Those who take the time to read my near-to-final drafts are heroes, in my mind. They may not fight fires, keep us safe, or try to find a way to defeat the Mad Titan, but they make me such a better writer.Whether I have ever met them or not, I get to know them. Some are really good at typos, some notice things I never would have seen about plot or character, others spot inconsistencies, and all of them bring their own expertise in another field to my research.
Because of that, I develop a sense of community with them. They are taking the intimate revelings of my soul and critiquing them. They are all so kind, and they do not need to be. I can take it. But I appreciate it. They become friends.
I am a better writer because of Beta Readers, so thank you Linda, Sara, Rebecka, and Susanne. Part of you is in The Sky Above Chaos: Short Stories by Markus McDowell.
Chaos rattles our arrogance, shakes loose the dust, breaks rigor mortis. In chaos, you find out who you are—what matters, what you fear, what you love…Here is a collection of nine short stories about chaos in multiple genres: historical, speculative, stream-of-consciousness, poetic, literary, and more.
- Morty loves his job. Really loves it. Perhaps not so strange, except that he is an embalmer at a funeral home. What happens when someone loves their job so much they don’t want to do anything else?
- Becky’s husband is away on business, in the cold of a snowy winter, when her youngest of four girls develops diphtheria. In the late 1800s, what can a young mother do?
- What if everyone had a hat but you? And it really mattered?
- Poor Charlie. He really needs order in his life. He prides himself on schedule, structure, and sameness. So did his grandmother…and they found her dead in a house crawling with thousands of insects she had collected.
Included stories: “Three Days,” “Turn and Face the Change,” ‘Three Hours and Thirteen Minutes,” “Ringing,” “Hats,” “Preparation,” “Ten More Days,” “Behind the Bar,” “What Does the River Say?”
Available from select retailers in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.
