Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Free-to-Read-Online Christmas Ghost Story Published in Kings River Life

 Dear friends,

I'm happy to say that my short story "Aunt Jewel and the Christmas Spirits" has just been published online at Kings River Life.

https://kingsriverlife.com/12/18/aunt-jewel-and-the-christmas-spirits/

It's a light-hearted look at how Christmas traditions can still remain, even in the time of a worldwide pandemic. 

And honoring the tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas time...well, let's just say that Aunt Jewel, Kendra and Jeremy have a surprise guest.

Join the wacky denizens of Nameless, Texas again as they plan an old fashioned Christmas!

My grandmother Jennie Neal's recipe for Green Tomato Mincemeat.

Happy Holidays!

bobbi c.



Monday, October 25, 2021

Free Story to Celebrate Halloween! And the Inspiration for the Story

 Dear friends,

Years ago, my husband and I took a day trip as we often did to a nearby small Texas town, Jarrell. Some of you might remember the great Jarrell tornado that wiped out a lot of the town back in 1997. It's one of time-warp places that still has a lot of the old houses, churches, etc. intact, although abandoned.

We happened on this old place. Beside it was an old Aerator windmill, water tank and fire truck.



My aunt had lived in a house much like this, with a horrible old storm cellar for tornadoes and to store winter veggies and canned goods. I wondered, does this old house have one, too? I wasn't able to find one because many of the entrance doors were buried under years of dirt. And snakes were always a possibility!

My writer imagination started whirring and before long, after going home, I'd written the story, Family to the Bone.

It was quickly accepted by Dark Moon Press for their e-magazine, Dark Eclipse and published as my first "horror" story in November 2014.

A few weeks ago, while going through old photos, I found the house pic. I found the old story, re-edited it, and with some Photoshop magic I turned my original photo into the cover for a new Kindle e-short.

And in celebration of Halloween, it's FREE on Amazon this week. I hope you enjoy the story and that it gives you a few frissons and shivers. 

FREE HALLOWEEN SHORT STORY LINK

Happy trails,

bobbi c.


 
All photos Copyright 2021 Bobbi A. Chukran





Thursday, October 14, 2021

New Short Story Published in Black Cat Weekly #6!



I'm happy to announce that my short story, The Passing of Big Mama Mayhall, has just been published in Black Cat Weekly Magazine, #6!

The story is what I call one of my "macabre Texas farmhouse noir" mystery stories, a bit Hitchcockian and with a bit of black humor. Although BCW is usually a reprints market, this is a brand new story.

Other stories in the 400+ page issue (!) include a great new ghost story by Barb Goffman and a traditional type zombie story by John Gregory Betancourt, publisher of BCW, and two full novels.

BCW is a relatively new zine from Wildside Press, the company that also publishes Black Cat Magazine, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Weirdbook and an amazing array of classic story reprints in their "megapacks."

The issue is only $3.99!

https://bcmystery.com/bcw6/

Happy trails!

bobbi c.


Tuesday, September 14, 2021

 Dear friends,

It's been forever since I updated this blog. Today, I worked on my publications list and although the links aren't all there yet, the list is pretty much up-to-date.

https://bobbichukran.blogspot.com/p/publications.html

You can find all of my in-print books and Kindle stories (including my "Nameless, Texas" series) over on Amazon.com, on my Author's Page.

https://www.amazon.com/Bobbi-A-Chukran/e/B005UK1P7M

Take a look!

Happy trails from the Chihuahuan desert of New Mexico!

bobbi c.


Thursday, July 2, 2020

Short Stories! The dessert in a great meal of fiction!

Hello from the desert of New Mexico!

After wrestling my blogs back from the black hole of the 'net, I'm back.

Over the years, I've written all lengths of things---from a 300,000 word resource guide, to a 50-word flash fiction story, and everything in between. I'm most comfortable with short stories of less than 5,000 words and novellas, which are usually less than 40,000 words.

As a reader, I'm finding that I read a lot more short stuff and less very long novels.

Now, given my attention span and interest, I'm mostly writing short stories. And I love it.

50% off thru July 31st at Smashwords!
Interestingly enough, I got back into short fiction after writing a slew of ten-minute plays and monologues for youth theatre, many of which went on to be published, produced and win awards. 
Some of them were then turned into short stories. Writing short stuff seems to suit me well.

Thing is, I've heard people who are avid readers say that they "never read short stories." Or "I only read novels because there's a character arc." Or there are others who read an occasional short story.

I wonder, what would entice you, as a reader, to try more short stories? There's a lot of great short fiction out there these days--from literary stories with ambiguous endings (LOL) to all kind of genre stuff.

And if you have a favorite novelist, chances are somewhere they also have a collection of short stories, or stories in an anthology.

Think of fiction like a good meal. The novels can be the main course, and the short stories can be the dessert. :-)

Why not try one?

Happy trails!

bobbi c.





Wednesday, October 4, 2017

New Thanksgiving Humorous Mystery Anthology Available!

I’m pleased to announce that I have a short Thanksgiving caper story, "Nameless Turkey Trot of Terror" in The Killer Wore Cranberry: A Fifth Course of Chaos!



The fifty volume of this new anthology of humorous Thanksgiving murder mysteries is now available for pre-order in paperback and hardcover from the publisher's website. The current release date for print is October 17th, but if you pre-order through these links you will definitely get your copies before that.

If my friends order through the publisher's website, then the authors get quite a bit more from the sale. Just sayin'. LOL.

Also, you can purchase and download the ebook version RIGHT NOW from their website in PDF, Kindle or EPUB formats. In fact, all you have to do is purchase the book once and you can download all three formats at any time. You can also use the special tool on their website to send the ebook version directly to your Kindle or Nook.

The ebook can currently be preordered through Amazon or Apple’s iBookstore, but if readers want it RIGHT NOW they can only get it from the Untreed Reads store or through their exclusive early release with DriveThruFiction.com. Readers who preorder the ebook at Amazon or Apple will receive the title on October 17th.

Here are the links:

TKWC5 At The Untreed Reads Store (print and ebook): https://goo.gl/vLckVX
TKWC5 Ebook At DriveThruFiction (EPUB, KIndle, PDF): https://goo.gl/kPBfyh
TKWC5 Ebook Preorder at Amazon: http://amzn.to/2g04t4O

I hope everyone enjoys the anthology!

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

bobbi a. chukran

Friday, September 29, 2017

New publication! Yay!

I'm excited to announce that one of my recent fun stories, The Nameless Turkey Trot of Terror, will be published in Untreed Reads THE KILLER WORE CRANBERRY 5!

There have been four volumes of these popular FUNNY Thanksgiving-time murder mystery anthologies, and I'm pleased to add my name to the list.

Will post pics of the cover ASAP!

Happy trails,

bobbi c.