And The Winners Are ...

Over 500 stories were submitted to this year's Hint Fiction Contest. From that 500 a top 20 was chosen. From that top 20, 483 votes were cast. Finally, a top 10 was declared. However, as the creator of Hint Fiction, I felt at least two stories deserved a shot as finalists, so 12 stories were sent to Benjamin Percy. And, interestingly enough, the two stories I included ended up in the top five. Anyway, without any further adieu, I present to you this year's winners ...

1st Place

AT THE SEASHORE by Monica Wang

After the accident that summer, he stopped listening to seashells. The ocean was bad enough—what it told him to do was worse.

2nd Place

OUTSIDE THE FIVE-DOLLAR SHOWERS AT HOOTER BROWN’S TRUCKSTOP by Teague Bohlen

“Got a sleeper cab?”

I nodded.

“Good enough.” She kissed me. She tasted like Old Style, asphalt, and menthols. Not you, but yes, good enough.

3rd Place

RED ALERT by Kevin Curow

Forgot my mask on the subway. Recess was in the bunker, anyway. Momma packed mushrooms again. Gramps says the birds we read about could sing.

Honorable Mentions

BYGONES by Lisa Rubenson

He swirled his cocktail and walked in circles on a pile of my mother’s clothes. Every few steps, we’d hear the crunch of plastic hangers.

NO MORE by Frank Ladd

Steady snow erased her trail to the lake’s precipice. Broken ice would scab by morning, and what would the old biddies in town say then?

Congratulations to this year's winners!

Bullet Rain Is Here

Bullet Rain is now available on most ebook platforms, including Kindle, Nook, and Kobo (iTunes and Google Play forthcoming). Regular price is $4.99, but for the next several days you can pick it up for $2.99 at a special introductory price. That's a savings of $2.00, so grab it quickly!

Also to celebrate the release, No Shelter will be 99 cents until the end of the month on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes. After all, Bullet Rain takes place right after the events of No Shelter. That being said, you don't have to read No Shelter to enjoy Bullet Rain, but it definitely helps. Here's what Bullet Rain is about:

WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS

Nova is a free man. Having just walked away as a non-sanctioned hit man for the U.S. government, he's purchased a classic Mustang to drive across the country. But when his car breaks down in the middle of the Nevada desert, Nova ends up in the small town of Parrot Spur. There's something strange about Parrot Spur. Something ... off. Maybe it's the fact the town is full of ex-servicemen. Maybe it's the fact the abandoned mine might not be abandoned. Maybe it’s the fact the knockout brunette in the bar is clearly more than what she seems. In the end, none of it matters. What matters — and what Nova is soon going to learn — is that in the desert, the only thing that rains is bullets.

The paperback should be out in about a week. No Shelter has finally been released as a paperback too. If you want signed copies, let me know. Purchasing both copies gets you a discount. And, of course, if you purchase the paperbacks from me, you also get the ebooks free.

The Legion Is Everywhere

I launched Legion in KDP Select, meaning it was exclusive to Amazon for the first 90 days, and now that those 90 days are up, Legion has spread out onto all other platforms. So besides Kindle, it's now finally available on Nook, Kobo, iTunes, and Google Play. Enjoy!

The Serial Killer's Wife Audiobook

The Serial Killer's Wife is finally available as an audiobook, narrated by the very awesome and talented Tanya Eby. You can grab it on Audible (iTunes forthcoming). For now, check out chapter 1 below.

Chapter 1

Hint Fiction Contest IV Top 20

After much consideration and counsel with close friends -- one of whom is Ben White, the editor of Nanoism -- I now present to you the top 20 finalists of this year's Hint Fiction Contest. It's always tough narrowing down the best stories, and several stories came extremely close to making the final cut. In fact, I could have easily included a top 30. But a top 20 is much more reasonable, especially as I'm now going to open it up to you to vote for your favorites. Out of the 20 stories here, you can pick up to 3 stories. Tell your friends, family, whoever! Every vote counts.

Voting will remain open until the end of the month. Then the top 10 will be sent to Benjamin Percy to pick the winners. The poll box can be found at the bottom of this post (note: for some reason the poll box was not compatible with my current theme, so this rather boring layout is only temporary).

Now here are the top 20 Hint Fiction stories, in no particular order:

EDIT: The stories have been deleted.