Forging Freedom: Dimensions

For today’s “Writer Wednesday” feature, I wanted to highlight an anthology I edited called Forging Freedom: Dimensions.

From the publisher: This anthology is for those who appreciate the freedom in our lives. For those who have seen their freedoms stolen and those who see freedom at risk. For those who have sacrificed their time and energies and risked their lives to preserve freedom. Those who believe that humanity has not yet reached its peak, that there is more to the world than we can currently imagine. This anthology is for those who gaze at the stars and wonder. Available at Amazon.com and Freedomforgepress.com

Dimensions was published by Freedom Forge Press, a company dedicated to celebrating stories of freedom (of all types). When the company put out a call for submissions for its general fiction anthology, an overwhelming number of submissions were speculative fiction—science fiction and fantasy. Rather than turn down so many great stories, FFP decided to publish a separate anthology of exclusively speculative fiction.

I thoroughly enjoyed the range of stories and the different ways in which they celebrated or questioned the idea of freedom. What I love best about science fiction and fantasy is the ability of authors to find true freedom by unleashing the power of the human imagination. So many intriguing concepts are explored in the book, pushing our understanding of the human condition.

I was also pleased to learn that several stories from the anthology were honored as part of the Tangent Online 2014 recommended reading list:

I was honored that my story, “The Fourth Poet,” written to honor Ray Bradbury (I wrote it before his death, as he is my favorite author), was included among those mentioned. Also mentioned were “Bringing Home Major Tom” by Leigh Kimmel, “A Brief Biography of Baron Otto von Korek (1717-1783)” by Donald J. Bingle, “Why Can You Never Escape with Escape?” by A. J. Kirby, “Inhuman” by A. K. Lindsay, “The Rainbow Children” by Leo Norman, “The Pathless Skies” by Neil Weston, and “Amnesty Intergalactic” by Douglas W. Texter. Congratulations to all the authors mentioned. My 2015 to-read list has just expanded significantly!

If interested, you can read a more detailed review of the antho by Ryan Holmes over at Tangent Online.

If you like speculative fiction, keep your eyes open for my upcoming release, The Man with the Crystal Ankh:

Everyone’s heard the legend of the hollow oak—the four-hundred year curse of Sarah Willlougby and Preston Grymes. Few realize how true it is.

Sarah Durante awakens to find herself haunted by the spirit of her high school’s late custodian. After the death of his granddaughter, Custodian Carlton Gray is not at peace. He suspects a sanguisuga is involved—an ancient force that prolongs its own life by consuming the spirits of others. Now, the sanguisuga needs another life to feed its rotten existence, and Carlton wants to spare others from the suffering his granddaughter endured. That’s where Sarah comes in. Carlton helps her understand that she comes from a lineage of ancestors with the ability to communicate with the dead. As Sarah hones her skill through music, she discovers that the bloodlines of Hollow Oak run deep. The sanguisuga is someone close, and only she has the power to stop it.