Firstly, I will spotlight "Good Boys and Bad Girls", one of a few shorts in my anthology that takes a jab at the superhero genre. I love superhero movies, TV series, and I will occasionally indulge in the comics and novelizations from time to time, but I won't seriously write in that fantasy subgenre. The reason being that DC and Marvel have the superhero game locked down and they have had it that way for decades! People will always compare superhero works to the creations from those "Big Two", and while there have been some successes outside of these two publishers in houses such as Dark Horse and Valiant Comics it seems a lot harder to find new ground in the superhero arena. Also, I believe there is a such thing as superhero fatigue... But even if we tire of certain tropes being overused, there is still a way to present them from a different perspective to make them feel fresh even if we are aware that there is nothing new under our yellow sun. My story, "Good Boys and Bad Girls", is a short romantic comedy-style story where an average guy meets a less-than-average girl with a mean streak and super powers. In order for said guy to attract this girl, he takes a page from the comic books and attempts to woo her--in capes and spandex! I enjoyed writing this story and it was originally intended to be a short comic for another anthology, but the possibility remains!
Secondly, "Family Photo Opp" is more of a reflection story and a simple ghost story. I loved reading "Goosebumps" growing up and R.L. Stine made some follow-ups to "Say Cheese and Die". This story isn't that, but I just wanted to give Stine a shout out! The story is meant to be both saddening and eerie at the same time. We've all lost people we care about and continue traditions in their honor, but what if they could still continue those traditions with you, unbeknownst to you?
That is all for today! There is always more to come and please check out these stories in my new anthology "Freaky and Fantastical 500 (Words or Less)", now on Amazon!