- S T O R Y T E L L E R -
GARY ZENKER
PRINT BOOKS & ANTHOLOGIES
I am fortunate that both readers and editors find my stories worthy of reading and sharing. Here are the published books and anthologies where some of my stories live.
Ruth and Ann's Guide to Time Travel, Vol 2
ISBN: xxx
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Celestial Echo Press honored me by reprinting my story originally published in their previous collection Trenchcoat Chronicles. We all know the various reasons people opt to time travel: curiosity, riches, to correct a great wrong. The question I wanted to answer was "What would it take to motivate you to go back over and over if each time you did, you lost the thing of highest value to you: time?" And like any good story, there are a couple of surprises in there, as well.
Publishing in November 2024
Witcraft 24
ISBN: xxx
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The popular online repository for clever writing issues its own printed anthology of the best stories from each year. Among the other wonderful stories contained here is "Soup for One," the true word for word recounting of a conversation with my son after I got a note from his teacher complaining that he was playing air tuba during class. It one example why children kill their own parents.
Publishing in October 2024
Loss
ISBN: 978-1-922427-36-6
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Volume 9 in Pure Slush's 12-volume 'Lifespan' series
237 writers ruminate on the meaning and effects of loss.
This is my third story appearing with this publisher, in different anthologies.
This volume features my story Sixty Minutes, on the loss of my father Carl Zenker. My father was a good man and died over thirty years ago in a traffic accident overseas. My story is about the connection that isn't easily severed even when the body is no longer present.
Published in February 2024
Gummy Bears From Hell
ISBN-9781941028476
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Sugar-Free Gummy Bears are famous (or infamous, take your pick) for wreaking havoc on people's gastrointestinal systems. Since the mid-2010s, people offered reviews of the devil-spawn treats by regaling readers with a recounting of the results after eating these innocent-looking treats. The culprit in the intestinal attacks was one of the sweet's ingredients, which also acted as an industrial-strength laxative. Just four or five of the bears caused real distress. People ate them by the handful.
After being offered to the public for years and thousands of detailed reviews, one of the primary manufacturers pulled them from the market. the reviews subsequently disappeared into an internet "black hole" (the wording of which is quite ironic after reading the reviews themselves).
Unlike the product itself which appears to be gone forever, the reviewer comments are collected here so that you can laugh at other people's circumstances and misfortunes, if you are that kind of person. So read on and get all the straight poop on everything. Just for sh*ts and giggles, of course.
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Published in September 2022
Marriage
ISBN-9781922427304
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The pairing of two people together, for better or worse, can cover a lot of ground. The most intimate of relationships, marriage, can be both a blessing and a curse at the very same time. The person we love most is sometimes the person we hate most. And that's the easy part.
This massive anthology assembles the flash fiction storytelling skills of 187 authors worldwide as they use poetry and prose to tell stories of the coupled. Joy, dread, comedy, drama...it's all here. Some of it familiar and other parts alien and strange. That's people for you.
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Published in August 2022
It's NOT What You Think
ISBN-13-9781941028346
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A mother with a baby in her arms robbing a convenience store. A class reunion with a high school bully. A chance encounter at a nude beach. A woman flashing her breasts at a cocktail party. A dream visit from a recently departed parent.
This volume collects over three dozen short stories that prove there's often more to the story and the characters than is first apparent.
Many of these stories have been selected for publication by other anthologies and on-line journals. Also included are author notes on each story and QR codes for many, linking to live readings.
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Published in 2017
Chicken Soup For The Soul: Laughter
ISBN-9781611599992
This first-ever humor collection published by Chicken Soup proves that laughter truly is the best medicine. ​101 authors contribute laugh-out-loud tales focused on domestic disasters, Embarrassing moments, parenthood, Pets, mistaken identity, work and other topics.
This volume features my story, "Going Commando," a tale describing the challenges of fatherhood when you have to react to the unexpected. It is a true story, as all stories in the volume are.
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Published in April 2020
Trenchcoat Chronicles
ISBN-00000000000
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The second anthology published by Celestial Echo Press. Over two dozen stories that prove a trenchcoat isn't all it seems and neither is the wearer.
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This volume features my story, "Saving Time," a story that offers a very different approach to a trenchcoat's value. This is my longest short story, just over 2,000 words and over double the length of what I normally write. Written specifically for this collection. Another example of "It's Not What You Think."
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Publishing in Late 2020
202o In A Flash
ISBN-979-8561188985
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An anthology of the best flash fiction & art chosen from 2020 issues of both cc&d magazine and Down in the Dirt magazine. Given their monthly publications and the selective nature of being chosen in the first place, it's quite an honor to be included.
My story, "Going Commando" was selected as one of their best for the year.
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Published November 2020
Wings of Desire
ISBN- 979-8697852040
This anthology features my story "Lies of Omission." Besides being deeply personal, this story is unusual that it was written and almost completely edited during a one and a half hour walk I did in October 2019. It was created from a combination of finger tapping and voice recognition recordings on my cell phone. Really!
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This story had already been written and presented live at a Phoenixville Library Open Microphone night. I thought it might fit their book, and I guess I was right!
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Publishing in August 2020
The Shit List
ISBN-9781925536904
​True story: After 11 years as Municipal Chief Librarian in Quonsetville, Vermont, Euphoria Rivers gave her notice in spectacular fashion. She wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper and included a list of every person in the town who she considered made her life a living hell and drove her away.
This volume includes 35 fiction stories based on the facts behind Euphoria's life, the town geography and the people who lived there.
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My story, "Letter To The Editor," was written specifically for this volume and appears here exclusively.
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Published in 2020
The Twofer Compendium
ISBN-9781951967369​
This first book release for Celestial Echo Press focuses on stories about or involving twins. In all, 36 authors share stories that range from offbeat to bizarre, offering the audience very different perspectives on the fascination society holds for twins.
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My story, "Second Thoughts," was written specifically for this volume and appears here exclusively.
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Published in 2020
Says Seth
ISBN-978-0989334419
Belches, farts and poop. Penises, butts and boobs. All the great 'taboo' topics. Plus love, food, unanswered questions and more. Life as observed and explained through the words of one very funny boy named Seth from the ages of 4 to 6. Enhanced by the sarcastic after-comments of his Daddy. Says Seth is a collection of brilliant life observations which will make anyone who has ever been a parent, a brother or a sister to laugh and occasionally shoot the beverage of choice through his or her nose. Part S#^! My Dad Says without the nastiness and part Kids Say The Darndest Things, up-to-date in content and format. You'll love the innocence and the charm of Seth's comments. As a parent, you'll laugh and recall all the funny comments your own kids made. Perfect for parents, grandparents and anyone who loves kids and a good laugh
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Published in 2014
Deathfarts - More Says Seth
ISBN-978-1941028254
More life observations from one very funny kid. Seth is back! Older (by a year or so), wiser and with more comments on the world as he sees it. Deathfarts.com is a second collection of the kind of things that can only be said by a child. Once again, his infatuation with body parts show how much we take for granted...and how it all comes together naturally in a younger mind.
Co-author and Seth's Daddy Gary Zenker adds colorful commentary and offers the other perspective on Seth's observations and questions. Get ready to laugh!
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Published in 2017
Noir at a Bar - The Oxford Files
ISBN-978-1941028339
WATCH YOUR STEP. THERE ARE BODIES EVERYWHERE. Noir At A Bar - The Oxford Files celebrates the readings of authors sharing their tales of suspense, crime...and murder. The local writers presenting at the June 2018 benefit for the Oxford Public Library now share those and other stories in print, once again to benefit the library.
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Published in 2017
Going Off-Grid
ISBN-979-8614034269
"Going Off-Grid" is a 2020 Scars Publications poetry and prose book with material from assorted writers and artists, as the March 2020 issue release of the literary magazine "Down in the Dirt" (http://scars.tv/dirt). Since 2014 "Down in the Dirt" magazine is released every other month (and sometimes with bonus issues) as a 6"x9" perfect-bound paperback book.
My story, Going Commando, is included in this collection.
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Published in 2020
Running Wild Anthology Vol. 1
ISBN-978-0997778823
This gripping collection of stories - fiction, nonfiction, and narrative poem - will make your imagination run wild! You will travel alternative planets, run away away like teens in search of adventure, solve a murderous mystery, come to grips with your fears, and much more.
My story, Critique, is included in this collection.
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Published in 2020
Running Wild Anthology Vol. 2
ISBN-978-1947041059
Over twenty stories that will make your heart race, make you joyful, fearful, thrilled, inspired, and horrified.
These are stories that will make your imagination run wild. Featured in swag bags for the 2019 Golden Globe presenters and nominees
My story, Misplaced Memories, is included in this collection.
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Published in 2018
Running Wild Best of 2018
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Our readers told us the best of the best and we listened. Dive into sand dunes, explore Europe, race across country, feel the sting of an all-too-real-myth. And that's just a few of the stories in this collection.
My story, Misplaced Memories, is included in this collection.
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Published in 2018