Through the years, I’ve been writing short stories and novels. Most of them remain unedited and so have not been submitted to any place for publication. A few of my stories have been edited (to various degrees), and I decided to collect them together, and offer them to anyone who might be interested in what I have written.
The texts have been collected, and I am ready to share them with the world.
I have first released them as an e-book. This is because this process was easier and quicker to do than trying to put them together for a hard copy edition. I am working on finding a place for such an edition; if you are not wanting to order an e-book edition, but want a printed edition of my book, you will have to wait. I hope the wait will not be too long (I am finalizing my decision as to where I will have them published, then I will edit it for the book format I choose, and then I will have to wait to see a proof of the book before it is finalized — I expect this will take roughly a month, if not less time).
You can order the e-book in smashwords, here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/8099 .
I called my book Thumbnails of the Fantastic to represent the fact it is a collection of short stories from the horror, science fiction, and fantasy genres. I have also included a brief introductory essay to indicate the value of these genres to a religious scholar as well as a concluding epilogue to point out the value of fantastic literature and why such tales should be studied by academics.
The table of contents reads:
Introduction
How Peter Lombard’s Sentences Saved the World
Fermi’s Pair of Ducks
The Innkeeper’s Secret
What St. Jerome Did Not Know
Death Awaits Him
He and She
The Test Subject
The Curious Case of the Missing Tea
What Dreams Are Made Of
The Vampire
The Puppeteer
Epilogue: On Fantastic Literature
Because of how e-books function, there is no page numbers in the title page for the electronic version of this book. I have linked to the previously released online versions of two of the stories (they have changed slightly for the e-book).
I am putting myself out on a limb with this publication. I hope people find the stories worthwhile and will recommend them to their friends.
Henry: How exciting! I am awaiting the “real” book. And I have some friends who I will be recommending it to as well. Keep me posted.
Sam
I will be working on the print version this weekend, though it will take time before it is available. Depending upon where I go with it will determine how long — though right now, I am thinking of making it a paperback edition, so to be as cheap as possible (it’s not a large book).
Quality wise, some of the stories I think have good themes, but I wouldn’t stand to say they are the best in literary style. I have a long way to go with that, though some are better than others.