short story

“Relationship Add Vice” released!

January 5, 2018 by Emily Dill Leave a Comment

The latest anthology featuring one of my short stories has gone live on Amazon! Relationship Add Vice, which includes my story “Intuition” in their 21-story list, can be bought off of Amazon now in Kindle or paperback format. My story is about a police officer who pulls a woman over for speeding, but is quickly won over by her energy and personality and begins to date her. However, a serial killer is loose in their town, and his police intuition keeps telling him that she’s not safe. If she won’t take his advice to protect herself, she could end up as the next victim.

The editors mostly left my story in its original format. They added an opening line I didn’t write and a closing line I didn’t write, but everything in between is mine and I’m pretty happy with it. Please let me know what you think if you get a chance to read it!

I also have a story coming out in my local library’s new writing journal, Verbatim. I’m not sure if this journal will be available for purchase online or only in person, but I’ll let you know when I know. 🙂 The story is called “Shadow”; it’s a flash fiction piece and is a throwback to old villages being haunted by older spirits. I’ve also written another longer story along those lines that I’ll be shopping around in the coming months and hope to have in a collection soon!

Short story anthology featuring “Intuition” coming soon!

October 28, 2017 by Emily Dill Leave a Comment

I have another short story coming to you guys! My story Intuition will appear in “Relationship Add Vice“, a collection of stories where “crime meets romance”. The collection will release December 15th, and comes to us from Zombie Pirate Publishing, which I’m sure we can all agree is a fantabulous name.

Click here to pre-order the ebook. I’ll keep you guys posted on any more news, and make sure to let me know what you think of the story once you’ve read it.

And don’t forget, you can still buy the first anthology to feature one of my short stories. Click here to buy 100 Voices: Volume Too to read my story Samantha. Use the code 100V2V83 in the box provided to get a 10% author discount.

Short Story Collection featuring “Samantha” published!

February 20, 2017 by Emily Dill Leave a Comment

It’s here, guys!

The anthology I mentioned before – 100 Voices: Volume Two which features my short piece “Samantha” – is officially published! Christian Lee, the founder and publisher of Centum Press, worked his tail off to get this formatted and published, and it’s a beauty. I gave you a look at the cover in one of my last posts, but here’s a glimpse at the pages of my actual story. 🙂

Click here to buy directly from the publisher – use the code 100V2V83 to get a 10% discount. You can also search “100 Voices: Volume Two” on Amazon, Books A Million, or Barnes & Noble and buy online from their marketplaces.

Let me know if you have questions about purchasing, and thanks so much for any support. <3

Pre-order available for 100 Voices: Volume Two!

December 20, 2016 by Emily Dill Leave a Comment

I’m happy to say that pre-order is now available for the short story anthology in which my piece “Samantha” will be appearing. 100 Voices: Volume Two from Centum Press will be offered in limited edition hardback (500 copies available) and in paperback. If you use my author code 100V2V83 you’ll receive a discount. Let me know if you have any questions at all, and be sure to tell me if you pre-order. Enjoy! 🙂

Writing Update: Short Story Anthology

September 13, 2016 by Emily Dill Leave a Comment

Hi, beauties.

Just dropping a quick update here before I go about the rest of my day. I wanted to let you all know that a flash fiction piece of mine, Samantha, has been accepted into a short story anthology by Centum Press, an imprint of Allegiant Publishing Group. My story will be in volume two of their 100 Voices Anthology series, and I’m extremely excited. I’ll share more information here when I know pre-order date, publishing date, price, format, and more. I’m just happy they were interested in my little story about a priest and a creepy little girl. 🙂

Have a wonderful week, and remember – it’s always a great day to have a great day.

Writing Wednesday: “Shadow”

January 13, 2016 by Emily Dill Leave a Comment

A cacophony of shadows, and all I feel is fear.

Our village lives in terror of the Night Shadow, the supernatural being who supposedly decides which townspeople live and die. As a means of warding off death, the village chooses one young woman a year to give to the Shadow in marriage. They always make the sacrifice during a full moon in March.

I’ve known since I was old enough to understand the stories that my name would eventually be called, and yesterday it was.

Tonight I stand in the middle of a forest, with my arms tied to a rope wrapped around the tree. This is where the villagers leave the girl every year. In the morning, when they come back, the rope is always cut, and the young woman is always gone. None have ever returned.

I don’t know what happens to them – no one does – but we all assume the same thing: The Night Shadow accepts the village’s sacrifice and kills the girl.

Through the treetops, I see clouds moving to cover the full moon. Instinctively, I know I’ll see the Shadow soon.

I hear no noises; shadows are always silent. But a change in air pressure assures me that he’s close. I spent all of last night awake, wondering what I would say to him and how I could best plead for my life. But now that the moment is here, all I know is that I won’t die whimpering or begging, as the previous girls assuredly did.

“Hello, husband,” I say, trying to sound amused.

The breeze pushes my hair into my face, and I blow it away.

“I was beginning to wonder if you’d had a change of heart. Cold feet and all that.” I focus on a tree a few feet away, looking for the shadow in my peripheral vision without being obvious. I think I hear the slightest laugh, but it could be branches moving.

“I really don’t remember accepting your proposal,” I continue, “but I suppose I must have. Congratulations to us both.”

I feel something brush my neck, and tell myself it’s the wind.

“I really can’t wait to meet your family,” I say. “Are they quiet types, like yourself?”

I feel him behind me, and I notice the moon has now cast a second shadow on the ground by mine. I shiver when he speaks.

“Beg,” he whispers.

I should. I know I should. But I don’t.

“No,” I reply.

“Do it,” he presses on.

I close my eyes. “I won’t beg. Ever. Kill me or set me free, but I will never beg.”

I listen for a response, eyes still closed.

Seconds pass.

I feel a release of tension in my wrists. The rope has been cut.

“Will you beg?” he asks one last time, mouth inches away.

“I will not.” I don’t look at him.

“Maybe next year,” he breathes.

And he’s gone.

I’ll be here when the villagers return in the morning.

My 2016 Writing Resolutions!

January 2, 2016 by Emily Dill Leave a Comment

Welcome to the New Year, my friendlings! I know, some people don’t get as excited about new years/resolutions/fresh starts/goals as I do (I have a list for pretty much aspect of my life). But I personally love the whole restart/refocus thing that comes with new months and years (or weeks – sometimes I legit have to refocus myself weekly, or ummm daily).

I have a lot of personal resolutions, but I also made some specifically for writing. Here are my main ones:

1. Newsletter for my blog This one is probably the second easiest on my list, but for some reason I’ve put it off for about a year. I definitely want to start a newsletter this year – that way, I can get news about my books/collections immediately to the people who want to know about them! Plus I think agents really like to see the author platform/newsletter in place, so it’s kind of important.

2. Finish my novel/send it out on submission This was also on last year’s resolution list haha – oops. I don’t think I realized then exactly how long the revising process can be. I wrote a large chunk of the book in 4 weeks, and then have spent over a year revising, editing, and staring at it. Ahhhh, the writing life. I do fully intend to finish it this year though, hopefully in the next 2-3 months, and send out my query letter in the spring!

3. Collection of Poems I’ve finally gained enough confidence in my poetry to put them out into the world, and I’d love to publish a book of my poems this coming year, probably in ebook format on Amazon, although I know some poets have been successful at self-publishing pretty books of their poetry then selling them on Etsy.

4. Short Story Collection I’ve been meaning to do this for months – I have written several short stories (and have 3 or 4 more in the process) and want to start publishing an annual collection of creepy short stories.

5. Hit 1,000 followers on Twitter This is the easiest resolution, considering I’m only about 25 followers away. I’ve been creeping up on this number for a while, so it’s going to feel good to finally get there.
UPDATE 1/10/16: Done! See? That didn’t take long. Thank you, Twitterlings. 🙂

6. Win a Writing Contest (or two, or three..) I’ve been wanting to win a writing contest since the beginning of 2015, when I first started looking in to entering them. I think I’m pretty close to winning one this coming week – I’ll keep you posted. 😉
UPDATE 1/4/16: Done! That resolution was completed fast – if only they all could be that quick haha. But I won a weekly contest Prose held this past week + $100. I’m REALLY excited about this. Here is the link to the winning details, and here is the link to my winning poem, Tales. 🙂

7. Read 50 books this year And this isn’t about my writing necessarily, but I firmly believe that good writers read. I read 44 books last year, and I’d like to top that this year. (My favorite person to compete with? Myself.)

I’d love to hear your own writing/reading resolutions – leave them in the comments below or shoot me a message. Let’s crush this year, people! 🙂

Writing Wednesday: Short Story Excerpt and Updates

December 9, 2015 by Emily Dill Leave a Comment

Hey, you. And you. And even you.

I’ve gotten behind on some of my Writing Wednesdays, so I’ve decided to aim for every other Wednesday. (Set the bar low, friends.) I’ll talk a little bit in these posts about where I am in my writing, maybe share some excerpts, or give you some tips I’ve picked up on.

In today’s post I wanted to share news about my short story, Seeking Spirits. I’ve finally completed/edited it, and my plan right now is to release it digitally on Amazon on New Year’s Day. Right now Seeking Spirits: A Paranormal Short Story is sitting at 11,500 words and I’ll be selling it for 99 cents. I can’t wait to finally get my writing on Amazon and to hear what you all think of it. 🙂 Here’s my blurb about the story:

Elizabeth Harding contacts the crew of cable TV’s smash hit ghost-hunting show, Seeking Sprits. She has a major problem with her new house – it seems to be haunted by a jealous, territorial male spirit who won’t let her entertain any male guests. The crew heads to her house to shoot an episode, expecting to hear maybe a few bumps in the night and see a shadow or two. What they don’t expect is to be locked in overnight with an angry, vengeful spirit who doesn’t like even one male visitor, let alone four.

Alsooooo, here is the intro section:

The television crew had finally arrived.Elizabeth had been nervously fluffing couch pillows when she heard their van doors slamming from outside.

She peeked through her living room blinds and saw the huge van sitting in her driveway. She watched four men pile out of the vehicle, stretch, laugh, and push each other around, then open the back of the van to start unloading equipment.

Elizabeth closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened her front door, letting the four men into her house, and into what had recently become her nightmare.

Make sure to follow me on social media for updates about when my story will be available for purchase!

I’m also in the process of working on two other short stories (one is supernatural, the other is about a psychotic truck stop waitress), and those will be available on Amazon as well, although I haven’t decided if they’ll be sold separately or as part of a short story collection. Exciting stuff!

Speaking of exciting, this month I saw my name in Writer’s Digest for the first time. (Yes, I said first time. I’m an optimist. That glass is freaking full, people.)

Lastly, I’ll be sending my query letter (and hopefully manuscript) to agents early in the coming year. Send good thoughts and prayers my way, por favor! I hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy the heck out of the season. 🙂

She Is A Painting.

November 18, 2015 by Emily Dill Leave a Comment

She is a painting.

She rests by day in a frame. Four walls and four corners.

From 10-6, every day, she is stillness itself.

Everyone eventually leaves, but she sits for another hour, just to be sure.

Finally, when darkness falls and street lights glow, she knows it’s safe.

And she’s free.

She leaves her perch and roams all night.

Her favorites are the landscapes. She walks sunny trails and snowy hillsides, smells roses and wishes upon stars.

She stares at bowls of fruit in the still life section, waiting for something to move. It doesn’t.

Colors surround her in the abstract room. She doesn’t know what any of it means but it makes her pulse race.

The black and white photography always makes her sad, although she doesn’t know why. The pictures of soldiers make her miss someone.

As the sun rises in the real world, she rushes through self-portraits to return to her perch.

And by the time the gallery opens, she is a painting.

Until tonight.

Then she’ll be free once more.

Closets.

October 3, 2015 by Emily Dill 2 Comments

Every house has a certain closet.

You know the one – you have one yourself.

The closet that opens on its own.

The light bulb in this closet never works, even when you put in a new bulb. As soon as you flip the switch, the bulb blows.

Every time.

This is the closet that you hear noises coming from. Something always seems to be falling in there.

It’s the closet that freaks your pets out. Maybe your dog sits and barks at it. Or your cat’s hair stands on end as she creeps past it, back arched.

This is the closet you don’t like to open when you’re home alone. It feels extra warm inside this closet – almost full of energy.

You would never – under any circumstances – sleep with this closet open. You don’t like to sleep facing this closet, but the idea of turning your back to it is equally undesirable.

Tom next door has one of these closets in his hallway. He’s positive he has heard laughter come from his closet, but he’s too embarrassed to tell anyone.

Your aunt Susan has one of these closets in her guest room, but she won’t open it anymore. Not since she heard something slithering in there.

Your mailman’s closet is in his bedroom. On three separate occasions, he has woken up to see the door cracked and a dark shape standing in the opening watching him.

Everyone has a closet.

But back to yours.

Oh, yours.

Your closet is worse than anyone’s. Because I’m in your closet. I’ve watched you, listened to you, reached for you, and come within inches of touching your hair.

I feel like it’s way past time for us to finally meet.

So I’ll see you tonight.