#storyeachnight is a Twitter movement to encourage reading more short stories, one night and one story at a time.

#storyeachnight tonight with Solitary Instinct by Wendy N. Wagner from Beast Within 2: Preditor and Prey. This is a not-at-all veiled story of empowerment through predation, which while not at all bad was little more. The problem with tales like this is often they’re too simplistic, too obvious. The mc’s initial weakness is too much so you know that suddenly having power will corrupt the MC to a similar degree. People don’t change so easily even when suddenly empowered, lending the story an air of inauthenticity, as well as making the take away message that people cannot be trusted with power, so it’s better to keep them repressed. Not saying that’s the author’s message just the corrupted message of such tales after you read too many of them.

The Strange Tale of the Viennese Mathmetician by Joshua Reynolds from Beast Within 2. A WW-ish steampunk tale with exiled royalty-turned-spies, Dracul raiders and zeppelin bombers its vivid & a little dizzying. It’s very exciting, but a little too intense for a short story, rather like if one took the 2nd half of Inglorious Basterds and cut in the vampire bits of From Dusk til Dawn at the theater scene. With werewolves. Regardless it’s an awful lot of fun.

The Adventure of the Missing trophy by Mark W Coulter from Beast Within 2. A Sherlock Holmes & Werecritters tale it’s woefully straight forward for a Holmes story. Not to mention supernatural. It’s not at all bad, just….expected. The problem with theme anthos is that you can’t have a story published in a werewolf book and then have the big reveal be that a character is a werewolf. Readers are going into stories with expectations and that kind of reveal doesn’t work. Especially in a theme story. We are no longer in a world where people just don’t think about the paranormal. Story tension solely being “It’s a Supernatural thingie!” is not going to work in a culture where we’ve grown up with Count Chocula and Frankenberry and Demi Moore loving a ghost. When writers depend on the same old tension readers look for new things to do with their favorite themes. Thus ParaRomance & UF.

Blood Will Tell by JG Faherty The short form cheats this rich historical tale. It would make an excellent, classic horror-style novel or novella if expanded.

Vanessa McAvoy’s Statement by Kelly Sails, a tale of a kindergarten class of shapeshifters gone sugar-mad. It’s over the top, silly and invokes memories of Kindergarten Cop. “It’s not a tumor!” (Apparently it’s a were-ferret)

Tonight’s #storyeachnight was Ties of Silver by James L. Sutter from Beast Within 2. Overall, I liked it. Love the paranormal noir angle, the voice, the plot, everything. Would have loved a whole book. Except that the only female in the story is only described by her breasts. The complete flatness of her seriously annoyed me.

The Long Road to Sanctum by Richard Farnsworth (Beast Within 2). It’s not really a long story, which is a shame because the post-apoc western feel reminds me of @k_h_koehler ‘s Black Jack Derringer. It’s an enjoyable read, but I was so into the weird western thing I was disappointed that there was little meat to the story.

Masako’s Tale by @bymichaelwest from Beast Within 2. It’s a good tale with a rare Japanese flavor. Definitely an unexpected and welcome change from more standard werecritter fare. It’s really a fairy tale more than a shifter story. Though it is that too.

Help Wanted by Lydia Ondrusek from Beast Within 2. It’s a real lovely story, not at all the kind you’d expect to find in a horror-themed book. It’s set during the post-oil spill clean up in the gulf and handles the topic real well. A pleasure to read, actually.

Desperate Housewolves by Erik Scott de Bie. Despite pretty much knowing what was going to happen this was a fun little tale (totally made better by a male lead who volunteers at an animal rescue!)

Life Decisions by Dylan Birtolo. It’s a 20s shifter mob tale, but lacking a lot of things, like details. I didn’t realize it was a 20s story because there’s little flavor to it. Likewise there’s little emotional involvement with the story. It’s one of those “things happen in an order” stories. But without any vibrancy or emotional connection.

Tonight #storyeachnight is Papa Pirana by Angel Leigh McCoy. I was prepared not to like this one because of a cliche-feeling opening. Yeah, it could have used a little more tightening (again I saw where the story was going) but it had everything the previous story lacked–excellent multicultural flavor, lush description, and an oddball kind of shape shifter that I never expected to read about. Kudos.

Deserter by Gabrielle Harbowy & Marie Bilodeaux. Military SF shifters for the win! This nice little blend of a tale is surprisingly yummy and manages to toss a nod to classic-style shifter tales into the mix.

Corvidae by Kerrie L. Hughes. It feels like the start of a Coraline-like adventure. I would have read a lot more of this one.

In One Stride Comes the Dark by Kenneth Mark Hoover–What a perfect, poignant end to this anthology. A wild west tale with all the archetypes, but none of the trite cliché, your Wise Native, White Hat and Outlaw all make an appearance. Totally satisfying.

 Kirsten is the co-EiC of MonsterLibrarian.com and also a kick-ass librarian in real life. I asked her to write a post for me after being left a the caretaker of a epileptic dog made me realize I had no idea how to help the dog, or people, having a seizure. -ML

There are a lot of misunderstandings about epilepsy. It’s an invisible condition, except when it’s not. Most people, including ER doctors, can only identify convulsive, or grand mal, seizures. However, there are many other kinds that manifest themselves in completely different ways. Mine do, and I’ve been refused treatment in the ER in the past because doctors didn’t believe me.

The silence of public figures with epilepsy doesn’t help. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts has never spoken about his; John Bryson, the Secretary of Commerce until just recently doesn’t even have a diagnosis and resigned less than two weeks after he had a simple partial seizure while driving (he caused two car accidents). It is actually possible to work in a position of high responsibility in government with epilepsy; former Senator Tony Coelho advocated for people with epilepsy and all kinds of disabilities. By refusing to speak out, and by resigning, Roberts and Bryson are implicitly suggesting that there’s some reason to feel ashamed and to remain silent. And that makes dealing with seizures when they happen much more difficult for everyone.

So what do you do to keep a person who is having a seizure safe? It can depend, since there are different kinds. For a convulsive seizure, also known as a grand mal or tonic clonic seizure, here’s what you do:

-Clear the area. Someone in the middle of a grand mal seizure is not conscious, but is still making jerky, uncontrolled movements Clutter and sharp corners are not a good combination with that.

-If there’s something soft you can put under the person’s head, like a pillow or jacket, that’s excellent. Banging your head on a hard floor hurts.

-The biggest worry during a seizure is difficulty with breathing. Turning the person on her side can help keep the airway clear. Loosening clothes (like ties) that could cause difficulty with breathing is also a good idea.

-Don’t try to hold the person still, unless you want a black eye. Someone in the middle of a convulsion does not have control over their body, and can pack a surprisingly powerful punch.

-Never, ever, try to force something into the person’s mouth. It is NOT TRUE that a seizing person can swallow her tongue. If you try sticking your fingers in, you WILL be bitten. If you try sticking anything else in, you will be obstructing the person’s airway. It’s crazy, but there are still people who think it’s a good idea to stick a wallet or a tongue depressor in the mouth of a person who is having a seizure to keep her from swallowing her tongue. I repeat, it is NOT TRUE that a seizing person can swallow her tongue.

-Don’t attempt to start artificial respiration unless the person actually stops breathing.

-Stay with the person until the seizure ends, and offer to call a friend or relative if the person seems disoriented. As long as you can determine that it was an epileptic seizure (which can be done by checking for medical ID indicating that the person has epilepsy), unless the seizure lasts for more than five minutes or the person stops breathing there is probably no need to call an ambulance. It’s an added expense, and chances are that once the seizure has stopped, the folks at the ER won’t do anything else. There are circumstances that warrant calling an ambulance, though:

-If the seizure DOES last more than five minutes or the person is having difficulty breathing.

-If another seizure started immediately after the first one ended.

-If the seizure happened in the water

-If the person is pregnant, injured, or diabetic.

-If the person does not regain consciousness.

Partial, psychomotor, and temporal lobe seizures, are nonconvulsive and may be harder to identify. They’re often characterized by blank staring, chewing motions, drooling, facial twitching, fumbling with clothes, wandering, shaking, and confused speech. People who have had nonconvulsive seizures in public are sometimes arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. It’s important to remember that even though the person may be walking and talking, perceptions of what is going on are way out of whack. It can be a gradual thing or happen suddenly. I’ve held long phone conversations and packed suitcases while on the verge of a partial seizure. Some people smell strange things, like bananas. Other people do things that seem reasonable that they won’t remember later. I’ve personally been caught typing on an invisible typewriter- in public places the weaving back and forth and nonresponsiveness are not necessarily identified as seizures by members of the general public. If you do see this kind of seizure the best thing to do is speak calmly and gently try to lead the person out of harm’s way (so that they don’t walk into a busy street. When I say gently I mean VERY gently– again, a person who is having a seizure is very strong, doesn’t know their strength, and has altered perceptions, so grabbing on could mean getting decked pretty hard. Sometimes, rather than guiding the person, it might be easier to move hazards out of the way- clear space so that the person doesn’t trip or run into things. If you see that it is part of an escalating situation do your best to explain what is going on. Again, most people just don’t know, and it may even take time to convince them that what they are seeing is a seizure.

If you’re able to time the seizure, that’s great. It is important to notice when it started because a seizure that lasts more than five minutes can be an emergency, especially if the person stopped breathing. Wait for the person to return to consciousness before leaving. Make sure he or she knows the date, where they are, and where they’re going next. If it’s possible you might want to see if the person has an emergency contact that you can notify about the seizure. The confusion that follows the seizure can last a long time, and the person can still end up hurting themselves or doing unexpected things if there’s no one there to make sure the person is fully aware.

There are more people with epilepsy than there are with autism, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and cerebral palsy combined, so chances are good that you know someone who has seizures. If you are ever present when one occurs, I hope this information helps you handle the situation, and keep that person safe.