Danse Macabre

by Fran Orenstein

Peer into the bubbling, black cauldron at a simmering stew of restless spirits, creatures of the night, murder, mayhem, and pure evil. Add a smattering of sci-fi and you have a Danse Macabre of chilling stories, seasoned with a dash of happy endings and touching tales of the many faces of love. An anthology of short stories, Danse Macabre beckons you to curl up in a well-lit corner and journey into another dimension -- the scary fantasy world of make-believe. Or is it?

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 3, 2015

About the author

Fran Orenstein was born in New York. Growing up in Brooklyn and the Bronx, she experienced a fine education in the public schools and the varied culture of New York City. She has a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Brooklyn College, a master’s in counseling psychology from the College of New Jersey, and a doctorate in Child and in Youth Studies from Nova Southeastern University.

She thrives on reading 3-4 novels a week, which she considers an escape from the real world. Her favorites are detective stories, legal mysteries , horror and intrigue. She likes books written by women about women, but also loves heroes like Jack Reacher, Harry Bosch, and JP Beaumont. Among her favorite authors are Dean Koontz for the beauty of his poetic metaphors, and Janet Evanovich, whose amazing characters make her laugh.

Fran wrote her first poem at age 8, and submitted her first short story at age 12. After a brief spell as an early childhood teacher, and full-time mother, she was an editor/writer for three national career education magazines, and then spent 22 years working for New Jersey State Government in a variety of positions. These included rehabilitation counselor, manager of women’s programs including writing policy and legislation, developing programs in child care, gender equity, and creator of The NJ Coalition on Women and Disabilities. Prior to retirement, she served as Special Projects and Disability Officer for AmeriCorps. Fran has many years of experience writing and publishing academically and professionally. She has written, articles, newsletters, political speeches, brochures, and has presented at national and international conferences on gender equity and violence prevention.
She considers her children and grandchildren her finest legacy. Fran currently resides in the Tampa Bay Florida with her cats.

Her philosophy is three-fold:
1. There is a solution to every problem using creative and positive thinking.
2. Help others, either by a simple act of kindness, or a volunteer project. It will come back, even though it might not be obvious or immediate.
3. Life is an adventure, live it.