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Tag: Short Stories

My short stories do double duty.

No, scratch that. They do more like triple duty.

So, You Want to Write Short Stories?

They run from drabbles to works that are just this side of novellas. My shorter pieces serve a few purposes.

So first of all, they are the usual continuation and push for creativity. If I want to write every day or at least try to, then that is going to mean writing shorter pieces. So, there’s one reason for their collective existence.

Second of all, I have had a lot more of them published! Sometimes, it’s by a magazine that cannot pay me. Or, sometimes, I get a nominal sum. Hey, don’t knock it. It beats a kick in the teeth any day, am I right?

Or, it can be just for charity. So, no matter what the outcome and the profit (if any) there is, these are a part of my writer resume. A credit is a credit.

And finally, they can serve as almost an elevator pitch of sorts. For someone who is unfamiliar with what I write, I do not want to just plonk a huge novel on their virtual desk. No.

Rather, it makes more sense to lead them along gently, with something that is maybe 2500 words or so, more or less.

Face it, if it was a first date, you would not be getting down on one knee and handing over a ring, now, would you? So, instead, a short story is more like taking someone out for coffee. Short, sweet, and without a lot of commitment.

Self-Review – The Boy in the BandShort Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Side Pages, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End, Will's Dog, Building Trust, Message in an Odd Bottle, The New Kid, What's an Animal, A Touch of Gray Hair, Guilty of Imperfection, Jared's World Turned Upside Down, Caring for Carole, Nuremberg Redux, Art Has All Sorts of Effects, When Russia Invaded Texas, Failure, Tumble in a Tomb, Beauty is Only Earth Deep, Peddler, Escape Violinist, Shimmering Wasteland, Cave Canem and Cave, Skating, Uninformed, Stellar Stowaway, dinosaurs, fragments, none of this is real, buzz, quartz, water, verity, quarrel, rivalry, breakout,

Self-Review – The Boy in the Band

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 22, 2024

Review – The Boy in the Band

The Boy in the Band came about because I wanted to write something special for an LGBTQ+ anthology.

So the first person I thought of, immediately, was Richard Holmstrom.

Background

So at the time I wrote the story, I had no idea what had happened to Rich. As it turned out, a mutual friend did some sleuthing. And so, I learned the truth. It was what I had been afraid of; he was dead.

Rich was the first gay man who ever came out to me. And I consider that to be one hell of an honor.

The Plot for The Boy in the Band

So the story is more or less accurate. Hence it wrote itself. And I was merely there to take mental dictation. And the title, of course, comes from the film.

In 1981 or 1982, my friend Rich asked me to the movies. And I had a crush on him and thought – this is great! He chose the films: Cabaret and The Boys in the Band. So I had no idea what I was in for. My innocent nineteen or twenty year old soul thought we were going to see a pair of musicals.

I swear to God this is true.

Characters

The characters are the narrator, Rich, and Paul. He was Rich’s boyfriend at the time. But unfortunately, I have no idea if they stayed together. Since I do not know Paul’s last name, I can’t even look him up.

Memorable Quotes

I gamely watched with Richard. Maybe he meant for it to be artsy? I had no idea, but then the Cowboy character showed up – a male prostitute. And so Richard asked, “What do you think of him?”

I replied, “He reminds me a bit of Rocky from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

“Which do you think is cuter?”

“Rocky.”

“So we will agree to disagree.”

And then I knew.

Rating

The story has a K rating.

Upshot for The Boy in the Band

So this one was highly emotional for me. And then when I learned, later, that I had been right, it all hit me rather hard. See, because of when we knew each other, it was the dawn of the age of AIDS. And I knew he was, let’s just say, a bit loose. Since no one really had any idea what was in store, and AIDS was a 100% painful death sentence at the time, being ‘loose’ was being foolish.

Yet it apparently did not kill him. At least, I can tell myself this. I think I’m right. I hope I’m right. But there is only so much the internet can tell me.

He did not even live long enough to see 9/11, President Obama, or even the Red Sox win the World Series (:)). So he is frozen in time, at age 39. And before I knew this much, he was frozen at age 21. Forever young.

The Boy in the Band — this one’s for you, Richard.

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Self-Review – Three Minutes Back in TimeShort Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Side Pages, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End, Will's Dog, Building Trust, Message in an Odd Bottle, The New Kid, What's an Animal, A Touch of Gray Hair, Guilty of Imperfection, Jared's World Turned Upside Down, Caring for Carole, Nuremberg Redux, Art Has All Sorts of Effects, When Russia Invaded Texas, Failure, Tumble in a Tomb, Beauty is Only Earth Deep, Peddler, Escape Violinist, Shimmering Wasteland, Cave Canem and Cave, Skating, Uninformed, Stellar Stowaway, dinosaurs, fragments, none of this is real, buzz, quartz, water, verity, quarrel, rivalry, breakout,

Self-Review – Three Minutes Back in Time

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 15, 2024

Time to Review the Short Story, Three Minutes Back in Time

Three Minutes Back in Time is a sequel of sorts to a fanfiction story I wrote called Crackerjack. It is also a bit of a sequel for a second fan fiction story, Concord. But for this particular short story, I took out all of the fan fiction elements, except for the names of the characters. So it is essentially a wholly original piece.

Background for Three Minutes Back in Time

Science fiction often seems to be in the realm of today or the future. As I was also writing Real Hub of the Universe, the idea of setting sci fi in an unexpected time period became irresistible.

Hence the story takes place in the very beginning of the American involvement in the Second World War.

Plot

When Rosemary Parker and James Warren go to a fair outside Washington, DC, they do not expect to find a time machine. And they really don’t expect it to work.

But it can only work for three minutes at a time. So Rosemary decides to go to the one place and date and time she has ever wanted to – just before the death of her beloved brother, Freddie.

Characters

The characters are Rosemary Parker, James Warren, and Freddie Parker. Plus there is a carnival ticket taker, who doesn’t get a lot of “screen time”.

Memorable Quotes from Three Minutes Back in Time

At least the fair wasn’t segregated, like so many other places were. Its grounds were open to all, including James and Rosemary. And once they had determined the fair had little to offer, they had sat down on a bench and talked. He had wanted to discuss W.E.B. Du Bois and the recent allied raid on Rome. But Rosemary had wanted to talk about the upcoming premiere of Stormy Weather with Lena Horne and Fats Waller. He didn’t even want to discuss the recent All-Star game.

Rating

The story has a K rating.

Upshot

I think this one stands alone rather well. And I was so happy Three Minutes Back in Time was published by Mythic Magazine.

In particular, I think it evokes something of the mood of the time, not just through music, but also how Rosemary behaves. She’s a woman of color, and she has a decent education, but this is also way before Rosa Parks, who I swear I wasn’t thinking of when I wrote the piece. In fact, it’s even before Jackie Robinson.

As for what originally happened to Freddie, unfortunately, that is all too common these days.

Three minutes is just enough to change the world. Or, at least, a piece of it.

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Self-Review – The Resurrection of DitteThe Resurrection of Ditte Adventures in Career Changing

Self-Review – The Resurrection of Ditte

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 8, 2024

A Look at The Resurrection of Ditte

The Resurrection of Ditte came to me in a rush. I think it is one of the best things I have ever written. For sure, it is one of my best ever short stories. Yes, it is that good (in my opinion).

Background

I have written Holocaust era stories before. And I have even written them in a science fiction setting. Untrustworthy in particular is a science fiction style of the Holocaust (more specifically, Kristallnacht). But this setting is so different and I hope it hits home.

Plot of the Resurrection of Ditte

On December 8, 2041, a girl named Ditte sees a train come to her village, which has the same name as her. And no, that year is not a typo. You’ll see what it means.

Characters

The characters are the narrator, who writes in her diary. Also Anna, Levi, and the narrator’s parents, who have no names. The narrator just calls them Papa and Mama.

Memorable Quotes from Ditte

But I should start a little at the beginning. My name is Ditte—well, it’s really Edith, but no one’s called me that ever. I got this diary two years ago when I was eleven. I guess my grandmother thought a girl would want to write down her secrets. The diary has a lock and key and everything. But nothing has ever really happened here that was worthy of recording, until now.

My name is the same as the village—Ditte. We are near Görlitz, on the German side of the border, near the Lusatian Neisse river. Our village is small—a square with houses around it, a church on a hill, some shops, that sort of thing. And a railway crossroads.

The railway was supposed to bring in jobs. At least, that’s what Papa says. And he’s always right, you see.

Rating

The story has a K+ rating. While the violence is never shown “on screen”, there are plenty of references to it. And in the second version of events, the language is particularly nasty.

Upshot

It was so great to see this one published in Unrealpolitik.

Ditte — not just a person or a place, but a state of mind.

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Self-Review – Killing Us SoftlyShort Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Side Pages, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End, Will's Dog, Building Trust, Message in an Odd Bottle, The New Kid, What's an Animal, A Touch of Gray Hair, Guilty of Imperfection, Jared's World Turned Upside Down, Caring for Carole, Nuremberg Redux, Art Has All Sorts of Effects, When Russia Invaded Texas, Failure, Tumble in a Tomb, Beauty is Only Earth Deep, Peddler, Escape Violinist, Shimmering Wasteland, Cave Canem and Cave, Skating, Uninformed, Stellar Stowaway, dinosaurs, fragments, none of this is real, buzz, quartz, water, verity, quarrel, rivalry, breakout,

Self-Review – Killing Us Softly

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on February 1, 2024

Let’s Look at a Short Story, Killing Us Softly

So Killing Us Softly came from one hard to resist idea – that the alien invasion would come with neither a bang nor a whimper,

Rather, it would come with a sigh.

Of love.

Background

As far as I can tell, there haven’t been any stories about hostiles essentially killing us with kindness and love. Hence Killing Us Softly (named for the Roberta Flack song) follows that conceit.

I originally called the story The Callade Love Us. But the Flack song made a ton more sense to me.

Plot

When we finally get a signal from SETI, it’s from the Callade. And they are so friendly we let our collective guard down quickly. And that’s when things start to go downhill.

Fast.

Characters

The characters are General Susan Sheffield, President Talia Brookfield, and President Elmer Davis, along with Marshall Porter. Sheffield and Porter are scientists at SETI. Of course Sheffield also has a military background.

Memorable Quotes

Susan stared up at the night sky. The view was off-the-charts spectacular, with more stars than she could possibly ever count. It was one of the perks of being stationed in the middle of the Australian continent.

The downsides were the abysmal shopping and dining choices, but sturdy drones and a trusty helicopter – which she flew herself – fixed all of that. She even had a tiny airfield at her disposal, in case anyone wanted to fly in but choppers gave them the willies.

The new president was gaga over anything to do with space. And so General Susan Sheffield’s agency, SETI, was more handsomely funded than it had ever been in its history.

She had her Bluetooth earpiece in her ear and was listening to a bit of late night radio when she heard the SETI ringtone. It was one special tone, directly linked to the array.

Rating for Killing Us Softly

The story has a K+ rating. While there is nothing explicit, you do know what’s going on. And what is going on is none too pleasant.

Killing Us Softly: Upshot

I was so happy Killing Us Softly found an audience. Corner Bar Magazine has published it. They also published Darkness into Light.

Killing Us Softly — because what if it’s not a slam-bang Apocalypse after all?

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Self-Review – The Courtship of Jeremy and MitalisqueShort Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Side Pages, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End, Will's Dog, Building Trust, Message in an Odd Bottle, The New Kid, What's an Animal, A Touch of Gray Hair, Guilty of Imperfection, Jared's World Turned Upside Down, Caring for Carole, Nuremberg Redux, Art Has All Sorts of Effects, When Russia Invaded Texas, Failure, Tumble in a Tomb, Beauty is Only Earth Deep, Peddler, Escape Violinist, Shimmering Wasteland, Cave Canem and Cave, Skating, Uninformed, Stellar Stowaway, dinosaurs, fragments, none of this is real, buzz, quartz, water, verity, quarrel, rivalry, breakout,

Self-Review – The Courtship of Jeremy and Mitalisque

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 25, 2024

Review – The Courtship of Jeremy and Mitalisque

This was a fun little story to write, and it ended up with four parts! The Courtship of Jeremy and Mitalisque brings together two species.

And it all starts with just a one-word prompt: novelty.

Background

In 2021, I made it a point to try to write something or other every single day. And, I kept to it pretty well!

In order to make life easier and add some structure, I decided the first month of any given quarter would be for a daily one-word prompt. These would all go in alphabetical order. I chose most of these prompts on a whim.

Then (if I’m remembering correctly), I would write some more for the second month but as little sequels or extras. Then the third month would be for whatever. When the quarter turned to the next one, I would start again, from A.

This particular story comes from the second quarter of 2021.

Plot

So, this was mostly a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants story. I didn’t really have a plot in mind to start. It wasn’t until the second section, Wax, when I decided it would be a romance.

The basic premise is a kind of ‘getting to know you’ scenario. Because I have to figure something like that will happen, for real, in the future.

Characters

The characters are Jeremy Slayton, a human, and Mitalisque (pronounced a lot like Middle East but with a k at the end, rather than a t), a genetic facilitator alien that is neither male nor female. Also, I never actually name the species.

Memorable Quotes (this is the entirety of the first part, Novelty)

“I have never tried this before.”

“Oh?”

“Never. We don’t freeze food.”

“Surely you sometimes have a surplus. What do you do with the extras? Do you can them? Smoke or salt them?”

“Neither. Any excess goes to those who are still hungry. If appropriate, extras may be fed to food animals.”

“But you do have refrigeration. Er, right?”

“Not the way you do. We don’t shop for a week, or anything like that.”

“How do you get food, then?”

“If we’re not hunting or growing it, we will purchase it, yes. But we don’t store anything edible for more than a day—two on the outside.”

“So, you’re just constantly going to the supermarket?”

“It sounds odd when you say it that way.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“It does take up a lot of our time to get food, yes. However, this is the way we get fresh foods nearly a hundred percent of the time.”

“I suppose. So, even though you don’t normally eat frozen things, do you like it?”

“It’s an interesting flavor.”

“It’s called chocolate.”

“I see. And what about your other frozen foodstuffs?”

“What about them? I’ve got fish sticks, assorted vegetables, and some TV dinners. Bachelor, you see.”

“Ah. Hence my question. Can we partake of—you called them fish sticks?”

“Sure. Just give me a chance to heat them up first. I’ll even make you fresh tartar sauce.”

“And all humans eat these things?”

“More or less. Next time, let’s try something native to your people.”

“Sure. I hope you don’t mind hunting.”

Rating for The Courtship of Jeremy and Mitalisque

The story has a K rating. Nothing untoward happens.

Upshot for The Courtship of Jeremy and Mitalisque

Whenever we do meet aliens (and I firmly believe that we will), if they are pleasant at all, then humans are going to hang out with them. A lot. And, anyone vaguely humanoid who doesn’t fall under the category of a taboo of some kind could very well become a romantic partner.

By taboo, I am talking about aliens who look too much like children, or who are grotesque in appearance but kind, or who are shaped or sized in a way that the mechanics of it seem impossible. Such as ten foot and taller aliens, that sort of thing.

Essentially what I am saying is, if we can make peace with them, then there are going to be some people who want to make love, too.

If Jeremy and Mitalisque can fall in love, then who’s to say we can’t all learn to love aliens, too? Although not necessarily romantically.

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

If this story resonates with you, then check out my other articles about my shorter works.

Short Stories

Finally, for a complete list of my shorter works, please be sure to check out the Hub Page—Short Stories.

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Self-Review – This is My Childshipwrecked, child, Mitalisque, Alien Justice, Hot Time in the Alien Town, Alien Entertainment, Shimmering Wasteland, Leave Your Tone at the Message, Your Planet Smells Like Wet Dog,

Self-Review – This is My Child

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 18, 2024

Let’s take a look at This is My Child.

A child is born. And that kid is not human.

This is My Child puts together just what it would be like if we humans ever had to save a sapient alien species.

Background

In truth, this story was written as a wholly original version of some fan fiction. While the exact plot was not from fan fic, the scenario is most definitely from there. But otherwise, it is rather different, and I did not carry over any names or species or the like.

The Plot of This is My Child

In some future time on Earth, we become allies with a dying sapient species. So, in order to help save their race, human women (or anyone assigned female at birth) volunteer to become surrogate mothers.

Characters

The characters are the narrator and, eventually, the baby she bears. So, there are no names, not even a name for the alien race. Hence the reader just has to take it on faith.

And all we learn is the eyes of the baby are gold and violet. So, you will have to use your imagination for this one!

And the truth is, the child would not necessarily have to be humanoid. Although I suspect it would be a far tougher sell to try to get readers to suspend disbelief for an alien that was really out there. You know, like a noncorporeal alien, or something like that.

Memorable Quotes

I never planned on becoming a mother. I never met anyone I liked, and I just didn’t want the pain and the heartache and all of the work it would have entailed. If that makes me selfish, then call me selfish. I am, or at least I was.

Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

Rating

The story has a K rating. This is about as wholesome and sweet as my stories can get.

There are no jump scares here, so you can relax.

I imagine one sweeter story would, potentially, be A Kitten.

Takeaways for This is My Child

I have loved this idea for quite a while. It is an exceptionally intimate act. And for us to do this for an alien species would have to be based on a strong alliance and kinship.

For it is not just an alliance. Instead, it is a lot more like love.

And it was published! Many thanks to Asymmetry Fiction which, alas, is no more. Ah, well. Perhaps I will find another place to query it.

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Self-Review – Almost Shipwreckedshipwrecked, child, Mitalisque, Alien Justice, Hot Time in the Alien Town, Alien Entertainment, Shimmering Wasteland, Leave Your Tone at the Message, Your Planet Smells Like Wet Dog,

Self-Review – Almost Shipwrecked

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 11, 2024

A Review of My Short Story – Almost Shipwrecked

This story is one of those I desperately want to read with a Queens accent. It just seems like the heroine of Almost Shipwrecked is someone who maybe isn’t what anyone would call a Rhodes Scholar. And that is okay.

Background to Almost Shipwrecked

When our narrator (Cheryl Frasier) gets out of her failing space ship, her escape pod takes her in an unexpected direction.

My main idea was to show more of a “below decks” character in a decidedly unheroic situation. There was to be no technobabble.

Plot for Almost Shipwrecked

The action starts with the narrator complaining more than anything else. And the first fact for the reader is: this was negligence. It wasn’t some fancy malfunction or an interstellar war.

Instead, the engineer got drunk one too many times, and did not do all of the necessary maintenance. The narrator and any of her shipmates who made it out, is damned lucky to be alive at all.

Characters

So the characters are really just the narrator and the folks she meets.

Memorable Quotes

I’m a payload specialist, or at least I guess I was. That’s a fancy way of saying I was in charge of inventory. I wasn’t a doctor like Mendez or an engineer like stupid Rogers or a leader like Ng. I’m more like a glorified box lifter upper and putter downer and counter and orderer.

Rating

The story has a K rating.

Takeaways and Future Plans

I am so grateful that Almost Shipwrecked was a story in the January 2019 edition of Empyreome. But alas, the site is no more.

And I also like how there is a slight bit of hopefulness at the end. But only slight. And it is only maybe. Because the narrator’s life could end that night, or a few days later if she can’t eat anything on the planet.

Also, there is a prequel to this story, Hot Mess, where I reveal the narrator’s name, Cheryl Frasier.

Cheryl is Almost Shipwrecked — and definitely at sea….

And so, I’ve worked on combining these two short stories into one longer one to give her more of a character arc. I am calling it Cheryl and the Lizard Elves. But, as of the end of July of 2025, the ending is not yet in sight.

Sorry, Cheryl, but in real life, I’ve had to deal with a ton of house repairs!

Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

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Self-Review – CanariesShort Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Side Pages, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End, Will's Dog, Building Trust, Message in an Odd Bottle, The New Kid, What's an Animal, A Touch of Gray Hair, Guilty of Imperfection, Jared's World Turned Upside Down, Caring for Carole, Nuremberg Redux, Art Has All Sorts of Effects, When Russia Invaded Texas, Failure, Tumble in a Tomb, Beauty is Only Earth Deep, Peddler, Escape Violinist, Shimmering Wasteland, Cave Canem and Cave, Skating, Uninformed, Stellar Stowaway, dinosaurs, fragments, none of this is real, buzz, quartz, water, verity, quarrel, rivalry, breakout,

Self-Review – Canaries

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 4, 2024

Review – Canaries

I can scarcely recall how I got the idea for Canaries. It is entirely possible I had recently heard the Police song, Canary in a Coal Mine. But I will be the first to admit it – I am not sure.

Background

The great battle for the Earth is over. And – spoiler alert, sorry, not sorry – we lost. So, what do we do now?

The Plot of Canaries

The first paragraph contains one of my favorite phrases to write. And yes, I have used it before. But it still works.

“… when they came.”

It is obvious there has been some sort of a disaster. And we humans types are not doing so well. No. Not at all.

But there is an opportunity out there. We just need to figure out how to seize it.

Characters

The characters are the narrator mainly, along with the birds she (he?) has brought along. The narrator references other people, but the reader never really “meets” them. Plus there are the birds he or she is carrying, in a cage.

But where are they?

Memorable Bits

The first night, in the big common room, their twittering kept people up. People complained, yes, but no one threatened me or the birds. After all, there are so few of us. To harm or threaten one of us is to threaten all of us.

I carried my cage wherever I went on the ship. I got to see what other people had brought along.  One woman had a glass bottle of expensive perfume, wrapped in layers and layers of plastic.  She told me she had been wealthy back on Earth.  It was all she had from her glory days.  So she understood why I had brought the birds.

Rating for Canaries

The story has a K rating.

Upshot or, Birds to the Rescue?

It was so great to hear Canaries would be published in Theme of Absence in March of 2019. So this was my second short story published by them. The first is The Interview.

So I am also glad that the story ends with the slenderest thread of hope. There may be a way out, somehow, some way, after all.

And what would this review be without a quick musical interlude?

Canaries — because an early warning system just might save us all.

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Self-Review – Alix’s ApocalypseShort Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Side Pages, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End, Will's Dog, Building Trust, Message in an Odd Bottle, The New Kid, What's an Animal, A Touch of Gray Hair, Guilty of Imperfection, Jared's World Turned Upside Down, Caring for Carole, Nuremberg Redux, Art Has All Sorts of Effects, When Russia Invaded Texas, Failure, Tumble in a Tomb, Beauty is Only Earth Deep, Peddler, Escape Violinist, Shimmering Wasteland, Cave Canem and Cave, Skating, Uninformed, Stellar Stowaway, dinosaurs, fragments, none of this is real, buzz, quartz, water, verity, quarrel, rivalry, breakout,

Self-Review – Alix’s Apocalypse

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 17, 2023

It’s Time for a Review of Alix’s Apocalypse

Alix’s Apocalypse came about as a short story during the first quarter of 2021, when I was working to keep sharp between NaNoWriMo outings. I wrote with one-word prompts in alphabetical order.

Given the prompt word (see below), this is the fourth story I wrote that year.

Background

The initial one-word prompt was the word daisies. And so the first thing I thought of (because I can be ultra-morbid at times) was of corpses pushing them up.

I named the title character after a women I had know years ago but, unfortunately, I had at the time recently learned that she had passed away from breast cancer.

Plot

When the world ends, there are survivors. But how can they get together and learn to trust one another again? For Alix, the feeling of trust and community begins to return when she starts to receive gifts at her campsite.

A little extra firewood, stones placed in the shape of a heart, a bouquet (of daisies, of course), cooked venison, what does it all add up to?

Characters

The characters are Alix, Esteban, and Shari Chung. Mentioned but never seen is Alix’s mother in law, who had Alzheimer’s. However, I did not write this story for The Longest Night Watch.

Memorable Quotes from Alix’s Apocalypse

They’re everywhere, covering countless fields of grass and bones and spent shell casings. In thousands if not millions—probably billions, who am I kidding?—of unmarked final resting places, the dead are pushing them up.

It all happened in the early spring. The land was full of promise and rainstorms and their ships. Those hideous conveyances, the color of the underbelly of a dead fish.

Their rays are some sort of combination of poison and radiation. But at least they weren’t airborne. So, when an area was hit, it was devastated and became a barren wasteland. We called it being over. But in between the parts that are over, there are parts that are not. And this is where the daisies bloom by the millions.

And even the places that were over aren’t quite so over these days. I’ve seen deer walk into the over places and emerge unscathed. Of course, twenty years from now, they might all get cancer. Which would be tragic. But I don’t know if deer ever live that long, anyway.

Rating

The story has a K rating. I write about the end of the world, but you don’t really see it on screen.

Takeaways for Alix’s Apocalypse

If we are ever attacked and essentially all become feral, then I hope someone remembers to give a gift and start to trust again.

Alix’s Apocalypse — because maybe there can be a semi-happy ending after all that.

And, there’s a related story! Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan refers to the same type of weapon, and it names the villain aliens—the Ziranqui.

#amwriting

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

If this story resonates with you, then check out my other articles about my shorter works.

Want more apocalyptic stories? Then be sure to check out:

† And the Band Played the Apocalypse

Short Stories

Finally, for a complete list of my shorter works, please be sure to check out the Hub Page—Short Stories.

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Self-Review – Dominick and AngelaShort Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Side Pages, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End, Will's Dog, Building Trust, Message in an Odd Bottle, The New Kid, What's an Animal, A Touch of Gray Hair, Guilty of Imperfection, Jared's World Turned Upside Down, Caring for Carole, Nuremberg Redux, Art Has All Sorts of Effects, When Russia Invaded Texas, Failure, Tumble in a Tomb, Beauty is Only Earth Deep, Peddler, Escape Violinist, Shimmering Wasteland, Cave Canem and Cave, Skating, Uninformed, Stellar Stowaway, dinosaurs, fragments, none of this is real, buzz, quartz, water, verity, quarrel, rivalry, breakout,

Self-Review – Dominick and Angela

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 12, 2023

A Review of Dominick and Angela

I really like this little story of how a small time mobster is changed by love and leaves his old life behind. Dominick decides to leave it all behind before he is pulled any deeper into the mob life. But he absolutely cannot leave without Angela.

Background

The initial section came from a one-word prompt: bilk. I wanted someone who would almost defend that as a life choice, to bilk people out of their money.

But then Dom grew on me, and I came to the conclusion that he and Angie needed to get out.

This is a short story that I wrote in 2021 to keep sharp between NaNoWriMo months.

Plot

Knowing that his life is only going to get worse, Dominick decides he needs to leave it all behind. At the same time, he’s in love with Angela and wants to make a life with her.

The story therefore starts in the confessional at St. Catherine’s, where he’s talking to Father Russo about his dilemma.

But it turns out that this is not Father Russo’s first rodeo.

Oh, and FYI, there is no Saint Catherine’s on Staten Island.

Characters

The characters are Dominick Ottomanelli and Angela, his girlfriend (I never actually gave her a maiden name). We also see his mother, Louise and his Nonna (grandmother). The only other characters are Marina Santiago and Father Russo, with quick appearances by the cleaning lady Marjery Simms, and the caretaker, Robert Kowalczech.

Other characters I mention but you never see them, namely Paul White; Martha Renatti and her child, a toddler; Louie D’Antonio and his family, Anita, Mario, Tammy, and Kathy; and Marina’s colleague, Jeff.

Memorable Quotes from Dominick and Angela

Father Russo sped through the ceremony as quickly as possible. When it got to the time for their vows, Angie held up a hand. “I want to say something.”

“Of course.” The priest stepped back a bit.

“My mother always said that marriage is a great adventure. I’m glad my adventure is gonna be with you.”

“E ticket all the way, baby.”

“By the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Rating

The story has a K+ rating, as I mention some fairly nasty violence but it’s never onscreen.

Takeaways for Dominick and Angela

So, I don’t honestly know how accurate his life or the process of covering up his existence are. But I don’t think they matter as much s how this story makes me feel, and I hope how it makes a reader feel. And it doesn’t have a home yet. Still, I hope a publisher (or maybe just me!) will take a chance on a lovable galoot like Dominick.

Will Dominick and Angela make it? Even I have no idea. #amwriting

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