I could not be more excited to share that my short story, THESE COLD STRANGERS, is now available from Amazon Originals! What’s so fun is this is a part of a themed collection called We Could Be Heroes, which digs into what it really means to be a hero. Do you need a cape and the ability to fly? Or is it something deeper, smaller, but no less extraordinary?
The collection features five original short stories written by a couple of folks you might know... Lisa Scottoline, Lisa Unger, Janelle Brown, Victor Methos, and me! They’re all available today—the full collection or as individual stories—and in both digital and audio!
Here’s more about THESE COLD STRANGERS, which is read by Brittany Presley, who beautifully narrated Her Dark Lies, too.
From New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison comes a chilling tale about how a reporter’s deep dive into a viral video challenges her preconceived notions of what being a hero really means.
When she recognizes the heroic stranger in a sensationalized news video, Addison Blake plans to use the information to her career’s advantage. That means returning to the hometown she left behind ten years ago, but her ambitions are more important than the ghosts of her past. She’s focused on breaking this story—as long as it doesn’t break her first.
J.T. Ellison’s These Cold Strangers is part of We Could Be Heroes, a darkly inquisitive collection of short stories that examines heroic intentions versus their real-life consequences. Read or listen to each in a single sitting.
This story was inspired by the news of a man who died after being left alone, incapacitated, for hours, on a Parisian street. The story broke my heart and went directly into my ideas file. How could we be so callous? How could we let someone lie there, dying, and not stop to help?
Part of my job as a thriller writer is to shine a light on injustice when I see it — and maybe find a path to redemption. I hope that’s the case with this story. I had a lot of thoughtful moments mentally debating what it means to be a hero. I hope this challenges you, too.
And some background for you about this cool program:
Amazon Original Stories is Amazon Publishing’s imprint dedicated to short nonfiction and fiction by bestselling authors and new voices. AOS stories are intended to be read—or listened to—in a single sitting (5,000 to 20,000 words). Each story is available free to Prime members and Kindle Unlimited subscribers, and $1.99 for non-subscribers. Every download includes a free Audible edition as well.
Amazon Original Stories has published stories by Pulitzer and National Book Award winners and international bestsellers, in categories ranging from memoir to suspense to true crime to literary fiction. AOS stories have won the Hugo, Audie, and O. Henry awards and have been nominated for the Edgar, Locus, and Thriller Awards. They have been selected for the Best American anthology series four times and optioned for film and television. An overview of all published titles can be found here.