Exclusive Cover Reveal: The Struggle

Antho-StruggleToday I am super excited to share the fabulous cover for The Struggle, a new anthology featuring a few of our favorite authors – James R. Tuck, Delilah S. Dawson, Karina Cooper, and so many more.  But honestly, what makes this even bigger for those of us at LE is the fact that The Struggle is being co-edited by our very own Casey!

From horror to humor, to love and loss, each tale reflects the struggles we have to face everyday – in life, and within ourselves. They are varied as the array of talent who untied to create them, spinning the threads of storytelling to weave an extraordinary anthology unlike any other.

The Struggle features new works by James R. Tuck, Delilah S. Dawson, Karina Cooper, Zoey Derrick, J. Elizabeth Hill, Rick Austin, and many more of today’s top talent.

Proceeds from the sale of this anthology will go to helping writers in need.

I don’t have a release date or preorder link for you yet (CASEY!!), but it’s coming this fall and soon. *grin*

Other than what you’ve seen already, I really don’t have much else I can say about The Struggle yet, so here’s Sheila Hall, co-editor of The Struggle, to tell you even more. Don’t go too far though, Sheila has also brought an excerpt from Delilah Dawson’s contribution, How to Change a Light Bulb.

Update: There’s a release date! It’s November 2nd.

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The Struggle

The Sun rises on a new day; a new struggle has begun. Each one of us deals with our own personal battles. A perpetual boulder we spend our lives pushing up the mountain. Yet within the struggle itself, we find, and define, our true inner strength.

This anthology expresses a myriad of struggles, each one as individual as the person behind it. Spanning across multiple genres, The Struggle showcases a unique combinations of well known authors (such as Delilah S. Dawson, Karina Cooper, and James R. Tuck) and up and coming names (like Rick Austin and Gabi Daniels) coming together for one purpose; the birth of a fund helping writers in need.

It is my dream to be able to ease some of the strain writers deal with each and every day. A fund dedicated to the help and support of the writing community at large, making our fellow colleagues’ lives just a little easier. As a reader, I rely on writers to immerse me in new worlds bursting with unforgettable characters. As a writer, I rely on readers to experience my stories and live the emotions I have poured into them; a symbiotic relationship of creative minds.

Come and enjoy these fantastic tales while helping out a worthy cause.

Thank you all for your support,
Sheila Hall

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Excerpt: How To Change A Light Bulb by Delilah Dawson

“Thank you so much for comin’ to help out an old widow lady, Lon,” she said. “I just don’t know how I get by, since my Lawrence passed.”

“It’s okay, Mrs. Winkler. I’m glad to help.”

The flat affect of his voice struck a chord in Hilda. He sounded like a robot, or a bad actor. Like he didn’t know how to be human. But she had dealt with a lot worse in her seventy-two years, so she straightened her spine and widened her smile, glad she had shined her dentures up that morning.

“It’s the bathroom light, I’m afraid, and I’m just terrified I’ll fall in there and break a hip, like my Lawrence. There’s a bulb on the counter, and a little stool by the sink.”

As he stepped into the hallway, Lon’s foot caught on an electric cord, and he fell, nearly striking his head on a concrete bulldog. Inches away from his face, Rudy growled.

“Be careful, honey. You don’t want to hurt yourself,” Hilda said sweetly.

He stood, silent, and she led him back to the guest bathroom, which really did have a bad bulb. She’d been ignoring it for a week and using the one in her bedroom, but he didn’t need to know that.

Without a word, he climbed up on the step stool, and Hilda stood just to the side of him, watching, anxious, her shoulder almost pressing against his leg. He teetered on the old, rickety stool, off-balance as he fumbled with the light fixture and shrank from her touch. Rudy sniffed his shoes, and he kicked at the dog and almost fell. Hilda stepped back but said nothing. Lon changed the bulb and moved past her into the hall.

“I do hope you’ll stay for tea, Lon,” Hilda said in her sweetest voice. “I brought out those little cookies you like. And an old widow woman gets so lonely.”

She could see the line of tension across his shoulders in the ugly, dated sweater, but he replied, “Of course, Mrs. Winkler.”

He had to keep up appearances. He knew that much.

He followed her to the fancy parlor and sat down in the high-backed chair she indicated, careful not to lean back against the antimacassar. She poured the tea and said, “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m using that new sugar substitute, the one made out of plants. They say it’s better for your blood than real sugar, you know. Although I do wonder sometimes if they’ll eventually decide it’s bad for you.”

“I think I read that somewhere,” he said absentmindedly, taking three spoons from the sugar jar and adding cream to his tea. He took a sip to test it, then drained the glass, and she poured again.

Hilda held out the China plate, and he selected a cookie and ate it quickly, dusting the powdered sugar from his mustache before reaching for another. Mrs. Wiggins was even lonelier than Hilda, so everyone in town knew which cookies Lon liked best, and how he liked his coffee and tea. That was basically the limit of what Mrs. Wiggins knew about her tenant, other than his penchant for woodworking and using saws at all hours of the day and night.

Hilda sipped her tea and smiled.

Rudy lay on the rug at her feet, his liquid brown eyes glued to their guest.

The grandfather clock rang, startling Lon, but he said nothing.

As he was biting into his fifth cookie, Hilda said, “Honey, what the heck have you been doing to Mrs. Wiggins’ cats?”

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.