Twisted Tails: An Anthology to Surprise and Delight

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Writing short stories is not easy. The reason it isn't easy is because they are short. The writer is still charged with producing living characters who have personalities: good, bad, or milksop. Add to that a dynamic narrative that gives you, the reader, an opportunity to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste what the folks who inhabit those little stories do, and the authors have a demanding job on their hands. Short stories are a great deal more than sitting on an old apple crate and hammering away at the QWERTY.
What's that you say? Well, of course it's a word. Look it up. Anyway, we decided to provide something antiquotidian for your-
Huh? Will you please stop interrupting? Antiquotidian-something out of the ordinary; a work that is not commonplace. Is that better?
Anyway, where were we? Oh, yeah, we decided to assemble an anthology that departs from the same old, same old. It has a theme, but it is not designed around a specific holiday, a particular genre, or any of the other time-battered ideas. This one has as its shaky foundation something that is even more difficult for authors to pull off with grace. It is for that reason that the lineup of writers in this anthology were chosen. They not only write good stories, but they are able to do what many can't. They are going to lead you through the rose garden and up that little hill - see it there? - and when you've reached the crest of that knoll, they are going to gleefully toss you off the cliff.
Yeah, you heard it right. They're going to give you a little jolt that you were not expecting, and, at the same instant, give you reason to pause. To think.
What? Why, sure you can.
Some of these stories will causeyou to think for a long time, and some of them will have you kicking your mental butt because you didn't see it coming. Don't you just love it?
Oh, sorry about that. We should have told you that in the beginning, huh? The name of this anthology is: TWISTED TAILS. And don't come up with any smart remarks, we've heard them all.
1. VEIL by K. L. Nappier
2. ...IN DISTRESS by Jeremy Davies
3. DEAD WRONG by Steve Lazarowitz
4. THINGS by J. Richard Jacobs
5. SHANTY GIRL by Eugen M. Bacon
6. WITCHES' SEASON by Marilyn Peake
7. REFLEX. ACTION by Jeremy Davies
8. CASSIOPEIA'S TEARS by D. L. White and Peter Prellwitz
9. THE STORY OF A TERMITE by Biff Mitchell
10. THE LIES WE TELL OURSELVES by Jamie A. Hughes
11. CLONE OF CLONES by Eugen M. Bacon
12. A UNIFORM SHADE OF RED by J. Richard Jacobs
13. A MATTER OF GRAVE IMPORTANCE by Steve Lazarowitz
14. AIN'T NO DOC FOR THE FALLING APART BLUES by Biff Mitchell
15. TIGER IN THE PLUM BLOSSOMS by Marilyn Peake
16. EMMA'S DILEMMA by Margaret Whitley
17. DUSK MAGNET by Eugen M. Bacon
18. AN EYE FOR AN EYE by Peter Prellwitz
19. TWELVE IN, TWELVE OUT by J. Richard Jacobs
20. AN AFFAIR OF THE MIND by Steve Lazarowitz
21. IN A BAD MOOD by Biff Mitchell
22. THROWING UP SASHES by Peter Prellwitz
23. RETURN TO ROSWELL by Marilyn Peake
24. PICTURE POSTCARDS by J. Richard Jacobs
25. THE TANK by Steve Lazarowitz
26. THE BIG RED GIFT by Biff Mitchell
27. ENOUGH by Jamie A. Hughes
28. PASSAGE by Peter Prellwitz
29. DON'T WAKE THE DREAMER by Terence West
30. NEGOTIATIONS by J. Richard Jacobs
31. EVENING STAR by Margaret Whitley