Time Passages: Volume 2: A Collection of Diverse Short Stories

by Bruce Hennigan, Calvin Hubbard, Eileen Copeland

The 2024 Louisiana Posse presents its first two-volume anthology of diverse short stories. The previous six years’ collections include Celebrating the Short Story, Over the Moon Travel Treasures, 2020 Vision, Coming of Age, Second Chances, and Our Abiding Heritage, which have contributed significantly to advancing the craft of Christian fiction writing. This year, fifteen authors collaborated to produce the outstanding collection of seventeen diverse short stories you’re now viewing, Time Passages. Volume I has eight stories you should also explore. This is Volume II, with nine stories from seven authors.

The short story has long endured since the creation of language. It is a good vehicle for presenting an account, more often concentrating on creating a mood rather than a plot. A short story can range from a cleverly crafted sentence up to 20,000 words. Whatever the length, a short story is typically centered around one plot, one main character, and one central theme. This contrasts with a novel’s capacity to weave multiple plots and themes among notable characters. The writing styles used in short stories can be somewhat unusual or surprising to their readers. Sometimes, their writers use literary techniques that might wear down a reader if employed throughout the length of a novel. Being short, by definition, they provide the perfect fodder for being assembled into collections, usually with some unifying theme or common element to tie them together.

The seventeen short stories in Time Passages are as diverse in technique and theme as our previous years’ writings; nevertheless, they are united in that a time element is expected. We invite you to take notice of the techniques used by this array of talented authors to weave those time-related appearances into their stories. These seventeen adventures will bring you to places you have never been. Volume II has nine stories from seven authors.

In Volume II, Bruce Hennigan’s A Death on Mount Driskill is a tension-filled adventure with Nick Saunders planning to end his life at the top of Louisiana’s highest mountain when some well-intentioned strangers intervene. Calvin Hubbard’s Pete’s Trek puts you in a moon rocket’s cockpit where Pete Gustavason struggles against a team of gremlins trying to ruin his mission. Eileen Keir Copeland’s The Dragon Speaker follows Emma’s adventure to discover her birthright, and her Time to Surrender retells a Biblical story through the eyes of Ladonal, who is struggling to survive in a harsh world. Tina Middleton’s It’s Time places you in Mary’s point of view as she releases her firstborn son to begin his mission. Tina’s second story, Spiritual Fight, follows Christi, struggling to help people who reject her help as she experiences a surreal event. Cindy Chandler Pye’s Time and Time Again is a time-traveling adventure where Caitlyn takes her husband, Reagan, on a fact-finding journey to connect with her past and unravel family mysteries. Carole Lehr Johnson’s The Light in the Mist follows Reid Graham’s life choices about a young woman he just met but is separated from and an assertive woman who demands his attention in his distant location. Finally, Marguerite Martin Gray’s Perhaps It’s Time recounts Raymond Wilson’s great challenge after many years of warring against tyranny. It’s all he’s known as an adult, but now he’s expected to return to a normal he’d never known.

174 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 26, 2024

About the author

Bruce Hennigan grew up in Northwest Louisiana and became a physician practicing in the field of radiology. He was a church drama director for 15 years and wrote over 150 plays. He is a certified apologist, or one who defends the truthfulness of the Christian faith and speaks on this topic on a regular basis. He is a Volunteer Apologist with Reasons to Believe and is also part of the Scholar Community. He is a Certified Apologetic Instructor with the North American Mission Board of the SBC Bruce is also the author of ten books in the supernatural thriller series, “The Chronicles of Jonathan Steel” as well as “Death by Darwin”, “The Homecoming Tree”, “Our Darkness, His Light”, “Shadow Merchant”, a Jack Merchant Medical Mystery and, with Mark Sutton, “Hope Again: A Lifetime Plan for Conquering Depression.” These books are offered by Hope Again Books, an independent publisher.

Reviews

[C.D. Sutherland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Volume Two of the Louisiana Authors Posse's two-volume anthology, Time Passages.

Volume II has nine stories from seven authors. Bruce Hennigan’s "A Death on Mount Driskill" is a tension-filled adventure with Nick Saunders planning to end his life at the top of Louisiana’s highest mountain when some well-intentioned strangers intervene. Calvin Hubbard’s "Pete’s Trek" puts you in a moon rocket’s cockpit where Pete Gustavason struggles against a team of gremlins trying to ruin his mission. Eileen Keir Copeland’s "The Dragon Speaker" follows Emma’s adventure to discover her birthright, and her "Time to Surrender" retells a Biblical story through the eyes of Ladonal, who is struggling to survive in a harsh world. Tina Middleton’s "It’s Time" places you in Mary’s point of view as she releases her firstborn son to begin his mission. Tina’s second story, "Spiritual Fight," follows Christi, struggling to help people who reject her help as she experiences a surreal event. Cindy Chandler Pye’s "Time and Time Again" is a time-traveling adventure where Caitlyn takes her husband, Reagan, on a fact-finding journey to connect with her past and unravel family mysteries. Carole Lehr Johnson’s "The Light in the Mist" follows Reid Graham’s life choices about a young woman he just met but is separated from and an assertive woman who demands his attention in his distant location. Finally, Marguerite Martin Gray’s "Perhaps It’s Time" recounts Raymond Wilson’s great challenge after many years of warring against tyranny. It’s all he’s known as an adult, but now he’s expected to return to a normal he’d never known.

[Marguerite Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed being a part of this anthology. Get comfy and delight in the work of these authors.