Vonnie Winslow Crist

   There's nothing like a good story on a rainy day, or better yet, a dark night filled with the sounds of a crackling fire, a howling wind, and the tap-tap-tap of a tree branch on the window pane. 

   I've included a couple of writing prompts that you might enjoy trying. Plus, I've added information about some of the publications where you can read my stories.

 If you'd like to read some of Vonnie's eShorts with Echelon:

Comment posted by Retired Teacher Karol Kidd: "Teachers of Teens Take Note: The author, Vonnie Winslow Crist, is writing fun works that are beyond the usual classroom basal fare. Required literature and language topics of instruction could easily be based on Ms. Winslow-Crist's delightful stories from Echelon Press. Plus, reading them as ebooks would kick up the level of enthusiasm for many students who ar not especially avid readers, but will tackle anything on the computer."

 ** "Bells" ** is available as an Echelon Press eShort at http://tinyurl.com/vwcrist This ghostly Christmas story is set in a small town at a family gathering. The 17 year-old main character, Melinda, finds her holiday filled with family, food, evergreens, snow, bells, and ghosts. This story includes some of my family's holiday traditions. What are some of your family's traditions? Perhaps they, too, would make a good story (with or without ghosts).

Retired Florida teacher, Karol Kidd reviewed "Bells": "Bells" brought a tear to my eye as it was such a touching tale of love and endearment."

** "Assassins"** is available as an Echelon Press eShort at http://tinyurl.com/vwcrist This adventure tale is set on another world. It has a reluctant hero, genetic experiment gone wrong, chase scene, assassination attempts, and gunfight in addition to a singing opposum! "Assassins" also has a love story at its center. The genesis for the tale was an article I read about using genetic material from jellyfish and inserting it into aquarium fish to make them shine in the dark. I thought: What other uses would glow-in-the-dark creatures have? How about people? How about people who could also see in the dark? And what if that experiment (supported by government funds) went wrong? As far as why I chose an opposum for the pet of the main female character - I find them charming in a strange, toothy way. Would you have chosen a different animal? Let me know on my blog: www.vonniewinslowcrist.wordpress.com

Karol Kidd, a retired teacher from Fort Meyers, FL reviewed "Assassins": "The sci-fi elements of "Assassins" will keep the reader engrossed as well as challenged. It's an excellent quick read."

 ** "Sideshow by the Sea" ** is available as an Echelon Press eShort at http://tinyurl.com/vwcrist When I sat down to write this tale (pun intended), I tried to answer some basic questions: What if a mermaid baby were abandoned in a sideshow tent? Would her life ever be normal? Would she ever belong? For the answers, you'll have to read the the story. And I'd love to hear what you thought of my plot choices. Would you have preferred a different ending? Let me know on my blog: www.vonniewinslowcrist.wordpress.com

Author Robin Bayne reviewed "Sideshow": "I really enjoyed this lovely tale. The story was short but conveyed an interesting world and characters you could care about."

Author & Editor W.H. Stevens reviewed "Sideshow": "Ms. Crist's first short story for Echelon will take you to a land of seaside delights and carnival excitement. Bordering on a dreamy current of fantasy and reality, the story of Dusana, the 17 year old sideshow mermaid will keep your attention for a fast, easy read. The characters, so real you can see them, the sights of the neon lights and the sound of the calliope will transport you to Dusana's world where she dreams of being a normal person. And the poetic, smooth language will engage you and seep into you like the ocean itself. The charm of the merfolk, candied apples and shideshow barkers will draw you to a touching and unexpected conclusion. Welsome to the fantasy world of Vonnie Crist. This is her moment and it is a fine one, indeed."

Retired Teacher Karol Kidd reviewed "Sideshow": "The fantasy elements of "Sideshow by the Sea" will keep the reader engrossed as well as challenged. The cover illustration truly enhances the appeal of this title."

Check out Vonnie's other online publications:

 "For the Good of the Settlement" - "The mirror cracked in 4212. Rose figured Granny's death and the Darwin Settlement Wars could be blamed on that crack. She’d never replaced the glass. She wanted to remember the power of things -- things like mirrors and crows and bitternut trees deserved respect..."  http://www.tinyurl.com/vonnie-settlement

 "Angels" - "The beekeeper stood in the woods, watched the maple boughs sway and listened to the angels singing in the trees. Though he hadn’t known who was doing the singing as a child, Porter had always heard angels..." Ensorcelled Magazine at http://www.ensorcelled.berkeley.edu/2009/12/winter-issue/

 Or you can buy magazines and books containing Vonnie's stories:

 "Assassins" - "Flynn punched in the speaker code. “If you look out the left side of the bus, you’ll see the second tallest peak on Konur Prime. The explorer, Takoda Wilchester, mapped this area in the second century after the great Walloong Moon Quakes..." - Tales of the Talisman, www.talesofthetalisman.com

 "Sideshow by the Sea" - "They came from the floodtide – heaving their muscled bodies out of the waves, lifting their whiskered heads above the backwash like the first amphibians. But they were not amphibians. They were merfolk who’d traded their melodic voices for legs..." - (Early version) Tales of the Talisman, www.talesofthetalisman.com

 "Gifts in the Dark" - "It was almost time to walk to the graves. The sun had vanished behind the Nodin Sea, the streetlamps were being lit throughout the city of Halona, and the pair of owls that haunted Old Kurak's Medicines & Cure-Alls were calling for the dead..." - forthcoming in the anthology: Dia de los Muertos, from Elektrik Milk Bath Press at

 Fun Writing Prompts:

  These prompts should help writers take what they know and stretch it. Speculative writing asks, "What if?"

   But speculative writing doesn't stop there -- it then asks: What next? And after that? And after that?

   I challenge writers to try their hand at a fantasy, dark fantasy (yes, that's one nice way to say "horror"), or science fiction story.

   Here are a few ideas to help you start:

1- Pick a mythical creature like a selkie (seal person), centaur, harpie, swan maiden, troll, goblin, or a creature even more obscure -- and put them in today's world. Could they fit in? How would they fit in? Now write a story about that character. (This is the beginning place for "Sideshow by the Sea" and several other stories I've written).

2- Pick a "normal" job like a bank teller, teacher, waitress, garbage collector, secretary, bus driver, or other job of your choosing. Now, place your main character in that job in a strange environment -- like on another planet. (This is the beginning place for my story, "Assassins"). Or leave them in a normal place and have something extraordinary happen to them. (This is the idea I started with for "Bad Moon Rising").

3- Pick a holiday tradition (or traditions) and imagine how those traditions might be honored 1,000 years from now. Or how people would interpret those traditions if they rediscovered them in 5,000 years. (I used the Day of the Dead celebration and re-interpreted it in the far future in my story, "Gifts in the Dark," scheduled to appear in the anthology: Dia de los Muertos).