Contribution to Mankind and other stories of the Dark 99c

[Linda Acaster]

I'm pleased to introduce...

CONTRIBUTION TO MANKIND and other stories of the DARK
a collection dripped from a disturbed pen (20,000 words):

* Our Tyke: selling a shop isn’t easy, especially when it's haunted
* The Lake: join a sight-seeing detour not in the brochure
* Doppelganger: participating in a cabaret frees more than inhibitions
* Harvester World TZ29-4: caught in the trap of an off-planet deployment
* Contribution to Mankind: sink estate joyriders; who’s carrying the card?

Bonus material: 20,000 word extract from TORC OF MOONLIGHT : SPECIAL EDITION, the first in a trilogy of contemporary timeslip thrillers set in British university cities crowding the North York Moors against the sea.

How many believers does it need to keep an ancient religion alive?
Just one.
It is you, isn’t it, who throws coins into a wishing well?

This collection is offered at 99c as a showcase of my darker storytelling.
There are those who believe Romance authors can write nothing else.
I will not be pigeonholed.

[Ann in Arlington]

Welcome to KindleBoards, Linda, and congratulations on your book.

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[Linda Acaster]

I've been very tardy about updating this thread, but I have to share a 5 star review I've just received from www.tony-paul.com :

"...From the slightly whimsical “Our Tyke” with its tale of a supernatural friendship no one expected, to the title story about organ-donation and a deadly feud, these are stories which will leave you looking over your shoulder and wondering, “What if…?” ..."

It's great to receive it!

[Dana Taylor]

Hi Linda--

You seem to have an English accent in your posts.  Yet, I notice Native American themes here that I'd expect from somebody from say, Arizona. How did you land in the West?

Dana

[Linda Acaster]

Hi Dana... yes, well, I guess you'll have retired / gone on a cruise / grown another set of limbs / or at the very least produced another great novel since you left me a note - doh! I do apologise.

English accent? Definitely. I'm from Yorkshire (halfway up the country, usually termed "the north" - don't ask) and yet I've not only written a Native American romance, it has no European characters. I used to be a re-enactor giving talks to schools and community groups, so yes I have a coup bonnet, could decorate with porcupine quills and start a fire with flint & steel, though to be honest I liked the bow drill better but couldn't quite get the hang of it. I'll be bumping its thread tonight (it's already 8pm here) so if you're around you could look it up. There's more about this eccentric English "rose" on there.

You, and doubtless most readers, will be pleased to hear that I don't always go in for hands-on research, especially as I'm here to bump the Contribution to Mankind... thread. There's murder in there, and dark deeds beyond the veil... Hraa-aa-aa-a. Mmm. I need to work on my evil laugh.

[Linda Acaster]

Calling by to bump the thread...

...and mention that I'm being interviewed today across on The Indie Spotlight http://www.theindiespotlight.com/?p=5685. Do drop by to say hello and read why I write what I do.

[Linda Acaster]

Giving the thread an airing. I've not been very active on the forum of late as I've been powering to the end of a non-fiction work ready for its beta readers. Just didn't want you to think I was ignoring everyone!

Contribution to Mankind and other stories of the Dark includes a 20k word bite of Torc of Moonlight - all for 99cents!

[Linda Acaster]

I've always been one of those writers that both my agent and my publisher(s) shook their heads and tutted over. I've never written just one sort of genre in one sort of way. I've always carried the notion that writers should try their hand at whatever draws their curiosity, and put their all into it. Why write to a comfort zone? Or a publisher's pigeonhole?

The five ghost/macabre tales that make up Contribution to Mankind and other stories of the Dark were not written serially to be matched for this collection; each came from its own seed in its own time. ‘Our Tyke’ is quirky, though based on a true story I heard related on the radio. ‘The Lake’ is from a “wake up from a dream covered in cold sweat” moment. ‘Contribution to Mankind’ is real life extrapolated, though thankfully not mine.

They make up tapas dishes to a writer’s mind. Enjoy.

[Linda Acaster]

Contribution to Mankind and other stories of the Dark - (20,000 words) - 5 short stories from the macabre to a quirky look at the Occult. Plus an introduction to Torc of Moonlight

[Linda Acaster]

Just in from a three day trip to London - business, research & pleasure - and managed to fit in a two hour guided yomp round Shakespeare's haunts in the old City. Absolutely fascinating. But why are there no blue plaques marking all these historic sites? London should be ashamed of itself.

Pity we couldn't have met up with Declan McHugh, the ex Shakespearean actor, for this evening's "Blood & Tears Walk: London's Horrible Past". I'm sure it would have primed me for another couple of stories to add to Contribution to Mankind...

If you are coming to London this summer, don't miss it.

[Linda Acaster]

Contribution to Mankind and other stories of the Dark is a collection of five stories of the odd, the macabre, of a reach from beyond the veil.

The title story is set in the all too real world of a sink estate in a modern English city, where drug use, joy-riding and burglary is the norm. A near-death experience changes the outlook of two youths on the verge of manhood. Can you make your own Hell without realising?

The collection also includes an excerpt from Torc of Moonlight, on sale until Sunday at 99c / 86p.

[Linda Acaster]

Bringing Contribution to Mankind and other stories of the Dark into the... er... spotlight. An interesting thought.

Five ghost and other stories of the odd. Enjoy your weekend.

[Linda Acaster]

I'm the writer of 70+ published short stories.  5 are collected in Contribution to Mankind and other stories of the Dark - 99c/86p.

More form the backbone to my forthcoming writers' aid Reading a Writer's Mind: Exploring Short Fiction - First Thought to Finished Story. What can I say? I like long titles.

USA: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004FGLOJQ
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004FGLOJQ

[Linda Acaster]

Just bringing good writing to your attention for the weekend. Enjoy any you pick!

[Linda Acaster]

September already. Where did the summer go? Be prepared for the darker nights with
Contribution to Mankind and other stories of the Dark - click on the signature cover to read a preview.

[Linda Acaster]

Bearing a grudge makes the soul fester....

Contribution to Mankind 86p /99c

[Linda Acaster]

If the ghost is a giggling urchin, is it a good idea to have it exorcised??

[Linda Acaster]

I've picked up an interesting 4 star review on this book:

"Linda Acaster is the best new writer I have come across for a very long time. She writes beautiful prose and I particularly love her ghost stories.

The only reason I don't give this the full five stars is that I found the organization rather odd. There several wonderful ghost stories, a science fiction story and then a break in the middle, followed by the first five chapters of a novel. I think I would have preferred a shorter book that stuck to being an anthology of short stories.

But, that said, I loved it and will certainly read everything she has written. Anyone who writes as she does deserves to be a best-seller. "


Forgive me while I preen a little! However, the review brings up an interesting perspective. Although I have lots of short stories available I wanted the theme to be particularly dark for Contribution to Mankind and other stories of the Dark so only chose the five stories, making it 20,000 total. I added in a good dollop of my novel Torc of Moonlight because the theme fits, but it would seem that this reader would have preferred the collection alone, despite it being so much shorter. I find that interesting, and will bear it in mind for the future.

[Linda Acaster]

The nights are drawing in, a chill is in the air. The time draws near to pull close to a warming fire and let the shifting shadows light a doorway to speculative fiction.

[Linda Acaster]

A red-bloodied wine, a finger of intestines and a donor card.

Sort of.

[Linda Acaster]

Comfy chair, soft lighting, crackling fire... and the odd ghost to keep you awake.

[Linda Acaster]

Life is fairly ordinary in a cycle repair shop - until the owner wants to sell and the buyer doesn't want to inherit the ghost of a ten year old boy. "Our Tyke".

[Linda Acaster]

I've had a couple of book covers updated, and Contribution to Mankind and other stories of the Dark is one of them. The original is still in my signature, so the difference in the fonts is plain. I wasn't sure about it to start with, but it's growing on me. I still love the image. For 99c it's a bargain.

[Linda Acaster]

Ever thought yourself stuck in a rut, but don't know how to climb out?
Ever thought of a biting retort to your humiliators... ten minutes after they've left?
Ever thought you could be better... if only you had a little help?

Doppelganger - one of five short stories of the darker side of living.

[Linda Acaster]

Drone miners, that's what we are, except the ore is so thin now it's not worth the transport. But we are, it seems, we Genetics. To a Harvester world, a New Earth they tell us, to help stave off starvation on the Belt. What do we know about harvesting vegetable matter? We're drone miners. We've only ever seen live vegetable matter in the experience chambers of the orbiting Rec stations. It didn't rustle there. It didn't communicate beneath the terra. Did they know it did before they sent us? Is that why they sent us, we Genetics?

Harvester World TZ29-4

A short from Contribution to Mankind and other stories of the Dark