I'd said that I'd do Ready Reads today, but . . .

See, there's a problem. After culling out repeat authors, stories that were FAR too short, and stories that were suggested but inappropriate due to requiring outside reading to understand, I was left with a grand total of four -- count 'em, FOUR -- suggested stories.

READY READS 2: FANTASTIC GADGETS

Here are the suggestions that passed muster.

-----

Power Fluctuations, by Jerry 526
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book-page/64707/power-fluctua...
Body swaps go wrong for a pair of people with notably different lives. This one needs a BIG trigger warning, since it ends on a very dark (and sad) note. Any more said would be too much.

The Mysterious Amanda Jenkins Look-Alike Suit, by Vessica
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/67572/mysterious-aman...
Alien body suits and some mind alteration make for a bit of a kinky tale.

Faraday Serum, by Light Clark
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/66975/faraday-serum
This tale is a last-minute pinch hit suggestion from our own Erin Halfelven. In a future plagued by, well, plague, a space colony loses its entire female population. When an alien tech is found that can transform men into women, the future might just change for the entire planet . . . .

Like a Candle in the Wind, by Laurie S.
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/3217/like-candle-wind
Another last-minute suggestion from Erin (otherwise we'd have only had TWO,) this is another body suit tale, but with a historical twist. Quite a bit of length, and a little bit of romance, not to mention some legendary quotes.

-----

That's it for this week people. As a reminder, authors can't be featured two weeks in a row: this is to make sure that we get a good slate of different writers across the board, and is why both Elrod and Casey Brooke are absent from this week's list despite being suggested. Likewise, story length: IDEALLY I would like to stick to stories of 5k words or more for Ready Reads rather than shorter works.

That said, I'm thinking our NEXT theme might just fare a bit better, because the winner for this week is *drumroll* . . . .

READY READS: TWEENS

That's right, it's all about the young 'uns this time around! This time it's all about main characters between the ages of 10 and 13 (maybe starting or ending slightly outside that range,) and given that this was a reader voted category I'm expecting a LOT of great suggestions this time!

As an added request this time around: please, nothing featuring adult content in regards to the kids. Thank you.

-----

Lastly, our suggestion box for the NEXT round of topics! Just like last time, we have three choices, with your vote being determined by your choice of like, love, or thank at the end of this post! Most voted choice wins!

Our options are:

Like: "High School Daze." This topic would be all about high schoolers (9-12 in US, year 9+ elsewhere.)

Love: "Women in Uniform." Stories will be about women in the military, modern or otherwise. Knights, Amazons, Airmen and Soldiers!

Thank: "Born This Way." This subject would cover characters who are intersex and misdiagnosed/misgendered at birth.

Once again, thanks to everyone who sent in their suggestions, and I'm hoping we get even more this time 'round. Now, go enjoy your Ready Reads!