Monday, May 24, 2010

Time in a Bottle, Volume 1 - now in print

It's been a long, hard road, but we're finally here!

When we put out the call for submissions, we never expected to get flooded with so many entries and we never expected those entries to all be such good pieces of writing. But we did get flooded and they were, which made choosing the stories for volume 1 more than difficult. We're still choosing stories for volume 2 and 3. But volume 1 is now available to purchase. It's not on Amazon yet (and we don't make much money if you buy it there, anyway), but it IS available here <- click that

It's a steal at only $15.00 plus shipping! Here, for your reading pleasure are some excerpts from the anthology:

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From Goblin Lullaby by Jim Hines:
Grell stepped to the edge and studied the woods below.

Goblin blood turned the earth a gruesome shade of blue. Elves wove through the trees, making no noise save the twang of bowstrings and the ripping sound of blades tearing through goblin armor and flesh. "Defended yourselves? Next time, why don't you defend yourselves over in the hobgoblin tunnels rather than sneaking onto our land to do it?"

The archer caught his companion by the arm. "She's an old woman, Jonathan. With a child."

"She's a goblin, Rindar." But he relaxed slightly. He was bulkier than his companion, and the mane of red hair meant he was no elf. Red stubble dotted his chin, though he was too young to grow a proper beard. He wore a heavy mail shirt, with a green tabard depicting a white dragon coiled around a tree. "If we let her live, she'll lead another attack against us."

Grell kicked the corpse of the goblin drummer. "If you let me live, I'll go back to the nursery and get some sleep."

"I won't risk letting you go free," said Jonathan. "Not until my quest is complete."

Grell rolled her eyes. "What is it about you humans and your quests? Last month it was that knight who wanted to hunt a dragon. Before that it was the wizard and those little fellows. But no matter how important these stupid quests are supposed to be, you all have time to stop and kill goblins along the way."

Jonathan glared. "You're lucky honor prevents me from slaying women or children, goblin."

Grell would have to remember that. Next time, they should send an all-female group to ambush the adventurers.


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From The Worth of a Man by Lyn McConchie:
John nodded thoughtfully. "Why not put a secret lock on the forward shift. Just allow the gate to move up a little, maybe a thousand years; add locks to let you move it forward in irregular jumps, as you need the advance. It's the first time we've been able to move forward since you discovered the effect. Surely that'll keep the president quiet?"

I did, and it did-for a while. But I was scared. My father had been a scientist before I was ever conceived. It was some of his own discoveries that had given my family its initial status and money. He'd written papers on time shifts, and it had been his theories on which I'd built. He had been convinced, and often said so to me, that to tamper too far with the past would damage or alter the present.

He'd died before the first gate I'd built had ever worked. But whenever I read his old papers I had that unpleasant feeling at the back of my neck that says you're hearing the truth. In the fifteen years since I'd opened the first time-gate, we'd looted widely.


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From Two Seconds Ahead by Rob Rosen:
"Lightning," Verne cautioned, turning to his friend.

"Huh?" came Merle's distracted reply as he tapped the golf ball into the hole.

"Lightning." The word was repeated and joined with a pudgy finger pointed towards the stormy distance.

"So wha . . ." Merle almost managed to utter.

Almost, but no cigar.

In the time it takes the lips and the teeth and the tongue to form the letter "t", a bolt of lightning can come and go. In fact, in that briefest of instances, it can crack and burst right through your very skull. Well, through Merle's skull, at any rate. As was, of course, the case.

"What the he . . ." Merle also almost managed, but a "ck" isn't any faster than a "t", and not even half as fast coming out of one's mouth as a white-hot shot of lightning is out of the sky. In other words, though the odds were dead set against it, Merle got walloped good and hard by just such a shot. Twice. Back to back.

It was, it seemed, a bad day for odds.


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There's lots more where those came from, too. In fact, here's the entire Table of Contents. So if you don't get a copy of the book, well then, just look what you're gonna miss out on!     Buy Now

Goblin Lullaby by Jim C. Hines
The Neverstone by K.C. Shaw
The Worth of a Man by Lyn McConchie
The Seal of Mon' Ta' Set by Christopher Heath
An Honorable Race by Colin P. Davies
What Does Luck Taste Like? by Danny Birt
Dallas Through The Looking Glass by Ken Goldman
The Plot to Kill Claus by Clyde K. Elsie
Two Seconds Ahead by Rob Rosen
The Time Machine by Courtney Burback
Reparations by Merrie Haskell
On The Edge by Bonnie Rockwell
The Second Gift by Seth Skorkowsky
Saving the World from Sleeping in by Rachel Swirsky
Zen and the Art of Time Travel by Robert Neilson
On Camlann Field by Charles Kyffhausen
The Master of Time by James S. Dorr
After Nightfall by Jonathan Shipley
Of Fire and Time by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Time Traveler's Happily Ever After by Jordan Lapp

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