My new story, "Bait," is up at David Barber's excellent site, The Flash Fiction Offensive.  Please check it out NOW!  http://theflashfictionoffensive.blogspot.com/2011/10/bait-by-dana-c-kabel_21.html

IT'S VIOLENT!  IT'S SENSATIONAL!  IT'S SEXY!  Actually...it's not very sexy, but it is up at A Twist of Noir, and it's my new story, Writer's Cell Block.  Go there now for thrills and chills, and remember boys and girls, there are no happy endings in noir. http://a-twist-of-noir.blogspot.com/search/label/Dana%20C.%20Kabel

The economy sucks!  Work is scarce.  Do you give up?  Not if you are a Hardworking Man!  http://theflashfictionoffensive.blogspot.com/2011/09/hardworking-man-by-dana-c-kabel.html

Check out my latest at David Barber's fantastic The Flash Fiction Offensive.

A New Story and a new story

There are two new tales in the column to the right; The Sitter and The Run.  I am quite fond of both of these stories, and they were both written when I was visiting in NJ.  The Sitter came about after pondering just who in the world I would actually trust to watch my two year old daughter, Rose, if my wife were to start working full time again.  The answer is...NO ONE...you'll understand why after you read the story.

The Run came out of thin air.  I wanted to write something that had the suggestion of violence without giving all of the graphic details.  Sometimes it is best to leave things to the imagination of the reader. 
Unfortunately, right after I wrote this one, there was an actual campus shooting on the news...so I had to let it cool for a little bit before putting it out there.  Hope you enjoy them both.

New Story

Please check out my latest story, Mother's Milk in Cindy Rosmus' excellent zine, Yellow Mama, by clicking on the title in the Stories column on the right.

Little Miss Smartypants

My amazing two year old daughter Rose, who at this moment is tossing and turning and crying in her sleep, continues to surprise me on a daily basis.  Yesterday she took the paper Burger King crown that she had been wearing for several hours off of her head and placed it on me.  I said, "Oh, I'm a princess," in a probably disturbing falsetto.  She furled her brow and said, "No Daddy, you're not a princess, you're a king."  I said, "So you're the princess?"  And she replied, "I'm not a princess, I'm Rose."  With a look of compassion for my apparent stupidity.  None the less, she IS my princess.

A couple of days earlier, Rose came into the bathroom while I was shaving and told me that she wanted to ask me a question.  To be clear about what she had just said, I turned the water off and knelt down and asked her to repeat herself.  She said, "I want to ask you a question."

I said, "OK, ask me your question."

Rose proceeded to pull up her little pink bathroom stool and sat down on it.  With her favorite dolly tucked under her arm and a very serious look on her face she said, "Your name is Daddy?"

"Is that your question?"  I asked.

"Yes."

"Well, you call me Daddy and Bubba and Emily call me Daddy because I am your father.  But Mommy calls me Dana because that is my name too.  So I have two names, Daddy..and Dana."

"So...you're Daddy?"

"Yes Rose, I'm Daddy."

"Oh, okay."

"Does that answer you question?"

"Yes," she said and got up from her stool and walked out of the room.

Sometimes I'm afraid that this kid is so smart that she'll make the old man here look like a blithering idiot.

Amazon review of Top Suspense

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A Page Turner of Top Writers, March 20, 2011 By  dana kabel - See all my reviews This review is from: Top Suspense: 13 Classic Stories by 12 Masters of the Genre (Kindle Edition) The stories in this collection are fast-paced and raw. It's like listening to your favorite band's garage album. Any of these stories alone would be well worth the price tag, but all of them for less than three bucks is a steal. Max Allan Collins, creator of my favorite hit man, Quarry, leads off the collection with one of his other popular series characters, detective Nathan Heller. Other highlights include The Canary by Dave Zeltserman, author of the critically acclaimed novel The Caretaker of Lorne Field and recently released Blood Crimes. The Canary is a tight crime story with a twist. Ed Gorman delivers a disturbing look at the future of genetic engineering in The Baby Store. And Harry Shannon surprises with a fresh take on the hit man story in A Handful of Dust. The whole collection is rounded up with a collaboration by all of the contributors in The Chase, which is about a bad bitch, a bag of money, and a handful of greedy bad guys. It's a great read and I had fun trying to guess who wrote which parts. There is a link at the end of the story to find out who wrote what. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | Permalink Comment Comment