*Shortlisted for The Open Novella Contest 2023 and an Ambassadors Pick for the contest*

Written for this year's Open Novella Contest, The Phobos Transit Quilters Guild by wdhenning is based on the Contest's Prompt 15: Three women. Three secrets. Three tangled lives.
A classic prompt one might think for a Contemporary Women's Fiction story or possibly ChickLit.

However...although featuring three heroines, or possibly four if we include Ma, this particular story is an action-packed sci-fi adventure, which takes place on the Phobos Transit Space Station in orbit around Mars.

But where does the quilting fit in to this space age adventure, you ask? Patience.

The story opens in the Starlight Tavern, a pub run by Ma, where we are introduced to three women and the reasons they are each drinking alone. Val has just lost her station operation engineer job, Exo-biologist Cassy is being blackballed for forbidding a promising mining claim, and ex-marine Kate is suffering from a broken heart.

Unemployed, alone and shortly to be evicted, their future seems grim, until Ma insists that they all come along to the next meeting of the Quilters Guild. Despite feeling slightly apprehensive about the quilting, they all turn up and discover that as Ma says, it's not so much about the quilting as it is about being a women's support group.

With the promise of new jobs and possibly a new romance or two on the horizon, all is looking promising for our heroines, that is, until unknown forces attack the space station and their very lives are threatened.

Rather like a making a patchwork quilt, Val, Cassy and Kate must piece together their different skills and abilities along with their courage, to fight back and defend the station and all who live there.

I found this a thoroughly enjoyable story, full of action and colourful characters, who quickly drew me in. Plus I loved the contrast between the futuristic tech and the ancient craft of quilting.

Beautifully written, with the tech part not too technical for the average reader.

Recommended for readers who like to read about strong women and their friendships, wrapped up in a suspenseful plot with a touch of romance, in a foreign location.

To read the story you can click here.

You can find our interview with wdhenning in the latest chapter of our Interview book, here.