THE TAKING OF RHINOCEROS 456.

It’s free this Friday for readers with Kindles and Kindle apps. You can find it here http://amzn.com/B006P10KGM .

The title sort of tells you when I wrote it, if you remember the Denzel Washington remake of that classic thriller. Thought I’d come up with a doozy of a title, then wrote a story to match it. It’s one of my most ambitious efforts.

Like Truepenny, The Taking of Rhinoceros 456 started out with a real incident at a zoo that shall remain nameless. I challenge anyone to figure out which plot in my admittedly bizarre tale was actually true.

Cover design by Molly Humphrey. Photo by Roxanne Rix

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Dexter In The Dark by Jeff Lindsay.  The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett.  The Wailing by M. R. Graham.  Gratitude by Alex Kourvo.

More stories and books by Gretchen Rix at http://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix

and http://smashwords.com/books/view/273657

http://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix

http://barnesandnoble.com/c/gretchen-rix

http://smashwords.com/books/view/494824

http://www.bookpeople.com/search/apachesolr_search/the%20safari%20bride

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  The Peyti Crisis by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.  Vigilantes by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Photos by Gretchen Rix this time.

FREE STORY WEDNESDAY.

Written on my first cruise. Loved finding places to write on that ship.

SAINTS & SINNERS

http://amzn.com/B007I7OTF0. Free this Wednesday, May 6, 2015 for those with Kindles or Kindle apps.

This is the short story I wrote on my first ocean liner type cruise. (Had taken a Windjammer cruise years and years before). I started the story in the car on the way down to Galveston, writing by hand in a really neat green tablet I  bought at Target just for the trip. Writing in a car is hard. Had a difficult time reading my handwriting afterwards.

Continued the story sitting in the bow of the ship as we sailed into the Caribbean. Then hung out in the ship’s library at various odd hours writing, mostly with the room all to myself.  Everyone else came in to get sodoku cards. Wrote in the stateroom (we had a balcony). Wrote at the bar, I think.

I’d like to think someone noticed me all that time. “Hey, there’s that writer again!” I don’t think anyone paid attention.

SAINTS & SINNERS is a quirky little story where the two main characters throw people overboard. For a reason. It’s one of my favorites.

Photo by Roxanne Rix

Here are some of my favorite covers (of my work). All were designed by Glendon Haddix and Streetlight Graphics (with guidance and suggestions from myself and my sister Roxanne). See Glendon’s other work at http://streetlightgraphics.com

Someday I’ll continue this story.

Believe it or not, some of this story is true.

Written on my first cruise. Loved finding places to write on that ship.

TRUEPENNY was the hardest of the covers we ever collaborated on. I wanted a cat with some attitude just like the one he finally used, but I couldn’t communicate the specifics well enough. We went through several covers I didn’t like. And then I got this one. Love it that Streetlight Graphics is so committed to getting it right.

Because we already had the cat, THE RETURN OF TRUEPENNY was a snap.

SAINTS & SINNERS ended up very close to how I envisioned it. I wanted the mid-century ocean liner and the sky with the sun blazing out from under the clouds, and a woman who’d been thrown overboard. And that’s what he gave me. The woman was quite different in my mind, but she’s obviously fallen off the ship (or been tossed overboard, hint, hint.)

What a pleasure to make your own book covers (or to have a big hand in their making).

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Search and Recovery by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.  Donners of the Dead by Karina Halle.  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.  Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. (It’s been a Hunger Games couple of weeks)

You can find these stories individually at http://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix  or as part of a collection at http://amzn.com/B00HQ0PH1O