Help Wanted: Tales of On-The-Job Terror

September 20, 2011 — jeffstrand

Is there anything scarier than a day job?

Yes. Sharks, for instance. If you said “Wow, there is nothing worse than having to get up and go to work,” and somebody said “Okay, then you get to quit your job, after we throw you into this tank with a great white shark!!!” you’d be all like “No! No! I misspoke! I’ll go to work! It’s not so bad!”

That said, sometimes work sucks, and sometimes it’s scary, as shown in this brand-new collection Help Wanted: Tales of On-The-Job Terror. edited by Peter Giglio and published by Dark Jester Press. It contains my story “Work/Life Balance,” which is a dark comedy about what happens when management eases up on some rules. (That description is perhaps not as gripping as, say, “Bus will explode if it drops below 50 MPH” or “Brad Pitt gets younger as he ages,” but, c’mon, no good can come from management easing up on some rules, right?)

It also contains stories by Stephen Volk, David Dunwoody, Lisa Morton, Gregory L. Norris, Zak Jarvis, Adrian Chamberlin, Ellen Herbert, Gary Brandner, Patrick Flanagan, David C. Hayes, Vince A. Liaguno, David Greske, Amy Wallace, Vic Kerry, Henry Snider, Craig Saunders, Mark Allan Gunnells, Marianne Halbert, Will Huston, Trevor Denyer, Matt Kurtz, Joe McKinney, Eric Shapiro, and Scott Bradley.

Get your copy by clicking RIGHT HERE.

Posted in Uncategorized. 11 Comments »

Jim Says:
September 20, 2011 at 4:50 pm

Wait! A new short, and I never got to preview? I feel so… so… unloved.

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jeffstrand Says:
September 20, 2011 at 4:54 pm

I turned it in the day it was due!

Jim Says:
September 20, 2011 at 7:54 pm
No need to make excuses, I understand all too well.

It’s not you, it’s me.

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Jim Says:
September 21, 2011 at 9:47 am
Those other authors, they meant nothing! It was meaningless entertainment! It’ll never happen again.

It’s you I want to read. It’s always been you.

Please don’t shut me out like this.

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- jeffstrand Says:
  September 21, 2011 at 11:18 am
  I’ll bring a printout of the story to my signing next Tuesday, and you can go at it with a red pen.
  
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- Kyle L. Says:
  September 21, 2011 at 1:06 pm
  Jeff, man, why ya gotta make me jealous now? 😦
  
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- Jim Says:
  September 22, 2011 at 9:27 am
  /sniffle
  Wow, you really DO care!
  
  Even though you and I both know your finished products never see a drop of red ink, it was a beautiful gesture.
  
  I’m truly touched.
  
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- Jim Says:
  September 28, 2011 at 10:48 am
  Well, I read it this morning before work. Half way through the story I thought, “Where’s the hook?” Two thirds of the way through I thought, “Where’s the hook?” Three fourths of the way through, well, you get the picture.
  
  Then came the hook. Loved it, loved it, loved it! I was laughing out loud by the end.
  
  Running late for work (not because of the reading,) spilled stuff on my shirt before I even got to the car, trash cans and parked cars turning the neighborhood into an obstacle course, and I was still grinning like a fool.
  
  I think maybe I’m on to something? At least once a week I need to start the day with one of your shorts. It’s almost lunch time and I haven’t felt the urge to slaughter any of my customers!
  
  Please continue to do the voodoo that you do! (And tell the publisher to add another sale to the “Strand” column.)
  
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