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6 x 9 Paperback |
ISBN: 9781432700560 |
$14.95 |
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Genre: |
FICTION / Fantasy / Short Stories |
Publication: |
Dec 05, 2006 |
Pages: |
248 |
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Meet the people in Lou’s universe: - Mark’s brother’s spirit leads him on a sexual romp of Kilkenny - Two-meter tall Maria charms the general out of his revolution - Miss Emily finds herself a husband in Australia - Elizabeth finds her psychic and sexual awakening in Humboldt County - In Paris, Yvette gets revenge on her lover’s killer - Marianne falls in love on a tropical island - Tars Tarkas, four-armed, green-skinned warrior solves the tourist problem on Mars - David ben Ezra sends the Knights on a wild dragon chase - Thorvald settles his family in north Ireland - Huang Jinsong becomes a blood brother to Kubla Khan.
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Louis Fried writes fantasy and fiction that’s just a step out of sync with reality. His characters grip you with their reactions to a world that’s slightly askew.
For example, here are some excerpts:
From “Burying Brian”
Suddenly I seemed to be seeing the scene as an onlooker. I felt myself retreat into a corner of my mind. As if I was pushed there by a stronger personality. All I could do was watch and listen.
“I’m Bridget, a close friend of Brian’s.” she said. She led me to the floor and as we danced, she told me how wonderful a lover Brian had been.
She told me how cold her bed had been without him these last few months and would I care, for old times sake and for Brian’s memory, to help warm her bed this very night.
I am sure that I said yes. Again, I was not in control of myself.
It was not long thereafter that a handsome, red-haired woman in her forties approached me.
“My name’s Molly ... Your brother and I were very close.” she led me to the dance floor. We danced and she pleaded the emptiness of her bed, as well.
I think I said yes to her also.
One whiskey or more later, a lass of twenty or less with long, brown locks sat by my side and hugged me to comfort me. Bess, as she introduced herself, pulled my head down and pressed it to her more than adequate breast; all the while regaling me with Brian’s feats and could I do the same for her.
From “Marianne and the Mermaid”
Marianne had been so intent on being on her own for two weeks of sailing that she deliberately turned off the radio, so she missed the storm warnings. Then the outer fringe of the hurricane blew her boat out into the Atlantic.
The jib was in tatters. Fittings were loose all over the boat. One winch was practically ripped from its mounting. The cabin was awash; the radio soaked. She might have been able to sail back to Nassau, but she needed to find a safe harbor first to evaluate the damage, bail out the boat, and try to make some minor repairs.
Despite the damage, Marianne felt proud of herself. She had not only proven her ability as a marketing manager in the male-dominated software industry, but now she had proven her self-reliance against old Mother Nature, herself.
The boat’s small motor was soaked and wouldn’t start, but she’d managed to save the mainsail by quickly lowering it before the storm became really intense. There were plenty of small islands in the outer banks of the Bahamas. Finding a shelter should not be a problem.
After the storm, she raised the main, took her bearings by the sun, and headed west, toward the West Indies.
The sun was setting for the second time when she spotted the tops of palms on the horizon.
From “How I Saved Our Beautiful Country for Democracy”
"I could go on for hours about the wrongs of Balthazar and his cronies, but the simplest answer is that they must die. This is the only way they can pay for their crimes."
"Would you kill me, then, too?" I asked.
"Never, if I could help it, Major."
I walked to his desk and took a firm stance, my legs wide apart and my feet braced. I leaned forward; my blue-green eyes (blue-green in the yellowish light of evening lamps … or so I’ve been told) flashed the fire of my passion for my nation.
"Now kill me!” I said with all my conviction. “If I cannot stop this continued murder, kill me first!" I almost shouted at him.
With that, I tore open my coat to bare my chest to his guns. Unbound by the tight jacket, my breasts bounced out and hung over the desk.
His mouth opened silently. He gasped, his eyes opened wide.
"Major Gutierrez ... Maria ... I have wanted you since the first moment I saw you at your Academy graduation. My God, how gorgeous you are when you are angry."
From “Whatever You Want Me To Be”
At my high school graduation our principal stood on the podium and told us, “You can be whatever you want to be!”
Well, I never wanted to be a werewolf, yet, ten years later, here I am. Runs in the family, I guess. My father wasn’t around the house on certain nights either. When the full moon comes out, I’m off and running. Hairy ears, hairy arms, hairy legs, hairy ass, running through the goddamned woods and swamps and howling.
I have to buy a new pair of shoes every month because I claw my way out of them to run better.
As for girls… Shit! After one night of the full moon I smell gamy for a week. Toilet soap won’t wash it off and after-shave won’t hide it.
From “For You, Celia”
“No!” she screamed, jerking violently upward. The top of her head crashed against his mouth and nose. “NO!”
He pulled backward in pain. The two seconds that his programming allowed was not enough time for him to react … not enough to get off the windowsill … not enough to resist the shifting balance when she tried to rise from her knees.
She saw him tilt backwards out the window.
For just one second of horror she thought, “Je suis morte, I’m dead.”
From “The Hamper”
I rushed forward to try to pick up the pieces. The first object that came to hand was partially unwrapped. I bent over and picked it up, raising it before me.
The wrapping parted. I held in my hands the severed, desiccated left arm of a woman. The fingers long and delicate, the nails well manicured, and the ring finger torn off!
When I looked up I could see that one of the porters was holding a partially unwrapped human leg.
If the samples above don’t tempt you, you’ll be missing some of the best new stories from this remarkable new writer.
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About Louis Fried
LOUIS FRIED, who has lived for years in Palo Alto, CA, was not content to simply retire and travel at 70. He returned to his boyhood love of writing fiction. His efforts are bolstered by detailed memories of working, living, and adventuring in countries from Asia and the Middle East through Europe, the South Pacific, and America.
His stories have won awards from the Writer’s Digest and the Palo Alto Weekly, and have been published in several magazines.
In 1965 he received his MS in management theory from California State University..
Fried spent 20 years as an international consultant and senior manager with Stanford Research Institute (SRI). During his years with SRI International, he worked on projects in 30 countries, published two books, and wrote hundreds of articles and papers in information technology and management.
He left SRI in 1998 and he finally retired at the age of 69 after serving as special advisor to the president and head of information technology for Telus Corporation in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Since his retirement, Fried divides his time between his homes in Palo Alto, CA and Jerusalem, Israel; continuing to travel from both locations. He is now working on new stories in anticipation of his next book.
His stories encapsulate his lively imagination and often illustrate his sense of the ridiculous, which he claims to have inherited from his mother.
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