Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 6 Comments

Wisps Of Memory – Out now!

Friends, my latest short story, Wisps Of Memory, is now live on Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, and others.

It’s a Christmas horror story (as always, not the splatter type) about Ian, a middle-aged loner who lives with the memories of his daughters and grandson, rather than with them, a man who lives on the hope that his loved ones will remember him during the holiday. In the meantime, his nearly paralysed arm starts twitching uncontrollably. A couple of weeks before Christmas, his last friend leaves the country, and Ian finds himself with no one in his life. Day by day, he feels life ebbing away from him.

And this is the cover

The story was originally published on 9Tales Told In The Dark issue 12, literary magazine on April 2016 and it’s the third and last story I’ll publish this year. Like the stories I published before, Wisps Of Memory costs $0.99 and is available worldwide.

I hope you like it. If you read it, consider reviewing it on Amazon, Goodreads, or any other site you frequent.

As an added note, if you like free books, have a look at this giveaway I’m hosting on Instafreebie. Myself and more than forty other writers have teamed up and are giving away some of our horror and thriller stories (click on the image below to go to the download page). Not a bad gift for the holiday, right? What have you got to lose? They’re all free 😉

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Writing Prompt 50

Shelly and David sped past the barb-wires, their fists pumping by their sides. Behind them, the first outpost sounded the alarm. Soon, another answered the call, and another, then all of them.

“You know,” David said, “if we survive this, I’m going to kill you.”

“Good luck with that, frog face,” Shelly said. “I’m not alive anyway. And you are not really here.”

writing prompt 50

 

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Exciting News!!

First of all, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving (those of you who celebrate it) and that you were thankful for a lot of things. We don’t celebrate it here in Greece, but I’m thankful for each and every one of you, as well as everyone in my life.

You may have heard that Pronoun, an e-book distributor owned by Macmillan, terminated its operation (more info here). It just so happened that Pronoun was the distributor I had chosen to publish my stories to retailers other than Amazon.

So now that I’m about to launch my third short story, titled Wisps Of Memory, on December 10, I have to find another distributor. You may think that something like this would be easy, however, since I’m not a US citizen I have to look into it with greater care. The reason for this of course is additional taxes, both here in Greece as well as in the US. I won’t bore you with legal details, but suffice to say that thanks to my brilliant accountant, I’m not far from choosing the next distributor.

So, on December 10 my next horror short story, Wisps Of Memory, will be available worldwide, through most of the big retailers.

Here’s the blurb:

The end doesn’t always come with a bang.

Ian is a loner middle-aged man who lives with the memories of his daughters and grandson, rather than with them. He hopes that they will remember him during the holiday. In the meantime, his nearly paralysed arm starts twitching uncontrollably. A couple of weeks before Christmas, his last friend leaves the country, and Ian finds himself with no one in his life. Day by day, he feels life is ebbing away from him.

If you’re feeling generous or if you’re interested, you can help with this by reviewing it when it comes out. If this interests you, you can sign this form. Please bear in mind though, that doing so will also sign you up for my newsletter. Obviously, you can unsubscribe at any time if you so choose. Signing up means that you will receive a complimentary copy of Wisps Of Memory. It goes without saying that you’re not obliged to review it, but it would sure make me happy and fuzzy and warm inside if you did 🙂 You know how important reviews are for writers, right?

Thank you all in advance!

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Crutch words – Smile/Laugh

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about crutch words and I focused on the word LOOK. Of course, look isn’t the only crutch word writers use. SMILE and LAUGH are two similar words. Keep in mind that the words I include below are not the only ones, but they tend to be used more often than others. Also, some of them are the product of onomatopoeia (Greek word, meaning to create names), and as such they describe a sound. As I mentioned in that earlier post, make sure you understand what each word means before you use them.

 

 

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Writing Prompt 49

“Don’t touch that,” Hannah yelled and slapped Liz’s hand.

The harmonica fell to the ground.

Hannah picked it up and dusted it off gingerly, almost caressing it. She glared at Liz. “Don’t you ever, EVER, touch it again.”

“What’s the big deal with your stupid harmonica anyway?”

The big deal is that I just saved you life, Hannah thought. One wrong note and the harmonica would have seared your flesh.