Free Fiction Monday: Christopher’s Crummy Christmas

Eleven-year-old Christopher always spends Christmas alone. This year, he plans to change that. This year, he’ll find a way to make his parents stay home. Everyone tells him he’ll ruin Christmas, but he doesn’t care. He wants a good Christmas, and he’ll do anything to get it. A classic Christmas story that first appeared in Boys’ Life Magazine. “Christopher’s Crummy Christmas,” by New York Times bestselling […]

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Free Fiction Monday: Play Like a Girl

Inspired with permission by Janis Ian’s song, “Play like a Girl” weaves Ian’s lyrics into a story of empowerment. Haunted by her mother’s ghost, a musician needs to vanquish not only the ghost but her own history, as well. Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s “Play like a Girl,” originally written for the bestselling anthology Stars, lingers in the mind forever. “Play Like a Girl,” by New York […]

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Free Fiction Monday: Nutball Season

According to Officer Nick Mantino, Nutball Season runs from Halloween to Christmas.  This Christmas season, he sees more than his usual number of nutballs. Like the geezer who thinks he has been cast in Miracle on 34th Street. And Mrs. Billings, who tells everyone she will shoot Santa if he lands on her roof. Mrs. Billings’ threats scare the local children, so Nick must investigate. […]

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Free Fiction Monday: Elegy for Piano and Three Voices

When Alzheimer’s takes Stacey’s mother, Stacey gives up everything—her career, her music—to take care of her. Until one lonely night, when caretaking becomes too much, Stacy sits at the piano and plays Bach. She hopes to escape into the comfort of classical music. But what she discovers in the music—about her mother, her family, herself—proves far more enlightening than she ever imagined. “Elegy for Piano […]

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Free Fiction Monday: Elegy for Piano and Three Voices

When Alzheimer’s takes Stacey’s mother, Stacey gives up everything—her career, her music—to take care of her. Until one lonely night, when caretaking becomes too much, Stacy sits at the piano and plays Bach. She hopes to escape into the comfort of classical music. But what she discovers in the music—about her mother, her family, herself—proves far more enlightening than she ever imagined. “Elegy for Piano […]

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Free Fiction Monday: Christopher’s Crummy Christmas

Eleven-year-old Christopher always spends Christmas alone. This year, he plans to change that. This year, he’ll find a way to make his parents stay home. Everyone tells him he’ll ruin Christmas, but he doesn’t care. He wants a good Christmas, and he’ll do anything to get it.

A classic Christmas story that first appeared in Boys’ Life Magazine.

“Christopher’s Crummy Christmas” by New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch, is free on this website for one week only.

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Free Fiction Monday: My Real Cousin Ruby

For as long as she can remember, she has had two cousins named Ruby. Her so-called cousin, who lives in this world and whom she can’t stand, and the cousin she meets in her dreams—her Real Cousin Ruby.

Her siblings all dream about Real Cousin Ruby, too. But why?

In “My Real Cousin Ruby,” World Fantasy Award winner Kristine Kathryn Rusch challenges the border between reality and the land of dreams. And what crosses that border leaves serious consequences behind on both sides.

“My Real Cousin Ruby,” by World Fantasy Award winner Kristine Kathryn Rusch, is free on this website for one week only.

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Free Fiction Monday: Nutball Season

According to Officer Nick Mantino, Nutball Season runs from Halloween to Christmas.  This Christmas season, he sees more than his usual number of nutballs. 

Like the geezer who thinks he has been cast in Miracle on 34th Street. And Mrs. Billings, who tells everyone she will shoot Santa if he lands on her roof. 

Mrs. Billings’ threats scare the local children, so Nick must investigate. What he finds in Prudence Billings’ house scares him too—and makes him wonder if he will join the list of candidates for Nutball of the Year.

“Nutball Season,” by World Fantasy Award-winning author Kristine Kathryn Rusch, is free on this website for one week only.

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Free Fiction Monday: Snow Angels

Bobberts got his name from his little sister Sarah. He likes her okay. But she can be annoying, like when she wants to make snow angels at the Christmas tree farm. 

Bobberts wants to cut the tree himself. He has a knife, but Dad won’t let Bobberts near the trees. Bobberts has to watch Sarah. That’s when Bobberts learns how important knives can be…

“Snow Angels,” by New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch, is free on this website for one week only.

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The Disappearance of Wicked

One of my own personal favorites–“The Disappearance of Wicked”–appears in the March/April edition of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.  I think I like this story because I needed a writer’s office cat, so I inserted my own. The Goddess, as she appears in this story, was as she appeared in life–forever biting the hand that fed her, threatening the raccoons, and being her usual tough self. […]

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