Wednesday, 23rd and Thursday, 24th, is a free download of Nothing But Flowers, a unique anthology of love stories set in a post-apocalyptic world. I’m proud to have my story, Sound of Silence, included in this.
BLURB
In a devastated world, a voice calls out through the darkness of space, a young
woman embraces Darwin, a man lays flowers in a shattered doorway, a
two-dimensional wedding feast awaits guests, a Dodge Challenger roars down the
deserted highway…and that’s just the beginning.
Inspired by the Talking Heads’ song of the same name, Nothing but Flowers
explores the complexities and challenges of love in a post-apocalyptic
landscape; from a take-away coffee mug to a gun to the head, a fortune cookie to
a guitar, the open road and beyond. Poignant, funny, horrifying and sensual,
this collection of short fiction leaves an indelible mark on ideas of what it
means to love and be loved.
The History
Nothing But Flowers was released on Valentines Day, each story available free on the web for a period of 48 hours. In the 72 hours which spanned all stories being available, there were more than 3000 views of the stories, equivalent of selling around 60 books!
Three months later the paperback launched online with sister charity
anthology 100 Stories for Queensland. Within hours of being released the
anthology went to #1 in all four categories it was listed in on Amazon UK
(Sci-Fi Anthology, Sci-Fi Short Stories, Fantasy Anthology, Fantasy Short
Stories) and reached #13 in the general anthology charts there. It also reached
#1 in Canada’s Amazon store (in its given categories) and as high as #13 in the
US Amazon charts.
The anthology remained in the top 100 for a month in Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Anthologies categories in both the UK and Canada.
The authors of Nothing But Flowers went on to provide the 26 song prompts for
Literary Mix Tapes follow up anthology Eighty Nine.
Ten stories from the anthology were chosen in March 2012 for adaptation to
screen in eMergent Publishing’s first joint movie project, co-produced by Jodi
Cleghorn and Devin Watson.
Stories and Authors
Sound of Silence Laura Eno
Scarecrow Man Jodi Cleghorn
Daisy’s Cafe Sam Adamson
On the Corner of Clerk Street Rebecca Emin
Sophie Solitaire: Confessions of an End Time Girl Maria Kelly
Diana the Phoenix Christopher Chartrand
Headlines and Post-It Notes Adam Byatt
Escape from Paradise Rob Diaz
Nothing Else Matters Carrie Clevenger
Grey, Like Stone Lily Mulholland
I Dream of Cherry Pies Jen Brubacher
There But For Fortune Dale Challener Roe
Click Annie Evett
Two Fools in Love Graham Storrs
Golden Opportunity P.J. Kaiser
Warrior Rebecca Dobbie
Deux Sots Paul Servini
Alone Janette Dalgliesh
The Rose Garden Jim Bronyaur
Empty Shelves Benjamin Solah
The Gift Emma Newman
This was Paradise Icy Sedgwick
Absent Jason Coggins
Dinner in Paphos Susan May James
Driver and the Beautiful Highway Dan Powell
KINDLE
LINKS
That’s great! Congratulations again on your short story.
Thanks, Alex! It was fun to write with that song as a prompt.
What a list of fabulous writers! Thanks for the tip on such great free stuff, Laura!
It is a knock-out list of writers, isn’t it, Cathy? I’m honored to be among them.
Oh I hope you get thousands upon thousands of downloads to help spread the word!
Thanks, Michael! I hope so, too.
Congratulations, Laura. Can I guess that the song prompt for your story was written by Simon and Garfunkel?
No, actually it wasn’t, Ron.
I only clued into the title afterwards…duh. All of the stories are prompted by the Talking Heads song, Nothing But Flowers.
Oh, I was thinking each story had its own song prompt. And “Sound of Silence” (originally “Sounds of Silence”) is a big favorite of mine. I bet your story is just as good.
Of course it is!
Except it takes place on the moon…
Major Congratulations!! That is suck a cool prompt.
Thanks, Ciara! It was a cool prompt. I think it’s next week that another one, Eighty-Nine, will have some free days. That one is speculative fiction based on a series of songs from that year.
Hi Laura .. interesting stats etc and facts on the various anthology mixes here .. and I’m so pleased your Sound of Silence has been included .. congratulations ..
Lots going on and I love your Greek mythology posts .. I’m learning .. cheers Hilary
Thanks, Hilary! Anthologies like that are fun to write for.
Huge congrats..I missed the freebie but I will be grabbing a copy for sure..
I’m sorry you missed it, Savannah!
Tweeted for you, Laura. Woot!
Thanks, Mary!
Congrats Laura, I just downloaded “Nothing But Flowers”. I can’t wait to read it. All the stories sound exceptional and I thought the same as Ron Fritsch. I love Simon and Garfunkel and the Sounds of Silence. I also love Nothing But Flowers by the Talking Heads.
Thanks, Cindy! The stories are exceptional. Such a great group of writers. I hope you enjoy it.