THIRTY MORE
STORIES
GIL C. SCHMIDT
Copyright 2010 -- Gil C. Schmidt
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Dedication
To my family, from whom my stories emerge, to María, for whom my stories are written and Kaleb, for whom my stories are to come.
INTRODUCTION
Thirty more stories, each about a printed standard page long. This marks my second collection in the "short-short" category and unlike my first one, this one took a long time to come together, from January 2009 until August 2010. The reasons are plenty, but it boiled down to a basic one: I didn't need to prove myself as much.
My first collection, "Thirty Stories," also available from X-cito Publishing (Thanks, Kevin!) was a challenge I gave myself to write fiction. Having done that, I wanted to move on to other writings, and I did...but not as much as I expected of myself. So I jump-started the process of short-short fiction again, got off to a good start and then...life happened. As I would say as Gil The Jenius (look Me up!): lots of stuff hit the rotating oscillator.
By the end of 2009 I had only a handful of stories and 2010 grew older with only a few more added. Then, as the summer grew high, the impending launch of "Thirty Stories" and the realization that the writing I had developed over the years was nearing fruition prompted a burst of writing. (I even wrote three stories in one day.) And so, after loitering--waiting--several months, I became a writer again. And will continue to be one for the foreseeable future.
To the readers of these stories who have been enchanted, delighted, entertained and even repelled by my stories: Thanks for sharing that with me. Writers either accept toiling in obscurity, indifference and misunderstanding or they launch themselves full into their audience's faces hoping for approval. I like the solitude of writing, but to have someone remark about what I write, well, that's always special.
If you want to read the stories in the order I wrote them, here it is:
3) Art of Life
6) Foresight
9) Evil Heart
10) Name That Time
11) Reflex Actions
12) Nineteen Seconds
16) Letters
17) Twitchy Eyes
18) Telling Time
19) Shadow Heart
21) Time to Retire