#shortstories — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #shortstories, aggregated by home.social.
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Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]
I have a great fondness for Isak Dinesen's strange and Scandinavian short stories. Five years ago I described her Seven Gothic Tales (1934) as 'Rather long, but astoundingly inventive, and ought to be well known in fantasy circles since they predate most modern fantasy writing'. I found this Penguin Modern Classics edition of Babette's Feast and Other Stories in the charity bookshop my husband works in, and I gobbled it in two nights. Like PMC edition of Seven Gothic Tales this is a […]https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/
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Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]
I have a great fondness for Isak Dinesen's strange and Scandinavian short stories. Five years ago I described her Seven Gothic Tales (1934) as 'Rather long, but astoundingly inventive, and ought to be well known in fantasy circles since they predate most modern fantasy writing'. I found this Penguin Modern Classics edition of Babette's Feast and Other Stories in the charity bookshop my husband works in, and I gobbled it in two nights. Like PMC edition of Seven Gothic Tales this is a […]https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/
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Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]
I have a great fondness for Isak Dinesen's strange and Scandinavian short stories. Five years ago I described her Seven Gothic Tales (1934) as 'Rather long, but astoundingly inventive, and ought to be well known in fantasy circles since they predate most modern fantasy writing'. I found this Penguin Modern Classics edition of Babette's Feast and Other Stories in the charity bookshop my husband works in, and I gobbled it in two nights. Like PMC edition of Seven Gothic Tales this is a […]https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/
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Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]
I have a great fondness for Isak Dinesen's strange and Scandinavian short stories. Five years ago I described her Seven Gothic Tales (1934) as 'Rather long, but astoundingly inventive, and ought to be well known in fantasy circles since they predate most modern fantasy writing'. I found this Penguin Modern Classics edition of Babette's Feast and Other Stories in the charity bookshop my husband works in, and I gobbled it in two nights. Like PMC edition of Seven Gothic Tales this is a […]https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/
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Babette’s Feast and Other Stories, by Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen]
I have a great fondness for Isak Dinesen's strange and Scandinavian short stories. Five years ago I described her Seven Gothic Tales (1934) as 'Rather long, but astoundingly inventive, and ought to be well known in fantasy circles since they predate most modern fantasy writing'. I found this Penguin Modern Classics edition of Babette's Feast and Other Stories in the charity bookshop my husband works in, and I gobbled it in two nights. Like PMC edition of Seven Gothic Tales this is a […]https://katemacdonald.net/2026/09/06/babettes-feast-and-other-stories-by-isak-dinesen-karen-blixen/
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Behind the Scenes: Part 3
Behind the Scenes with Our Latest Sketch Every page of a picture book starts with simple lines on paper. Before we worry about color, lighting, or final details, we use these initial drafts to figure out how a scene feels.I wanted to share this rough drawing from another scene we are working on. In our house, my kids like to spot the tiny details in these early sketches that sometimes change by the time the final book is printed. Rough Sketch from Sharing Kindness Wherever I Go Drafting […]https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/
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Behind the Scenes: Part 3
Behind the Scenes with Our Latest Sketch Every page of a picture book starts with simple lines on paper. Before we worry about color, lighting, or final details, we use these initial drafts to figure out how a scene feels.I wanted to share this rough drawing from another scene we are working on. In our house, my kids like to spot the tiny details in these early sketches that sometimes change by the time the final book is printed. Rough Sketch from Sharing Kindness Wherever I Go Drafting […]https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/
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Behind the Scenes: Part 3
Behind the Scenes with Our Latest Sketch Every page of a picture book starts with simple lines on paper. Before we worry about color, lighting, or final details, we use these initial drafts to figure out how a scene feels.I wanted to share this rough drawing from another scene we are working on. In our house, my kids like to spot the tiny details in these early sketches that sometimes change by the time the final book is printed. Rough Sketch from Sharing Kindness Wherever I Go Drafting […]https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/
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Behind the Scenes: Part 3
Behind the Scenes with Our Latest Sketch Every page of a picture book starts with simple lines on paper. Before we worry about color, lighting, or final details, we use these initial drafts to figure out how a scene feels.I wanted to share this rough drawing from another scene we are working on. In our house, my kids like to spot the tiny details in these early sketches that sometimes change by the time the final book is printed. Rough Sketch from Sharing Kindness Wherever I Go Drafting […]https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/
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Behind the Scenes: Part 3
Behind the Scenes with Our Latest Sketch Every page of a picture book starts with simple lines on paper. Before we worry about color, lighting, or final details, we use these initial drafts to figure out how a scene feels.I wanted to share this rough drawing from another scene we are working on. In our house, my kids like to spot the tiny details in these early sketches that sometimes change by the time the final book is printed. Rough Sketch from Sharing Kindness Wherever I Go Drafting […]https://heathercongrove.com/2026/09/05/behind-the-scenes-part-3/
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If you like metaphors and similes (or hardboiled crime fiction), this one's for you: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/08/06/30-odd-metaphors-from-ross-macdonald/
#language #metaphor #ShortStories #CrimeFiction #reading #writing
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Got a terrifying tale in 500 words or less? 🖤
Submit your microhorror story to Whispers From Beyond, the webzine for Dark Descent. Share your dark voice with fans of the macabre.
📖 Submission link: https://www.darkholmepublishing.uk/ddportal
#DarkDescent #HorrorWriters #horrorcommunity #darkesttales #writingcommunity #readingcommunity #horrorcommunity #horror #darkfantasy #anthologies #bookstagram #kindle #shortstories #twistedtales
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Thurs. June 25, 2026: A Steady Creative Day
image courtesy of Dan from PixabayThursday, June 25, 2026
Waxing Moon
Pluto Retrograde
How did it get to be Thursday again so quickly? You can read about the latest over on Gratitude and Growth. I talk in more detail about cooking with the CSA ingredients, so I won’t repeat it over here.
We were out of the house at 8 AM yesterday and back by 8:45. Can you imagine? The car put-putted up the hill to the hospital, we checked in at radiology, and within 5 minutes we were taken back. I got my mom changed into the hospital gown and she went with the technician for the Xray, which took less than 5 minutes. I got her back into her clothes, we trotted back to the car, and came home. Easy-peasy, which is the way it should be.
It was a lovely day out, so it was nice to be out and about, and it’s good for my mom to get out of the house sometimes, even if it’s for a medical appointment. Although she spends a good portion of the day (like Tessa) on the enclosed front porch, which is almost like being outside (and suspended over the world).
We still needed a break when we got home! The worry going into it always takes a toll.
We are lucky with the hospital up the hill (now that’s open again). They are very kind there, and try to take as much stress out of everything as possible. That is very much appreciated.
I had a bad case of the “I don’t wannas” when I got home, which is ridiculous, because everything I needed to work on was something I wanted to work on. I just didn’t feel like doing so that day.
Oh, well, too bad for me!
I spent most of the day working and reworking the first three radio episodes. I layered in detail beats and subplot beats. I tried a few things and tore them out and tried again. Writing about it takes only a couple of sentences, but it was a full day’s work.
I also managed to do some straightening up and organizing, and tidying up the reading corner in my office.
I received an anthology contract. It seems to be from yet a different publisher than the previous two contracts for inclusion in this same anthology, so I think it’s bounced somewhere else yet again. It’s a straightforward contract, so I will sign it and return it. And the Monthology anthology looks like it’s finally going forward, too. No release dates on either of those, but if those both happen, added to the comic noir cat story I have in an anthology releasing in August from Thalia Press, I will have three different short stories in three different anthologies over the next stretch of time.
Another anthology has extended their deadline, and I might actually be able to submit to them. I roughed out a flash fiction piece in this morning’s free-write session.
I was assigned another book to review, so let’s hope that’s picking up again.
I walked down to Savvy Hive and picked up the CSA box, which was lovely. You can read about how I’m using it on Gratitude and Growth here. The humidity is rising, but the temperatures are still in the 70’s, so it was a lovely walk down and back.
The WAM literary committee meeting went well, and was a lot of fun. Always energizing to be around this group.
I received my official invitation to be an associate member at Future Labs for the coming year (their year starts in September). The two shows I would be involved in are scheduled for December and January, which isn’t ideal for me. I have to re-think what I would put into the December show. It was something I planned to work on next year, inspired by a fabric-on-canvas exhibit I saw at MASS MoCA a few years ago, but the space limitations for December mean it makes sense to do it for that, 3 small pieces 12” x 12”. I need to clarify the story I’m telling in each panel. I already started sourcing fabric for “Elemental Nine Patch” which will be my central piece for January (I want to put on the quilting and do the backing while I’m in-studio in October), and, if I have time and the Nine Patch is the size I hope it is, I might also do “Jenna Breaks the Fourth Wall” which is a weird little piece I want to do involving a stuffed unicorn. You’ll have to see it for it to make sense.
I heard from the organizer of the exquisite corpse poem. The whole first round is complete, ahead of schedule, so we may get our second words earlier than expected. My next word was supposed to arrive on July 5th, so it will probably show up sometime this coming week, which is fine.
All in all, a solid creative day.
I cooked dinner using CSA ingredients. I liked the result. My mom has decided she does not like escarole. Getting enough vegetables into her is always a challenge.
Quiet evening, and got to enjoy the moon from the front porch. We’ve been lucky this month with the weather, only a few really hot and humid days. It looks like temperatures will be steadily rising over the coming weeks, but the nights are supposed to cool down, which is what I hope for in this region, and that helps me keep the apartment comfortable.
On today’s agenda: online meditation group (I think this is our last one before we break for the summer), the usual round of errands, writing on whichever projects I can, an Authors’ Guild seminar on ghostwriting, open studios at MASS MoCA, and then the closing of the show at Future Labs (which I really have to attend, since I missed the opening due to my play).
That’s the latest. Hope you’re having a good week.
#anthologies #art #books #poetry #radio #shortStories #theatre #writing -
Got a terrifying tale in 500 words or less? 🖤
Submit your microhorror story to Whispers From Beyond, the webzine for Dark Descent. Share your dark voice with fans of the macabre.
📖 Submission link: https://www.darkholmepublishing.uk/ddportal
#DarkDescent #HorrorWriters #horrorcommunity #darkesttales #writingcommunity #readingcommunity #horrorcommunity #horror #darkfantasy #anthologies #bookstagram #kindle #shortstories #twistedtales
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Girl in Hyacinth Blue "A Dutch painting of a young girl survives three and a half centuries of loss, flood, anonymity, theft, secrecy" Sale: $18 to $1.99 by Susan Vreeland Rating: 4.0/5 (1,945 Reviews) #books #shortstories #anthologies #art #vermeer #literature #fiction #storytelling #booksky
Girl in Hyacinth Blue -
Werewolves and Toxic Rain by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wqVbdgrOD1Y https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJRQ2YHK See all formats and editions Werwolves and Toxic Rain a short little book of two short stories by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc.Do you really know your friend?Are you prepared for an apocalypse?What happens when you encouter the undead?Werolves and Toxic Rain has the answer to all three questions.You don't want to miss this little bookhttps://midnight-publishing.org/2026/04/17/werewolves-and-toxic-rain-by-andrea-dean-van-scoyoc/
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Werewolves and Toxic Rain by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wqVbdgrOD1Y https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJRQ2YHK See all formats and editions Werwolves and Toxic Rain a short little book of two short stories by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc.Do you really know your friend?Are you prepared for an apocalypse?What happens when you encouter the undead?Werolves and Toxic Rain has the answer to all three questions.You don't want to miss this little bookhttps://midnight-publishing.org/2026/04/17/werewolves-and-toxic-rain-by-andrea-dean-van-scoyoc/
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Werewolves and Toxic Rain by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wqVbdgrOD1Y https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJRQ2YHK See all formats and editions Werwolves and Toxic Rain a short little book of two short stories by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc.Do you really know your friend?Are you prepared for an apocalypse?What happens when you encouter the undead?Werolves and Toxic Rain has the answer to all three questions.You don't want to miss this little bookhttps://midnight-publishing.org/2026/04/17/werewolves-and-toxic-rain-by-andrea-dean-van-scoyoc/
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Werewolves and Toxic Rain by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wqVbdgrOD1Y https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJRQ2YHK See all formats and editions Werwolves and Toxic Rain a short little book of two short stories by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc.Do you really know your friend?Are you prepared for an apocalypse?What happens when you encouter the undead?Werolves and Toxic Rain has the answer to all three questions.You don't want to miss this little bookhttps://midnight-publishing.org/2026/04/17/werewolves-and-toxic-rain-by-andrea-dean-van-scoyoc/
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Werewolves and Toxic Rain by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wqVbdgrOD1Y https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJRQ2YHK See all formats and editions Werwolves and Toxic Rain a short little book of two short stories by Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc.Do you really know your friend?Are you prepared for an apocalypse?What happens when you encouter the undead?Werolves and Toxic Rain has the answer to all three questions.You don't want to miss this little bookhttps://midnight-publishing.org/2026/04/17/werewolves-and-toxic-rain-by-andrea-dean-van-scoyoc/
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Got a terrifying tale in 500 words or less? 🖤
Submit your microhorror story to Whispers From Beyond, the webzine for Dark Descent. Share your dark voice with fans of the macabre.
📖 Submission link: https://www.darkholmepublishing.uk/ddportal
#DarkDescent #HorrorWriters #horrorcommunity #darkesttales #writingcommunity #readingcommunity #horrorcommunity #horror #darkfantasy #anthologies #bookstagram #kindle #shortstories #twistedtales
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This Story Hour, Effie Seiberg and J.R. Dawson read us their Nebula-nominated stories! Watch for great stories, great writing, and maybe a restored faith in humanity. Seriously, watch! @effies #Bookstodon #StoryHour2020 #ShortStories #ShortFiction #AuthorReading #FantasyFiction #ScienceFiction #SFF #EffieSeiberg #JRDawson https://youtu.be/5T5WrJV2v40
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Short Story News: Elvis Impersonators, Scuba Diving Cats, and Maybe More?
This week I got some news I'd been hoping for in finding out that I sold a short story to an anthology project. I don't want to say too much, though the contract is signed, and the project is for speculative fiction stori
https://kitauthor.com/short-story-news-elvis-impersonators-scuba-diving-cats-and-maybe-more/
#AuthorLife #BookNews #BookThoughts #WritingFantasy #anthologies #MuseHappens #ShortReads #ShortStories -
Would you like to hear award contenders read as their authors intended? Current Nebula nominees J.R. Dawson and Effie Seiberg will read their nominated stories on Story Hour! Join us Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. PDT! @effies #Bookstodon #StoryHour2020 #ShortStories #ShortFiction #AuthorReading #FantasyFiction #ScienceFiction #SFF #EffieSeiberg #JRDawson
https://www.storyhour2020.com/ -
This Story Hour, Renan Bernardo took us to Brazil and Amal Singh took us to India. More than that, they took us through history and myth, all the way into the human soul. Lyrical, lovely, haunting. You can still watch! @renanbernardo #Bookstodon #StoryHour2020 #ShortStories #ShortFiction #AuthorReading #FantasyFiction #ScienceFiction #SFF #RenanBernardo #AmalSingh https://youtu.be/ZwD-TPPlDXI
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This week, Story Hour travels the world to bring you great SFF! Favorite Renan Bernardo returns, and impending favorite Amal Singh makes his Story Hour debut! Join us Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. PDT! #Bookstodon #StoryHour2020 #ShortStories #ShortFiction #AuthorReading #FantasyFiction #ScienceFiction #SFF #RenanBernardo #AmalSingh @renanbernardo
https://www.storyhour2020.com/ -
Got a terrifying tale in 500 words or less? 🖤
Submit your microhorror story to Whispers From Beyond, the webzine for Dark Descent. Share your dark voice with fans of the macabre.
📖 Submission link: https://www.darkholmepublishing.uk/ddportal
#DarkDescent #HorrorWriters #horrorcommunity #darkesttales #writingcommunity #readingcommunity #horrorcommunity #horror #darkfantasy #anthologies #bookstagram #kindle #shortstories #twistedtales
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Got a terrifying tale in 500 words or less? 🖤
Submit your microhorror story to Whispers From Beyond, the webzine for Dark Descent. Share your dark voice with fans of the macabre.
📖 Submission link: https://www.darkholmepublishing.uk/ddportal
#DarkDescent #HorrorWriters #horrorcommunity #darkesttales #writingcommunity #readingcommunity #horrorcommunity #horror #darkfantasy #anthologies #bookstagram #kindle #shortstories #twistedtales
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Ever write something so weird, creepy, or cursed that your doc file screamed a little? Perfect. Dark Descent is open for microhorror subs—500 words max, no fees, and a chance to spook some readers.
👉 https://www.darkholmepublishing.uk/darkdescentsubmissions
🌒 https://www.darkholmepublishing.uk#HorrorWriters #Microfiction #DarkDescent #darkesttales #writingcommunity #readingcommunity #horrorcommunity #horror #darkfantasy #anthologies #bookstagram #kindle #shortstories #twistedtales
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Got a terrifying tale in 500 words or less? 🖤
Submit your microhorror story to Whispers From Beyond, the webzine for Dark Descent. Share your dark voice with fans of the macabre.
📖 Submission link: https://www.darkholmepublishing.uk/ddportal
#DarkDescent #HorrorWriters #horrorcommunity #darkesttales #writingcommunity #readingcommunity #horrorcommunity #horror #darkfantasy #anthologies #bookstagram #kindle #shortstories #twistedtales
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Alice Munro's "Lives of Girls and Women" impressed me.
Whether one thinks of it as a set of linked short stories or as novel, the book clearly belongs to that line of North American fictions representing slices of small town life of which Sherwood Anderson's "Winesberg Ohio" is a notable early example.
Munro's work includes sharp observations of female friendship, mother daughter relations, and the limits of provincial cultural life. One story depicts a middle aged man engaged in unsolicited sexual display in front of the young female protagonist; this scene is at once utterly grotesque and totally unforgettable.
I'd strongly recommend "Lives of Girls and Women" . Unfortunately, you will almost certainly not be as lucky as me when I picked up my Penguin copy for a dollar!
#Books #ShortStories #AliceMunro #CanadianLiterature #Fiction #NorthAmericanLiterature #LiteratureInEnglish
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Our first Story Hour on YouTube felt like a great housewarming party. Effie Seiberg read a sweet, funny story and Erin Roberts read a beautiful, heartbreaking one, and we couldn't be happier. You can still watch! #StoryHour2020 #ShortStories #ShortFiction #AuthorReading #AuthorReadings #SFF #ScienceFiction #EffieSeiberg #ErinRoberts @effies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8f850VwRDI&list=PLPUvtHiTtNkA3ryICMVg0YmJtDk6EySA5
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The more things change, the more they stay the same. Sure, Story Hour moves to YouTube this week, but we still have awesome writers reading us their stories. Like Effie Seiberg, who’s read for us many times—and Erin Roberts, making her Story Hour debut! Join us Wednesday at 7:00 PDT! The things that matter will always be the same. @effies #StoryHour2020 #ShortStories #ShortFiction #AuthorReading #FantasyFiction #ScienceFiction #SFF #EffieSeiberg #ErinRoberts https://www.storyhour2020.com/
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This week's Story Hour takes us to a Brazilian lagoon and frosty Maine. Our guides are writers Renan Bernardo and Jeff Reynolds. Dress in layers and join us Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. PDT! @trollbreath42 #StoryHour2020 #ShortStories
#ShortFiction #AuthorReading #RenanBernardo #JeffReynolds #ScienceFiction #Fantasy https://www.storyhour2020.com/ -
Humorous stories tackled tough subjects in this week's Story Hour. Effie Seiberg introduced us to an adventurer with an unfortunate sidekick: externalized anxiety. Karl Dandenell showed us aliens who savor suffering...but don't take it away. We laughed, we saw ourselves, and we all left at least a little bit better. You can, too! #StoryHour2020 #ShortStories #AuthorReading #Fantasy #KarlDandenell #EffieSeiberg https://www.facebook.com/100039975042631/videos/1562355011258637
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This week, Story Hour brings you two favorites from the San Francisco speculative fiction scene: Karl Dandenell and Effie Seiberg! Tune in at 7:00 p.m. PST (yes, thank goodness, we're back on real time) this Wednesday! #StoryHour2020 #KarlDandenell #EffieSeiberg #ShortStories #AuthorReading https://www.storyhour2020.com/
