X is for X-Ray, An Anthology Review, and Celebrate the Small Things-April 28, 2017

For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I’m writing drabbles based on words I got from a random word generator.  A drabble is a short piece of fiction of exactly 100 words.

Enjoy!

X-Ray

Being a teenage mutant isn’t easy, though I could have had it worse.  My buddy Raymond has glowing skin.  He looks like a neon glow stick.  It sets him apart from everyone else, and his mutation isn’t useful for much unless you don’t have a flashlight.

I got x-ray vision.  As a hormonal teenager, I thought it was great at first.  Then it got difficult to look people in the eye.  I’ve also been accused of being a creep on numerous occasions. And slapped.

And don’t get me started on what I’ve accidentally seen my parents doing at home.  Yuck.

I received an ARC of the anthology Where Words Fail, Music Speaks in exchange for an honest review.  First, for those of you who aren't familiar with the project, I'll refresh your memory.

Where Words Fail, Music Speaks is a collection of short stories and poetry by writers from all walks of life.

Each story is based on the titles of 90s Britpop songs, including Come Back To What You Know, Bittersweet Symphony, Animal Nitrate, Disco 2000, and more.

Our list of authors is: Kyra Lennon, Clare Dugmore, Annalisa Crawford, Ker Dukey, Wesley Copeland, Robb Turburville, D H Sidebottom, Audrina Lane, M.B. Feeney, Karen Frances, S.J Warner, Scout Dawson, Kimberly Morgan, Maddie Wade, Rebeccalou Heronpontin, Andrea Coventry

All proceeds from the sales of this anthology will go to Clusterbusters.

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

And now for my review.

First of all, I love the premise of this anthology.  Music is a tremendous source of inspiration for many.  I also love that this is a charity anthology and the proceeds from its sale are going to such a great cause.  Kudos to all of the writers involved for coming together to make this happen.  You rock!

I love the sheer variety contained in this collection.  There's a wonderful mixture of poetry and short stories, all from great authors.  There was also a wide spectrum of human emotion showcased here.  There was love, there was heartbreak and loss.  There was also a lot of hope.  There were also some pieces that delved into the world of the bizarre.  Of course, I say this as a good thing.  I'm all for having a dose of the strange in my fiction.

This anthology is worth your time and money.  No matter your tastes, I think you'll find something here to love.

It's Friday!  Let's Celebrate the Small Things with Lexa Cain!  Tonja Drecker and I are her co-hosts.

We had fun visiting good friends last weekend.  The weather was good, so the kids played outside together.  It was good to have some adult conversation while the kids were distracted.

My husband bought me a TARDIS coffee mug, and it just came in the mail yesterday.  It looks awesome!  I'm grateful that he does nice things like that for me.

Speaking of husbands doing nice things, he bought us tickets to the Metallica concert that's happening in Newton, IA on June 9th.  It's an anniversary gift since our 10 year anniversary is the week before that.  Considering the song "Nothing Else Matters" was the first song we danced to at our reception, this gift makes perfect sense.  It's going to be weird not having the kids for a night, but I'm excited about that.  I can hardly believe we've been married for almost 10 years already.

I submitted a short story this week.  That makes four submissions so far this year, or one per month.  I'm definitely proud of myself for that one.  It isn't easy to keep up the momentum, but I hope I can.

What would you like to celebrate?