This week marks the release of the Summer’s Double Edge and Summer’s Edge anthologies edited by Elephant’s Bookshelf Press! To celebrate, me and three other of the authors with stories in Summer’s Double Edge put together a fun little blog hop interview. Don’t miss the rest of the interview on the blogs of Michelle Hauck, Jean Oram, and Amy Trueblood!

Summer’s Edge and Summer’s Double Edge examine relationships in transition, perhaps at an end. Indeed, not all relationships are meant to last. The second in the two-book summer anthology from Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, Summer’s Double Edge contains some of the collection’s darker tales. Readers of horror as well as romance will find stories that appeal to them, as will those who enjoy a dash of humor or who keep a box of tissues nearby to wipe away a tear. Authors include Laura Carlson, P.S. Carrillo, MarcyKate Connolly, Jenna Grinstead, Michelle Hauck, Mindy McGinnis, A.T. O’Connor, Jean Oram, Jeff O’Handley, Richard Pieters, Amy Trueblood, and Cat Woods.

Available Now: Kindle | Smashwords

And don’t miss Book One in the collection, Summer’s Edge!

Available Now: Kindle | Smashwords

Can you tell us a little about your story in the Summer’s Double Edge anthology?

Jean:  “Gown For Sale” is a story about love and betrayal and the struggle to move on and find peace with oneself and the ones you love–even when they break your heart.

Amy: When two archaeologists, with a tumultuous past, are assigned to a new dig, they discover a long hidden secret that unearths feelings they’ve both kept buried for years.

Michelle:  “Frost and Fog” is a story about lumberjacks trying to eke out a living, and instead finding something that changes their lives forever.

MarcyKate: “Don’t Pet the Ghosts” is a story about a ghost and a girl who cross paths in a graveyard, and how that meeting changes their lives in unexpected ways.

What inspired your short story?

Jean:  I have no idea. “Gown For Sale” is one of those stories that just popped into my head while I was trying to sleep one night. When I read it out loud (with heart pounding erratically like it was being chased by a hungry shark) to a writing group I had one woman say quietly when I finished, “Now I don’t feel so alone.”

So, in some ways, it is a story for anyone who has ever been betrayed and has struggled with finding understanding, forgiving, and moving on. But it also gives a nod to the pain and bitterness of having a relationships go south. I’ve been betrayed (you know, way back in high school when it hardly even counted–but still hurt!), but nothing like my main character. So while some of the emotions are inspired from my own past, I’m not 100% sure what inspired the story. But it sure was fun to write!

Amy: I’ve always wanted to write a story that included an element of archeology, but never figured out a way to include it in any manuscript I’ve written. When I started thinking about the change in relationship idea involved in Summer’s Edge, the idea just came to me.  I also knew I wanted to write something adult which I don’t usually do.

Michelle: “Frost and Fog” is a prequel to my epic fantasy story, Kindar’s Cure. In one scene, Kindar is staring at a painting of her favorite historical religious painting. I decided to flesh out the painting and make a story about it. It dates back to the foundation of their religion. And that’s all I can say because I don’t want to ruin the surprise.

MarcyKate: Oddly enough, a train ride (spoiler: there are no trains in my story). I was on the train back to Boston from NYC after having spent the weekend at the NY SCBWI conference, and I was feeling very inspired by all the creative energy I’d been absorbing the past few days. The grain of idea of the ghost happening upon a girl in his graveyard somehow lodged in my head, and I spent the next few hours playing with it and drafting bits of the story.

What is your favorite line from your story in Summer’s Double Edge and why?

Jean: I used a lot of emotions and rich adjectives in “Gown For Sale” but this sentence with the word “loamy” does it for me. I think it might be the juxtaposition of the usual image the word conveys and because loamy is a word that I have never used before other than maybe talking gardening soil with my mother. It’s fun to use rarely used words in strange places! But I think it works here. I think when you feel the sting of betrayal it can be loamy because hatred can be naturally fertile. Hatred and hurt kind of expands and grows and takes over and can use such constant, persistent force that it can crack even the hardest of surfaces. And then, over time, the season ends and it kind of withers and loses some of its strength. And that, in a nutshell, is also the story of my main character’s emotions in “Gown For Sale.”

The pure hatred, so rich and loamy that it heaves my bones and makes them ache, is surprising.

-“Gown for Sale”

Amy: When I wrote this I felt it expressed Cressida’s (my female MC) point of view so clearly, yet it conveyed her pain in reliving the memory:

What they found were deep, muddy holes, which were large enough to swallow a small elephant, and young female surfers with no respect for marriage vows.

-“Unearthed”

Michelle:  My main character is trying to avoid his mother’s mantra throughout the whole story:

Life is hard, and then you die.

-“Frost and Fog”

I suppose this is my favorite line, because it often runs though my own head when bad things happen. Sometimes it’s a reminder to look at the brighter side. But sometimes it’s a reflection of my darker moods.

MarcyKate: This is my favorite line because I think it really encompasses the theme of the story and the ghost’s character:

I slumbered through the years, occasionally rising to the surface just to feel the world looking through me.

-“Don’t Pet the Ghosts”

About the Authors:

MarcyKate Connolly is an author who lives in New England with her husband and pugs and writes weird little books. She’s also a coffee addict, voracious reader, and recurring commuter. She blogs about all those things and more at MarcyKate.com, and can often be found on Twitter. Her work is represented by Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media, and her debut upper middle grade fantasy novel, MONSTROUS, will be published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in Winter 2015.

Michelle Hauck lives in the bustling metropolis of northern Indiana with her hubby and two teenagers. Besides working with special needs children by day, she writes all sorts of fantasy, giving her imagination free range. A book worm, she passes up the darker vices in favor of chocolate and looks for any excuse to reward herself. Bio finished? Time for a sweet snack. Her epic fantasy, KINDAR’S CURE, is to be published by Divertir Publishing in 2013. Find her at her blog: It’s in the Details or on twitter.  

Jean Oram loves to write women’s fiction and romance and is currently giving her first novel, Champagne and Lemon Drops, away for free as an ebook (online everywhere!). She will be releasing book two Fall 2013 and has also been known to write short stories such as “Gown For Sale” which can be found in Summer’s Double Edge. You can find her at www.jeanoram.com.

Amy Trueblood is a freelance writer with over fifteen years of experience in marketing and public relations. When not “chasing the crazy” dream of being published, she feeds her addictions to good TV (Bones, Castle & Fringe), books, and mango ice tea. She blogs regularly at www.chasingthecrazies.wordpress.com and can be found chatting about books, music, and writing on Twitter (@atrueblood5).