[LITHIA, FLORIDA, October 2019—] When indie authors Deidre J Owen (Lithia) and Ronald Linson (New York) first began swapping short stories online last year, they had no way to know they were headed toward a bold new business partnership…or a project drawing authors from across North America. In fact, from across the world.

The two authors had coincidentally both penned stories featuring young female protagonists who had gotten lost (one physically, one metaphorically) which led to the proposal of a themed multi-author anthology. The idea for the anthology was the catalyst for the formation of their new independent publishing house, Mannison Press, LLC (est. April 2019). Over the course of the next several months, they fielded over 150 submissions coming in from across the United States, Canada, Europe, and even Australia.

They titled their anthology “Little Girl Lost: Thirteen Tales of Youth Disrupted.” Seeking only eleven short tales in addition to their own, they settled on stories spanning several different genres including horror, science fiction, crime drama, and fantasy. Several other stories that weren’t selected for the anthology were later offered the opportunity for publication as one of the company’s new Mannison Minibooks or earmarked for adaptation for a subsequent companion volume to be announced by the end of this year.

The list of outside contributors includes authors both new and seasoned, but one name in particular stands out: Piers Anthony. Author of over 190 books and the immensely popular Xanth series, the critically acclaimed New York Times Best Selling Author responded to a congenial invitation from the fledgling publisher and contributed an original short story of his own to the anthology. He has this to say of the anthology:

“This is a varied and interesting collection of stories that I can recommend to readers with a taste for the supernatural; there are no bad ones…They deal with children, but they are evocative for any age.” (Piers Anthony, “OctOgre 2019” newsletter, http://www.hipiers.com/newsletter.html.)

In addition to standard print and ebook editions, “Little Girl Lost” will also offer a special illustrated edition featuring colorful and imaginative illustrations created by Mannison Press co-founder and designer Deidre J Owen. Both print editions will be available on Amazon on October 15, 2019. E-book versions are already available for pre-order on both Amazon (Kindle) at https://amzn.to/2AHWS4x and Smashwords (varied) at https://bit.ly/2lnbx19. You can learn more about the anthology on the publisher’s website at https://mannisonpress.com/.

Mannison Press co-founder and designer Deidre J Owen is a versatile writer, having written and published in a variety of genres including children’s books (picture books and chapter books), speculative fiction, horror, humor, and Christian themes. She also illustrates all her own children’s publications and designs book covers. A Tampa native, she now lives on the outskirts of town with her husband and young daughter. Learn more about Owen’s work on her author website at https://deidrejowen.com/. Owen’s business partner, co-founder and Editor-in-Chief Ronald Linson, lives in New York City and works as a freelance editor. He writes mainly science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but has been known to dabble in other genres as well. Many of Linson’s short stories and poems can be found for free online at http://www.bewilderingstories.com.

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