"Annabelle" by Nancy Christie. Cover art by Mark Webber.
A short read filled with passion, unrequited love and haunting beauty
(PRWEB) October 01, 2013
Readers and critics are raving about "Annabelle," a short story by Nancy Christie. In his review for the respected "NY Journal of Books," Charles S. Weinblatt wrote, "This spellbinding short story will mesmerize the reader with powerful character development and a tale sadly familiar to many women. It’s hard to imagine anyone who will not read this excellent book through on the first attempt."
The author Morrow Wilson has said, "[Annabelle] is fragile in the way that Kafka’s protagonists are fragile ... unlike Kafka’s stories, Nancy Christie’s tales are always beautiful."
According to Paul Konrardy, "Annabelle" is "a short read filled with passion, unrequited love and haunting beauty. Despite its brevity, it is a thoroughly thought-provoking story - the kind that comes back to you days later asking ‘what if....’"
Others have called this beautifully crafted story, "lush, descriptive and powerful" (Julie Whitely), "a tiny pearl of a story" (Robin Baum), "vivid, powerful, and disturbing" (Anita Gorman), and “provocative and passionate… an elegantly written emotional tour-de-force” (Joanne Manuel).
About Annabelle
We all have our fantasies—our hopes and dreams of what we want our future to be. But what happens when our fantasies are based on an erroneous interpretation of past events, when our hopes and dreams are so far from reality that they prevent us from having any kind of a normal life? A lonely young woman, all Annabelle wants is to love and be loved. But the twin emotions of fear and guilt, from a passion born on a summer day so many years ago, hold her fast.
In the short story Annabelle, author Nancy Christie paints a lyrical portrait of a young woman, the daughter of a painter and his devoted model. Their obsession with the creation of art binds the family and twists the soul of a child.
Annabelle is a short story published as a stand-alone eBook by Pixel Hall Press's PHP Shorts Imprint, and is available from Amazon, Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble and Kobo.
About Nancy Christie
Nancy Christie’s essays and fiction can be found on the pages of magazines as diverse as Full of Crow, Fiction365, Red Fez, Wanderings, The Chaffin Journal, Woman's Day, Experience Life, Tai Chi, Writer's Digest and Xtreme. Christie’s book, The Gifts of Change (Beyond Words/Atria), explores ways to make the most out of life’s challenges. She is currently working on several book projects: a novel, a short story collection and a book for writers.
A member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Christie writes articles for print and online publications as well as handles copywriting for corporations and marketing/advertising firms. She also teaches writing workshops at writing conferences and schools across the country and hosts the monthly Monday Night Writers group in Canfield, Ohio.
PHP Shorts will be publishing another of her short stories "Alice in Wonderland" in December 2013, as well as a print collection of her stories in 2014.
About PHP Shorts
With the proliferation of Kindles, eReaders and eReading apps for phones, iPads, tablets and computers, Pixel Hall Press predicts that the market for short stories and novellas is about to experience a renaissance. The length of a story is going to become irrelevant. All that will matter is whether it’s a great story that captures the readers’ interest and imagination.
As Cynthia Dadson of our Director of Communications said, "People are reading more, and have a growing appetite for an ongoing supply of short, good fiction to read on whatever device they happen to have with them."
In addition to publishing its more traditional full-length books in both print and eBook formats, Pixel Hall Press has launched a new imprint: PHP Shorts. PHP Shorts will published stand-alone short stories and novellas as eBooks. (Some PHP Shorts may also be collected into print anthologies.)
PHP Shorts welcomes queries from authors of short stories and novellas. Specifically, we're looking for highly polished, well crafted stories, of about 4,000 to 15,000 words in length. As with our full length books, more than genre, PHP editors consider how compelling the story is, how memorable the characters are, and how the narrative develops while avoiding clichés. However, before you submit a manuscript to Pixel Hall Press, send them a query email first.
