May 2019 Group Read #2 with the Guest Authors of When The Clock Strike 13 anthology

[Kenneth]

This is the thread for the May 2019 Group Read #2 with the Guest Authors of the anthology, WHEN THE CLOCK STRIKES 13. We've got some old favorites that have haunted our halls before, like James Newman, Glenn Rolfe, and Somer Canon. We've also got a good helping of seasoned vets making their first visit to HA, Richard Chizmar, Steve Thompson, Kenneth W Cain, Mark Allen Gunnells, Richard Thomas, John R. Little, Tom Deady, Justin M. Woodward, Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason, and Sheri White. Whew! That was a mouthful, so I'm going to need your help welcoming all of these wonderful authors!

[Jon Recluse]

Welcome, one and all!

[Kristy]

Welcome everyone! I actually grabbed this one on KU last week but haven't started yet. I'm really looking forward to it!

[[deleted user]]

This is a great pick, considering here, in the US, May is National Short Stories month! I just ordered my copy.

[Jen from Quebec :0)]

....I've already read 3 stories. Ooops!
*blush* --Jen from Quebec :0)

[Latasha]

Welcome everyone!

[Kenneth]

I saw this pop up up in my feed. Greetings, all! Hope you enjoy the book.

[Char]

Hello, everyone! For those new to HA, welcome!

Ken, you're killing it with these reads, you really are. :)

[Catherine]

Looks like a horrifically brilliant anthology from some of the greatest talents around. Looking forward to reading this

[[deleted user]]

Char wrote: "Hello, everyone! For those new to HA, welcome!

Ken, you're killing it with these reads, you really are. :)"

Agreed! And I think it goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway, his group emails announcing the monthly reads are always flippin' awesome.

[Grant]

Looking forward to this one! Just waiting on my copy to arrive from Cemetery Dance!

[Kenneth]

Grant wrote: "Looking forward to this one! Just waiting on my copy to arrive from Cemetery Dance!"

I like your avatar. I'm a huge Cardinal baseball fan.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Welcome, all!

[Kimberly]

WOW! There is no way I'm missing this read! Ordering a copy today, and welcome to ALL of our guest authors!!!

[Ami]

Welcome to HA! :) Thanks for joining us. This book looks too fun to pass up.

[John]

Thanks for reading this book! It was a lot of fun to be a part of it.

[Steve]

Hello everyone..hope you all enjoy this collection of stories from some of my favorite authors..

[Steve]

Thank you Ken McKinley for doing this read.

[Justin]

This sounds awesome!

[Kenneth]

Question for Steve - How did the final lineup for the anthology come about? Was it an open submission or an invite only?

[Glenn]

Yo! Happy to hang with this crew again.
Thanks for having us, Ken.

[Richard]

Look forward to it.

[Steve]

Ken wrote: "Question for Steve - How did the final lineup for the anthology come about? Was it an open submission or an invite only?"

This was an invite only anthology. This all started with me wanting to publish a James Newman story, so I made a list of my favorite authors and started sending out messages. This line up is about 80% of the original 13 authors. A few had to drop out due to timing issues or other obligations, so I chose others from my list and sent more messages and here you have the final lineup. With this being my first publication and being a nobody in the publishing field I pretty much expected to get a ton of " no thanks, but hey, thanks for reaching out." That didn't happen and everything with this project has been very positive and with Kenneth Cain's help with the editing and formatting I think we have a great group of authors with some fantastic stories that I think everyone can enjoy.

[Grant]

Kenneth wrote: "Grant wrote: "Looking forward to this one! Just waiting on my copy to arrive from Cemetery Dance!"

I like your avatar. I'm a huge Cardinal baseball fan."

You have good taste, my friend.

[Char]

..."Agreed! And I think it goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway, his group emails announcing the monthly reads are always flippin' awesome.

Right?

[Char]

John wrote: "Thanks for reading this book! It was a lot of fun to be a part of it."

Hello, Mr. Little! I'm a fan!

[Sadie]

Yes! I was planning on reading this in May! Welcome authors!
*clapping*

[Michelle]

Thanks for having us :)

[Justin]

Sadie Hartmann wrote: "Yes! I was planning on reading this in May! Welcome authors!
*clapping*"

Enjoy, Sadie! I'll be shipping out your copy of RLT soon as well =)

[Tom]

Looking forward to everyone's thoughts and questions!

[Rachel]

Welcome to all the guest authors and thank you! I got my copy today and I can’t wait to get started on the fun!

[Steve]

Rachel wrote: "Welcome to all the guest authors and thank you! I got my copy today and I can’t wait to get started on the fun!"

Enjoy Rachel. Looking forward to seeing what you and everyone thinks.

[Kimberly]

Ordered today!

[Steve]

Kimberly wrote: "Ordered today!"

Thank you..

[Cujo]

So far I think all the stories are really good. But could someone please explain Open Waters to me? I know what I think happened, but would just like to be sure

[Richard]

Cujo wrote: "So far I think all the stories are really good. But could someone please explain Open Waters to me? I know what I think happened, but would just like to be sure"

Hey, Cujo,

I'm happy to help explain. For those that have not read it yet (view spoiler)[

The protagonist lives in a near future where Virtual Reality (VR) is much more immersive than it is now. His life is pretty mundane, struggling to get by, and this is his escape. Much like many of us do with tv shows, movies, or gaming. This VR is so intense that he is OVER THERE for hours, days at a time. Eventually he succumbs to the appeal of the world in the game over the real world, and slowly dies, both there, and here. The cat is trying to wake him up by biting him. Eventually, eating him to survive. Let me know if you have any follow up questions.

(hide spoiler)]

Thanks!

[Cujo]

Richard wrote: "Cujo wrote: "So far I think all the stories are really good. But could someone please explain Open Waters to me? I know what I think happened, but would just like to be sure"

Hey, Cujo,

I'm happy..."

Thanks. I had a feeling that's what it was =)

[Taylor]

Just got it on kindle!

[Kimberly]

I have my copy--plan on starting on it tomorrow!! :D

[Steve]

Taylor wrote: "Just got it on kindle!"

Thank you. Enjoy!

[Steve]

Kimberly wrote: "I have my copy--plan on starting on it tomorrow!! :D"

Thank you. Enjoy!

[Rachel]

I just finished the other day and I’m still absorbing. This was fantastic! It was dark and gory and funny, everything all swirled about perfectly. I love the way the stories were different but still on the same level. Wow they really got to me! I was actually pretty freaked out by more than a few lol. Love it! Great job assembling the authors and amazing job to all with the stories, I can’t come up with one I didn’t enjoy. I would have read it all in one day had my kindle not died lol. Thank you all!

[Steve]

Rachel wrote: "I just finished the other day and I’m still absorbing. This was fantastic! It was dark and gory and funny, everything all swirled about perfectly. I love the way the stories were different but stil..."

Thank you so much. This made my day, glad you enjoyed all the stories.

[Kat, lover of bears...]

Finished it yesterday. Although short stories are not usually my thing, I enjoyed it a lot. Some of the stories were higher on my creep-o-meter which makes them awesome. Great fun.

[Kenneth]

Which stories are everyone’s favorites, so far?