27 Stories: An LA Wildfire Anthology - Paperback

by Lauren Robinson (Author), Benjamin White (Author), Christi R. Suzanne (Author)

I still remember the morning of January 7, 2025. I awoke to an odd scent of burning ... both natural and chemical. I went downstairs and opened my kitchen door, like I do most mornings. Typically, I'm greeted with the joyful sounds of children heading to school, but this time I found the air thick, the density burning to my eyes and seemingly layered onto my skin, my clothes. The streets were oddly vacant.

I hadn't heard about the fires yet. Something inside me said to close my doors and windows, and do whatever I could to stay inside. Later, I saw the reports. Friends desperately texted one another for days to ensure each other were okay. Each moment, we reiterated to one another that no matter what, if anyone was impacted, they always had a place to stay ... a second home.

Later, dear friends had a need for that second home and continue to do so. The loss caused by such devastation so much more than a physical home, but a place of emotional strength, stability, comfort, joy. All gone in what felt like mere moments.

This anthology is for those who have experienced such loss. To continue to provide a place of solace, words of comfort, and knowledge that somewhere, somehow, others continue to have them in their minds, hearts, and prayers.

-- Lisa Diane Kastner

Author Biography

Lauren Robinson is a longtime copywriter based in Chicago. She has a Master of Science in science journalism from Northwestern University and enjoys using fiction to imagine the human side of future-- or altogether imaginary-- worlds. She lives with two small, furry editors who supervise her while she works. Ben White is not so much of a writer than a witness. Raised in graveyards and baseball dugouts, he is always ready to share stories that capture the human experience. He is the author of 10 books including The Recon Trilogy +1 and Always Ready: Poems from a Life in the U.S. Coast Guard. Look for his forthcoming collection of poetry, Down Along Highway 90, coming out in April 2026. Christi R. Suzanne was nominated for Best Small Fictions 2023. Her work appears in Invisible City, Harpur Palate, the online journals Variant Literature, and Foliate Oak, and elsewhere. She is a member of The Order of the Good Death founded by Caitlin Doughty and is currently working on a gothic novel set in the Pacific Northwest. More of her work can be found at www.christi-r-suzanne.com. Actor, Voice Over Artist, Writer, Photographer. Wife, Sister, Aunt & Dog Lover. These are the roles that make Elaine Partnow who she is. She lives in Culver City, CA with her photographer husband Turner Browne and their five pound "chin-pin" (chihuahua & mini pinscher), Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi House Elf. You can find almost anything you'd like to know about her many accomplishments at ElainePartnow.com Evelyn Griffith is a children's author, opera singer, and literary editor writing from Norfolk, VA. Her work explores themes of faith, resilience, and the human spirit. She is currently writing a Middle Grade Fantasy Novel centered around intergenerational musical magic, and is passionate about crafting stories that resonate with readers on a deep emotional level. Evelyn has been published in the Literary Anthology Constellate. When she's not writing Evelyn is the Editor-in-Chief of the Barely South Review, and enjoys running, baking fresh sourdough bread, and reading YA Fantasy Novels. Ken Goldman, former Philadelphia teacher of English and Film Studies, is an Active member of the Horror Writers Association. He has homes on the Main Line in Pennsylvania and at the Jersey shore. His stories have appeared in over 990 independent press publications in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia with over twenty due for publication in 2024. Holly Redell-Witte lives and writes in La Conner, WA. Born and raised in New York, for many years, she wrote for newspapers and magazines, turning to fiction and creative nonfiction in 2023. Since that turn, her work has appeared in Blood+Honey, Screamin Mamas, Sudden Flash, and the Red Wheelbarrow Press Anthology A World Unsuspected. I Have Always Loved Pigeons is from a longer work that she workshopped as a two-time attendee of The Yale Writer's Workshop. Jerry Purdon writes horror and dark fantasy. Graveyards, Bars, and a Graveyard Bar came out in the summer of 2025. Recently, " Bloodlines" in Incurable: Stories from the World of CURE came out in October of 2025. Also " Monster" was published in the summer of 2025 in an annual short story anthology by Running Wild Press. He has several short stories published such as " Vandora" in Magpie Messenger: Halloween Issue 2024 by Curious Corvid Publishing. He resides in Texas and is married to his ideal reader. You can find Jerry at www.jerrypurdon.com. Lauren Lang is a former broadcast journalist and current freelance photographer and videographer living in Denver, CO. In her spare time, she writes fiction, cooks, bakes, crochets hats for stuffed animals, gardens with the intent of taking pictures of the flowers should they live and terrorizes residents by pretending to be a wildlife photographer and running through area parks with her camera screaming, " Birds!" . Occasionally, she does take a picture of a bird. More information about Lauren and he