TWISTED TALES: 15 Literary Lies & Epic Yarns (Various Authors)

I recently had my short story, Old Habits, published in an anthology called Twisted Tales. It is quite an honor to have this horror story included with so many other authors I admire. Being recognized in an international collection is something I am very excited about.

Here is the blurb from the Amazon page:

“A unique short story anthology curated by the readers and editorial team of READERS CIRCLE OF AVENUE PARK (#RCAP). It’s a global effort, literally, with contributions from 15 authors across exhausting time zones that extend from Africa, Europe, America and Asia. This is the cryptic one-liner each author gave to describe their twisted tales…

ROBYN CAIN: Consider carefully where you walk the dog.
GLEN BARRERA: A burglar has an unexpected encounter with a very large dog.
JOE BREWER: A young man’s plan for his future takes an unexpected twist.
MICHELLE MEDHAT: Some pasts never let go!
ALEX SHAW: Essex villain Big Chris Cotton wants to leave his life of crime for one of sun, sex and sangria, but will his past let him go?
ANITA KOVACEVIC: A woman goes job-hunting and stumbles upon a mother who is trying to save her son’s life from a bully in a completely unexpected way.
CRAIG SANDERS: A group of New York City children play a street game with a mysterious stranger and their souls as the prize.
NEIL NEWTON: A cutting edge linguist launches the definitive study of dialect and finds out there is more to the structure of the universe than he suspects.
LUBNA SENGUL: Battle of two minds, Julian must decide his fate.
JULIE MAYERSON BROWN: Cheating once is forgivable. But twice?
JEAN GILL: Coming of age is tricky for an unwanted zodiac sign.
CHARLIE FLOWERS & HANNAH HAQ: An English nationalist and a Muslim girl share a long train ride and find that more brings them together than divides them.
GEOFF NELDER: A grape-sized micrometeorite hits John’s house at the same time every day. Help!
ELIZABETH NOREEN-NEWTON: Gaunt Thibideaux was a man of habits. And you know what they say. “Old Habits” die hard.
MARK FINE: An exotic foreigner finds his beautiful bride is now bored with him. Is it the end of their domestic bliss or is there a twist?

To retain a distinctive international flavor (or ‘flavour’) each story is in the English style of its author, so some stories are in British English, some in American, and some reflect the jargon of a region.

As said by the Editor-in Chief of #RCAP, in his message to readers of this short story collection:

“I had to shut out the world to finish editing this short story collection. Neighbours became concerned. Banged on my door. My kidnappers had taken me down to the cellar with a copy of the book. I read it again and again, and over again… It made my torture and captivity so bearable that I was annoyed when the Marines rescued me.”

P.S. Twisted Tales is mixed-fruit jam for the soul. Laugh, cry, dwell deep and sigh. Enjoy!”

I have enjoyed the other stories in this collection and I hope you my dear reader will pick up a copy. It’s 186 Kindle pages of quick reads; you could easily read a story in one sitting.

My story Old Habits is one I’d been thinking about for years. Presented as a short story in this anthology it is quite possible a novel length version may appear somewhere down the line. The main character, Gaunt Thibideaux, is one of the most compelling and disturbing I’ve created, in my opinion. He is even more worrisome than dear old Norma from the not so peaceful town of Riddle.

Much like Riddle, Gaunt’s hometown of Burkesville is a bucolic small town where people gossip behind closed doors and strange occurrences are often swept under the rug. But it’s what lies beneath that comfortable small town surface, bubbling and rotting, that makes the story come alive. Gaunt is just a small town boy who grows to manhood and old age, seemingly a stanchion of the community. It’s Gaunt’s old habits the story is named for. And as I have said, a habit born in his youth lives on as he ages because, as they say, “old habits die hard”.