I
have to admit the origin of “Adolescence,” my coming-of-age science fiction
short story is murky in my memory. I have no idea why I decided to write a tale
about a teenaged alien’s angst. Maybe it was because I had my own young
fleshling at home. Weird! Anyway, I do know that in 2002, I submitted this
short story to an internet website no longer in existence--ShadowKeep--for
consideration in their Qwik Fics line. The editor loved the story, saying it
was very original and “I’ll never look at the beach creatures the same again!”
After
publication, I was free to re-publish “Adolescence”. It’s almost 800 words and
sells for $0.99. Yep, another very short story.
Short
Story Alert: As with all of my *very* short stories, I’d like to reduce the
amount, however 99 cents is the lowest I’m allowed to go on Amazon and
Smashwords. Again, periodically Smashwords holds a sale, and I can set the
price to free at that time, so do check on the link every now and then.
Never doubt an alien fortuneteller! Shandelle is a happy-go-lucky
teenager who is preoccupied with normal teenager concerns. But what will she do
when she learns that her perfect world will soon come to an end?
“Adolescence”
then was offered at Fictionwise.com in the anthology LUCKY 13. After that site
closed, the story was no longer available electronically, but still available
in print from my website.
Thirteen delightful stories for your reading pleasure
by Susanne Marie Knight
Artist’s concept cover
I’ve
now re-released “Adolescence” electronically at Amazon.com and Smashwords.com!
What will Shandelle do when she learns that her
perfect world will soon come to an end?
Amazon.com
and Smashwords
This
short story is part of the Fascinating Science Fiction line.
Here
are two reader comments:
- “Cute story. You have
the greatest imagination.”
and
the editor’s comment:
- [Adolescence] is a
very original story; certainly I’ll never look at the beach creatures the
same again!”
Real
life snippet: As I mentioned above, when I
wrote this short tale, I had a teenager at home, just as Shandelle’s parents
do. And if you’re familiar with parenting, complaints about mom and dad can be
everyday occurrences! Shandelle is no different, as we see in the below
comment:
Parents! What a useless breed! All they ever did was shake their pincers
and moan, “Just you wait until it is your time.”
Shandelle snorted. Her time was now!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I
hope you enjoy Shandelle’s coming-of-age story!
Happy
reading,
Susanne
Marie Knight
Read
outside the box: award-winning Romance Writing With A Twist!
