Guest Author Lisa Kessler

Hi everyone –

Thanks to Sarah for allowing me to visit her blog today…

I wanted to talk about short fiction today. I fell in love with short stories in English class back in school. Remember the horror you felt the first time you read “The Lottery”? Wow that shocked me! LOL And I vividly remember reading “The Most Dangerous Game” and being completely fascinated once I realized how dangerous that game actually was!

Many of the literary masters wrote short stories that packed a punch. I’ll never forget Edgar Allen Poe’s Pit and the Pendulum or the Tell-Tale Heart. Yikes!!!

More recently, Stephen King and Ray Bradbury, also turn out short stories that leave an impression long after you reach the end.

There’s a thrill with the pacing of a short story. The reader falls right into the scene and hits the ground running. A good short story keeps the reader turning pages and leaves them with a great pay off at the end.

And short fiction requires a very small time commitment! Perfect for our crazy busy world, right?

I got my start writing short stories. The first short I ever published in an anthology ended up being a finalist for a Bram Stoker award from the Horror Writer’s of America. Immortal Beloved told the story of a vampire who loved Beethoven. Literally. But it never could have worked in a novel length.

There are stories that derive their strength in the minimalist amount of words in a short story. A novel length would weigh them down and dull their beauty. The thrill is the pacing and knowing the end is right around the corner.

I write short stories, knowing they’ll never top a bestseller list. They’re simply a labor of pure love.

And what better reason to write, right? LOL

I’m excited to share, Forgotten Treasures: 25 Short Fiction Tales. My first short story anthology! :-)

BLURB:

Spooky tales told while huddled around a campfire


Memories of "the good old days" shared by grandparents.


Alien invasions by flashlight, under the covers, after bedtime.


Short stories are like Forgotten Treasures you find in a trunk in the attic, just waiting to be discovered.


Inside this book lurks a Christmas loving demon, a pirate ghost who becomes flesh only one night a year, and an ancient Egyptian god who longs to be a god of rock-n-roll. These tales, and many more, are anxious for you to open the cover and dust them off.

Buy Now at Amazon
Buy Now at Barnes & Noble

Thanks for celebrating this labor of love with me!

So let’s talk short stories… Do you remember any you’ve read that stuck with you? I’d love to hear…

Lisa :-)
http://lisakessler.wordpress.com
http://goodreads.com/LisaKessler
http://twitter.com/LdyDisney
http://facebook.com/LisaKesslerWriter