Ordinary Souls
Page 26
Captain Crellin’s eyes went out of focus as she tilted her head toward the heavens. “Those things, up there. They’re like diamonds in the sky.”
THE tour group gathered beneath a sunny sky on the sidewalk running past Memorial Square in Erlund City, First Colony, Crellin.
The tour guide, a skinny woman with hot pink braids, shouted to be heard over the sound of morning traffic. “Gather closer, gather closer, everyone! Can you all hear me now? Great!” She gestured at the twenty-foot-tall obelisk behind her, on which was mounted a plaque that Sammy couldn’t read from where she stood at the back of the group. Sammy didn’t really want to be here in the city. Cities were boring. She’d only signed up for the tour to see Tower Rock—a tall stone formation that had survived several centuries of urban sprawl. There were supposedly graves near it. Those might be neat to look at.
The tour guide droned on and on about early Crellin history, and as the group finally moved off to the next stop, Sammy approached the bronze plaque and read:
In memory of our Mother
Constance Linette Hernandez Crellin.
2101-2198.
Sammy snapped a picture of the plaque with her ocular implant and uploaded it to the Net with the push of a few buttons on her armband. She pulled up a holographic keyboard and began to type midair.
Tour is taking too long. Look, an old plaque! (history)
She deactivated the keyboard and jogged to catch up with the group.
I hope you enjoyed reading this short story collection. This was a first for me: not once have all my stories appeared in one place! Writing Ordinary Souls allowed me to experiment with many different forms of the storytelling medium I have loved for so long. Out of these sixteen stories, I had the most fun writing “The Mirror” because it was so different from anything else I had ever written. I also had to do much more research for that story than I’ve had to do for my novels—that’s what happens when you set a tale across the pond!
And now I ask a favor of you, dear readers: if you enjoyed this collection, would you consider telling others about it? A great way to do this is by sharing your thoughts with other readers by leaving a short review on Amazon, Goodreads, or any other site of your choice. Reviews can make or break a book’s success by helping other readers choose what to read next. They also increase a book’s visibility and credibility. The more positive reviews a book has, the more likely the newbie reader will take a chance on it.
Remember, a review doesn’t have to be long. “I really enjoyed this book,” will work, for example, or “This wasn’t the book for me.”
Be sure to stop by www.jsbaileywrites.com for news about events and upcoming releases, and catch up with my antics on Twitter @jsbailey_author or Facebook at jsbaileywrites. I look forward to hearing from you!
~ J. S. Bailey
I’d like to thank all the people who have made this book possible: Kelsey Keating, Catherine Jones Payne, Lisa Shambrook, Laura Custodio, Kirstin Pulioff, S. R. Karfelt, and Samantha Reed. You all excel at seeing things I overlook—without you, this would be a very different collection.
I also thank my many readers who enable me to do what I love. Your kind words and support keep me going when the way seems doubtful.
Plus a big thanks to Joni and Vern, the best publishers a girl could ask for!
As a child, J.S. Bailey escaped to fantastic worlds through the magic of books and began to write as soon as she could pick up a pen. She dabbled in writing science fiction until she discovered supernatural suspense novels and decided to write her own. Today, her stories focus on unassuming characters who are thrown into terrifying situations, which may or may not involve ghosts, demons, and evil old men. She believes that good should always triumph in the end. She lives with her husband in Cincinnati, Ohio.