I like Big Trucks and I cannot Lie

This is not the cover.

Congratulations! Your story, Big Trucks, made the final cut. The publisher is very excited about the collection! Sixteen stories will be included in the anthology out of over eighty that were submitted—many by multi-published authors—so be very proud you made it! 

I always love emails like that. It makes up for hitting the send button and looking around for the trashcan so I can vomit into it. I know, I know. But seriously, submitting a story always - ALWAYS - makes my physically ill, so it's nice that there's some payout for it! And not just in a monetary manner. (Not that I won't take the money, oh, I will so certainly take the money!)

I wrote Big Trucks in a few marathon sessions - I think it's probably one of the quickest stories I've ever written. It took me... two, three days tops. I changed the story around a bit, took out some of the excess back story on Steve, my hero, and filled in a little more about Amy, my heroine.

Now, I have an advantage; much like with Snake Dance (forthcoming Real Soon Now!), I have some personal experience. Or at least, some here-say. My grandfather, uncle and cousin are/were EMTs and volunteer firefighters. So, I've heard stories. And once my cousin and I were actually on scene for a fire - my grandfather got the call and we were in the car. He was very firm "Stay in the Car" and we did. (You can express your amazement at my docility if you like.) But I won't ever forget it.

I went to a few web sites that talked about firemen stories; not looking for anything to steal, but just getting a feel for the jargon. I did some web research on trucks and hoses and other firefighting tools, then I sat down, threw some characters onto the page, and poof.

(Also, small confession - the Steve in my story... totally based on someone I know. He's not a firefighter, but he's totally hot and I admit I was thinking about him... the whole time. I'm a bad, bad, bad girl....)

Table of Contents

Smoking Stilettos – Rachel Firasek 

Saving Charlotte – Sabrina York 

Hook Me Up – Adele Dubois

Big Trucks – Lynn Townsend

Lost and Found – Nanette Guadiano

Temperature Rising – Cathryn Fox

Unexpected Detour – Ily Goyanes

Rescue Me – Maggie Wells

Chasing Fire – Elle James

Stoke – Tahira Iqbal

Something’s Burning – Cynthia D'Alba

Fire Hazard – M. Marie

The Fireman’s Rescue – Kalissa Wayne

Falling Ashes – Shoshanna Evers

Fire Extinguisher – Rowan Elizabeth

Her Hero – Catherine Paulssen

Johnny Blaze – Delilah Devlin