Paper Monsters
Nicholas would do anything for a tight group of friends. But his classmates don’t understand him, and to make matters worse, middle school is where his personality determines what magical creature he’ll grow into. It’s irreversible, and there’s a hierarchy. Nicholas’s art teacher is a beloved Griffin and his principal a powerful, but despised Goblin. Nicholas, whose brain floods with feelings faster than he can control them… Well, Nicholas is headed for permanent outcast status as a Banshee, and time is running out to change his fate.
Able to summon drawings to life, Nicholas draws himself a friend to practice on. But when that backfires, he copes by drawing a demon, which he accidentally sets loose in yet another inadvertent transgression.
When the demon captures his favorite teacher, the one adult who sees Nicholas as powerful instead of broken, Nicholas must learn to love himself enough to stand up, stand out, and face the demon. If he can’t, his teacher will be gone, the demon will stay, and Nicholas will become the Banshee everyone predicted.
Stellar
Forced against her will into contact with Karina, Emily thinks the woman almost looks human, but she came off a space ship.
Fifteen hundred years after nuclear Armageddon, hundreds of spaceships land on all corners of United Earth claiming to carry the descendants of those who escaped the war. Having evolved differently from those who remained on Earth, are these beings telling the truth, or is this an alien invasion?
Karina, a representative from the ships and Emily, a native of Earth, must join forces to verify the humanity of the ship’s inhabitants and prevent Earth from succumbing to self-destruction… again.
Short Stories
Written for the International Short Story Contest NYC Midnight, these stories bring to life different marginalized voices.
Dancing Queen: Ghost Story
Damned to haunt a San Francisco nightclub seemingly forever, Rocki must help his brother find forgiveness in order to come to terms with his past.
FEEDBACK
“Oh my gosh, this was a very original, heartfelt story. Your premise was intriguing and clever, and your characterization was excellent.“
NYC Midnight Judge
Digging The Dancing Queen
Spassmacherin: Historical Fiction
Denied entry into Cuba, the passengers on the MS St. Louis must gain entry into America, or risk their lives being sent back to Nazi Germany.
FEEDBACK
“Ohhh, this is a very haunting story. Poor Anna and the guilt of living with her life-altering decisions. You do a great job at painting the scene and building a strong character arc.”
NYC Midnight Judge
Die Spaßmacherin: The Clown
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katharine Collins
Katharine Collins was born in Taiwan, and not on an army base. Her upbringing in a family dedicated to service permeates her writings’ themes of marginalization and paradigm shifts. She is a first degree black belt in Taekwondo and lives in Los Angeles with her two kids, and practical zoo of rescue animals. Katharine is a proud member of the neurospicy community.
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