Short Fiction and Anthologies

Below is a list of short fiction stories by Raven Oak, available on their own or in anthologies.


Hungry

When a veterinary medical journal spoke about using MRIs to decipher when dogs and cats are in pain, are tired or hungry, or other states, I loved the idea of using such science to eventually create a collar that could do the same thing. No, it won’t tell you what your cat’s thinking, but it could give you basic states such as tiredpain, or thirsty. That’s how “Hungry” came about.

Untethered

A Magic iPhone Anthology

From award-winners and bold new voices, from experienced fantasists and professional technologists, these stories are fun, clever, and often positive about the power of technology.

Includes:  “Q-Be” by Raven Oak, a story about a freemium app gone horribly wrong.

Click the image for more information.

Magic Unveiled

An Anthology

From heart wrenching, ghostly goodbyes to relatives, to discovering sparks of otherworldly magic permeating contemporary society, these nine tales of magical realism and paranormal fantasy come together to form this enchanting and gripping anthology.

Includes:  “Mirror Me” by Raven Oak, a story of a Seattle police officer who sees his face everywhere he goes.

Click the image for more information.

Swords, Sorcery, & Self-Rescuing Damsels

Twenty bestselling and award-winning authors offer enchanting tales of women and girls forging paths through darkness and peril. Cleverness, curiosity, and determinations make worthy heroines in fantastical new worlds.

Includes: “Alive” by Raven Oak, a story featuring Ida from Amaskan’s Blood in a hunt for someone from her past.

Click the image for more information.

Magic Underground Anthology Trilogy

No matter the world, life can be dangerous. Be they wizards and shamans, assassins, or everyday people, Hidden Magic tells their stories about escape, consequences, and most of all, magic. From Earth cities and fantastical new worlds comes a collection of stories where heroes grapple with the seen and unseen in order to save themselves, their families, and often the world.

Hidden Magic includes: “Amaskan” by Raven Oak, a story featuring Ida from Amaskan’s Blood as she fights her destiny to become a member of the Order of Amaska.

Wayward Magic includes: “Pretty Poison” by Raven Oak, a story featuring Ida from Amaskan’s Blood as she struggles to defend a town against destructive magic.

Forgotten Magic includes: “Honor After All” by Raven Oak, a story featuring Ida from Amaskan’s Blood  as she fights to keep her identity hidden and her family safe from her past.

Click the image to get more information.

The Last Cities of Earth

featuring "Scout's Honor" by Raven Oak

From the world of artist Jeff Sturgeon comes The Last Cities of Earth.

2091The Year the Earth changed.

As Yellowstone erupts, sending humankind into an extinction level event, cities race to the skies in order to survive the coming ice age. As some scientists focus on space colonization and floating cities, others delve into the darkness of genetic modification and new evolutions of humanity.

It is now YE 210, over two-hundred years after the day that changed the world, and global trade routes have resumed. As more cities become connected, old technologies begin to fail and along with them, the knowledge to repair them.

Ideological wars have resurfaced. Threats are abundant from both ground and sky, and if previous space colonies exist, they remain silent…

Welcome to the new world.

Will humanity survive it?

Great Beyond Anthology

featuring "Weightless" by Raven Oak

Contains the story “Weightless” by Raven Oak. In the developing industry of space tourism, a disabled and neurodivergent traveler finds her first space vacation frought with prejudicial attitudes. When a ship malfunction threatens the lives of all on board, will Tara survive, or will she perish as society expects?

Anthology blurb:

Journey to worlds near and far… 
 
The Great Beyond Anthology is a compilation of timeless space adventure tales. From humanity’s first footsteps into space, to galaxies far away, to alternative versions of Earth, these fun and hopeful tales will transport you far from our present reality.
 
Featuring bestselling authors as well as fresh new voices, begin your journey into the great beyond.

 

It Has Pockets

featuring "Learning to Fly" by Raven Oak

Raven’s story deals with magical pockets sewn into a dress for a very special day. More details coming soon.

NOTE: This anthology has died. You can see my story for it, “Learning to Fly” in my short story collection, Dragon Springs & Other Things.

The Loss of Luna

Arizona State University, in conjunction with NASA, is working on a project called LunaH-Map, which you can read more about here: https://lunahmap.asu.edu/

An SD card full of humanity will be carried by the LunaH-Map spacecraft on to the Moon, where it will remain until other life forms find and examine it. Raven was invited to write a story for this SD-card time capsule, which she titled “The Loss of Luna.”

2023 NOTE: It has officially landed on the moon! Woohoo!

Copyright © 2020 by Raven Oak.

The Letter U

A poem

I wrote this poem the day Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. It’s called “The Letter U” and is about the actions we take, the emotions we feel, and where I feel we are going. Click HERE to read it.

Peace Be with You, Friend

This is a short end-of-the-world story involving unlikely friends that I wrote in a day. I liked the idea of thinking about what words mean and how some meanings change while others don’t.

99 Tiny Terrors Anthology

99 Tiny Terrors includes my short story “Drip,” a horror story about insomnia and counting.

From the publisher:

There’s nothing better than a short, sharp slice of flash fiction to get the mind working. 99 Tiny Terrors is an anthology that the reader can dip into for something deliciously dangerous in a short amount of time or spend an afternoon trolling through blood soaked stories from all over the world including Canada, England, Germany, Greece, Ireland, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United States, and Wales.

Featuring stories from the devious minds of Seanan McGuire, Ruthanna Emrys, Meg Elison, Wendy N. Wagner, Scott Edelman, Cat Rambo, Tim Waggoner, and more.

Clarity

Clarity features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci-Fi.

My story in this, “Wrinkled,” was inspired by a year when I was blind. The story also won an Honorable Mention in the Queer Sci-Fi 2022 Flash Contest.

Soul Jar

Thirty-One Fantastical Tales by Disabled Authors

Publisher: Forest Avenue Press

Editor: Annie Carl

My story, “Weightless,” which was originally published in The Great Beyond anthology, was reprinted for Soul Jar and mentioned by name in the review by Publisher’s Weekly.

Soul Jar was long-listed for the 2023 Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement in an Anthology and was listed as a Top 10 2024 pick by the ALA’s Booklist!

99 Fleeting Fantasies

EVEN A DREAM CAN BE CAUGHT IN PROSE…

There’s nothing better than a moment of whimsy and a dash of the fantastical to get the mind wandering. 99 Fleeting Fantasies is a flash fiction anthology readers can tiptoe through for a bit of wonder or while away an afternoon as they meander from old-time tales to far-flung fables to serious snippets of legend and lore that come from all over the world, including Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, and the United States.

Featuring stories from the imaginative minds of Cat Rambo, Charles Stross, Crystal Frasier, Jody Lynn Nye, Jonathan Maberry, Premee Mohamed, Seanan McGuire, Wole Talabi, and many more!

Publisher: Pulse Publishing
Editor: Jennifer Brozek

My story in this anthology is called “Not Today” and is the story about a group of birds facing their mortal enemy.

RELEASE DATE: 2/15/2024

The Ringers

Originally, this novella was released as part of Joy to the Worlds: Mysterious Speculative Fiction for the HolidaysLater, it was released as an individual novella.

Ol' St. Nick

Originally, this novella was released as part of Joy to the Worlds: Mysterious Speculative Fiction for the HolidaysLater, it was released as an individual novella.

Interdimensions

Stories from the Gen Con Writers' Symposium

A prophet with mysterious abilities readies himself for the collision of Earth’s past and present. A betrayal leads an orc to break a promise she made to herself. Siblings play one last bloody game of chess, and an adorable AI mascot teaches kids an earworm of a song-and maybe something a bit more sinister. These stories and more await you in Interdimensions!

Sixteen brand-new tales from guests of the 2024 Gen Con Writers’ Symposium take you on a journey spanning the genres of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and slipstream.

Features the story “Eye of the Beholder” by Jennifer Brozek and Raven Oak, a unique urban fantasy story involving a queer police officer and an overseeing city troll. 

Published 8/20/24 from Atthis Arts.

Fading

A poetry collection from very early in Raven Oak’s early writing career. Limited run and now out of print. Contact me for more information on attainability.