Announcing Alterna-Teas

Some people prefer their tea strong and black as coffee.  Some people prefer their tea bright and crisp with herbal notes.  Some people prefer their tea warm and rich with cream.  With fourteen short stories to savor, we’re certain we have a flavor for your tastes.

Alterna-Teas is an steampunk and urban fantasy short story anthology edited by ElizaBeth Gilligan and published by Sky Warrior Books.  As well as my story “Reading the Leaves,” it also features:

• “The Tea Jenny” by AH Cassells
• “Ceremonies” by Josh Brown
• “Tea & Trickery” by Lillian Csernica
• “Scot on the Rocks” by J.A. Campbell & Rebecca McFarland Kyle
• “The 13th Car” by Jaq Greenspon
• “Cracked” by Carolyn Hill
• “Pirate Tea” by Irene Radford
• “A Proper Cuppa” by Pat MacEwen
• “Tea Smoke” by Kevin Andrew Murphy
• “Tea Leaves” by Patricia G. Nagle
• “The Care Taker” by Denise Robarge Tanaka
• “Evolution and Juliet” by Don Webb
• “The Buggered OWL” by Patricia H. MacEwen & ElizaBeth Gilligan

To get you thirsty for more, here’s an excerpt from “Reading The Leaves” —

“Do you have preference for your tea? Green? Black?”

“Does it make a difference?” he rumbled.

“You’ll be drinking it,” she said. “I’d like to give you something you’d enjoy going down.” Her cheeks grew hot red the moment she realized what the words sounded like she was offering.

That drew a low chuckle from her customer. Kristy felt his eyes on her again as he took his seat, gaze less assessing and more admiring. “We can save that for after we’re done–hmm. I don’t know your name.”

She didn’t let the shiver that crawled under her skin show. “I prefer you don’t until after the reading. I don’t want to know yours either. Less chance of you letting something slip. I like to avoid cold reading, making guesses based on information my clients tell me, as much as possible.”

“Ethics?” He snorted in amusement. “I thought you fortunetellers were in it for the bucks.”

She frowned at the use of the term. “Tassieographist,” she corrected.

“Gesundheit.”

Kristy’s lips pressed into a firm line. “I’m not some dial-a-psychic in it to make all I can by stringing you along with a per-minute charge. I tell you what I see in your tea cup for flat fee. No more, no less.”

Alterna-Teas is available on Amazon Kindle