Tales From an Odd Mind

TALES FROM AN ODD MIND by Nom D. Plume is a selection of short fiction and poems—experiments with different voices, characters, and situations.

After an introduction (by Death), Section One: Chapter Onea consists of 9 first chapters of stories whose ends have not yet been written: For now, these are just beginnings, in different genres:

Off the Map is fantasy. A master and student explore a mystical world.

Wolf & Raven is a darkly humorous piece. After a mysterious mission, two bloodied agents chat at an amusement pier.

Box of J.O.Y.  is some more darkness tinged with humor. Three dangerous men find a child in a box from a mysterious organization .

A Black Dog, A Graveyard, and the Sea is fantasy. A dead man wakes up with his old sword and a new dog.

A Warped View of the Stars is old-school science fiction space opera, with a prisoner on a rebel starship.

Project Kage is a science fiction thriller. A Special Forces commander might undermine her own mission.

Keen and Keen Inc. has elements of urban fantasy. A brother-sister pair of "fixers" and the neighborhood witches.

A Closet Full of Killer Robots is science fiction with a dark superhero tinge. Something strange is in the basement of a mansion for superhumans.

Origin and Dandelion is a mental dialogue between…Well, that would be telling…

Section Two: We Few Old Souls, has 5 interconnected stories about a group of young people who keep getting reincarnated and finding each other. The background and the connections are not immediately revealed, and the stories are pieces of a mosaic rather than links in a linear chain.

Section Three is non-genre Poetry and Prose.  An Ode to Langston Hughes is a poem inspired by a Hughes poem that's used as a common writing prompt;  The Night Belongs to Us is a poem about different areas of the planet and their voices. Thoughts of An Idiot at a Bus Stop is the final piece in the book, a realistic story about a young woman's decision to save what's left of her family…or not.

"Highly recommended for readers who want to be surprised and engaged on a more intellectual, literary level than most eerie works." – D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

"Outstandingly brilliant…Plume's marvelous collection of short stories and poems, a clever blend of dark humor and meditations on death and the workings of the universe, is of the sweeping epic variety despite its slender size." - THE PRAIRIES BOOK REVIEW

"5 stars… Tales From An Odd Mind…captivated me like a spell…There are magical forests, graveyards and spaceships; street corners and purgatory-like way stations…Parts of the book reminded me of the Terry Pratchett-Neil Gaiman series Good Omens. It was dark in just the right amount….You don't know where the next story will take you in time or place so you keep reading." - Autumn Doerr, GOODREADS

"…a vivid collection of speculative vignettes and short stories, each with its own richly imagined world. From magic realism to fantasy and science fiction, readers across all varieties of imagination can find something to love in here." - Joe Walters, INDEPENDENT BOOK REVIEW