"Little Boiler Girl"...To Celebrate The Winter Solstice Check Out My Winter Story In "Mechanized Masterpieces"

 Okay, the anthology is not winter-centric, but there's one story in Mechanized Masterpieces, A Steampunk Anthology that is set in the winter and since today is the Winter Solstice, I thought I'd re-introduce you to this gem...

Plus, it's my first published work.

This book came out in the Spring of 2013, almost ten years ago. I can't tell you how excited I was to see my name on the cover of a book. Even now, almost a decade later, I love that cover, and what's perhaps more important, I'm proud of my contribution to the anthology.

The genius idea behind the anthology is to take classic British stories--either the characters or plot or both--and create as shot story that incorporates the Steampunk genre. My story, Little Boiler Girl, focused on Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl. If you'd like to get your own copy of this fine collection, just click: HERE. I'd love to know what you think of it.

The story won't warm you up on a cold winter night, but on this day that has the shortest amount of daylight all year, what better way to curl up with an amazing collection of Steampunk stories with a fire burning in the fireplace, a cat in your lap, and a cup of hot cocoa to take advantage of all the long darkened hours.

Plus, it's a lot of fun.

Anniversary Of A Literary Memory...

 A friend's novel drops today. She's worked years and years on it and it's finally something you can buy in a store and hold in your hand.

What a feeling!

As I meandered through social media this morning, I was tagged on a post, a memory from this date in 2013. It brought back so many memories for me. It was the first time I saw the cover of a book that contained a story I wrote. It was the first time something I wrote was published...in a real book you could hold and read and smell and enjoy and just look at and realize it is a physical manifestation of a dream brought to life.

What a feeling!

That spring and summer everything was new as far as my infant literary career was concerned. Signing my first contract, working with an editor to make my little story as good as it could possibly be, opening the box and grabbing the book and seeing my name on the front cover. It was wonderful. It was something an unpublished writer dreams of happening.

The book, Mechanized Masterpieces: A Steampunk Anthology, went on sale April 19, 2013, but the first time I saw the cover was on the 6th. I thought--and still think--the cover is beautiful and of all the anthologies I've been fortunate enough to be included, this is one of my absolute favorites. Yes, in part because it was my first anthology, but also because each story is a home run. The book is still for sale...if you're interested, you can order it by clicking: HERE.

The experiences from that book taught me a lot. It also opened so many doors, and those doors have opened other doors. In a way, it changed my life.

I had forgotten all about that memory until this morning when I saw the post. I'm glad my fellow author Megan Billings shared her memory that became my memory, too.