As I receive contracts and final edits from authors, I’ll post a teaser from their story here and on our Facebook page. You know where to get the rest, right? Comments are welcome.
Ghost Horses and Dream Dogs
By
Shanna Germain
There was no such thing as a jockey. Not anymore. But once upon a time, Dale had been one of the best. He was built for it, born for it—the one good thing his father gave him was his genes. A lack of height, a slim build, strong for his size, bones as hollow as birds’. He never had to throw up or do water loss to keep his riding weight. He was lucky like that.
Once upon a time, he’d rode the best. Mabel Gray. Thunderbolt Kid. Red Rider. Even Carlyle St. George, the big red roan with one blind eye that everyone wanted to retire, but who took the Triple when he was on the far end of five. Dale had lived for the thrill of those huge creatures under him, the stretch and pull of muscle and will, that last gallop to the finish line, horse and rider moving, breathing, almost flying, as one.
Now, there were only ghost horses and dream dogs. Nothing substantial, nothing that could hold even the weight of a small man. At night, Dale dreamed he was without gravity, a bird upon their see-through backs, dreamed that he had become as much of nothing as they were.
So, why did we take this story? One thing we definitely look for is variety in voice, in plot, in approach to the theme. We loved the language and the imagery of this one from the beginning, but a couple of us worried that it was not quite accessible (i.e. understandable) enough. I suggested a rewrite and Shanna came through with a wonderful revision that addressed our concerns very well. The original was 3500 words; final edit is 3000 words.
Tune in tomorrow for our next tease. The full Table of Contents is here.