What happens when gods wane, retire, or just decide they need a change of employment?
13 writers took up the challenge and let their imaginations run wild in this anthology that is nearly-always amusing, somewhat insightful, and completely irreverent as we imagine the gods of yore in retirement. Volume 1.
Meet The Author of Harbinger of Doom
Harbinger of Doom by Katharina Gerlach: A mortal with a distasteful job finds that he can be more than he ever
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Grumpy Old Gods Volume 1
Katharina Gerlach
Katharina, commonly known as Cat, was raised in the middle of a forest in Germany where she and her three brothers roamed and dreamed. But even tomboys grow up, and therefore she got an education, programmed a forest growth simulator, and returned to the love of her life, her now-husband, with a rather useless PhD in science and the head filled with strange facts about our world.
When her best friend unearthed a box of historical documents about her family that reached as far back as the 15th century, Cat wrote two historical novels. During that time, her dream child landed in her little family, followed by two beloved foster children with special needs.
So she put aside all aspirations of ever working as a forester and focused on raising her children and writing the best books she’s capable of. By now she’s dabbled in several genres, mainly Fantasy (fairy tale retellings), SciFi, and Historical Stories.
Read this adorable little flash fiction provided by Cat for your enjoyment. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com.
Alot, the (no pl.)
by Katharina Gerlach
The Alot hopped off the manuscript’s page and stretched. When it shook, tiny blue droplets floated through the air and settled on the wooden desktop. The Alot looked around but the world beyond the manuscript and the shiny, light wooden surface of the table was blurred. For all it could tell, it was alone here wherever here was. It stomped forward, sniffing the tabletop as it went. Where was it? What was it doing here? When it reached the table’s edge, it turned back to where it had come from. Aside from a few words and a strange blue twinkling, the page was empty. Beside it sat a thick tome. The Alot turned its head sideways and spelled out the title: Foster’s Etymological Dictionary.
The Alot trampled onto the page whirling up the blue dust. It sneezed, shooting blue particles at one of the words: gryphon. The page trembled and the Alot stumbled backwards. Its tiny heart beat a rhythm of fear in its chest. It hid behind the giant tome of the Dictionary and peeked around the corner. An animal the size of the book with four legs, wings, and the head of a bird of prey stretched, ruffled its feathers and flew away. Cautiously, the Alot returned to the page. The word it had sneezed on was missing. Could it be? Had it been sneezed off of the page too? Had it been a word?
The Alot pondered. If it had been a word earlier, what was it now? With its tiny trunk, it touched all of its blue fur it could reach. The tailless plump body with the six stumpy legs didn’t look one bit like the gryphon. It wondered what it was good for. It had to have a purpose. Why else had it come alive?
Its gaze fell on the dictionary once more and sudden knowledge washed through its mind. From where it came, the Alot couldn’t say, but it knew the dictionary contained words. Thousands of them. Surely it’d be possible to find an explanation in there. It stood on its hindlegs and lifted the cover with its trunk, and then it wriggled and jumped until it managed to crawl under the cardboard. Turning the pages was easier.
al… ala.. alo… It found aloe, aloha, alone and aloof, followed by aloud, Aloysius, and analog.
I’m not in the book. It blinked away a tear. When I’m not in there, I must have been a mistake. Mistakes are bad, aren’t they? I’d better delete myself.
It climbed down from the book and back to the page, looking for an eraser. When it passed over the page, the blue residue tickled in its trunk, and it sneezed again. A creature, longer than the Alot but less compact, rose from the paper. It wriggled its trunk.
“Hi, I’m the Adn. What are you?”
“A mistake.”
“Great. Can we be mistakes together?” The Adn grinned.
The Alot forgot all about the eraser. Its heart skipped and jumped. Maybe being a mistake wasn’t so bad after all.
We are adding an author a day to this meet the author series starting March 23-April 4th as a kick off to our launch. Grumpy Old Gods vol. 1 releasing March 30th. So be sure to check back and read about the other authors too. We have all kinds of surprises that show up randomly. Don’t miss them. You can read about the other authors HERE.