Lost Creatures – Table of Contents
With the release of Lost Creatures, my new short story collection, just 4 weeks away, I wanted to share the table of contents with you, since the book is not available right now for pre-order.
I think of story collections (and anthologies) as literary playlists and the writer (or editor) as the DJ, spinning tales to help create a rhythm and flow to keep the reader engaged. I can’t speak for other writers or editors, but I put the stories in a specific order, with the idea that reading the collection from start to finish gives the reader an experience they wouldn’t get by jumping from one story to another.
For me, short story collections are akin to concept albums. Even though they’re made up of individual tales, all of the stories together take the reader on a unique journey.
Below is the Table of Contents for Lost Creatures, in the order the stories appear:
“Scattered Showers with a Chance of Daikaiju”
“Riding the Softland Express”
“Periodic Table of the Elements Weekly Singles Mixer”
“Letters to Santa (from the Arctic Academy for Gifted Creatures)”
“Reminiscences of My Childhood Centaurs”
“Dr. Sinister’s Home for Retired Villains”
“When the Giant Koi Returned to San Francisco”
“Intro to Trademark Infringement at Dunkin’ Donuts High”
“Inside the Monsters Studio”
“Remedial English for Reanimated Corpses”
“The Time Traveler’s Guide to Insomnia”
“The Curse of the Amazing Colossal Thing from Outer Space”
“All of the Lost Creatures are Found”
“Intervention for a Lycanthrope”
Seven of the stories in the collection have been published previously. Three of the stories (Scattered Showers, Dr. Sinister’s, and Remedial English) were self-published as Kindle singles in 2016 (although they are now also up on Barnes & Noble). One of the stories (Riding the Softland Express) appeared in my first collection Shooting Monkeys in a Barrel. Three other stories (Letters to Santa, Inside the Monsters Studio, and The Curse of the Amazing etc) all appeared previously in anthologies. If you click on the names of the stories in the Table of Contents above, you’ll be directed to the anthologies in question.
The other seven stories in Lost Creatures are all brand spanking new, never before published tales, about lovelorn chemical elements, domesticated centaurs, giant koi, trademarked teenagers, time-traveling alcoholics, disillusioned children, and intervention advice for the werewolf in your life. And I can’t wait to share them with you.
