Leigh Saunders

I am extremely proud to announce the publication of my short story, Virtual Oracle in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, Issue #12. There’s a touch of other-worldliness in this one that borders on magic realism/mysticism. I hope you enjoy it!

Elizabeth had no idea that crashing the cocktail party would ultimately send her entire world tumbling down around her.

Available in both print / ebook from your favorite online retailers:
https://books2read.com/u/4AOVMN

When you start tossing ideas around, you never really know which ones are going to stick together in ways that make you tilt your head sideways, start to smile, and know you have to see where it takes you. So when the words the words “workaholic” and “ghost” stuck to my whiteboard, I knew I had to play with the idea.

I’m glad I did. Because while the ghost of Harold Oglethorpe never got that last in-flight cookie, his story, Silver Linings, did find a home in Mark Leslie’s wonderful anthology, Obsessions.

It’s a fun, quirky story, that I enjoyed writing. And, as editor Mark Leslie said in his introduction, “Like Mattie’s unfortunate workaholic colleague, I’m sure this tale will linger in the air long after you finish it.”

You can get your own copy of Obsessions from your favorite online retailer.

If you missed Burning Bright when it was first printed in Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse, here’s another place where you can find it. Year of the Cat #4 – A Cat of Strange Lands collects nine wonderful stories about cats in all sorts of different times and places.

From the book description:

Cats roam everywhere on the planet. Everywhere. Their breed names often betray their place of origin—or their strange origin story in some now-lost land.

This collection honors that feline diversity in odd ways as much as possible. And the strange lands that cats not only originate from, but find themselves in.

These cats prowl in a witch’s hut, an enchanted shop, post-apocalyptic cities such as Las Vegas and Seattle, as well as across an ancient land where they once ruled as gods.

You can pick up Year of the Cat #4 – A Cat of Strange Lands in print or ebook from your favorite online retailer.

Purr-fect!

In another life, I had dreams of becoming an architect. So it would stand to reason that a trip to Southern California would naturally include a visit to the Winchester Mystery House. And, because it’s just the way I think, the first (and best) idea I had for the theme “Doorways to Enchantment” was of the mansion’s (in)famous “door to nowhere.”

From the editor’s introduction to the story:

The Winchester Mystery House is a gorgeous, weird, creepy, wonderful place. Heir to the Winchester rifle fortune, Sarah Winchester believed the only way to quiet the ghostly voices of the people killed by that rifle was to keep building on her house. To that end, there are doorways that lead nowhere, staircases that dead-end, and other disorienting features. It’s spectacular—if you’re ever in San Jose, California, go. You won’t be disappointed.
You won’t be disappointed by this story, either…

Combining my own architectural doodling, a review of the commonly-known history behind the house, and a magical story theme, led me through that otherwise unusable door and into Sarah Winchester’s secret life.

I hope you enjoy The Door to Nowhere, along with the many other wonderful stories in Fiction River: Doorways to Enchantment.

With a name like Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse, how could I not have submitted a story for this anthology? And I am delighted to announce that my story, Burning Bright, made the cut.

Since I was a child, my cats-of-choice have always been of the ‘higher than us on the food chain’ variety. So when I sat down to write this story, my thoughts naturally gravitated to big cats. But the simple logistics of feeding an apex predator when you can barely feed yourself was an issue I couldn’t ignore. Inspired by my own ‘mini’ Maine Coon, Allie, who was the runt of her litter but still quite capable of (and willing to) take on the big boys, I shifted my focus to a posse of mousers in a farming community – and a small cat with a truly big heart.

Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse is a fun anthology and I’m proud to be part of it.

Available in print or ebook from your favorite online retailers.

If you didn’t read Tendrils when it was first printed in Fiction River: Hard Choices, here’s another place where you can find it. Fiction River Presents: Space Travelers collects a handful of stories from previous Fiction River anthologies, all centered around space travel.

From the book description:

From little rovers exploring the planets where humans cannot yet go, to human explorers flung into realms of space/time beyond their knowledge and experience, to aliens who drop in for a visit to Earth for purposes only they can fathom—these travelers entertain, sometimes terrify, and always fascinate.

You can pick up Fiction River Presents: Space Travelers in print or ebook from your favorite online retailer.

Enjoy!

There is a scene fairly early in Memoirs of a Synth: Gold Record where Brianna uses the sticky label from a beer bottle to preserve the memory molecules given to her by Y’reui, an aged Callibrini Queen. The story in those molecules is never revealed in the novel – it has no bearing on the events of Brianna and Jerrold’s first adventure – but the Alien Days anthology gave me a perfect opportunity to share the tale.

Told entirely from Y’reui’s chemical-memory point(s) of view, Where All Memories are One recalls the events of Brianna’s first encounter with the insectoid Callibrini – and the disastrous results of that meeting.

This was a difficult story to write, not only because the events themselves were so very painful, but also because of the sheer challenge of trying to present the thoughts and multiple points of view of the insectoid characters in a way that we mere humans could wrap our heads around.

I hope you enjoy it.

I never know what to expect when an opportunity to write for Fiction River crosses my desk, and this one was no different.

At the time, I was immersed in research for another project that centered on the largely unexplored world of our own oceans and the creatures that make their home in the depths – themes that carried over into Tendrils, the story in this great collection. The alien character of Oma owes her heritage to a combination of this research, multiple YouTube videos of cuttlefish, octopuses, and squid, and the tanks of jellyfish in our local aquarium. All I had to do was envision these amazing creatures floating in space instead of salt water, and ask myself, “what if…”

Victoria Silverwolf, one of the reviewers at Tangent Online, had this to say about Tendrils:

“…The protagonist of Tendrils by Leigh Saunders is an alien who sneaks aboard human starships out of a hunger for new experiences. She is a squid-like being who is able to flatten her body and change colors in order to remain undetected. [When] a disaster on the ship threatens the lives of its crew, the alien tries to save them, while running the risk of exposing herself to those who might see her as a dangerous invader.

The author creates a sympathetic character who is completely different from a human being. The way in which the alien perceives her environment is colorful and imaginative. Her self-sacrificing struggle to help the crew of the starship is inspiring…”

In addition, Tendrils was included in Tangent Online’s 2018 Recommended Reading List, which I consider a great honor!

You can pick up your copy of Fiction River: Hard Choices from your favorite online retailer.

 — Leigh

Two bits of news here – first off, I am very proud to announce that last summer my short story, Stone Soup, was awarded 1st Place in the 2017 League of Utah Writers Short Fiction contest.

There were many times, as my children were growing up, when I wished for even the simplest of magics that might make our lives easier—particularly during those difficult times between jobs, when the pantry routinely resembled Mother Hubbard’s cupboard. And while all magic comes with a price, I don’t know of many mothers who wouldn’t gladly pay it if it meant their children were better off.

Stone Soup is a lovely little story (if I do say so myself), and I’m glad the judges agreed!

And now you can read Stone Soup and judge for yourself.

The story has been included in A Year of the Monkeys, an anthology of short fiction by the “Infinite Monkeys” chapter of the League of Utah Writers. How cool is that!

A Year of the Monkeys is available in print and ebook formats.
Visit www.Books2Read.com/AYearOfTheMonkeys and order a copy from your favorite online retailer.

Dangerous spirits lurk in the woods. A bargain can bind a soul. Enchanted sleep can only be broken by true love’s kiss… You know these things are true… even in this modern world. Your heart still recognizes the power and mystery you can only find in a fairy tale. In Beauty and Wickedness, sixteen authors retell and reimagine some of the most enchanting fairy tales ever told. Within these pages, you’ll find beauty and treachery, magic and courage, innocence and wickedness… and at least some happy endings.

Included in this collection, is my own novelette, Marriage of Convenience.

An unexpected demand by the powerful Rhysa throws fragile treaty negotiations into a turmoil. Tasked with brokering an interspecies marriage of alliance between humans and Rhysians, Earth’s negotiation team finds themselves caught in an interstellar re-enactment of Beauty and the Beast – one demanding personal sacrifices to ensure peace, and where no one will be magically transformed in the end.

Pick up your own copy of Beauty and Wickedness from your favorite online retailer.

*This novelette was previously a Finalist in the Writer’s of the Future contest.