Surely, some writers are as comfortable on the golf course, tennis court, or in the gym as they are running words together to create entertaining stories. I don’t happen to be one of them, so the thought of appearing in the Olympics or any athletic competition would fall under the category of Speculative Fiction. Despite that, I recently captured a Silver Medal in a highly competitive contest.
The Annual 2021 Florida Authors and Publishers Association President’s Book Awards recognized my short story collection, Ghostly Whispers, Secret Voices, in the Anthology/Collections category. Hosted by FAPA, this prestigious national award was open to books published between 2019 and 2021. The judges for the competition were librarians, educators, and publishing professionals.
Ghostly Whispers, Secret Voices contains seven dark and surprising tales, including the title novella, Ghostly Whispers. As I wrote in the introduction, In this collection you’ll find stories where characters whispered to me over long periods of time, sometimes encouraging me to reach deeper into the darker recesses of my mind to find the best resolution and that moment of profound realization.
Some of the stories may be read quickly, and others are the typical length for short stories, running 5,000 to 8,000 words in length. The novella, Ghostly Whispers, however, is nearly 100 pages long. The collection includes the RPLA award-winning story, The Strange Case of Lord Byron’s Lover, one of my favorites. Here’s how I describe it on the Amazon page where you may purchase either a print copy or an ebook:
Writing in her journal, Mary Shelley recounts a series of perplexing events during her visit with Lord Byron that resulted in her famous Frankenstein novel and uncovered a remarkable mystery.
Several of the other stories are also award-winners and have appeared in different anthologies. If you’re a fan of surprising twists and O’Henry endings, I believe you’ll enjoy this Silver Medal winner.