Monday, October 13, 2014

Guest Post: Louise Lyons' One Snowy Night (Stranded: A Wayward Ink Anthology)

Hi, I’m Louise Lyons. Thank you so much for having me on Slashsessed to help promote the new anthology from Wayward Ink Publishing, of which I’m delighted to be a part. My short story, One Snowy Night, is one of many great stories in this book.

Stranded – from Wayward Ink Publishing
Release Date: October 10, 2014

DEFINITION:
adjective
* (of a boat, sailor, or sea creature) left aground on a shore.
      "a stranded whale"
* left without the means to move from somewhere.
"he offers a lift to a stranded commuter"

*~*~*

The boys in this collection of short stories have most definitely been left STRANDED!

They’ve been shipwrecked and abandoned.

Marooned and cast away.

And left helpless and high and dry.

But you should never underestimate the tenacity of the human heart

STORIES INCLUDED:

CRAVING STAINS
Alina Popescu
Trapped since birth in a sterile, hospital-like apartment, Wynn longs to break free to experience the world.
Enter Doyle.
But is Doyle real, or is he just a figment of Wynn’s imagination?

*~*~*

SAY CHEESE
Michael P. Thomas
Sitcom sensation Felix Medrano, America's Sweetheart, throws a star-studded surprise party for his sweetheart, beanpole barkeep Grover Shepherd.
It’s a smash, save for one detail: Shep is a no-show.
Who’d have thought it would be so hard to pop the question?


*~*~*

STANDBY
Kim Fielding
Who’d have thought being stranded at the airport could possibly have some long term benefits?
Certainly not Tom.
But then he hadn’t bargained on meeting Rafael

*~*~*

THE RAIDER
Asta Idonea
The gods truly do work in mysterious ways as Thorstein found out when he was left for dead on the battle field of a foreign land.

*~*~*

THE BUCKLE
Rob Colton
One ditching and one rescue later, Hayden discovers the use of a telephone isn’t the only offer that’s on the table…

*~*~*

ARI
Nephylim
Benji and Ari have spent their lives feeling lost and alone, stranded between genders.
Can they help each other stop unravelling?

*~*~*

OPPOSITES ATTRACT
Lily G. Blunt
Chris and Andreas are opposites in character.
Both fear the other wants to move on.
Can being stranded on a mountainside resolve the doubt that is threatening to tear them apart?

*~*~*

OUT OF ORDER
Eric Gober
Rob was the one who got away.
Trent stumbles upon him during a trip to San Francisco
Right before a deadly earthquake

*~*~*

DATING FOR DEAFIES
Nikka Michaels
If Evan York keeps hiding from the world behind his laptop he might miss out on something special.
Will he find the courage?

*~*~*

ONE SNOWY NIGHT
Louise Lyons
One snowy night, Keith Brambles learns that appearances can be deceptive.

*~*~*

THE CLIMB
kirifox
Jessie went camping with friends expecting to have some fun and maybe drink a little beer.
Instead, he found his perfect man
but is he real or just a dream?

*~*~*

DID YOU LEAVE ANY FOR ME
Sarah Hayes
Two ex-lovers, one hotel room, and one random act of technology.
Will they fall out or fall back in love?

*~*~*

SWEETNESS AND STRENGTH
jn olsen
Miles makes one seemingly small and inconsequential decision that turns out to be not so small and inconsequential after all.
*~*~*

Louise’s Story – One Snowy Night

Main character, Keith Brambles, is an up and coming British singer. He has had one disastrous first date after another, finding most men are only interested because of who he is. After yet another failed meeting, he sets off for home, driving too fast for the conditions. He loses control of his car in the snow and finds himself stranded – with no mobile phone signal and an outfit completely unsuitable for braving the freezing conditions.

Just as Keith has begun to think he’s destined to spend a night in his car, possibly suffering from hypothermia, a potential rescuer arrives, but Keith wonders whether he might have more to fear from the man, than the weather.

Excerpt

“You all right, mate?” a gruff voice asked.

“Y-y-y-yes,” Keith stammered. He was shivering so badly he doubted he could utter another word.

“No injuries?”

He shook his head in response.

“Can you get out?”

“I… d-d-d-d….” Keith meant to say I don’t know. He shoved the passenger door open and extended one leg, until his foot reached the snowy ground outside. He groaned as he tried to move the other leg. His knee was locked, and he couldn’t feel his foot at all.

“Fuck. Wait there.” The driver’s door slammed. Seconds later, the man appeared at the other side of the car. Large arms reached out and scooped Keith up. He clutched at the thick neck of his rescuer as he was plucked from the Audi and carried to a waiting white Transit van. White Van Man. Keith cringed, and hoped the man wouldn’t recognize him. His type probably wasn’t very tolerant. Then again, it wouldn’t really matter whether he knew who Keith was or not. Keith was wearing a purple silk shirt, heeled boots, earrings, and eye makeup. He thought his preference must be fairly obvious.

“There you go.” White Van Man managed to pull open the passenger side door of the van and hoist Keith up onto the seat without much effort. He slammed the door closed, went around the other side, and climbed behind the wheel.

The heating of the van was blowing at full blast. Keith leaned forward and placed his frozen hands over one of the vents. The interior of the vehicle was like a furnace, and he knew he would thaw out quickly, but painfully.

Louise Lyons

Louise Lyons comes from a family of writers. Her mother has a number of poems published in poetry anthologies, her aunt wrote poems for the church, and her grandmother sparked her inspiration with tales of fantasy. Louise first ventured into writing short stories at the grand old age of eight, mostly about little girls and ponies. She branched into romance in her teens, and MM romance a few years later, but none of her work saw the light of day until she discovered FanFiction in her late twenties.

Posting stories based on some of her favorite movies, provoked a surprisingly positive response from readers. This gave Louise the confidence to submit some of her work to publishers, and made her take her writing “hobby” more seriously.

Louise lives in the UK, about an hour north of London, with a mad Dobermann, and a collection of tropical fish and tarantulas. She works in the insurance industry by day, and spends every spare minute writing. She is a keen horse-rider, and loves to run long-distance. Some of her best writing inspiration comes to her, when her feet are pounding the open road. She often races into the house afterward, and grabs pen and paper to make notes.

Louise has always been a bit of a tomboy, and one of her other great loves is cars and motorcycles. Her car and bike are her pride and joy, and she loves to exhibit the car at shows, and take off for long days out on the bike, with no one for company but herself.


~ M

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