News

June 15th 2020 is a red-letter day. I am delighted to say that my short story “Timing” has just been published in the Summer 2020 Edition of Capsule Stories Magazine. Despite the challenges of these strange and frightening times, editors Carolina and Natasha have worked tirelessly in the midst of the pandemic to ensure that the Summer 2020 Edition of their literary magazine was ready to buy in print and e-book on launch day. Though they couldn’t have known it when she chose it, their theme of “Going Forward” turned out to be the perfect prescription for all of us as we emerge from lockdown to put one tentative foot in front of the other, both creatively and in our day-to-day lives.

Featuring summery poems and prose by emerging and established writers, Capsule Stories Summer 2020 Edition explores the theme Going Forward, from speeding along the highway to moving on from heartbreak and loss. In this 200-page literary magazine, you’ll find the words you need to keep going forward, one day at a time.

To read more about the contributors to Capsule Stories Summer 2020 Edition and to buy a copy of the magazine click here: https://capsulestories.com/summer-2020-edition/

“The poems and prose in Capsule Stories Summer 2020 Edition explore the ways in which we go forward, from walking around your neighborhood and speeding along the highway to reflecting on the past in order to move on, moving forward from heartbreak or loss, getting up off the ground when we fall down. We hope you enjoy this edition of Capsule Stories and find in it the words you need to keep going forward, one day at a time.” —Carolina VonKampen, Publisher and Editor in Chief

Timing

Timing explores a chance encounter between two strangers on a beautiful Gulf of Mexico beach, an instant connection that occurs at an imperfect time in the lives of Leia, a bride-to-be, and Greg, a marine biologist. The story is a what if, the tale of a path not taken, or perhaps it is the igniting spark for a course correction brought about by a brief, serendipitous meeting with a kind stranger.

A short extract from Timing

She stands at the bottom of the bed and listens as a truck goes past and then a car. Seconds pass in silence. The sleeping form beneath the covers, a shapeless rise and fall, warm-blooded and breathing.

Finally, the sun hits the spyhole in the door at the perfect angle sending a rainbow of colored light splashing across the wall and onto the floor. Her heart rate quickens. The need to be outside tugs at her, like a kite string. She eases the door open and slips out through the smallest crack she can make before closing it soundlessly behind her.

She takes a diagonal path today, turning right instead of left. It rained last night and now the sand bears a light sugar crust that is decorated with tiny divots where fat raindrops randomly beat down. The surface was baked dry by the heat of the day rising up through the earth, and so now each step she takes breaks this crust, leaving behind a trail of destruction…

To read Timing in full click here: https://capsulestories.com/summer-2020-edition/