As most of you would know, lately I had been working on my second short stories collection, Not a Lore: The Imperfect Tales. It is now published and available on Amazon as an eBook and a paperback (I recommend eBook since it is ecofriendly).
The cover page is designed by Manpreet Kaur who is a professional artist (@ammpryt on Instagram). Nishant Agrawal, Instructional Designer and short-stories aficionado like me, is the editor.
Not a Lore contains twelve quirky stories about curses that kill (or worse, make you to fall in love), monsters who aren’t all that bad and damsels that are better left alone with their distress. A mix of fresh tales and retelling, the compilation is all magic. Written from the point of view of one of the central characters, it is a celebration of my skewed perspective regarding all things magical and mundane.
Here is a short description of the stories in the collection.
- Not a Lore: A handsome prince sets upon a journey with his Squire to kiss a sleeping princess awake. But how will he get past the dragon? And would it be better to become dragon fodder instead?
- Ugly: A prince stuck as a toad forces a princess to help him lift the curse, but she would rather fry him alive. His only hope is a maid who doesn’t shriek at his sight.
- Captivated: A girl stuck on the top of the tower meets a handsome prince. He brings a fresh perspective while she persuades him that there is no need to run from the ‘witch’.
- The Doors: When a Fighter tooth fairy goes to explore the worlds behind the mysterious doors, her Spellman partner of 93 years decides to find her somehow.
- Barred: When the severed bull’s head guarding the door of a famous potion-bar stops a love‑struck wizard from entering and staring at the barmaid, they discuss the issue with surgical accuracy.
- Vivid: While restoring a cursed bracelet at a museum, the museum assistant shares the awe, love and agony of the first owner, as she finally realises why the bracelet was cursed.
- Muddled: A man wakes up in his bed groggy and confused and finds that someone else is now also living in his house. He is searching his memory as he walks down the steps.
- Late: On a full moon night, a young man stumbles upon a horrible secret in a dark alley and runs for his life. Unsure if it is a hallucination, he would rather not stop and confirm.
- Broken: A hunter recounts the tale of when he goes looking for a trophy head of a tiger and ends up falling in love completely beyond repair.
- The Far Door: A single woman moves into a new building to leave her past behind. Therein, she finds a door without a lock that she is forbidden to open. The story captures her fascination and fear wrapped around the unknown entity in the room behind the far door.
- A Matter of Chance: A new-age non-witch cooks a dumb cake on All-Hallows eve to see her future husband in the mirror. But now, she must wait for him to find her. If only he would acknowledge that she exists!
- The Scoop: When a famous news anchor decides to cover Cinderella’s ‘fairy connections’ with vengeance on mind, Cinderella didn’t stand a chance.
The e-book is now available on Amazon. To preview:
- Select this link: Not a Lore: The Imperfect Tales
- Select the Read Sample button.
- Scroll down to read the sample.
If you wish to buy the ebook, know that Amazon Kindle app can be installed on any device and not just Kindle Readers. (I had it on my Android phone. But my daughter forced me to delete it because it is addictive!)
Wish me luck. I will need loads of it. I have two requests.
- If you think it is worth it, please share the link with others as well.
- If you choose to buy, please leave reviews, good or bad. I am happy to learn from you.
- Let me know what you think of the sample in the comments and if it needs improvement.
Thanks a lot! Looking forward to hearing from you all.
Short Stories | Fish-eye Perspective 