Strange Tales: A 5 Story collection
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About this ebook
Here are five tales of people going off the beaten track of reality to experience something completely new and unworldly. Stories of individuals in pain who ride a rollercoaster of odd happenings that show life in a different perspective. People running to something or away from something. A young traveler who encounters a modern marvel in an ancient ruin. A group of youngsters in a Lewis Carroll-like tale, where language and logic are stretched and reshaped into a tongue-twisting, whimsical adventure.
Dale T. Phillips
A lifelong student of mysteries, Maine, and the martial arts, Dale T. Phillips has combined all of these into the Zack Taylor series. His travels and background allow him to paint a compelling picture of a man with a mission, but one at odds with himself and his new environment. A longtime follower of mystery fiction, the author has crafted a hero in the mold of Travis McGee, Doc Ford, and John Cain, a moral man at heart who finds himself faced with difficult choices in a dangerous world. But Maine is different from the mean, big-city streets of New York, Boston, or L.A., and Zack must learn quickly if he is to survive. Dale studied writing with Stephen King, and has published over 70 short stories, non-fiction, and more. He has appeared on stage, television (including Jeopardy), and in an independent feature film. He co-wrote and acted in a short political satire film. He has traveled to all 50 states, Mexico, Canada, and through Europe. He can be found at www.daletphillips.com
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Strange Tales - Dale T. Phillips
Copyright © 2012 Dale T. Phillips
Cover Design copyright 2012 Melinda Phillips http://www.snapichic.com
The Tree of Sorrows was first published in Plot, Summer 1996
The Great Snipe Hunt was first published in New Myths,
March 2010
Try these other works by Dale T. Phillips
Shadow of the Wendigo (Supernatural Thriller)
The Zack Taylor Mystery Series
A Memory of Grief
A Fall From Grace
A Shadow on the Wall
A Certain Slant of Light
A Sharp Medicine
Story Collections
Fables and Fantasies (Fantasy)
More Fables and Fantasies (Fantasy)
Crooked Paths (Mystery/Crime)
More Crooked Paths (Mystery/Crime)
The Last Crooked Paths (Mystery/Crime)
More Crooked Paths (Mystery/Crime)
Strange Tales (Magic Realism, Paranormal)
Apocalypse Tango (Science Fiction)
Halls of Horror (Horror)
Jumble Sale (Different Genres)
The Big Book of Genre Stories (Different Genres)
Non-fiction Career Help
How to Improve Your Interviewing Skills
With Other Authors
ROGUE WAVE: BEST NEW England Crime Stories 2015
Red Dawn: Best New England Crime Stories 2016
Windward: Best New England Crime Stories 2017
Insanity Tales
Insanity Tales II: The Sense of Fear
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http://www.daletphillips.com
DEDICATION
For Jesse, who saw many strange things, and who made a difference
CONTENTS
Foreword
As you read these stories , you’ll notice a recurrent theme in a few of them—The Question—how to go on living when we have lost the one we love, and the pain is too great to bear. Too many people in this world have dealt with such suffering, and some have chosen not to continue life in so much pain. Some of these tales offer a redemption, a last chance to consider before taking that drastic step.
And another story considers what we are as a race, what choices lie ahead, and what might have helped get us here. By journeying into our past, sometimes we can see our future. The future is not predetermined—we will make of it what we will. Whether or not we will finish ourselves off is a matter yet to be seen. But we’ve had the capacity to end all life on the planet for 67 years, and we haven’t done so yet, so there’s hope.
And the final story is a complete changeup, for we shouldn’t be grim all the time. Here we play with language in the manner of Lewis Carroll or James Joyce, with puns and portmanteau words galore.
This story finally found a home, but not until it had been rejected by a number of magazines. But—the funny thing is, so many of the editors really liked it! And yet they passed on it.
So you can see what a tough time it is to sell good fiction, even when it’s what they want...
Here’s a few of the comments I got from different places:
Enjoyable, not our style
Beautiful. Thoroughly enjoyed. Loved your use of language and words
Great opening and premise- unique, semi-surreal
Loved this whimsical story. Co-editor doesn’t like whimsy.
Beautifully written and very humorous. We like darker.
Linguistically clever
I really enjoyed the fun and creative use of language: this sort of poetic word-play is one of the ways that writing can be made really beautiful. This was also a very nice story, with a fun (if predictable) twist and a clever moral.
I couldn’t decide if this story was utterly brilliant or just too clever for its own good.
I enjoyed this charming, engaging tale very much.
So before you consider a writing career, think about getting rejected so often in such fashion. Hopefully you’ll be glad I didn’t give up. We writers can be obsessive types, which is almost always the only way we succeed.
Anyway, enjoy the ride. The stories await...
Roadside Attraction
Guy had been on the road for days, and felt crumbled around the edges. Running away wasn’t easy, because at some point, you had to stop, and the horrors that you were running from had time to catch up. So you pushed yourself far beyond the limits of any sane person, off into some other world, where sights and sounds and smells could fool you. Your mind played tricks, and you were just too tired to figure it out.
Driving too far for too long can be deadly, and Guy desperately needed to stop and rest. He’d reached the end of his endurance, and could not go much further, but there was nothing available. He was in the desert, he was aware of that much, but wasn’t even sure which state. He had, however, recently spotted a saguaro