Hello everyone! This is the cover reveal for an anthology! This anthology is comprised of stories from Author Conservatory students, and all profits from this anthology go to support these students in their writing dreams. So, here's a little bit more about it:
The second edition of Voices of the Future weaves together short stories of courage and compassion in a memorable and heartwarming collection. Experience the next generation’s creativity and vision through these tales from rising young creatives.
I know that all these young writers have been trained to craft amazing stories, and therefore I know they're going to be good. This is the second anthology released from the Author Conservatory, with many more to come, I'm sure.
Alright, enough chit chat, let's take a look at this gorgeous cover!
Isn't it beautiful! This collection features catching dreams, desperate wishes, sisterly love, an ancient creature in a well, friendship, romance, fairies, miracles, and fatherly protection, in a variety of genres, characters, and voices, with a focus on compassion and courage. And the Ebook is available for preorder! Like I said, all proceeds go to support these young authors as they pursue their writing dreams. These young authors are the next generation of story tellers.
Preorder link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2FMTTK4/
And if you're still not sure, I recommend reading some of the blurbs of these stories down below to see if they intrigue you 😉
Until the next post, may you be blessed,
Abby
The Graveyard of Lost Dreams
Author Name: Kyla Carter
Genre: Fantasy
Brief Description: In a world where dreams must be caught to come true, one girl risks everything to capture the life she believes she wants.
Adeline was supposed to catch her dream by now, just like everyone her age. But when she fails to capture one of the haunting, floating orbs again during the Festival of Dreams – the celebration held once a year – she watches her hopes of saving her family from dreamless status slip through her fingers. With only one more chance to succeed before her eighteenth birthday, Adeline is willing to risk everything, including stealing a dream from the Graveyard of Lost Dreams. But some dreams aren't worth keeping. And, sometimes, forcing yourself into a stolen dream only creates a nightmare.
A Deathbed Wish
Author Name: Alyssa Guthrie
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Brief Description: After the final battles of WWII, Colonel Jon Walker wakes up in a New York hospital, dying of war injuries. But the fear of death is nothing compared to the guilt of having shattered his relationship with his daughter after she announced her marriage to a German immigrant and he stopped all communication with her.
Knowing he doesn't have much time left, he makes one desperate wish: to see his daughter once more before he dies. When he wakes up in a train station exactly twenty-four hours earlier, with his smashed wristwatch working again, Jon realizes he's been able to go back in time, giving him a chance to make things right with his daughter. But after everything that happened, is forgiveness even possible? And what happens after all the numbers on his wristwatch fade out?
Zelophehad’s Daughters
Author Name: Hannah Marie
Genre: Historical/Biblical Fiction
Brief Description: Before he died, Mahlah’s father trusted her with the care—and the futures—of her four younger sisters. Now, as the twelve tribes of Israel prepare to march into the Promised Land, her and her sisters’ futures are tenuous, at best. With no father and no brothers, there is no one to speak for Mahlah and her family—no guarantee that they’ll be given a place among their people when the tribes claim their lands.
When Moses orders a census of all the men as a precursor to dividing up the land, Mahlah realizes her best chance at fulfilling her father’s trust is to convince the census taker to count her and her sisters in her father’s place. But the census taker tells her she’ll have to take the matter to court.
Convinced that her cause is just, Mahlah goes confidently to the first chief. But after he refers her to a second chief, and that chief to a third, her confidence wanes. Should she continue seeking to preserve her father's name and portion of the land in the hopes of securing a place to live among her people? Or will doing so actually risk the very future she is trying to secure?
The Colors in the Well
Author Name: Sarah Pagel
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Brief Description: Ivy is cursed—at least, that’s what all the kids at school whisper. With her secondhand clothes and whimsical love of art, Ivy was never as popular as her older sister. But after she touches the school’s haunted well, the students are convinced she’s doomed to fall down it just like a girl did fifty years ago. They treat her like an outcast, throwing her watercolor tin into the well.
The only way to break the curse? Climb down the well, retrieve her paints, and make it back up to prove the haunted well has let her go. But what Ivy doesn’t know is that an ancient creature waits for her at the bottom—and it’s far more than a myth.
The Sister Knot
Author Name: Alabama Rose
Genre: Contemporary
Brief Description: Taylor and Jasmine were supposed to be friends—"sisters"—forever. Growing up as a pilot's kid, moving from place to place, Taylor has lost enough friends already. But now, her best friend is drifting away.
To uphold their favorite tradition, Jasmine comes over to make donuts on the first snowfall of the year. Just like old times. And it might just be Taylor's last chance to fix things before she loses someone again.
But when what's supposed to be a girls night is crashed by a lanky, chivalrous boyfriend, Taylor's plans for the evening are threatened—and so is her friendship. If she can't stop life from changing, will it take everything from her?
If Ye’d Only Say
Author Name: Kellyn Roth
Genre: Historical Fiction
Brief Description: Introverted Bob has been in love with strong-willed, sensible Ena since he was about five years old. Though she has other suitors, miraculously she accepts his proposal … but she doesn’t say the three little words that would’ve made the moment perfect. Her acceptance ought to be enough for any man—but it just isn’t. It means he’s not the only person she wants to marry … just the one who asked her first, the one who will someday own a store, the one who offers her the most security. Will Bob ever win her heart ... or is “I love you” something she will never say?
In Our Blood
Author Name: Elena B. Sato
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Brief Description: Elisa has a blood disease that has kept her inside her tenement—her only companion the fata—fairies. Her family cares for her, but she feels like a burden. Even Micola—her younger sister and closest friend—drifts away as she goes out into the world.
When her mother breaks her arm, someone has to go to the factory job in her stead. They can’t survive without her income. The family isn’t going to send Elisa, so Micola goes—but when she leaves her lunch pail behind, Elisa seizes the opportunity to help and to get to see the outside world, the fairies—her guide through the city.
The world is dangerous for a girl who could bleed to death so easily—and the factory is no exception. She must choose between the safety she’s clung to and the family she loves.
Miracles
Author Name: Cameron Skocilic
Genre: Fantasy Comedy Horror
Brief Description: Miles doesn't believe in Santa, knowing full well he's a myth, a legend. But he's having a hard time explaining away the talking reindeer that's just crashed through his roof. Now whisked away to the North Pole on a mission to rescue Santa, Miles struggles to come to terms with his new insane reality. After all, if magic and miracles were real all along, why didn't his Mother get one when she needed it most? Little does Miles know his guilt will only feed the dark entity seeking to tip the balance of power from Santa's wonder to its own favor, planning to spread terror and darkness across the world. And if Miles can't put behind him the weight of his past loss, he might risk losing his Sister too!
Chichi no Chikai: A Father’s Vow
Author Name: Kasumi Sonoda
Genre: Historical Fiction
Brief Description: Samurai general Ihara has kept his terminal illness a secret from his wife and daughters, but his concern grows knowing they will be vulnerable in this world that only values physical strength. To protect them, he plans to adopt a strong samurai as his heir. On his way to choose a gift for the future son, he is pickpocketed. His daughter catches the thief and wants to punish him, but Ihara uses the moment to teach her one last time that mercy and compassion are true strength. Even though it cuts into his adoption funds, he makes a deal with the boy and gives him money if he promises to never steal again.
However, days later, word comes that the boy has not stopped stealing. Not only that, but the samurai that Ihara asked to become his heir is slow to agree, leaving him to wonder if his idealistic faith in compassion has ruined his chance to fulfill his final vow to protect his precious family.