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J. R. Kruze

R. L. Saunders

S. H. Marpel

If laughter is the best medicine, then reading humorous short stories should be the best practice to maintain your health.

These three authors with their six stories have written stories that both poke fun at the sacrosanct and also skewer them for dissection as both pompous and ripe.

From the ranks of Voltaire, Twain, and Vonnegut, these new voices have something to say about how our current culture and what they consider serious. You may find yourself irritated, incensed, or having a laugh outloud moment as you read along into the imaginative worlds these authors create.

You may find yourself expecting to see someone just waiting in the shadows for you to get the punchline - expect that author's spirit as you read their works. 

PS. You have their permission to roll on the floor with delight, in private, of course…

A Short Story Anthology Containing:

- Cats Typing Romance by R. L. Saunders

- Voices by J. R. Kruze

- Rise & Fall of President Frump by R. L. Saunders

- Keyboard in the Sky by R. L. Saunders

- The Autists by J. R. Kruze

- Becoming Michelle by R. L. Saunders & C. C. Brower

- plus bonus: four more short stories…

Excerpt:

(From "Cats Typing Romance")

F. D. C. WILLARD, A red tabby cross-bred house cat, was at his usual location for 3am. Typing out a new paper about helium-3 isotopes and the cosmic interrelationships of theoretical sub-orbital particles within nuclei.

Not that he was all that interested in the subject, but it was another chore of his.

His "master" complained sometimes of F. D. sleeping all day. But when you're up most of the night writing a research paper, the one he would take credit for, the one that would advance his career, the one that got his pay raise, sometimes F. D. thought his master was really being a little hypocritical…

If he only knew his cat was writing them for him.

F. D. (who the family called "Chester") looked down at his red-tabby paws and sometimes wished he had regular hands. But didn't want all the baggage that went along with it. A human body ate such strange things and needed more exercise. And then there was these odd "social engagements" they went to. He was happier being a cat. And so kept typing one paw after the next, one key at a time.

"Hey F. D. How's it going today?" A calico female slunk across the polished mahogany table and settled down next to him, reading the screen."I see you're into the meat of it now. How do you do all that math and keep it straight?"

"That's not the problem, it's translating it into Academicese that's the trick. I sometimes wish I had it as simple as you and just wrote romances."

"Sure and don't you think it gets a bit difficult describing human sex and foreplay in veiled terms? Talk about running out of modifiers… "

"You do have a point there."

The red tabby continued typing with his "two-paw" method, careful precisely to hit the grey laptop keys exactly.

The calico sat quietly, reading along with his typing, respecting the tabby's concentration.

Occasionally, the tabby would have to stop and stretch, as sitting arched over the keyboard to hit the number keys, as well as the Ctrl-function combinations, was a stretch. Fortunately, there were shift and Ctrl keys on both sides of the old laptop keyboard, so a little forethought and practice made the typing easier…

Midwest Journal Press

Short Story Fiction Anthology

A Humor Reader (Short Story Fiction Anthology): Short Stories From New Voices

C. C. Brower

Being able to escape into the wonderful world of romance is always a pleasure.

This set of short stories are an amusing way to find yourself into new worlds, with new lovers working out their difficulties and eventually end up with their happily-ever-after result.

Some are ghosts, some introspective writers, some CIA-government types, a couple of futurists, some socially disadvantaged, and a young couple with hidden abilities.

All in contemporary settings (for the most part) and perhaps something you can relate to (well, we can always want the superpowers, anyway. )

Lose yourself in these worlds and become young at heart again with these short reads to fit into any schedule…

Short Story Anthology Containing:

- The Ghost Who Loved by S. H. Marpel

- Ham & Chaz by C. C. Brower & J. R. Kruse

- The Caretaker by C. C. Brower

- Mind Timing by R. L. Saunders & C. C. Brower

- The Autists by J. R. Kruze

- Her Eyes by J. R. Kruze

Excerpt:

IT WAS FATHER'S DAY. They were all still dead, and I was again dry-eyed over their grave.

I came this way every year, for the past few, as it was also my birthday. Such as it was.

Growing older just meant more sadness for me.

Father, Mother, and younger sister all passed that night. Horrific car accident. All decapitated or crushed instantly, head-on collision with another car, that seemed to come out of nowhere.

I was the only one remaining.

And I couldn't even cry anymore.

Of course my heart ached. But it was almost the dull, screeching creak of some massive pump whose bearings were failing and overheated from lack of grease. The grease of kindness, of human love.

Why was I still here? What reason did I have for existing? I didn't know. All I knew was that I kept going from day to day, month in, month out, and then showed up back here again - once a year.

Graveyards are funny things. Why they exist is such a morbid concept. Small and huge monuments erected to incite the memory of the fallen. Like it was the old Japanese ancestor worship. But just because they weren't remembered after a few centuries, didn't mean the ache went away. Only the persons who had the ache. To their own plot of earth and monument - or not.

People visited. And opened up that ache fresh to the sting of memory once again, like a wound opened to the air. Painful, abrupt. The ache continuing long after the bandage was re-applied.

Like that guy over there, a few rows over. Downcast young face. Blue jeans, black sweater jacket, high-top basketball sneakers. And that cute brown hair, those nice cheekbones. Why did he come here? Did it ever help him move on - or was he like me, a magnet for more punishment?

A Romance Reader: Short Stories From New Voices

If laughter is the best medicine, then reading humorous short stories should be the best practice to maintain your health.

These three authors have written stories that both poke fun at the sacrosanct and also skewer them for dissection as both pompous and ripe.

From the ranks of Voltaire, Twain, and Vonnegut, these new voices have something to say about how our current culture and what they consider serious. You may find yourself irritated, incensed, or having a laugh outloud moment as you read along into the imaginative worlds these authors create.

You may find yourself expecting to see someone just waiting in the shadows for you to get the punchline - expect that author's spirit as you read their works. 

PS. You have their permission to roll on the floor with delight, in private, of course...

A Short Story Anthology Containing:

- Cats Typing Romance by R. L. Saunders
- Voices by J. R. Kruze
- Rise & Fall of President Frump by R. L. Saunders
- Keyboard in the Sky by R. L. Saunders
- The Autists by J. R. Kruze
- Becoming Michelle by R. L. Saunders & C. C. Brower
- plus bonus: four more short stories...

Excerpt:

(From "A Goddess Visits")

At first, I thought there was a naked woman in my cabin, reading my books.

And then I realized, it was just my goddess. Come to visit again, to remind me again of what I should be doing.

It was that gossamer outfit she wore. You know, the stuff made out of spider webbing. Thinner than silk and almost see-through, but tough enough to be tear-proof.

“Well, hello there, big boy. About time you showed up.” She unwound herself from the desk chair she was reading in, set the book down on the desktop and slunk toward me. “You’ve been busy since we last had a conversation.”

I looked her up and down with a glance and then focused on her eyes.

She pouted. “You know I dress just the way you want me to, the way you expect. So if you don’t like this (but I can tell you do) I’ll just change into something more comfortable - for you.”

At that she had on one of my flannel shirts, buttoned only half-way up, and some soft shorts I wore in hot weather to be able to write comfortably when I knew I wasn’t going outside.

She continued moving toward me and I could see that these two items were all she wore.

At last she was close enough to put her arms around my neck, but only touching there.

“Because I need to have your attention, but not distract you so much. This way you can look into my eyes without strain,” she said.

Of course I could feel her heat between us, and smell the cedar and violet scent of her.

“Well, of course. You think better when you’re stimulated - subtle does it, doesn’t it?” The goddess purred.

“And what is it that you need to tell me?” I asked.

“You’ve been doubting yourself. That’s not good.” She replied.

“Oh, those thoughts about not having the sales I should, not having the audience or network to bring in real income from my writing?”

“Yes those self-limiting thoughts of yours that only hold you back. You can hear me reminding you that the world - your world - is what you think it is. That you have to give before you can get. That faith is internally created, and you need to practice it. That belief creates fact. All these things.” The goddess took one hand to stroke the edge of my right ear.

“That’s all true, but…” I started to explain...

A Humor Reader: Short Stories From New Voices

Have you ever thought some very dangerous thoughts? 

Ones that could destroy all life as you knew it?

In these six stories by three authors, they do just that. Of course, fiction is safer than real life, so it's much easier to test things here… . Or so we've been told.

In these stories are ideas that will captivate, and excite you to new thoughts and ideas of your own. Because the universe we live in is just a hair's-breadth away from the fictional ones we create.

If history is any judge, these authors may be writing are things that will be in our own present any time now.

Of course, that's only if you think their thoughts through…

A Short Story Anthology Containing:

- One Thought, Then Gone by J. R. Kruze

- The 95% Solution by S. H. Marpel

- Falling by S. H. Marpel

- Voices by J. R. Kruze

- The Case of the Walkaway Blues by J. R. Kruze & S. H. Marpel

- Keyboard in the Sky by R. L. Saunders

Excerpt:

(From "One Thought, Then Gone")

I'D FIGURED IT ALL out by the first day as a high school sophomore. And I could care less. Because it wasn't real. None of it.

Schooling was another trap built to "keep people safe." And get them ready to have a job and accept the rat-race, wage-slave mentality.

Not that my parents or teachers or anyone else around could really understand what I was going through. They all just set it up as another "coming of age" drama that always played out. All the older siblings I inherited had made it through, somehow. In their own ways.

The trick was - I knew they were all part of the same trap.

I didn't belong here, that I knew. And I was here to keep me safe from something far darker and more sinister than going on welfare, or being homeless, or doing illegal drugs and going to jail.

Something was out there much darker and more deadly than anything they could threaten me with. I could feel it in all my body from my bones to the lady parts that I was supposed to "think with" at this age.

I didn't belong here.

And it became more and more obvious the more I tried to "fit in" by attempting to work out the customs and morality they all had. All the "now-you're-supposed-to's" that they probably filed in a non-existent loose leaf binder we were all issued when we were born.

The trick is that I wasn't born. I had no memory of it. And all the things they told me I liked to do when I was a kid - I didn't remember any of it. Because they were training me to just accept, just go along, just act on what they told me my memories were.

And they showed me "movies" of when I was younger. Filmed on something called "Super 8" and then later it was on "video tape."

All made up to just reinforce the programming I'd been given along with this body.

Life wasn't real. Life just sucked. Boyfriends, fashions, put-downs, come-ons, sports, band, gym, everything. Sucked.

Because it didn't make sense. And the more sense I tried to make out of it, the worse it got.

Until I got a clue.

The same day I met him…

A Mind's Eye Reader: Stort Stories From New Voices

Cozy, Detective, or Amateur Sleuth - contemporary or fantasy - these short stories will keep you guessing right up to their quick end.

Mysteries come in many forms, and in many locations. Here we have contemporary, dystopian, and paranormal venues so you can immerse yourself from the first sentence in each of these short stories.

- A ghost who has to arrange her own scene-reenactment just to find out how she died. 

- How a writer helps a woman find out why she is so sad all the time - from a diner bar stool. 

- A private investigator assigned to find out the secret of nurses who can cure the incurable - but then becomes a patient when he breaks quarantine to save another's life. 

- A detective who is ordered not to solve a perfect death.

These short stories will fit in the bits and pieces of your schedule, while you work to solve the crimes from wherever and whenever you are reading…

Short Story Anthology Containing:

- The Case of the Forever Cure by J. R. Kruze

- The Case of a Cruising Phantom by S. H. Marpel

- The Case of the Walkaway Blues by J. R. Kruze & S. H. Marpel

- The Spirit Mountain Mystery by S. H. Marpel & C. C. Brower

- The Tunnel People by R. L. Saunders

- Death by Advertising by J. R. Kruze

Excerpt:

(From "The Case of the Forever Cure")

IT'S HARD DETECTIVE work when you could only interview through thick glass while wearing a hazmat suit.

It's worse when you're trying to find out why someone is healing the terminally ill and being very successful at it.

Because since this one nurse took over, people had quit dying.

But the hospital wouldn't let them out of quarantine. Until my investigation was complete.

No pressure.

The problem was how I was getting paid. All in cash, Random serial numbers, unmarked and used bills. Occasionally someone included a note, printed out by a laser printer on common paper stock. No fingerprints on anything. Completely anonymous.

And all I wanted was they stay off my back if they wanted to keep it that way.

Because this coin had two faces. Let me do my job finding what you asked me to, or I'd find out the flip side as well.

That was the message I sent the last time I got a note from them with advice on it. And no more notes since.

I told them three weeks. Period. I'd solve it or give them their money back. Minus expenses.

No notes since. And I had under a week left, with no leads. Yes, I was getting a bit nervous.

But I didn't have to deal with perfectly healthy people who weren't even allowed to talk to their family. Or me.

It all depended on this one head nurse named Cathy…

A Mystery Reader 001: Short Stories From New Voices

New voices bring new ideas and new worlds to you in these six short stories of Science Fiction/Fantasy.

That's what they are good at. Figuring out things that are completely different from the same old repeating plots and characters. Finding new "what if's" that have never been asked before. 

Whether you like dystopian stories of what happens after the world ends, or the sudden appearance of fairy tale creatures in our current worlds, you'll find a lot to keep you fascinated by these new authors.

As well, you may find a bit of fine satire and hidden social commentary, something both genres have always been good at.

Regardless, these short reads will fit into your busy schedule - about a week of good entertainment for the odd hours and minutes.

A Short Story Anthology Containing:

- The Training: Beth by S. H. Marpel

- The Lori Saga: Escape by J. R. Kruze & S. H. Marpel

- The Tunnel People by R. L. Saunders

- Becoming Michelle by R. L. Saunders & C. C. Brower

- A Sweet Fortune by R. L. Saunders

- The Lazurai by J. R. Kruze

Excerpt: 

(From "The Training: Beth")

SHE WAS RUNNING TOWARD me, just as I hoped for. Of course, I couldn't move to get out of her way, not with that busted leg the troll had just given me.

And I don't know if she could see him like I could, but that troll was right behind her - and gaining.

So I did the only thing I could - I made her trip. And she landed right next to me, in the soft ferns and leaves. Not that it helped her landing too much.

She groaned at her landing, then rolled over to get back to her feet. That's when she saw me. Laying there. Eye to eye with her. Of course I was only three feet tall and had pointed ears, so it was a bit of a shock.

I put my finger on her lips and pointed over her shoulder.

There was the troll. All nine ugly feet of him, carrying a huge stick made out of a tree stump root ball. He'd beaten most of the dirt out of it, as well as most of the roots that stuck out. But it was scary nonetheless.

He seemed to have lost where she went. But right as I thought that, he sniffed the air and turned in our direction. And saw us both. Then Mr. Troll started stalking toward us, an evil grin on his face.

My only move was a desperate one. I grabbed her hand and pointed it to the troll. Nothing happened at first, but then the troll appeared to slow down, and just as slowly, he got perplexed about why he couldn't move at his normal speed.

"Thought so." I said to this human. "You've got talents you didn't even suspect. Here - this might seem strange to you, but imagine that troll as a cloud of smoke."

But nothing happened. He was still moving toward us like a glacier, but still would be here sooner than we could get out of his way.

"OK, try not to think of a pink elephant." And poof, the troll now had big pink floppy ears and a long pink nose. But he still held that huge stick in his hand, still moving slowly toward us.

"Now - think of him as a cloud of smoke." And the troll was just a cloud. The stick also disappeared. "Next, make the wind disperse him into the clouds." And a gust of wind dissipated that cloud into nothing.

At that, she looked back at me - and fainted.

But I looked her over and saw she looked just fine. A very cute fine…

An SF/Fantasy Reader: Short Stories From New Voices

Welcome to another unique bi-monthly compilation of the inspired visions and universes from four Midwest Journal Press authors: 

C. C. Brower J. R. Kruze S. H. Marpel R. L. Saunders

From their prolific output, we've assembled 16 short stories, grouping them by author and publication date. 

While every major genre is represented, you'll also see that in most cases, these books cross genres and plot structures to give you the best possible reader experience and entertainment. While each of these authors are still improving their craft, you will find their short stories to be just springboards to exploring the wider universes that inspired them.

In this compilation, you'll see more where these authors have co-written and produced marvellous takes - and entirely new characters or aspects of existing ones - which flesh out these universes into greater reality and detail.

Please enjoy - and do look up their other works...

This Anthology Contains:

Ham & Chaz by C. C. Brower & J. R. Kruse
The Lazurai Returns by C. C. Brower & J. R. Kruze
The Lazurai Emergence by C. C. Brower & S. H. Marpel
The Case of the Forever Cure by J. R. Kruze
One Thought, Then Gone by J. R. Kruze
To Laugh At Death by J. R. Kruze
Voices by J. R. Kruze
The Lori Saga: Escape by J. R. Kruze & S. H. Marpel
The Case of the Walkaway Blues by J. R. Kruze & S. H. Marpel
The Case of a Cruising Phantom by S. H. Marpel
The Training: Beth by S. H. Marpel
The 95% Solution by S. H. Marpel
Harpy's Desires by S. H. Marpel
Falling by S. H. Marpel
The Spirit Mountain Mystery by S. H. Marpel & C. C. Brower
Our Second Civil War by R. L. Saunders & C. C. Brower

Excerpt 

(From "The Spirit Mountain Mystery" by S. H. Marpel & C. C. Brower):

“SEEMS QUIET NOW.” STANDING on the empty plains under a red-sky morning that rolled out away from a torn and fractured Nevada desert mountain, it seemed pretty obvious. Quiet.

Of course, I soon wished I hadn’t said anything. Something like Finagle’s law. Not just that things will go wrong if they can, but also at the worst possible moment. And in the worst possible way.

A dust cloud soon swallowed us. Sal and Jude together had to put up and hold a force shield around us. And that’s pretty much all they could do, as that dust came with the force of a terrible wind. Something like a hurricane’s - and it came up within seconds of my speaking.

But then a pain seared through my stomach and quickly spread to my veins. A massive headache started in the next moment. All I could do was to clutch my stomach and roll into a ball on the ground.

Sal and Jude saw me and were frantic with alarm, but could do nothing without lowering the shield and watching us all blow away.

The last thing I remember seeing was someone walking through that hurricane right toward us - as if it was a calm day in those Midwest pastures I’d left a thousand miles away. She came right up and walked through Sal and Jude’s force shield like it wasn’t there. Just waltzed in and crouched over to have a look at me. Not a single red hair surrounding her pretty face was even moving. Big, dark green eyes looking into my soul. Did I mention her pretty face? Thought so.

As she put her hand on my forehead, everything went black.

At least the pain stopped...

New Voices 004 July-August 2018

An unintended result of a terrorist bombing a children's hospital, the Lazurai could kill a person without touching them. 

The government made it worse by their experiments. All the children wanted was to feel love like any child. When they grew older, their powers increased. And they found they couldn't be stopped.

Chuck hears a rumour of one coming his way, to his remote way station on the highway. But he can't leave his wife, who's dying. So he waits. And sees the hooded Lazurai walking the long miles on a hot desert day toward him. 

All he can do is wait.

What he doesn't know is that this one is different from all the rumors. And his life is going to change forever…

Extract: 

Late morning that day, he saw someone walking. Miles off yet. Coming toward him, along the edge of the road and staying off the pavement. Chuck could tell because the highway was laser straight for miles in both directions.

You could hear anything coming when there was traffic. And then hear it going.

Walkers made no noise, and took a long time to get there. A long time to get gone.

"Well Mr. Lazurai, take your time. I'm in no hurry." Chuck said out loud to no one in particular.

He figured that this had to be a Lazurai as he was walking.

People told stories about them: they wouldn't always kill you right off. If they liked you, then you had a few days. The people that lived were cursed anyway, as anyone they knew would leave them alone after that. As what the Lazurai gave a person could also affect the other people around them. Big or small community, it didn't matter. Viruses spread.

Chuck didn't care. He would not leave Charlene and she would not leave her baby. So if this was the end, he was as ready as he would be.

By the time the walker was nearly in earshot, Chuck had finished off the rest of his lemonade and was ready for a refill. But he stayed on that bench in the shade and waited to meet this person.

His only real hope is that the end would be swift and painless. For everyone concerned.

Tales of the Lazurai

New Tales from New Authors that take you into worlds you've probably never dreamed existed.

Midwest Journal Press is proud to announce this anthology of short stories in Fantasy, Science Fiction, Parody and Satire.

We present the works of J. R. Kruze, R. L. Saunders, and C. C. Brower, all in one volume for the first two months of 2018

This anthology contains:

Fantasy and Science Fiction Short Stories by J. R. Kruze

Parody & Satire by R. L. Saunders

Fantasy and Science Fiction Short Stories by C. C. Brower 

Short Stories by J. R. Kruze

Death By Advertising Her Eyes The Lazurai A Goddess Visits A Nervous Butt Max Says No

Short Stories by R. L. Saunders

Keyboard in the Sky Cats Typing Romance The Rise and Fall of President Frump - R. L. Saunders The Integrity Implosions - by R. L. Saunders The Maestro - R. L. Saunders

Short Stories By C. C. Brower

When The Cities Died, I Danced The Caretaker Peace: Forever War The War Bringeth Snow Cave - Part I The Emperor's Scribe Snow Gift Mr. Ben's New Rail Road When Vacation Plans Revise Long Overdue Santa Return to Earth

New characters, new worlds, new adventures. Mysteries to solve. Romances to tempt you. Action adventures out of the ordinary.

All ready to transport you to new worlds.

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