AUTHOR TERESA INGE ON THE JOY OF SHORT STORY WRITING

Teresa Inge is an author in more than a dozen anthologies and novellas including Virginia is for Mysteries, Mutt Mysteries, Coastal Crimes, and Promophobia, an Agatha award-winning collection. When not writing, Teresa can be found showing her 1955 Torch Red, Ford Thunderbird at car shows. Learn more about her and her short stories and novellas at her website.

Short Story Anthologies  

I love reading and writing short crime fiction in the anthology format. Especially cozy mysteries that have appealing characters, a small-town setting, and the violence is set off stage. Plus, the mystery is always solved at the end of the story.

 

Mystery anthologies include several different authors, which means different stories, viewpoints, and writing styles. Most have a theme for authors to base their story around, and each story exposes readers to various contributors they might not otherwise have read. 

 

In short stories, every word, sentence, and paragraph is important to move the plot forward due to the shorter word counts in anthologies. This means, readers get a fast-paced and well-developed story they can’t put down.

 

I was first introduced to short stories as a teenager when I read “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. The story features a murderer who tries to persuade his readers of his mental stability while telling the tale of a brutish act. Needless to say, I was hooked on reading short stories but realized I preferred no guts or gore.

 

As a short story writer, I am published in fifteen anthologies and novellas. I coordinate many anthologies and create the book title and theme. I also get to work with multiple authors and mentor new writers. The process is rewarding in the development and editing stage of each short story and the anthology publication.

 

In my latest anthology, First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder, the book has nineteen juicy tales of revenge, betrayal, bad breakups, and a few I dos and some I don’ts. My story “Maid of Murder,” features wine shop owner Lainey Gentry who discovers a dead body in her wine room and tries to clear her name after being accused of murdering a drunken bridesmaid at a bridal party wine tasting. The theme for the book takes ruthless relationships to an all-new level, which makes excellent reading of short stories.

 

5 benefits of buying and reading short stories:

1. A certainty you’ll read the entire piece. 

2. A pleasure of finishing a story.

3. An incentive to read the next story in the anthology.

4. A convenient way to try new genres and authors.

5. A great read between novels.

First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder

Nineteen juicy tales of revenge, betrayal, bad breakups, and a few I dos and some I don’ts by Heather Weidner, Debra H. Goldstein, Sandra Murphy, Kristin Kisska, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Allie Marie, Ellen Butler, Maggie King, Mary Dutta, and Teresa Inge

 

Each short story takes ruthless relationships to an all-new level in all kinds of places like destination weddings, riverboat cruises, wineries, bachelorette parties, creepy stalkers, cheating spouses, and sneaky friends trying for their version of happily ever after. So, settle in for some love stories with a twist of revenge, infidelity, and murder. 

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