Short Story Press Presents The Gig


Book Description

Short Story Press Presents The Gig by Cody Weinmann The book, The Gig is a story of American horror and tragedy that involves the downfall of a once-successful musician who had travelled the world, one coffee shop, one bar, one stage at a time. Under the recession, he fell out of work. He began searching coffee shops, just begging different shop owners for work. He was never seen without his sax in hand, but after the thirtieth no from the 30th club or coffee house, he is sitting having coffee when he falls to the floor in a massive, convulsing seizure. In another pose, 24 hours after this attempt on his life, the devil threatens the musician's life with another seizure and then a car wreck. In a saving grab, the musician is taken to heaven where he's listed as one of God's musical heroes. You can call it a horror cum spiritual story where fate and faith are tested multiple times. This story really brings to light just how difficult it is to live in this dangerous world and to survive where money is an ever-tightening resource. It also shows how the lack of money contributes to the downfall of other attributes to a person, including the individual's health and mental capacity. This book puts a new spin on horror and spirituality as a mix to remember. Short Story Press publishes short stories written by everyday writers.




Short Story Press Presents Jacklighters


Book Description

The plot of “Jacklighters” unfolds in the fictitious small Illinois town of Silverton, where life is normally quaint and peaceful. When Riley Jensen hears that Len Wilkins, a family friend who also employs her father as a farm hand, has been found dead with his eyes burned out of his head, her latent but innate heroism emerges. When news of several deaths of the same nature as that of Len Wilkins’ travels throughout Silverton, Riley becomes gripped with concern and fear for her grandfather Murray, who is a stubborn, leather-tough old man living alone in the countryside, miles outside of Silverton. After Riley’s parents have rushed to the hospital in a neighboring town because her mother Cece is in labor, Riley tries to reach Murray to convince him to come into town and stay until the mysterious deaths are solved, but Murray can’t be reached. Only 15 and with no driver’s license, Riley takes her dad’s Harley out to Murray’s house to check on him. She arrives to find him under assault by a gray alien with a blinding laser focused directly into his eyes. With ninja-like deft, Riley hops upon a mare, and uses the horse’s hooves to destroy the alien mechanism—and the alien. With Murray safe, the pair drive back to Silverton just in time for Riley to get the news that she has a new baby brother, Arden. When she goes to see the baby the next day, she is sure he possesses otherworldly intelligence and is convinced that Arden is a star child, come to brighten the Jensen family’s world. About the Writer Bill Knorr is a former English teacher and environmental professional who loves composing and recording music, drawing, painting, and writing young adult short stories. He has written over twenty short stories and one novella, all in the Young Adult/Science Fiction/Fantasy genre. From the Midwest, Bill draws much of his inspiration from small town or rural customs and characters. Many of his story ideas have come while hiking in some of the vast and beautiful forested areas of Illinois. Bill’s day gig is now primarily as a freelance technical copywriter, but he has also been delving into the realm of voice acting. Although much of his work experience has been in the industrial, environmental or educational fields, his true love is all things creative. Short Story Press publishes short stories written by everyday writers.




Short Story Press Presents Playing For The Devil


Book Description

Short Story Press Presents Playing For The Devil by JM Scott Twenty years ago, a band called Sewer Ratz thought they had everything they could ever want. A man named Damon Crowley wanted to sign them and make a record, perform at top places and above all make lots of money and have fame. But one night, the club they were playing in catches on fire and everyone dies except for one person. This person flees New York and finds new purpose in Oberlin. Kansas. In the present, the same thing happens to another young man with similar circumstances. He, too, was in a band and man wanted to sign the band and make all their dreams come true. Another fire ensues and this young man, Cannibal is the lone survivor. When he awakens, he is driven by the notion that he must go to Oberlin, Kansas and meet a man. On his hospital bed, someone leaves a record from the Sewer Ratz. He doesn’t think twice and heads to Oberlin, Kansas. Now that Cannibal is in Oberlin and meets Rat. And the two find themselves being riddled with odd people who keep saying in one or way or another that they have to get to Jersey City, New Jersey. The old rocker and the new rocker head off to Jersey City, not knowing what will happen when they get there. Yet, they want answers and they can’t shake the feeling they have to go. Once in Jersey City, there is one more concert before all hell breaks loose. Short Story Press publishes short stories written by everyday writers.




Short Story Press Presents One Shot Romance


Book Description

Short Story Press Presents One Shot Romance by Cody Weinmann Dean Petro has gotten out of a long, hard break with his long-time band, The Golden Kings. After trying to come to terms with a new record deal, he literally runs into his future girlfriend and muse as she leaves a restaurant near the Hollywood Bowl. The Golden Kings, a group of musicians thought to be the greatest since Coldplay, has a distinct reputation for practically disowning their bass player on stage. Dean, following Tony's short bass tenure for the group, has gotten tired of being taken advantage of. After almost going crazy over his decision and literally falling over his new love, he tells new producer Mr. Wisely that he will stop his contract with the old group and form a duo with his girlfriend Destiny and share a life of romance and music together. Destiny responds by giving Dean hugs and kisses and a great breakfast to get his day off to a great start. He then accepts Mr. Wisely's contract as the songs for his long-awaited first album flow through him non-stop. His efforts, combined with that of his larger-than-life, angel-singing girlfriend, make the first real love dialogue music album since John and Yoko's Double Fantasy release. Short Story Press publishes short stories written by everyday writers.




Short Story Press Presents A Freelancer’s Nightmare


Book Description

Her father left them when she was just 5. Now in her early 20's Lucy knew better than to concentrate on her academics alone. She did every menial job she could lay her hands upon so as to support herself and (hopefully) relieve the burden on her mother...she did this despite the fact that her mum was against her being a student-worker. The problem, however, was not her mum, rather, the jobs were taking much of her time and weren't bringing much to the table, so she switched from job to job. She was glad when her friend, Julia, introduced her to freelancing on Upwork. Julia helped got her account approved and taught her how to send winning proposals. It wasn't long before Lucy started landing jobs, but if only she knew the fate that awaited her. She gets hooked up again with a client for whom she previously wrote a romance novel. Apparently, the client wanted her to help turn the novel into a movie, which was good news because it meant more money and popularity. But unfortunately, the client wasn't whom she thought he was. He had ulterior motives, the job was only a lure. It wasn't long before Lucy discovered she had fallen into the hands of an organized network of human traffickers. About the Writer Isaiah is an undergraduate student at the University of Jos. His passion for reading and writing novels was something he had since childhood. This passion for writing found an outlet when, in 2015, he discovered an online community for writers and readers. It wasn't long before he began writing and posting stories on that website, and since then, he has had his short stories published on several online forums. At first, writing was just a hobby, but in 2018, he decided to take it a little deeper and build a writing career. He is currently a freelancer on Upwork and an aspiring blogger. Short Story Press publishes short stories written by everyday writers.




Short Story Press Presents Grave Silence


Book Description

Short Story Press Presents Grave Silence by Jasmine Bowen They were happy once and everything was perfect. A man and a woman and a little girl. Lots of money and an American dream life. Jake was an actor, Jane was a nurse, and Sara, their little girl, was nothing short of perfect. For years, they were a happy family, until reality came crashing down. Jake tried his best to raise Sara after her mother left; but she was destined to fall into her mother’s footsteps and follow her way of life. You never realize how much you have, until it is gone. Jake tries to move on, after they left him; but finds it impossible to see the sunshine any more. Listen as Jake recounts his best memories with the girls and tries his hardest to have a second chance at their life together. But is it too late, and has it been too long? Others think he’s crazy for trying to relive a memory; but he has never let go of the life and love they wants shared. This story speaks to anyone who has ever loved, and lost, in many different ways. Are you crazy to not let go; even years later? Does Jake realize that he can never have it back, that they have left for good or will he continue to try, all while being alone? Short Story Press publishes short stories written by everyday writers.




Temporary


Book Description

In Temporary, a young woman’s workplace is the size of the world. She fills increasingly bizarre placements in search of steadiness, connection, and something, at last, to call her own. Whether it’s shining an endless closet of shoes, swabbing the deck of a pirate ship, assisting an assassin, or filling in for the Chairman of the Board, for the mythical Temporary, “there is nothing more personal than doing your job.” This riveting quest, at once hilarious and profound, will resonate with anyone who has ever done their best at work, even when the work is only temporary.




Counterfactual Love Stories and Other Experiments


Book Description

Fiction. Asian & Asian American Studies. From fragmented ransom notes to hanging footnotes, contemporary fairy tales to coded text, interconnecting pieces of modal flash fiction to backwards fractal narratives about gradual blindness, transgressive listicles to how-to guides for performative wokeness, variable destinies in downtown Chicago to impossible dating applications, counterfactual relationships to the French translation of adolescence, the conceptual, language-driven short stories in COUNTERFACTUAL LOVE STORIES AND OTHER EXPERIMENTS are an exploration of not just mixed-race/hapa identity in Michigan (and the American Midwest), but also of the infinite ways in which stories can be told, challenged, celebrated, and subverted.




Search History


Book Description

Search History oscillates between a wild cyberdog chase and lunch-date monologues as Eugene Lim deconstructs grieving and storytelling with uncanny juxtapositions and subversive satire. Frank Exit is dead—or is he? While eavesdropping on two women discussing a dog-sitting gig over lunch, a bereft friend comes to a shocking realization: Frank has been reincarnated as a dog! This epiphany launches a series of adventures—interlaced with digressions about AI-generated fiction, virtual reality, Asian American identity in the arts, and lost parents—as an unlikely cast of accomplices and enemies pursues the mysterious canine. In elliptical, propulsive prose, Search History plumbs the depths of personal and collective consciousness, questioning what we consume, how we grieve, and the stories we tell ourselves.




Gig


Book Description

“An engaging, humorous, revealing, and refreshingly human look at the bizarre, life-threatening, and delightfully humdrum exploits of everyone from sports heroes to sex workers.” -- Douglas Rushkoff, author of Coercion, Ecstasy Club, and Media Virus This wide-ranging survey of the American economy at the turn of the millennium is stunning, surprising, and always entertaining. It gives us an unflinching view of the fabric of this country from the point of view of the people who keep it all moving. The more than 120 roughly textured monologues that make up Gig beautifully capture the voices of our fast-paced and diverse economy. The selections demonstrate how much our world has changed--and stayed the same--in the three decades prior to the turn of the millennium. If you think things have speeded up, become more complicated and more technological, you're right. But people's attitudes about their jobs, their hopes and goals and disappointments, endure. Gig's soul isn't sociological--it's emotional. The wholehearted diligence that people bring to their work is deeply, inexplicably moving. People speak in these pages of the constant and complex stresses nearly all of them confront on the job, but, nearly universally, they throw themselves without reservation into coping with them. Instead of resisting work, we seem to adapt to it. Some of us love our jobs, some of us don't, but almost all of us are not quite sure what we would do without one. With all the hallmarks of another classic on this subject, Gig is a fabulous read, filled with indelible voices from coast to coast. After hearing them, you'll never again feel quite the same about how we work.