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Well, the end is near! The end of June, that is! Did you check out this simple short story... or is it as simple as it seemed? Exit to Redemption introduced readers to characters who could be the driver in the next car, the man in the next office, or the jerk at the next table disturbing your dinner. Learning about Valkyrie is a lot more simple than the choices and changes faced by the characters in her story! Check out my interview with her and then share your thoughts about that or her story in the comments below! Do you eat your fruits and vegetables? No and yes. I don’t like a lot of fruit and it’s also too sugary for me. While there aren’t a ton of veggies I actually like, I do eat a lot of the ones I do like. I also sub cauliflower for a lot of starches, so I get my fill of veggies that way. If you were an animal, what would you be? Being a dragon would be pretty cool, but I’d probably be something more mundane like a cat. I could get into sleeping 90% of the time and eating and randomly spazzing out the other 10%. If you had 30 minutes of free time, what would you do? Probably play Candy Crush or watch something mindless on TV. Absolutely nothing productive. Has your writing evolved over the years and changed in any way? Yes, it’s definitely evolved. I’ve worked hard to hone my descriptions and convey the emotions of my characters. I think my stories have also grown in their complexity. Penguin is pretty straightforward, while The Hollow Hills is much more nuanced. Do you prefer to write short stories for a reason beyond time constraints? I like using short stories to explore questions I’ve asked myself. For example, I wondered about why people react differently to adversity and tragedy, and the result was my anthology story April’s Fool. I also asked myself what would happen if someone with a disability reached beyond the special ed classroom and tried to be friends with someone in mainstream education—like Peter from Downhearted. The flexibility of short stories allows me to capture a moment in time or create character sketches without following the traditional story format of beginning/middle/end. I’ve also used them to experiment with descriptions or writing in a different point of view. When I first started writing, I was more comfortable writing in first person, so I challenged myself to write some anthology stories in third person. Now I’m pretty comfortable using either. Sometimes I use short stories as jumping off points. For example Faeries Anonymous and Igneous are both slated to become longer works. Just how many of your stories interconnect? Good question! I had to go look because I wasn’t sure. A lot of my early prompt stories are based off peripheral characters from The Hollow Hills. There’s also a connection between THH and Alex’s Legacy. Quite a few of my prompt responses build off each other. One of the projects on my list is to take some of those multi-prompt serials and post them as their own stories, like I did with Thanksgiving Knight. And of course, there’s the Max and Elliot stories, with Exit to Redemption as a spin-off. Have you ever experienced a moment like Henry did with Pete at the start of the story or was that just made up? I’ve seen my share of rude jerks, but that scene was made up. Change… Redemption… is it possible, or more of a romance story construct? Yes, I do think it’s possible to change and redemption isn’t just a fictional construct. However, true change is difficult at best, and redemption is even harder to achieve. Sometimes we have to change habits to improve our health, which can be easy or not, based on motivation level or certain diagnoses. Changing things more ingrained to our nature is difficult, if not impossible. Learned behavior can be unlearned, but personality disorders such as sociopathy or narcissism can’t be changed. In your mental story after the story, are Henry and Pete living happily ever after now? I’d like to think they are. I can’t say Pete doesn’t still have his moments, but I’m guessing Henry’s influence is enough to keep him in check. How about sharing some of your upcoming writing adventures with readers… what’s in your pipeline?! I have a few exciting things in the works. I’m currently working on a novella/novel length story based in the Igneous universe. I’ve wanted to write this story for years and finally have a working outline and a couple of chapters in the first draft stage. I’m going to finish it before posting, so it will be a while before it’s done. In the meantime, I’ll have at least one story for the fall anthology. Right now, I’m planning on writing a story based on Taylor from my Pride and Premium story, Deal or No Deal. I guess I can’t resist interconnecting my stories! I’ll have some prompt stories and also an upcoming collaboration to tide my readers over. And my biggest news… drumroll… is the future release of my Premium novella A Leg to Stand On as an e-book.

Welcome to June! Can you believe this month marks halfway through 2019? June is often a month of vacation, trips, and time off beginning for many! This month we're featuring a story by a well-known GA author and the past anthology, Road Trip, with the short story, Exit to Redemption by @Valkyrie And, with this being a short story, you should have plenty of time to read the story before the discussion day... of course, Valkyrie tends to connect a lot of her tales, so you might just get sucked in to reading more and more! Exit to Redemption by Valkyrie Length: 5,361 Description: Pete meets Henry at a conference and can't get him out of his mind. He doesn't understand why Henry won't give him the time of day. Pete needs to decide if Henry is worth changing his behavior for, and figure out if redemption is possible. Those of you familiar with my Max and Elliot stories will recognize Pete as Elliot's arrogant ex-boyfriend. It's not necessary to read those stories first, however. This story reads fine as a stand-alone piece. A reader said: In some ways, Pete is a more interesting character than Elliott. You want to dislike him and even kick his ass, but he almost seems lost... ~ Cole Matthews Enjoy this month's CSR selection, but don't forget to be ready to come back and share your thoughts and comment on the Discussion day on Monday, June 24th!