Happy Release Day to the second volume of the Voices of the Future anthology series!
Last time I did the cover reveal, I had to leave out the blurbs of each of the stories, because there wasn’t enough room in the post. However, I definitely wanted to do a follow up because I think all the stories deserve a special spotlight. So in honor of the release, I present to you the blurbs of all 9 featured stories!
(Amazon and Goodread links to the anthology are at the end. Also, I’ve included the links to all the authors’ social media platforms).
The Graveyard of Lost Dreams
Author: Kyla Carter (Newsletter | Instagram)
Genre: Fantasy
In a world where dreams must be caught to come true, one girl risks everything to capture the life she believes she wants.
Adeline was supposed to catch her dream by now, just like everyone her age. But when she fails to capture one of the haunting, floating orbs again during the Festival of Dreams – the celebration held once a year – she watches her hopes of saving her family from dreamless status slip through her fingers. With only one more chance to succeed before her eighteenth birthday, Adeline is willing to risk everything, including stealing a dream from the Graveyard of Lost Dreams. But some dreams aren’t worth keeping. And, sometimes, forcing yourself into a stolen dream only creates a nightmare.
A Deathbed Wish
Author: Alyssa Guthrie (Instagram)
Genre: Historical Fantasy
After the final battles of WWII, Colonel Jon Walker wakes up in a New York hospital, dying of war injuries. But the fear of death is nothing compared to the guilt of having shattered his relationship with his daughter after she announced her marriage to a German immigrant and he stopped all communication with her.
Knowing he doesn’t have much time left, he makes one desperate wish: to see his daughter once more before he dies. When he wakes up in a train station exactly twenty-four hours earlier, with his smashed wristwatch working again, Jon realizes he’s been able to go back in time, giving him a chance to make things right with his daughter. But after everything that happened, is forgiveness even possible? And what happens after all the numbers on his wristwatch fade out?
Zelophehad’s Daughters
Author: Hannah Marie (Newsletter)
Genre: Historical/Biblical Fiction
Before he died, Mahlah’s father trusted her with the care—and the futures—of her four younger sisters. Now, as the twelve tribes of Israel prepare to march into the Promised Land, her and her sisters’ futures are tenuous, at best. With no father and no brothers, there is no one to speak for Mahlah and her family—no guarantee that they’ll be given a place among their people when the tribes claim their lands.
When Moses orders a census of all the men as a precursor to dividing up the land, Mahlah realizes her best chance at fulfilling her father’s trust is to convince the census taker to count her and her sisters in her father’s place. But the census taker tells her she’ll have to take the matter to court.
Convinced that her cause is just, Mahlah goes confidently to the first chief. But after he refers her to a second chief, and that chief to a third, her confidence wanes. Should she continue seeking to preserve her father’s name and portion of the land in the hopes of securing a place to live among her people? Or will doing so actually risk the very future she is trying to secure?
The Colors in the Well
Author: Sarah Pagel (Newsletter | Instagram)
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Ivy is cursed—at least, that’s what all the kids at school whisper. With her secondhand clothes and whimsical love of art, Ivy was never as popular as her older sister. But after she touches the school’s haunted well, the students are convinced she’s doomed to fall down it just like a girl did fifty years ago. They treat her like an outcast, throwing her watercolor tin into the well.
The only way to break the curse? Climb down the well, retrieve her paints, and make it back up to prove the haunted well has let her go. But what Ivy doesn’t know is that an ancient creature waits for her at the bottom—and it’s far more than a myth.
The Sister Knot
Author: Alabama Rose (Newsletter | Instagram)
Genre: Contemporary
Taylor and Jasmine were supposed to be friends—”sisters”—forever. Growing up as a pilot’s kid, moving from place to place, Taylor has lost enough friends already. But now, her best friend is drifting away.
To uphold their favorite tradition, Jasmine comes over to make donuts on the first snowfall of the year. Just like old times. And it might just be Taylor’s last chance to fix things before she loses someone again.
But when what’s supposed to be a girls night is crashed by a lanky, chivalrous boyfriend, Taylor’s plans for the evening are threatened—and so is her friendship. If she can’t stop life from changing, will it take everything from her?
If Ye’d Only Say
Author: Kellyn Roth (Website | Newsletter)
Genre: Historical Fiction
Introverted Bob has been in love with strong-willed, sensible Ena since he was about five years old. Though she has other suitors, miraculously she accepts his proposal … but she doesn’t say the three little words that would’ve made the moment perfect. Her acceptance ought to be enough for any man—but it just isn’t. It means he’s not the only person she wants to marry … just the one who asked her first, the one who will someday own a store, the one who offers her the most security. Will Bob ever win her heart … or is “I love you” something she will never say?
In Our Blood
Author: Elena B. Sato (Newsletter | Instagram)
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Elisa has a blood disease that has kept her inside her tenement—her only companion the fata—fairies. Her family cares for her, but she feels like a burden. Even Micola—her younger sister and closest friend—drifts away as she goes out into the world.
When her mother breaks her arm, someone has to go to the factory job in her stead. They can’t survive without her income. The family isn’t going to send Elisa, so Micola goes—but when she leaves her lunch pail behind, Elisa seizes the opportunity to help and to get to see the outside world, the fairies—her guide through the city.
The world is dangerous for a girl who could bleed to death so easily—and the factory is no exception. She must choose between the safety she’s clung to and the family she loves.
Miracles
Author: Cameron Skocilic (Newsletter | Instagram)
Genre: Fantasy Comedy Horror
Miles doesn’t believe in Santa, knowing full well he’s a myth, a legend. But he’s having a hard time explaining away the talking reindeer that’s just crashed through his roof. Now whisked away to the North Pole on a mission to rescue Santa, Miles struggles to come to terms with his new insane reality. After all, if magic and miracles were real all along, why didn’t his Mother get one when she needed it most? Little does Miles know his guilt will only feed the dark entity seeking to tip the balance of power from Santa’s wonder to its own favor, planning to spread terror and darkness across the world. And if Miles can’t put behind him the weight of his past loss, he might risk losing his Sister too!
Chichi no Chikai: A Father’s Vow
Author: Kasumi Sonoda (Newsletter | Instagram)
Genre: Historical Fiction
Samurai general Ihara has kept his terminal illness a secret from his wife and daughters, but his concern grows knowing they will be vulnerable in this world that only values physical strength. To protect them, he plans to adopt a strong samurai as his heir. On his way to choose a gift for the future son, he is pickpocketed. His daughter catches the thief and wants to punish him, but Ihara uses the moment to teach her one last time that mercy and compassion are true strength. Even though it cuts into his adoption funds, he makes a deal with the boy and gives him money if he promises to never steal again.
However, days later, word comes that the boy has not stopped stealing. Not only that, but the samurai that Ihara asked to become his heir is slow to agree, leaving him to wonder if his idealistic faith in compassion has ruined his chance to fulfill his final vow to protect his precious family.
Meet the Authors
You can read all of the authors’ bios in this post.
And now, as promised, I’ll leave both the Amazon and Goodreads link below. All proceeds from each book sale goes directly into helping these authors’ careers by giving them a chance to go to writer’s conferences and pitch their books to agents and publishers.
If you’d like to learn more about the Author Conservatory, you can check out their website here.
Which story caught your interest? Have you read Voices of the Future’s first volume? Let’s chat below!
Lillian Keith 
Thank you so much for helping, Lillian!
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Hi Kellyn! Absolutely; congrats on the book release 🙂
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