AN OVERVIEW OF MY PUBLICATIONS THIS YEAR

by Paula Gail Benson

I felt privileged to have my stories featured in three anthologies and two online publications.

Dark of the Day: Eclipse Stories, was released on April 1 (in time for the April 8 total solar eclipse). Kay George edited the anthology, which was  published by Down and Out Books. Stories are by Eric Beckstrom, Michael Bracken, John Rogers Clark, IV, Bridges DelPonte, Cari Dublei, John M. Floyd, Kaye George, Debra H. Goldstein, Toni Goodyear, James A. Hearn, Laura Oles, Katherine Tomlinson, Joseph S. Walker, M.K. Waller, Carol L. Wright. My story, “Only Absent for a Time,” features a reunion of former child actors from a sci-fi series that filmed near the University of Vermont in Burlington.

In Smoking Guns Anthology, edited by Kaye George and sponsored by the Smoking Guns Chapter of Sisters in Crime in Tennessee. My story, “Balance,” is about an actor who doesn’t get the part he hoped to play< but all is well that ends well. The anthology has eleven other stories by the following authors: Sharon Marchisello, Patrick Connolly (two stories), Carmen Amato, Robert Mangeot, Ronald Demmans, Tom Wood (two stories),Kaye George (two stories),and  Jeffrey Philips

This past quarter, my “A Duty to Mrs. Doody,” was the featured story in the online publication Bethehem Writers Roundtable.

Season’s Readings: More Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales (A Sweet, Funny, and Strange Anthology)

Edited by Marianne H. Donley and Carol L. Wright.

In this new addition to the “Sweet, Funny, and Strange”(R) series of anthologies, the multi-award-winning Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC, returns to its roots. As denizens in and around Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (also known as “Christmas City, USA”), we were happy to make our first anthology a collection of holiday tales. But one volume just wasn’t enough. Now, in our eighth anthology, we’re returning to the theme to bring you twenty-one new stories that span the holidays from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve.

Emwryn Murphy’s sweet tale tells about a chosen family’s “Friendsgiving,” crashed by a blood relative who might, or might not, be happy with what he sees in “As Simple as That.” Jerome W. McFadden once again reveals his humorous side in his story about a would-be Santa who gets into trouble in “Flue Shot.” A. E. Decker shares an intricate Christmas fantasy about “The Goblin King’s Music Box.” And Paula Gail Benson gives a new twist to a traditional symbol for the New Year in “Star of the Party.” Beyond these holidays, Diane Sismour writes about Krampusnacht, Debra H. Goldstein about Pearl Harbor Day, and Peter J Barbour about Hanukkah. Other favorite BWG authors, including Jeff Baird, Ralph Hieb, D.T. Krippene, Christopher D. Ochs, Dianna Sinovic, Kidd Wadsworth, and Carol L. Wright, also share their holiday musings.

In addition, this volume includes the 2023 and 2024 award-winning stories from the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Awards. Sally Milliken, the 2023 first-place winner, presents “The First Thanksgiving.” From 2024, we have our top three winners with first-place winner Rhonda Zangwill’s “Oh! Christmas Tree,” second-place winner Bettie Nebergall’s “Just Ask Santa,” and third-place winner Mary Adler’s “Narragansett Nellie and the Transferware Platter.”

Loren Eaton hosted his annual Advent Ghosts 100-word stories beginning on Saturday, December 14 and connected through his blog I SAW LIGHTNING FALL. Here’s the link to my contribution, “Bar Story,” about an elf, a reindeer, and a snowman, who drown their sorrows with mugs of Artic Beer to complete their holiday tasks.