. The main problem by then had been the coyotes. We’d lost a lot of calves to those vermin. I always took the rifle, but never once managed to get off a clear shot. The coyotes were just a little too quick for me.

At age sixteen with little else but girls and coyotes on my mind, I’d long quit worrying about the handful of wild horses. One day, I saw a little foal out there. He just looked back at me without a trace of fear. I know it sounds strange, but I felt an instant liking for him. There was something about the way he carried himself. He didn’t take any guff off the other foals, and asserted himself at every opportunity. I called him Dominator.

I didn’t know it yet, but Dominator would be the key to solving our coyote problem. That horse was a warrior and absolutely hated coyotes.I guess you could say he saved the ranch.

The first day I saw him in action was the first day I thought I had a clear shot…

In 250 words or less, tell us a story incorporating the elements in the picture. The 250 word limit will be strictly enforced.

Please keep language and subject matter to a PG-13 level.

Use the comment section below to submit your entry. Entries will be accepted until Tuesday at 5:00 PM Pacific Time. Continue reading “Flash Fiction Challenge: Dominator”

Congrats to Jon Jefferson, This Week’s Flash Fiction Star

Congratulations to Jon Jefferson, who claims victory as the readers’ choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge.

The winning entry is recognized with a special feature here today and a place in our collection of winners which will be published as an e-book at year end.

Without further ado, here’s the winning story:

Continue reading “Congrats to Jon Jefferson, This Week’s Flash Fiction Star”

Words I Never Want to See Misused Again, Anywhere, Ever

Maybe it’s the weather. It’s been really hot here, and when it’s not hot, it’s rainy. In any case, I’m feeling kind of cranky lately. So when I ran across this article about words we all might be misusing, I was in the mood to: a) shake my head at the misguided masses, and b) share it far and wide.

And then I read it again and realized that some of the words the blogger had flagged weren’t really misused. Instead, the word’s definition had changed over the years/decades/eons. That happens quite often. I mean, you aren’t going to call a happy person “gay” these days, right? Not unless you know some additional details about them, anyway – details that may or may not have anything to do about their current emotional state.

Anyway, this realization made me crankier. So I came up with my own list of words whose misuse ought to be expunged from the zeitgeist. Continue reading “Words I Never Want to See Misused Again, Anywhere, Ever”