Standing Into Danger: Published!

A few words in an email

can send your life off

in an unexpected direction ...

One such email arrived for me from

Insecure Writer's Support Group founder Alex J. Cavanaugh on November 11, 2019:

"Congratulations!

Your entry was selected for the 2019 IWSG Anthology Contest."

On that that day I became more than a writer, I became an author!

And on May 5, 2020 the IWSG anthology Voyagers: The Third Ghost

was released, featuring my story "Dare Double Dare."

I had always dreamed of being

an author with a published book,

but life had different plans for me.

I never gave up that dream,

just postponed it.

It's never too late.

Even dreams deferred

can come true.

Set a goal, take a step,

realize that dream!

You can do it!

Here's my dream realized:

Ten authors explore the past, sending their young protagonists on harrowing adventures. Featuring the talents of Yvonne Ventresca, Sherry Ellis, Bish Denham,

Louise MacBeath Barbour,

L.T. Ward, Roland Clarke, Beth Anderson Schuck, Charles Kowalski,

Rebecca M. Douglass, and Katharina Gerlach.

Journey into the past …

with ten gripping and moving tales!

Will the third ghost be found before fires take more lives?

Can everyone be warned before Pompeii erupts again?

Will a slave ship reach port before everyone goes blind?

What happens when a dare sends kids back to 1600s Canada?

What if the warm weather gods don't reach the pyramid?

Will the Firebird help Soviet sisters outwit evil during WWII?

Can two outcasts in rural Utah help each other survive?

Can two children escape the monster on a Japanese mountain?

Sneaking off to see the first aeroplane - what could go wrong?

What happens if the blizzard traps a family in East Germany?

* * * * *

Blurb Who can resist a dare to enter a forbidden room? Sara and her brother Kelsey find themselves in dire circumstances a long way from home after a rash "Dare" and "Double Dare."

Excerpt
"Dare Double Dare" by Louise MacBeath Barbour

“I dare you!”

Sara barely considered her brother Kelsey’s challenge. “I double dare you!” she shot back.

Their father’s car had just turned out of the driveway onto the paved road.

“This is our chance. Unless you’re scared.”

“Not!” Sara stared down her brother from across the round maple table. But he crossed his eyes, and she broke eye contact, laughing. “Not fair. You always win like that.”

“If you focused you might win. Shall we do this—finally?”

Sara looked out her great-grandmother’s front windows at the pouring rain and dark clouds. The only colorful things visible in the soft light were the antique blue, green, and brown bottles standing on sills below the windows. Outside, wind lashed the trees, and rain drummed on the windows, running down the glass.

Their parents and great-grandmother had just left for Halifax and wouldn’t be back until the evening. Now that she was eleven and Kelsey twelve, their parents felt comfortable leaving them alone for the day—with stern warnings to behave, of course. Besides, they had plenty of relatives living nearby in the Cove.

“We haven’t anything better to do,” she said.

“Then let’s go!”

He pounded up the steep stairs to the landing and wide hallway. Sara ran up after him before she lost her nerve. Kelsey pushed aside a table and lamp, and they both dragged out a trunk blocking a door.

“Better take that flashlight,” Sara said.

Kelsey grabbed it from beside the lamp and stuck it behind his waistband.

Sara had no idea what to expect behind the forbidden door. If you didn’t know it was there, you might miss it...

* * * * *

I swiftly learned that publication involves a lot more than writing!

My life took off in an unexpected direction as I learned about promotion and marketing.

Talk about a steep learning curve!

Meanwhile, word by word, I'm writing my next one.

Here's to dreams and catching them!

You can purchase Voyagers at any of the links below.

I'd be thrilled if you bought it!