The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology now available

Available for $2.99 in e-book form, for:

iPad in the Apple iBookstore
Amazon Kindle (read it on your computer with Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader, or on your phone with the Amazon Kindle App)
Nook at Barnes & Noble

Kobo, Sony e-reader and download as PDF, epub, mobi or Viewable Online at Smashwords

$9.99 for trade paperback at Amazon and Createspace.

30 powerful stories from around the world to benefit two children's charities: PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children (www.protect.org) and Children 1st Scotland (www.children1st.org.uk). 

Stories by David Ackley, Kevin Aldrich, David Barber, Lynn Beighley, Seamus Bellamy, Paul D. Brazill, Sif Dal, James Lloyd Davis, Roberto C. Garcia, Susan Gibb, Nancy A. Hansen, K.V. Hardy, Gill Hoffs, Fiona "McDroll" Johnson, J.F. Juzwik, MaryAnne Kolton, Benoit Lelievre, Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw, Vinod Narayan, Paula Pahnke, Ron Earl Phillips, Thomas Pluck, Sam Rasnake, JP Reese, Chad Rohrbacher, Susan Tepper, Luca Veste, Michael Webb, Nicolette Wong and Erin Zulkoski.

It began as a flash fiction challenge when Fiona Johnson and Thomas Pluck donated $5 to PROTECT and £5 to Children 1st for every story at Ron Earl Phillips' Flash Fiction Friday and Fictionaut. Now we have collected the 30 best stories to benefit these two charities.

Join us and make a difference while you read 30 great stories genres by writers from the U.S.A., Poland, Hong Kong, Portugal, India, Scotland, England, Canada, and one told by a Lost Boy of the Sudan to his teacher.

If you don't have an e-reader: you can download the Kindle for PC or Kindle for Mac app, the Nook for PC App, Nook for Mac App or view it online at Smashwords, or download it as an Adobe PDF file. You can also read epubs on the Adobe Digital Editions reader for PC and Mac.

a little about... Thomas Pluck

I am one of the editors of this project, along with Fiona Johnson and Ron Earl Phillips. I worked on the e-book design and the writer-wrangling work of getting permissions and contracts taken care of. My story "Little Sister" was written for the challenge, and appears in the anthology. 

What inspired you to write this story?


I read an article about Living Water for Girls, an Atlanta charity which rescues young women trapped in sex trafficking and exploitation. The stories were heartbreaking, and so many the same: a girl is kicked out of her home during the arguments of early adolescence, left to fend for herself on the street; a young man tells her she's beautiful, she can stay with him, and she thinks his bed is better than the cold street, and she wakes up in a nightmare. Beaten and trapped, raped, and emotionally abused until she thinks all she is good for is turning tricks for her pimp. It enraged me, and the stories of women who clawed their way out of it gave me hope that someday we'd never use the words "child prostitute," but instead realize this is the face of modern slavery.

What makes this cause important to you?
The gorilla in the room that we choose to ignore is that our prisons are full of abused children who've grown to learn that their own pain is the only pain that matters. 25% of women are sexually abused. And those are the ones who admit it. The abuse of power is the common thread throughout human history, and nothing defines evil more than an adult abusing a child, physically, sexually or emotionally. We've become a society where bullying is said to build character. Would you spit on a newborn child to get him ready for the trials of life? The strong will always have an advantage over the weak. Civilization is meant to impose fairer laws over the brutality of nature. If we look away and ignore it, we cannot call ourselves civilized.

Tell us a bit about yourself and where we can find more of your writing.
I write what I call "unflinching fiction with heart." Sometimes that's crime fiction, sometimes it's noir, other times it's just character-driven stories where we see what fuels someone's intensity. On occasion I write humor. I'm a computer administrator by day, and I practice mixed martial arts and strongman weightlifting in my spare time. I've endured punches to the crotch to assist in teaching women self-defense. When I support something, I go all the way.

My writing can be found at www.pluckyoutoo.com and has been published in Pulp Modern, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Beat to a Pulp, The Utne Reader, Crimespree Magazine, Shotgun Honey, and The Flash Fiction Offensive, among others. I have work upcoming in Plots With Guns, Needle Magazine, Crimefactory, and two anthologies, Beat to a Pulp: Hardboiled and Luca Veste's Off the Record.

I also like the odd cheeseburger and the craftiest beer I can find.

a little about... Chad Rohrbacher

Chad Rohrbacher, crime fiction word slinger, joined in with his story "Outside the Dream"

What inspired your story?
When I was young, there was a kid named Eric who lived across the street. He was always in trouble. Generally the trouble was drug related, and even if he wasn’t high, trouble found him. We were both in 6th grade and now that I have kids, it seems so young to be doing some of the things he was doing. For this story, I didn’t just want to write about him, the hopelessness, the desperation, and the bad luck. There is enough of that. In my story, Eric is saved. I think we all need that. Redemption. Hope.

What makes this cause important to you?
I have three daughters. I can’t imagine some of the things these kids go through. I don’t want to. Shoot, I tear up during father daughter commercials. When I hear real stories of what some of these kids have had to deal with instead of just being kids….
It’s such a small thing, to write a story, but hopefully it can help – even if just a little.

Tell us a bit about yourself and where to find more of your writing.
I’m originally from Toledo, Ohio, though I spent time in Louisiana and South Carolina. Currently I live in NC with my family, dog, cats, fish, hamster, and birds. I teach at NCA&T and enjoy it quite a bit. I have some stories up at Beat to a Pulp, Crime Factory, Silver Blade, Needle Magazine, Twist of Noir, and others. Snubnose Press is publishing my novel, Karma Backlash, next year. You should check out their other titles; I’m in great company.

You can contact me via: www.chadrohrbacher.com or on Twitter as @chadrohrbacher

a little about... Paul D. Brazill

Paul D. Brazill generously joined in with his tale "The Return of the Grievous Angel" and as the photo suggests, he is the definition of noir in a proper dictionary.

What inspired your story?

I think the tables being turned is very satisfying in fiction because it rarely happens in real life. I wanted to have payback in the story!

What makes this cause important to you?
Freedom of choice. It's what life's all about.

A little bit about myself:
You find out more about me at You Would Say That, Wouldn't You?