Acing Tidal Scions

By Heidi Berthiaume

Short Version: A collection of 16 Single Page Stories using titles based on anagrams of "social distancing" as writing prompts.

 

Long Version: I arrived in Canada to visit my mom on March 11, 2020. Then the border with the US closed because of the coronavirus (COVID-19). I had no idea when I'd be able to go home to Texas and needed a Project to focus on instead of scrolling through Facebook and reading news headlines. I'd been writing Single Page Stories for over a year, so that's where I started.

 

Each story in this collection is less than 300 words, presented with artwork by Tithi Luadthong, and self-isolates in that it is not related to any of the other stories. None of the stories are specifically about the coronavirus (COVID-19) or the pandemic. Using anagrams of "social distancing" was just a way to create unique writing prompts. 

 

These are speculative fiction adventures, ranging from fantasy to science fiction to magical realism. No horror, I promise.

 

To help you get a feel for what's in this book, here are all of the titles and the first sentences of their related story. Some titles remained connected to the final version of the story. Others, not so much.

1. ACING TIDAL SCIONS – Laura flexed her hands, watching through her VR goggles how the gloves of her spacesuit did the same.
2. CALICO DATING SINS – After two attempts to upload his profile picture, Snowball finished his listing on the CatNip app.
3. CASINO ACTS IDLING – Ellis and Cavney stood in the street, taking in the destruction.
4. CLASSIC INDIGO ANT – I thought he was a mannequin dressed in a gas mask and suit of dusk orange with a windowpane pattern.
5. CLINIC GOADS SAINT – Penrose's monitors caught on fire, freaking out the intern.
6. COLD GIN IS IN A CAST – When my desdeer Gin lost one of her hind legs fighting a sand snake, we augmented her other leg instead of putting her down.
7. DANCING TO SILICAS – BreakRod entered the 200th Annual Ten-World Rally in his trusty, rusty minivan.
8. ICONIC DATA SLINGS – Ragner studied the laser net cast through the floating rocks.
9. INACTION GALS DISC – He was stupid and cheated.
10. LACING CANS IDIOTS – "A company man can't understand; always moving colony to colony."
11. SAD ACTING SILICON – "She said I didn't understand her needs."
12. SANCTA LOCI SIDING – George admired the beauty of the cascading water over the broken concrete walls, his phone at his side while his boss cursed the cost of the repairs.
13. SLOGAN IN CACTI IDS – Oliver's family tree was more like an old growth forest, so when he received a package from a Great-Aunt Midge, he opened it.
14. STADIA SONG CLINIC – Reaching the end of the Level 1 course, Cassie's throat burned as if she'd been screaming in the wasteland.
15. STIG SOLIDI CANCAN – If anyone could create a marketing persona for an alien race that the judgmental population of Earth would accept, it was Isaacs.
16. TALONS SIGN ACIDIC – The holographic bird hovered in front of Angie's face.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bengal Studio
• Release date: Jun 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781941766200

Heidi Berthiaume

Heidi Berthiaume has a last name that is easier to say (berth-e-um) than spell. She writes Single Page Stories of 300 words or less and creates mixed media art.

Book preview

Introduction

I live in Texas. I visited my mom in Canada on March 11, 2020.

The border between the US and Canada closed to all non-essential travel on March 20th because of the coronavirus (COVID-19). 

In need of a Project to focus on instead of scrolling through Facebook and reading news headlines, I decided to write a collection of microfiction based on anagrams of social distancing.

The title of this collection, Acing Tidal Scions, is one of those anagrams (re-arranged letters into new words), as are the titles of the other 15 stories. Each story is less than 300 words and self-isolates in that it is not related to any of the other stories. 

None of the stories are specifically about the coronavirus (COVID-19) or the pandemic. Using anagrams of social distancing was just a way to create unique writing prompts. 

Since this is an ebook, without the associated costs a print edition has, I could include color artwork for each story. Via a friend who designs pre-made book covers, I discovered the art of Tithi Luadthong.* While the titles provided the initial ideas, the artwork ended up informing many of the characters, plots, and