I'm now a published author in a Fiction anthology
I've loved to write stories for as long as I can remember. Fiction is my happy lane.
A couple of years ago, I decided to take my love of writing seriously. When emberandvinepress offered a contest to submit a short story based on the theme of "ember and vine," I jumped at the opportunity.
I'm excited to share that my short fiction story, Scarlett Blue, was chosen from over 100 entries and will be featured with 14 other authors in an upcoming anthology. I'm so grateful to the editors, Julie Perkins Cantrell and Janyre Tromp, for this opportunity.
If you love the epic classic "Gone with the Wind" then you'll probably wonder where my mind went to create this crazy story but you will definitely appreciate the references to the Margaret Mitchell novel. The main character, a born performer, Scarlett Blue, has endured her mother's obsession with the story since she was a child but when the thespian gods shine on her, she takes every advantage to step into the spotlight, the place she feels most at home.
Enjoy a sneak peek of Scarlett Blue:
"My sister was the spark that could light up a room—or a life.
I might have been wandering in the dark forever if she hadn’t ignited the fire in my soul. Or maybe I would. Well, who’s to say what I might have done? I wouldn’t want to find out. What I do know is that my world is brighter because of her.
The last words she said, as she sashayed out the door that particular night, were “I’ve locked the door and thrown away the key. I bid you all adieu.” She exited (stage right, as I learned to say) with the melodrama we’d come to expect, waving her arms like a magician sans wand.
A brief pause, then we continued eating dinner as if nothing unusual had happened, which was indeed true. Family gatherings, a captive audience, my father would protest, were the perfect opportunity to rehearse, according to our sister.
“Well, that was interesting. She usually…” our brother, Clark, mumbled with half a dinner roll in his mouth.
He hadn’t even finished his sentence when she flung open the front door and, in true thespian fashion, with proper theatrical diction, proclaimed, “And don’t wait up for me, I’ll be tripping the lights fantastic.”
“There it is,” Clark muttered with both halves of the roll shoved in.
Without skipping a beat, she took a bow and backed out the door, leaving it wide open.
No one moved. Clark raised his hand, holding up three fingers, then two, then one. Right on cue, she quietly extended only her arm through the doorway, assured everyone was watching, and closed the door without making a sound.
I was still a child, in awe of my sister’s love for performing and her natural ability to command a room. She was magnetic! Depending on which stage play she was in at the time, she could be wild and unhinged or impulsive and delightful, but she never turned down an opportunity to entertain.
As she vanished behind the door, I stood up and shouted, “Bravo, Bravo! Encore!” clapping until my father reached across the table, took my hands, and begged, “Please, don’t encourage her.”
But I never did stop clapping, encouraging, and loving my sister, Scarlett Blue."
Want more? The Ember & Vine Fiction Antology contains 15 stories of Courage, Heart and Hope (and humor) each less than 3000 words. Sometimes all you need is a good story and a few quiet minutes. Each one is the perfect little escape!
The book will be available through Amazon and other online booksellers.
Check here: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/902138
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