The Big Book - a short story

The Big Book

 

Forty-seven year old Gwendolyn arrives at the pearly gates. St. Peter searches and finds her name recorded in The Big Book. She is distressed to learn that she is barred entrance to Heaven. He gives her one last mission to complete on earth. Will she achieve success and be granted entry by St. Peter?

 

#33 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 30 minutes (12-21 pages) > Humor & Entertainment

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From the Author

Short stories are my pleasure to write.  "The Big Book" was especially fun.  I am quite convinced that God has a wonderful sense of humour and in this story my imagination clearly visualized this woman learning her life lessons in a most unique way.  I hope you enjoy reading  the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.     

 

About the Author

Audrey Austin's passion is creative writing. She recently celebrated her seventh writing anniversary and invites you to enjoy her many short stories, novellas and novels. Check out her author's page at http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin Austin lives and works in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada.

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Books for Christmas Gift Giving

Books make great Christmas gifts! All my paperback books are available on all Amazon sites.

Check out my author's page at http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin Lots of time to order from Amazon.ca or any Amazon site and have books delivered well before Christmas.

On hand I still have a very few copies of my first two novels, Sara a Canadian Saga and Reawakening plus 2 copies of Keeping It Simple; a book on the chakras & meditation.

  If you are in Elliot Lake and interested in the books I have here at home message and ask me about the special Christmas gift price

 

The Silent Star Plus a Dozen

Each of the short stories contained in my short story anthology titled "The Silent Star plus a Dozen" was originally an entry in WynLit 24 competitions offered by my publisher, Wynterblue Publishing Canada.   These 13 stories did well in competition.  Some took first place but all were short-listed.   The title is as it is because the short story titled The Silent Star received the most positive feedback and reviews.  I hope you enjoy these stories.  Writing short stories is something I love to do.  

The Kindle Edition of this anthology  is free for your reading pleasure today, November 22nd.

This Anthology is available  in Kindle format on all Amazon sites.

Check out my author's page at http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

Cover design by Susan Ruby K.

http://www.yuneekpix.com

         

Congrats to Nano winner & invitation to Small Town Authors

Congratulations to my friend, Elliot Lake author, Gloria Hansen, who has won this year's Nanowrimo event! Way to go Gloria!

  It seems not that long ago that another Elliot Lake friend and author, Kayt Burgess (Lackie) was the Nano winner!

  I am thinking maybe next year I should give it a go! We have some wonderful talented people in our small town.

  Speaking of small towns if you are a writer and would like to have your short story or novel excerpt featured for December on
http://www.smalltownauthors.blogspot.com please contact me.

My time to rant!

My time to rant! I ordered a desk from Sears on-line October 22nd. Was told to expect delivery November 5th so on November 4th old desk was moved out to make way for the new. No new desk arrived. Was promised November 10th. No desk! Was promised November 17th. No desk! Silly me bought it with credit card instead of C.O.D. Should have known better! Now my credit card is charged and I still have no desk. And the charge on my credit card is incorrect because I was promised sale price and sale price is not what they have charged. Personally I will never deal with Sears on-line ever again. No wonder this company is in trouble if this is how they treat their customers.

Being a writer without a desk makes my writing life extremely difficult.   Can you guess which company will go bankrupt in my next novel?

  I hope the desk arrives this week. I live in hope. And I am angry! Thanks for letting me rant!

Recompense

Free for your reading enjoyment on all Amazon sites. Check out my author's page at http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

Currently #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Relationships > Love & Romance

Recompense is available in both Kindle and Paperback formats

An excerpt from Recompense

When I first met her Alison had many friends.  When she moved into my house to live with me the majority of her friends turned their backs on her.  Only a handful of her white girlfriends remained loyal.  Even they broke away when they married a white husband who forbade them to come visit with Alison.   It didn’t take me long to discover that High River society was no more welcoming to inter-racial couples than Salt River had been.

            Yes, my feelings were hurt but that was something to which I had already grown accustomed.  Mostly it was Alison who once again was disappointed.  People she thought were her friends simply never phoned or visited anymore.  Alison depended on me more than ever for companionship.  I was her best friend.  It was the least I could be.

The Kindle Edition of Recompense is free on all Amazon sites on Wednesday, November 19th.

Visit my author's page at http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

 

Recompense is available on all Amazon sites in both Kindle and Paperback formats.

 

Moose Road, a Canadian Tragedy - an excerpt

Did Franco find the peace he demanded?  Maria will never know.  Neither will she ever find the solace she sought.  Yes, there had been many times over the years when she wished her husband was dead.  But it was a hapless wish; one that she never expected to have fulfilled.  Now that Franco was no longer there, Maria was devastated. 

For the second time the good people of the Town of Mansey suffered shock, grief and pain.  Upon hearing the news of the massacre Judge Terrance Gordon questioned the correctness of his decision.  Again a deluge of television cameras and reporters landed in Mansey and on Moose Road while the residents hid in their homes.

The small restaurant in Mansey was doing a roaring trade.  Investigators Stanley Shaw and Marsha Mandell sat quietly at the corner table sipping their coffee. “Can you handle another one, Marsha?  Here we go again.”

Cover design by Susan Ruby K. of http://yuneekpix.com

Moose Road - a Canadian Tragedy is available in both Kindle and Paperback formats on all Amazon sites.  Check out my author's page at http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

 

An excerpt from When God Gives Us Spring - a novella

The back door of the big white house was unlocked.  I let myself in and looked around for Leona.  I didn’t see her or Wilbur and though I thought that was odd it didn’t keep me from my goal.  I walked from the kitchen at the back of the house through the dining room, the drawing room and then made my way to the library.  Master Alfred was not at home unless, of course, he was upstairs in his bedroom.

I removed my shoes and in as quiet a manner as I could manage I began my climb up the stairway.  My back hugged the wall in the upstairs corridor as I made my way slowly to his bedroom door.   Once outside the door I didn’t hesitate.  Grabbing the knob, I turned it and pushed the door open before me.

That’s when I saw him.

I had forgotten that I was not the only one who had aged throughout the years I’d been gone.  Before me in a heavy dark wooden wheelchair sat an old white-haired man.  His rheumy eyes were pinkish and his toothless mouth gave him a gaunt expression.   He was much thinner than I had remembered.  I didn’t know his age but like a ton of bricks it hit me that he must by now be at least ninety years old.   Could I go ahead with my plan?

When God Gives Us Spring is available in both Kindle and Paperback Editions on all Amazon sites.  Check out my author's page at http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

 

An excerpt from "Ellen and The Hummingtree"

“Time to do what?” I asked.

“Time to leave!” he said. “I’ve had it with you!  I’ve had it with all the crap. This leaking roof is the last straw!  I’m outa here!”

“You’re outa here?  What on earth do you mean, Jerry? How can you be outa here? We are a family!  We have kids to raise! Have you lost the good sense you were born with?”

Jerry packed a bag and left that very night.  I know he went to her house. 

He thought he kept the secret well but I knew.  I’d known for a few months but I was afraid to broach the topic.  Instead I had been living in denial for some time.  Denial was a lonely place to live. 

But now, abandoned and heartbroken, I lay alone, sobbing, on the bathroom floor. My tears mixed with the water that overflowed the bucket.  I didn’t care.  I wanted to die.

 “Let me drown, God.  Let me just drown in this mess!”

 

Available on all Amazon sites in both Kindle and Paperback Editions.

Check out my author's page  http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

Weaving Alice

Some Sunday reading for short story lovers. WEAVING ALICE is a story about a meeting on earth between personified good and evil. The mystical ending will bring a smile to your face.

Kindle story is free today on all Amazon sites. Check out my author's page at http://www.amazo.com/author/audreyaustin

This story is also found in paperback format as one of the dozen stories in Social Studies, Book Three - Weaving Alice also available on all Amazon sites.

 

Cover Design by Susan Ruby K.

http://yuneekpix.com

Shattered and Beaten

Are you a short story lover? Today on all Amazon sites Shattered and Beaten is free.

 #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Parenting & Relationships > Family Relationships > Child Abuse

Even before she is born she hears and feels the violence in the home. Being witness to her mother's abuse is more than she can bear. She finds comfort in emotional eating. Food is her best friend. When he turns from his wife to his daughter she experiences pain beyond endurance. Is murder the ...only escape from his incestuous destruction.

Check out my author's page at http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

If you enjoy this short story you will want to check out my Social Studies anthologies; books 1, 2 and 3.

 

Excerpt from Crabapple Court

"Everyone has a question.  Most are convinced the ugly answer is deeply hidden somewhere behind the concealing beauty of the Crabapple trees.

Who knew that such evil doings could hide behind such an attractive, extravagant façade?  Newspapers are read.  Everyone knows there had been no sign of a break-in.  No alarms were sounded.  There was no child’s cry in the night.  This could not be the work of an outsider.  No, indeed, the public insists, “The culprit lives in one of those houses!” 

            “But which house?”

            “Well, there’s only five.  It shouldn’t take the cops long to figure it out.  There’s not a single doubt the evil-doer lurks within one of these five homes.”

            “Then why haven’t they arrested someone?”

            “They will.  Give it time.  Rest assured they will.”

            “But the child … “

 

Crabapple  Court is available at all Amazon sites in both Kindle and Paperback Editions.

Check out my author's page at  http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

 

November 11, 2014

When God Gives Us Spring - a novella

Kindle edition free today on all Amazon sites. When God Gives Us Spring.

Check out my author's page http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

When God Gives Us Spring is also available in Paperback format.

Michael Custis Washington is a young black slave living on a cotton plantation in the Province of Virginia. He was born in 1802. Left an orphan at the age of five he is taken into the big house by his master, Alfred Gordon, to be trained as a house servant. While in this house he suffers severe emotional and sexual abuse. When he finally runs away with his wife Lucinda he is helped by the Quakers. Through the Underground Railway they reach the Elgin Settlement in Ontario, Canada. Freedom is his at last. But when the American Civil War breaks out in 1861 Michael chooses to join the Union Army. He works his way back to Virginia. Is he seeking justice or vengeance?

Social Studies, Book Three - Weaving Alice

Also free today in the Amazon Kindle Store is Social Studies, Book Three - Weaving Alice. Available on all Amazon sites. Check out my author's page at http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

The beautiful cover design is by Susan Ruby K. of http://yuneekpix.com

SOCIAL STUDIES - Book Three, sub-titled "Weaving Alice Plus Eleven" is a compilation of 12 short stories with the focus on social issues including such subjects as spousal abuse, elder abuse, child abuse, and animal welfare. 
 

I have drawn from my experience as counselor and psychospiritual practitioner in order to write and compile this trilogy of anthologies about contemporary topics that sadly are far too common in the world in which we live.

  Social Studies Books One and Two are also available in both Kindle and Paperback format on all Amazon sites.

 Social Studies, Book Three  is also available in paperback format on all Amazon sites.

Books make wonderful Christmas gifts.

 

REAWAKENING

FREE today in the Kindle Store for your reading pleasure.
REAWAKENING is free today on all Amazon sites.

Review
With regard to REAWAKENING I share with you one review by Maggie Kirton, Executive Director of Wynterblue Publishing Canada.

She writes, "Every now and then a manuscript comes across my desk that completely captivates me. Austin has reached inside the human heart and removed all boundaries pertaining to everlasting love ... and her ability to play with the English language successfully is astounding.
Austin's Reawakening is a must read. It will take you into a land not far from your heart and bring you back to earth again believing that all things are possible with love and hope."

Another review of REAWAKENING:
" Let me first wipe my droplets of moisture from my eyes. Some shed from sadness of a love so strong and true, that never seems to be a " togetherness of two the way I would hope. Then some shed for the amazing job... Austin did in making me laugh at the craziness of our "human" lives.
"Reawakening" is a story I could not give anything less than 5 stars too. It is a love story, mixed with sci-fi, also mixed with drama and the comedy that sneaks up if you have the ability to laugh at oneself. Would I go as far as calling this book a romance...no I cannot! It is a book of love, true love, something many think they know, but will realize if by this story very few may actually have it right. A love on earth were age, appearance were not important to the two involved, happiness, comfort, and love was without a question in their lives. A must read for men and women.
Ann237 Beauregard

I have some paperback copies on hand for anyone in Elliot Lake wanting the book..

 Otherwise check out my author's page http://www.amazon.com/author/audreyaustin

Cover design by Susan Ruby K. of http://yuneekpix.com

 

Crabapple Court - a novella

#3 in Kindle Store > Books > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Crime Fiction > Kidnapping

The Kindle Edition is FREE today on all Amazon sites for your reading pleasure.

This book is available in both Kindle and Paperback Editions on all Amazon sites.

Check out my author's page http://www/amazon.com/author/audreyaustin and thanks for "liking" the page.

Beautiful cover design by Susan Ruby K. http://yuneekpix.com