Cosmic Egg For Breakfast and Six More Short Stories is a journey from the farcical to the portentous, from the gritty to the horrendous. In other words, from G rated to R rated as you progress through the book. Let the story blurbs show what awaits you inside these pages: 1) Cosmic Egg for Breakfast. A teenage alien receives a star egg for her birthday, and she plans to use its energy for her father's breakfast. But first; party! 2) Drunk on The Milk of Humans. Toddler-sized aliens land on a farm and get more than they bargained for from the farmer's wife. 3) The Martian Conspiracy (Or Another Crank Phone Call). A conspiracy theorist receives a call that confirms his suspicions that aliens are behind several space probe failures. Or does it? 4) Steven George. An exogeographer and his AI ship land on a world to map it for colonization, but their models for intelligent life don't prepare them for what they find. 5) Blood of the White Krai. In hopes of reuniting with their star ancestors, aliens participate in a ritualistic hunt to obtain blood crystals that power their technology. 6) Reflections in a Temporary Life. A young man, in a crisis moment, recalls episodes of bullying in his life. 7) Manipulations. The daughter of a billionaire needs a liver and kidney transplant and he will anything to obtain pristine organs for her, including convincing followers of a Christian sect to commit murder.
About the Author: I use the initialized version of my name, R. C. Qualls, since the name that I was given at birth, Raymond Christopher Qualls, is far too long for most bylines. My first attempt at writing a story was for a fifth-grade writing contest when I was a student at South Rossville Elementary School in Rossville, Georgia. Instead of writing historically focused entries like the other students, I wrote a science fantasy story set in a faraway world in another galaxy. (The main character in that story is the same main character in "Blood of the White Krai," although his name was spelled differently back then.) My story didn't win, but the effort hooked me on writing. My life took many detours since then that included earning three associate degrees and a bachelor's degree while performing a variety of jobs. Those jobs included working as a bagger and a produce clerk for a regional retail grocery chain, serving as a medic and non-commissioned officer in the USAF, working as a construction site emergency medical technician, working as an industrial safety and worker's compensation coordinator for an international company, working as an electronics technician, and working as an industrial engineering technician. While I was learning and working, I married and became the father of two daughters. When I reached the half-century mark in my life, I decided to return to my dream of writing and make a serious effort to make real the worlds I imagined long ago. I hope to live long enough to be an example of a person never being too old to make their dreams real.