Tag Archives: Short Stories

I write fiction, long and short. My writings cross over many genres and focus on diverse subjects, ranging from the mysteries of the human mind, with its fragile psychological and emotional states, to the everyday joy and anguish of life on Earth.

I’ve been an avid reader my entire life, and started writing at the age of 12. I love a good story, of course, a compelling plot and satisfying conclusion. Yet as a reader, I’ve always been drawn to great characters. The characters bring me back to an author time and time again. This shows in my writing, where I attempt to create authentic, complex, real characters you can come to love, and in whose company you feel at home. Or maybe you’ll despise a character and want to stick a fork in his eye. Hey, bad guys are fun too!

I did my tour in the real world, serving in the U.S. Air Force, then working as everything from a forklift operator to a bartender in my youth, before settling in as Business Services and Project Manager for a large manufacturing and distribution concern. Now, at long last (Man! Why did I wait so long?), I’m putting pedal to the metal in pursuit of the author’s life.

After many years as a Freelance Editor, with several clients published or aspiring to be so, I co-founded Evolved Publishing, where I wear many hats. As an author, I started with a few short stories, and released my debut novel, the psychological thriller Forgive Me, Alex, in December 2011. The sequel, The Devil’s Bane, is under way and due some time before The Apocalypse, I hope–if my publisher’s and editor’s duties ever allow me time.

My wife Maria and I currently split our time between Las Vegas and Transylvania, with an eye toward settling down in sunny Belize, and bringing over some kids and grandkids from Transylvania.

Words can leave us breathless, sentences can stir hearts, paragraphs can spark the mind, and stories can enrich the soul. It all starts not with words, but with the right words.

I’ve learned this after reading and editing dozens of aspiring or self-published authors: the world offers a modest number of decent storytellers, but precious few writers who can stir one’s soul. The art and craft of writing requires dedication, a commitment to continual learning, an acceptance that quality and professionalism are a must, and an understanding that none of us can make it to the top without a little help.

I would not even dream of publishing a piece without my editor first taking a swipe at it.

Those who succeed at and make a living in this game have embraced those truths with gusto. The rest are, dare I say it, still languishing as amateurs. I say this not to discourage anyone; the last thing I want to do is dash anyone’s dreams on the rocks. I say it to encourage writers to do the right things. Success comes not to those who merely dream, but to those who weave perspiration into their aspirations.

I repeat: It all starts with the right words.

If you’re not there yet, fear not. That’s why we’re here. Let us help each other to achieve those great dreams.

As a publisher, I rely first and foremost on our outstanding team of editors to help us identify the works that will fit with our primary goal of building a quality catalog. Our team of editors are skilled in the literary arts, to be sure. However, it’s not really that simple, is it?

There’s a certain subjective element in any analysis of art. It is, after all, art – not so simple as 1 + 1 = 2. What moves one editor may not move another, just as what moves one reader may not move another. Thus, we often have not one editor, and not even two, look at a submission before we make a decision on it. Often, it will have been reviewed by me and by one or two separate editors.

We try to ensure that we’re not passing on an excellent piece simply because it didn’t fit into the “preference zone” of a single editor. We’re trying to publish pieces that fit into that preference zone for a wide audience of readers, not just for one editor. Does that mean we don’t occasionally reject a piece that might do well out there in the world? No, of course not. Sometimes, we just don’t have the time for all the quality work that’s submitted.

Still, we hope to build our team of authors with this goal in mind: build a quality catalog around a quality team. We’re pretty demanding, it’s true – not just because we can be, but because we must be. We owe it to our entire team, given our business model, never to compromise on quality. More than that, however, we owe it to our readers, for that is our covenant with them.

So, if your book is not a first draft, but something over which you’ve poured out your heart and soul; if your book has passed muster with your beta readers; if your book has at least a modicum of editing already done; then you should consider submitting with us. If all of the preceding are not true… well, enter at your own risk. Furthermore, if you don’t already have a strong online presence, working to build your author brand, you’re already late! Get started… now.

Edited or Co-Edited by Lane Diamond
(Updated 19 January 2019: 161 Books)

127 Titles Still Active:

34 Titles Inactive (or Rights Returned to Author):

Bella World – Kimberly Kinrade
Courtney Saves Christmas – Emlyn Chand
Davey the Detective – Emlyn Chand
Eulogy – D.T. Conklin
Farsighted – Emlyn Chand
Forbidden Fire – Karpov Kinrade
Forbidden Life – Karpov Kinrade
Forbidden Mind – Karpov Kinrade
The Forbidden Trilogy – Karpov Kinrade
Honey the Hero – Emlyn Chand
I’d Rather Be Riding My Bike – Eric Pinder
Izzy the Inventor – Emlyn Chand
Larry the Lonely – Emlyn Chand
The Last Meridian – Joe Hefferon
Lexie World – Kimberly Kinrade
Maddie and the Purrfect Crime – Emlyn Chand
Maddie World – Kimberly Kinrade
Mike and the Dog-Gone Labradoodle – Emlyn Chand
Open Heart – Emlyn Chand
The Pet Shop Society – Emlyn Chand
Polly Wants to be a Pirate – Emlyn Chand
Poppy the Proud – Emlyn Chand
Ricky the Runt – Emlyn Chand
Ruby to the Rescue – Emlyn Chand
Sammy Steals the Show – Emlyn Chand
The Sword of Oops – D.T. Conklin
The Three Lost Kids & Cupid’s Capture – Kimberly Kinrade
The Three Lost Kids & The Christmas Curse – Kimberly Kinrade
The Three Lost Kids & The Death of the Sugar Fairy – Kimberly Kinrade
Tommy Goes Trick-or-Treating – Emlyn Chand
Torn Together – Emlyn Chand
Tyler and the Blabber-Mouth Birds – Emlyn Chand
Vicky Finds a Valentine – Emlyn Chand
Weight of Earth – Stevie Mikayne

UP NEXT from Lane Diamond

Watch for The Devil’s Bane, the sequel to Forgive Me, Alex, coming in the not-too-distant future.
 
A serial killer the media has dubbed “The Blue Suede Killer” plagues southwest Wisconsin, and the authorities are having a hard time tracking him down. Tony Hooper thinks he can help. After all, this is what he does. He’s a hunter of monsters.

Yet this brings Tony back into the shadows where his love interest, FBI Special Agent Linda Monroe, must do her job. It also brings him close to the one woman he always assumed was meant for him, the woman he lost seventeen years earlier. Can he and Diana speak about what happened? Can they finally put it behind them? Will they move on together, or separately once again… and forever? And what will it all mean for Tony and Linda?

All the while, Tony is battling another foe, the man he’s long called ‘the devil’, Mitchell Norton. They’ve waged their personal war for seventeen years, and it’s time for one – at long lost – to declare victory. ‘The devil’ has stolen too much from Tony, and thrown Tony’s life into a whirlwind of remorse, self-doubt, and self-examination.

If Norton has his way, Tony’s losses will mount even further.

Following the critically-acclaimed Forgive Me, Alex, comes the much anticipated sequel, The Devil’s Bane.