Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Kate's Shorts -- A Contest!

No, not THOSE kinds of shorts --I mean short fiction. Novellas, short stories, flash fiction. You name it, I've probably written it, from 1000 word short-shorts to 25K novellas.

I've written longer books as well, of course. But you may have noticed that all of my books currently out with Samhain are shorts.

I love the format, both to read and to write. I especially love picking up a new anthology and charging through all the varied stories. I'm curious, though -- what do you look for in an anthology?

Do you prefer connected stories, or a wide variety? Do you enjoy themed collections, or stories that revolve around a group of people who are connected in some way? (Family members, friends, co-workers of some sort...)

In other words, what makes an anthology work for you?

Everyone who posts will be eligible for a giftie. :) Deadline is Friday, March 23, midnight EST.

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Kate

10 comments:

tetewa said...

I like reading anthologies. I usually pick up one of these books when I know one of the authors who have written a short story within the book. This also lets me read stories by other author who i might not be familiar with. I also enjoy the fact that you get more than one story within an anthology.

Anonymous said...

I love anthologies, but do tend to pick up the ones with some sort of connecting theme (an item passed from one person to another, a curse that takes three true loves to break, that sort of thing).

Cathy M said...

I like stories about a group of people related in some way. That way we get familiar characters coming in and out, and makes the shorter stories actually more of a long single book.

Anonymous said...

To be truthful, I don't read anthologies a lot but I'm going to more often since I know Samhain has so many good ones.In the past I've enjoyed themed anthologies though.

Shelly said...

Actually, I love to read so I read anthologies as easy as short or longer stories. I like to read multiple author anthologies because it's a great way to read a new author. I prefer that the stories be connected in some way. :)

Jody W. and Meankitty said...

I like everything, but I especially enjoy themed collections where the authors worked together to produce connected stories! It's fascinating to see the same type of event or circumstance in different authors' voices.

Anonymous said...

Themed anthologies are my preference. If I like the theme, there's a better chance that I'll like most or all of the stories. And it gives me an introduction to stuff by authors who I might be familiar with but not be ready to invest time in for a whole novel. (Wow! what a grammatically wretched sentence. Sorry! ::blush: I must need more caffeine. Yeah, that's it. ;) )

Anonymous said...

I read anthologies, especially ones that I have read of a particular author. It is a good way to read new authors too. Oh heck, I just love to read

Unknown said...

I love reading anthologies! I like reading connected stories and varied stories.

Allie Boniface said...

Actually, I don't read many anthologies, but if I do pick one up, I'll go for themed ones. This doesn't mean the stories are connected by characters or storyline, however, just general topic. And I like multiple authors, esp. new ones I haven't heard of before.