Wednesday, August 15th, 2012

New Short Story Available!

Cover of Short Story: Selk Skin Deep by Kelly A. HarmonI have a new story available via Kindle!

Selk Skin Deep is an alternate-history — military history, too — about a Selkie who is also a Navy SEAL.

Selkies hail from Scottish folklore. They are mythical creatures that live as seals in the ocean, but can come ashore — shedding their skins — and become human.

Most selkie stories are about women selkies who come to sun on the beach, and whose sealskin is stolen by a man. Without her skin, she’s forced to remain in human form until she gets it back. The man generally forces her to be his wife/maid/servant (sometimes mother to his kids) until the story ends when she finds where he’s hidden her skin and she returns to the sea.

You can read more about selkies at Wikipedia.

My story is a bit off the traditional beaten path. Here’s the description:

Kennedy never envisioned a Navy SEAL like him.

1967. Vietnam. Fat-boys and comp-B bombs explode aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Livingstone killing thousands. Everyone dies if the carrier sinks, unless one SEAL – one selkie – puts the lives of humans ahead of his need to keep his secret.

Inspired by the true story of the U.S.S. Forrestal fire of 1967, award-winning author Kelly A. Harmon weaves alternate-history and fairytale into this action-packed and emotionally charged story.

This review is from when the story was published in the Bad Ass Fairies 3 Anthology: In all Their Glory:

“Selk-Skin Deep” by Kelly A. Harmon is a very well-written, harrowing story of an accident that didn’t have to happen aboard an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam war. The selkie uses his advantage to try and save the ship and its crew. Ms. Harmon has written an action packed, suspenseful account of a naval battle with a poignant ending.” ~ Tangent Magazine

You can buy Selk Skin Deep on Kindle now. It should be available for Nook and via Smashwords very soon.

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

New Podcast Available – Hear Me Read

Cover of Bad Ass Fairies 3: In All Their GloryThe new Broad Universe podcast is available, this one focusing on “changelings and transformations.”

BroadPod “Rapid Fire Readings” feature five or six authors reading for five or six minutes each from their work.

Authors included in this month’s podcast are Carol Berg, E.F. Watkins, Daniele Ackley-McPhail and Anne Wilkes, and of course, me. I’ll be reading from Selk Skin Deep.

Selk Skin Deep was published in Bad Ass Fairies 3: In All Their Glory (an anthology of stories about fairies, which harkens back to their roots. You’ll find no Tinkerbelles in the bunch).

Selk Skin Deep was inspired by the true-live tragedy of the explosion on board the U.S.S. Forrestal, an aircraft carrier which exploded off the coast of Vietnam in 1967. My story is about Cade Owen, who joined the U.S. Navy trying to alleviate the boredom from his nearly immortal life. Cade is a selkie – a shape shifter who is both man and seal. In Selk Skin Deep he learns about sacrifice, and what it means to be human. It’s my tribute to U.S. Service Men and Women.

Listen to the Broad Universe Podcast here.

If you’re not into podcasts, I’ve made the first five pages of the story available via PDF. Here’s a link to the Selk Skin Deep excerpt.