Corpora Excerpts
Here you will find selected passages illustrating corpus tone. Each passage is grouped by edition to support orientation within the archive.
Held Stories Seasons
Encounter-based contemporary literary fiction
She Watched a Single Clip and Kept Writing - 2026
Mary turned the car on but didn’t go anywhere for a while. She turned her radio off and closed her eyes. She softly opened her eyes checked the clock and pulled her car out of the parking stall.
Arriving home, she opened the front door, set her portfolio and purse on the dining room table. Going to the spare bedroom Frank used as an office, she found a notepad and a pen and returned to the table. Pen in hand, scribbling notes on the page, a list began to form. Names, dates, phone numbers she added later. Friends she once knew, ones she still had contact with.
She checked her watch, eleven thirty. She kept writing. Scribbling some drawings along the border when her mind wandered. She remembered nights out with the girls, them trying to get her to go home with someone else. She looked up, trim along the ceiling they used to hang Christmas decorations. The small chandelier above the table they would place pastel bulbs in for Easter when the kids were young. Over to one side was the living room where every Christmas was like window shopping at a major department store. The other side was a bay window overlooking a once manicured backyard where Frank would always romance her.
Held Stories Manuscripts
Narrative literary fiction documenting life movement and consequence
She Slipped and Changed Her Plans for Tomorrow - 2026
Digging her feet into the snow gave some traction. That was until she hit something smooth and hard, her balance threw her off to one side and she found herself lying sideways in the snow. A pain radiating from her ankle. She attempted to stand and realized that, a block from home, it will take some time to hobble on the weak foot.
Thoughts of cocoa, undressing her coats and hanging them in the closet. Motivation spiked and she started on as normal. Seeing the front door of her apartment complex, her foot gave out and she stumbled again. Determined, she hardly put weight on that foot while she inched toward the door.
Entering her apartment, she went to the fridge. Digging in the freezer for ice packs and taking tea towels from the drawer beside the stove. Sitting in her chair, she wraps the weak foot in an ice pack. Grabs the remote and turns on her tv. The news was reporting politics. Having already heard what was going on in the world, she turned on her streaming service. She selected a mild romantic comedy and let it play in the background.
Held Stories Chronicles
Non-contemporary narrative corpus
A Thief Wanders His Way Toward Mar - 2026
Walking slowly became easier the longer he travelled. Keeping appearances as though he belonged, Arthur kept circling around the market until his legs felt steady beneath him. The ache in his head took longer to clear. After some time perusing the substantially large number of vendors, his mind reoriented itself. Skills emerged that felt new, but as though he always possessed them. He attempted one.
Scanning the market, he found a very wealthy shop owner selling fine silk garments. His thought was to obtain a secure belt and coin purse from a vendor on the other side of the market; they appeared around his waist. The public didn’t observe a thing; they kept going, with Arthur observing them, confused how nobody saw the immediate transformation. Then he thought of filling the coin purse most of the way with various coins from various wealthy vendors who wouldn’t miss them. His belt began to sag. He added a shoulder strap to keep his belt up and perused the finer vendors for wares.
Many eyed him up and down, rejecting him as he came close. Until he decided to go to the less affluent vendors, upgrade his clothing and slowly evolve his way to this area once more.
Novella I - Decisive
Dragging a stick across the ground in a cul-de-sac of a small town in rural Saskatchewan, Sam finds himself surrounded by late-1950s-era bungalows. Many have seen better days, but some, including his own, are very well maintained, with new siding, windows, and even a newer vehicle in the driveway. Given the nature of the town being a farming and ranching hub, safety is always a priority to the locals. And thus, Sam knows he is completely fine sitting on the curb, allowing his mind to wander.
Feeling every ridge of the asphalt under the stick, Sam imagines he is driving cross-country. He is now travelling through the badlands in a side-by-side ATV, waving at people who are too far away to see more than a black and red roll cage covering a deep blue vehicle body. Riding in the passenger seat is Sam’s best pal Harry, who picks the best music this side of Toronto. Neither boy cares where this rig is headed, so long as it is far from where they started.