The Calling (46 page)
Authors: Robert Swartwood
“
The Dishonored Dead
is one of the most original and gripping zombie novels I have ever read, offering a glimpse into the life of a zombie in a world turned backwards, where zombies live and humans are feared. Highly recommended!”
—
Jeremy Robinson
NOVELLAS & SHORT STORIES
Phantom Energy: [Very Short] Stories
From Robert Swartwood, the editor of the critically acclaimed
Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewe
r
, comes a collection of twenty-six very short stories, ranging from the real to the surreal.
Phantom Energy
is 11,000 words long.
“The zip fictions of Robert Swartwood’s gorgeous
Phantom Energy
are as much about silent spaces as the inky depths of text, cluttered as they are with the disturbing exhaust of endless afterthought. These are overly animated pixels, antic antics, hyper-real really real reality on the sly sent reeling into the intimate spaces between the blanking stars.”
—
Michael Martone
“The stories in
Phantom Energy
might look like little windows onto characters trapped in strange other worlds; but read on, and you’ll find something magical happens — they turn to mirrors, and there’s you behind the glass.”
—
Ben Loory
—————
In Solemn Shades of Endless Night
In Solemn Shades of Endless Night
is a 14,000-word story about a man trapped in perpetual Halloween night who must make the ultimate choice: to save himself or the world.
“Halloween night. A battle between good and evil, darkness and light. The blurring of reality. A touch of trust and betrayal. The burden of the past on present and future generations. Robert Swartwood’s
In Solemn Shades of Endless Night
has it all. A classic Halloween tale that will keep you turning the pages.”
—
David B. Silva
—————
David Beveridge is in the wrong place at the wrong time.
When a gunman storms into a convenience store demanding money, he ends up shooting both the counterwoman and David. Only David doesn’t die. Neither does the counterwoman. David is able to bring her back to life with the help of a mysterious silver ring he found earlier that night—a ring that the darkest evil in the universe wants for its very own.
The Silver Ring
is an 18,000-word novella that contains a special afterword and a bonus short story.
“Robert Swartwood’s
The Silver Ring
is a full-tilt no-holds-barred bobsled of a ride, absolutely engaging and a hundred percent fun. If this one doesn’t grab you, it’s time to up your Ritalin.”
—
Joe Schreiber
—————
Josh wakes up one morning to find his ten-year-old brother filling in a grave in the backyard. From there, the day just gets worse.
Through the Guts of a Beggar
contains the original 10,000-word novelette, a 3,000-word alternate ending, and two bonus short stories of pulpy horror goodness.
AS EDITOR
Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer
A story collection that proves less is more.
The stories in this collection run the gamut from playful to tragic, conservative to experimental, but they all have one thing in common: they are no more than 25 words long. Robert Swartwood was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's possibly apocryphal six-word story—“For Sale: baby shoes, never worn”—to foster the writing of these incredibly short-short stories. He termed them “hint fiction” because the few chosen words suggest a larger, more complex chain of events. Spare and evocative, these stories prove that a brilliantly honed narrative can be as startling and powerful as a story of traditional length. The 125 gemlike stories in this collection come from such best-selling and award-winning authors as Joyce Carol Oates, Ha Jin, Peter Straub, and James Frey, as well as emerging writers.
“The perfect story collection for all of us with too little time on our hands is a brilliant reminder of the magic that happens when you string the right words together. A must-read for anyone who is or wants to be a writer.”
—
Jodi Picoult
Copyright © 2011 Robert Swartwood
Cover design copyright © 2011 Wyatt Perko
“Ghost” photo copyright © 2011 Sultan Alghamdi
(
www.flickr.com/photos/s-alghamdi
)
“Cemetery” photo copyright © 2011 John Nelson
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Robert Swartwood.
