The 7th Event ... "Sarah's Keep"

Guest Article: Steve Metcalf

"The Event" was an experiment. I had heard of various publishers putting together short story collections with a theme ... Old West Horror or Train Ride Mystery ... I've written a couple but, sadly, have yet to make the cut. It is funny, though, because what became my cryptid novella "Temple of the Spider God" actually began life as one of those "old west horror" entries. The introductory chapter, in fact, was a full-on short story until I decided to expand the plot into a bigger tale.

But I digress.

I worked with a ton of talented people: writers, artists, musicians. I wanted a way to get the writers together into a small group and publish a collection of their work. Borne from that was The Event: The Chicago Rust Yards. The goal was simple: provide writers with a short premise from which they could draw inspiration for a self-contained story. Their story could lead up to "the event," happen during, or happen after. In fact, their story could only be related in an ancillary manner to the event: maybe the event caused a traffic jam that made their main character late for work. And the story follows from there. It was published in May of 2017.

The most recent collection has now been ushered into the world. The Event: Sarah's Keep, like the two collections before it, has a very short premise - giving the writers a wide berth from which to craft their tales:

A small circus pops up overnight in an abandoned cornfield just outside the tight-knit farming community of Sarah’s Keep, Nebraska. The circus had the hand-painted banner “World Carnival” stretched across the front of the big top tent. Clowns, a funhouse, a carousel, jugglers, musicians, carnies and “sights to amaze” thundered along for an entire week before, once again, disappearing without a warning. Without a trace. Except for the faint hint of calliope music carried in upon the wind from parts unknown.

There are four writers in this volume, which seems to be just about our average. I'm not sure if this will be the final outing ... but I've had the feeling since the fourth book (Gold Rush) came out. Who knows what the future holds? For now, I'm elated that the entire thing came together so smoothly. Pick it up and let me know what you think!

Steve Metcalf has acted as project manager as well as lead author on all seven Event collections. The Event: Sarah's Keep is available in both print and ebook formats on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Event-Sarahs-Keep-Steve-Metcalf/dp/B0G583WD57