Out of 3,000 entries to Round Three of NPR’s Three Minute Fiction contest,

they’ve posted ten - and mine is one of them: Deus Ex Machina:

- Jonathan Railey/Iowa Writers’ Workshop

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In Work:

A feisty thirty-year-old waitress needs to find her rare copy of The Wizard of Oz to save Emerald City, kitsch capital of Kansas. Her ex-lover needs it to save his academic career. Chaos ensues when an interfering Fate, who fancies herself a modern-day Glinda, attempts to weave matchmaking magic.

THE TAG LINE:

Somewhere over the rainbow, all hell is breaking loose.

THE QUERY:

Dorrie Caselotti has shaped her life around the beloved movie, The Wizard of Oz. Her grandfather founded the town of Emerald City, Kansas, a bastion of kitsch and commercialism. When a proposed mega-mall threatens the town’s existence, it’s up to Dorrie to preserve her family’s heritage. To do this, she’ll have to sell her copy of a rare L. Frank Baum manuscript to the highest bidder – but first, she’ll have to find it. Odds are, it was taken by the same man who deceived her aunt Mira and broke Dorrie’s heart: Grayson Parnell.

Dr. Gray Parnell built his academic career on L. Frank Baum and his classic children’s book. Years ago, he salvaged his doctoral dissertation when Mira Caselotti gave him an important Baum letter. Now he needs Dorrie’s help in locating her aunt’s copy of the legendary “Baum Grail,” an early draft of The Emerald City with a controversial ending. If he can persuade Dorrie to donate it to the university, he’s guaranteed a fast track to a full professorship and an endowed chair, unheard of for a man his age. Without it, he’ll lose his position altogether.

The two former lovers are drawn together by a shared quest, faced with obstacles they never expected: flying monkeys, glittering tornadoes, hidden treasure and a skeleton buried under a trailer. Enter Fate – in the form of an interfering fairy godmother – and an impulsive wish for a romantic do-over becomes a horse of a totally different color.

When their enemies join forces, driven by greed and a longing for revenge, Dorrie and Gray have to call on all their resources – their courage, their brains and, most of all, their hearts. All roads lead to the Emerald City on a fantastical journey that forces pragmatic Gray to accept the unbelievable and makes Dorrie, who longed for the fairy tale, wish for an ordinary life.

RUBY STILETTO BLUES, complete at 94,800 words, is a contemporary romance with magical elements.

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MOTHER NATURE’S CHILD

“It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature . . .”

Jessamine Adams left Wales to escape her bat-shit crazy mother, who insists she is descended from Mother Nature herself: the Earth Goddess Anu. Living in the tiny town of Cymru on the shores of Lake Superior, Jessamine has found the home of her heart. No one blinks when trees shower her with blossoms in mid-winter, or when forest creatures move into her home. Surrounded by proof of nature’s fecundity, Jessamine is tired of her lonely, virginal life. For three years she has secretly longed for the mysterious man who vanishes into the lake every night – her dream lover.

Draco Murdock only lives at all because the moon goddess Morgaine desires his human form. When she joined with the horned demons and dryads to destroy his tribe of sea serpents, she made a bargain with him. If he agreed to be her slave, she would allow his cousins to live. He is allowed to visit them from Summer Solstice to the first frost, as long as he follows Morgaine’s rules and returns to her bed in the autumn. Draco’s family died because of his selfishness; he burns to be free of Morgaine but can’t risk losing the rest of his tribe.

Draco’s world is thrown into turmoil when his heart recognizes Jessamine as the mate he’s been seeking. Morgaine will destroy his family if the goddess finds he has broken her rules, and she’ll tear Jessamine limb from limb. Only someone with powers stronger than the moon goddess can save him. When Morgaine makes a surprise visit to Earth, Draco finds Jessamine is not just “a little bit dryad,” but something altogether more powerful. With a projected word count of about 75,000 words, MOTHER NATURE’S CHILD is a paranormal romance.

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NIGHT VISIONS

Don’t close your eyes. Don’t go to sleep. Dreams can be deadly …

Nora Finch has one goal: to protect her little brother and sister. She grew up with an abusive father and her mother’s second husband, Roger Coventry, might be even worse. She suspects Roger had her mother killed, and has been building a perfect, stable life as she petitions the courts to give her custody of her siblings. A frantic phone call from her seven-year-old sister leads Nora to abandon her efforts and go to Plan B.

FBI agent Jackson Tucker has dedicated his career to protecting children. When he’s called in on a case of kidnapping and child abuse, the last person he expects to see in handcuffs is Nora Finch, the sweet kid who had a crush on him when she was still jailbait. Jack believes Nora was trying to protect her siblings, but he’s bound by the law. He has 48 hours to gather proof against the true abuser or deliver the woman he still has feelings for to jail.

The stakes rise when the children vanish and Nora experiences dream-like visions of murders that seem linked to their disappearance. Nora and Jack rekindle the heat that already burned them once as they struggle to save the children and bring down a merciless killer. Night Visions is romantic suspense with paranormal elements, with a targeted word count of 80,000 words.