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InhumanFlash Fiction Challenge #4 Contributors: Andrew Magrath, C. D. Reimer, Chris Chartrand, Chrystalla Thoma, Greg College, David Craddock, David Strachan, Dan Murphy, James Beamon, Jason Barney, Jay Raven, John Martin, Larry Kerr, Matthew Stroescu, Pete “Patch” Alberti, Stef Donev, Tony Noland, Ty Miller Pages: 90 FICTION / Flash fiction Release Date: August 6, 2010 Print ISBN: 978-1-77053-010-2 ($ 9.95) |
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Description:
Absolute XPress is proud to present it’s fourth Flash Fiction Challenge anthology – “Inhuman”.
The Theme:
There are other beings out there. Demons, fae, aliens, robots and more. Creatures that have been watching us for a long time. They know us. For this challenge, write from the point of view of something “Inhuman”; an exterior point of view that is able to see what it really means to be Human.
This was a hard challenge, no doubt about it, but 18 authors rose to occasion. Within these pages are twenty stories from 18 established and break out authors from around the world: Australia, Canada, USA and UK.
You will also find a thought provoking forward written by this round’s Guest Judge: Jerome Stueart
About the Authors:
Andrew Magrath
In college, Andrew Magrath majored in physics, but, finding himself too approachable at parties, decided to also earn a degree in rhetoric and composition to assure that no one would ever talk to him. After graduating, Andrew took the natural next step: move to Japan to teach English. After three years of being the most recognizable (and beloved) man in Daito, Japan, the self appointed superhero of Tanigawa Junior High School moved back to the States to pursue a graduate degree. Andrew currently resides in Ohio while working on a masters in philosophy of science and logic. He enjoys writing and reading in his free time. Andrew’s current long-term goal is to attain complete world knowledge, or, baring that, be a little more approachable at parties.
C.D. Reimer
C.D. Reimer lives and works in Silicon Valley. His interests are ceramics, painting, tropical fish, and web programming. These keep him out of trouble when he’s not fixing broken users and consoling hurt computers. Currently working on his first novel, a short story collection, and various short stories. For more information, check out his website at www.cdreimer.com
Christopher Chartrand
Christopher works in the non-profit sector by day and writes weird and interesting stories by night. He has been or will be published in “Chinese Whisperings: The Yang Book” as well as “Best of FridayFlash Vol. 1” He has just accepted a regular writing spot for the online serial “The Astonishing Adventures of Captain Juan.” Due to re-release July 2010. He lives in Addison Maine with his high school sweetheart, three daughters, four horses, two goats, one lazy dog and sometimes a cat. You can read more of his flash fiction by visiting his website: www.thedarkeagle.com
Chrystalla Thoma
Chrystalla Thoma is permanent resident of fantasy land, complete with angels and demons, elves, vampires and werewolves. A Greek Cypriot, she lives in Cyprus with her husband and her vast herd of books. When not reading or writing, she works as a linguistics lecturer at a private university and as a freelance translator. Her stories have been published in the magazines Alienskin, Bards and Sages, Lorelei Signal, and Encounters. For more information, check out her blog at chrystallathoma.wordpress.com
Dan Murphy
Daniel Murphy lives in Los Angeles, California and he usually writes in the horror genre. The story in this anthology is his first published work, and would be classified as Science Fiction. When is not reading Stephen King, Richard Matheson, and Elmore Leonard., Dan can normally be found writing and directing short films in the horror genre.
David L. Craddock
David L. Craddock lives with his wife, Amie, in a tiny apartment in California where multiple bookcases have forced all other furniture to huddle together and draw straws to determine which of them will be dismissed to make room for even more bookcases.
A freelance writer and author, David happily devotes his days to personal and professional writing pursuits spanning a diverse array of topics and interests. His nonfiction book, Renewable Energy Made Easy, was published in August 2008 by Atlantic Publishing, and was the 2009 Green Book Festival Award Runner Up for Best Nonfiction Book.
David’s first novel, Heritage, is the first book in The Gairden Chronicles fantasy series and is due for publication by Absolute XPress in May 2011. For more information, check out his website at davidlcraddock.com
David Strachan
I was born in Whitehorse, Yukon and spent the majority of my life here. It’s a wonderful northern city with a rich and diverse group of artists and writers. I’ve made my fair share of trips south and east but I’ve never found a place that pulled me back like the Yukon. I’m recently married and returned from a honeymoon to Tokyo and loving married life. When I’m not writing or working I enjoy playing soccer and disc golf or any other outdoor activity.
Greg College
I suppose I would best describe myself as a young echo of the hippie movement – life is best seen through the eyes of idealism rather than realism. I live in an odd house with my dreadlock-covered hippie girlfriend, 2 birds and a cat. By day I run in-store security for a major retailer, and by night I have a penchant for lousy movies, snobby craft beers and, like most men from my generation, video games. My fire for writing was lit at an early age, but I have never managed to stick with any single project long enough to finish it – it’s a fire that has always burned at the edge of my mind, and never at the front. Maybe one day it will take center stage.
James Beamon
I spent twelve years in the U.S. Air Force protecting my right to write later. Currently, I am an IT professional where I write in the little free time I have. I am happily married and I have a nine years old son.
Jason Barney
Jason Barney lives in Vermont. He writes about 1000 words a day and tries to send out one new short story per week. He has fallen in love with story telling and hopes to be doing it for a long time.
Jay Raven
Jay Raven is a UK-based writer of dark fantasy, chilling sci-fi and historical horror. He lives in Bristol – an old brooding West Country seaport with creepy alleyways, Gothic buildings, hidden caves and a past littered with murders, smugglers, ghosts and dangerous secrets.This is the third AXP Flash Fiction Challenge to feature his frightening yarns. Find out more about his work at www.jayraven.com or contact him at jay@jayraven.com
John Martin
John Michael Martin is an agile coach/consultant for a Boulder-based software company that sends him to customers to play games, tell stories, and sometimes help teams communicate, collaborate and deliver software. John has never lived in the same house for significantly longer than five years. A constant need for roof-changing has driven him to reside in several regions of the US, along with a spell in Glasgow. John, his wife, and his cat recently moved from Maryland to a small city in the mountains of Northern California. He figures he has at most 4 years, 5 months to prepare for the next move.
Larry Kerr
Larry Kerr is a former newspaper reporter/photographer and copy editor. He now works for the state of Pennsylvania as a web programmer. Larry is originally from western Pennsylvania, but lives in south central Pennsylvania. He is single and has a 21-year-old son. In addition to writing, he is an avid runner and participated in the 2007 National Senior Games. He also lifts weights and plays softball.
Matthew Stroescu
Science fiction got me started in my interest in physics. I read a great deal of Piers Anthony, Isaac Asimov and Robert Asprin growing up. This lead to me eventually studying physics in school. I now teach introductory physics at a Canadian University. When not reading science fiction or teaching science I enjoy swing dancing. I also enjoy playing classical and flamenco guitar.
Pete “Patch” Alberti
Pete “Patch” Alberti shares a small but decidedly interesting apartment in Southern California with two cats and one human. Who owns who is a subject of much debate, and always in flux.
When not writing fiction, Pete writes computer code. The two are remarkably similar, though he recommends careful compartmentalizing. (There was an incident with a sword of be-spelling and a server which is best left untold.)
Pete enjoys playing games, baking cookies, critiquing the politics of fantasy novels, and hiding under the bed with his cat when guests arrive. For more information, check out his website at patchworkpete.com
Stef Donev
As a reporter for the Toronto Star, the Associated Press, in Detroit, and other Canadian and U.S. news organizations, Stef Donev covered three county fairs and a hog show, so he does not impress easily. But he does still have all his fingers, even though he’s shaken hands with more prime ministers, premiers, presidents and other politicians than he wants to count. He’s also heard a president burp, helped a Canadian cabinet minister get a cab back to his hotel from the Toronto Press Club at 4 a.m., and bluffed a Canadian diplomat who regularly negotiated tariffs and treaties out of a large pot with a low pair (threes) in an all-night poker game.
He writes fiction and non-fiction, and occasionally knows the difference
Tony Noland
I’m a writer, blogger and poet in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA. A middle child, I was born in St. Louis, MO back when the world was young and innocent; I lived in Chicago, IL and mid-Michigan before moving to Philadelphia, PA in 1999. I’m married, with two sons, two daughters and one dog. I own a lot of power tools, several firearms and I measure my books by the linear foot.
My writing is about people and their emotions –hopes, fears, regrets, confusions, joys – the whole range of what makes life vibrant. From a genre standpoint, this tends to put me in the box marked “literary”, although my zombies, sex robots, mutant cows and reluctant wizard apprentices might disagree! Call me ‘cross-genre’… that sounds so much better than ‘confused’, doesn’t it?
I know how to use semicolons properly and I’m almost entirely carbon-based.
Ty Miller
An avid reader and writer from an early age, who never developed a real capacity to write about himself without feeling embarrassed. He has another short story that will appear in “Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer” called “She Loved to Steal Spoons”. When not reading Neil Gaiman, Ty tends to write fantasy with a mythological edge, or magic realism with the same.
