I’m happy to welcome author Molly Wills Fraser. Today, Molly shares ten “real-life” last chances and the anthology, Larceny & Last Chances: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense.

Here’s Molly!

Have you ever had the misfortune of saying “this is it: my last chance?” You’d fit right in with the protagonists of Larceny & Last Chances, the latest short story anthology edited by Judy Penz Sheluk and published by Superior Shores Press.

The stories in the anthology are all fiction, but if you were looking for some real-life drama, read on for 10 non-fiction last chances.

Last Chance Creek, Helena, Montana: After months of digging downstream, prospectors here said, “this here upstream is our last chance” and finally struck gold. The 1864 find set off the Last Chance Gulch bonanza and netted those prospectors $40,000. That’s $850 million in today’s dollars!

Last Chance, Colorado: An hour outside of Denver lies this ghost town, established in 1925 to sell gas and ice cream to folks heading out on the road. When the I-70 was built in the 1960s, it skirted the town by 40 miles and the town’s prospects dried up like the Colorado plains.

Last Chance Camp, Cheyenne, Wyoming: Stay in a 20-foot teepee or a renovated horse box trailer at this rag-tag campsite. There are hundreds of spots for trailer camping and it’s only five miles to the nearest rodeo.

Last Chance Clearance Store, Phoenix, Arizona: Reviews vary widely from “the best high end designer showcase” to “disorganized mess.” This flea-market style shop features many top brands, but you’ll feel like the prospectors when trying to find that golden outfit.

Last Chance for Animals: This international agency has been working since 1985 to reduce exploitation of animals. They call themselves the “FBI of Animal Rights” and use a combination of militant activism and undercover investigations to expose the cruelty of corporations to the animal kingdom.

Last Chance Rock and Roll Bar, Melbourne, Australia: A dive bar featuring craft beer, live music every night and a side of gritty activism. Their current campaign is to save a cherished live-music venue from developers bent on gentrification and stop the landlords from committing rent larceny.

Last Chance Half Marathon, Calgary, Alberta: If you spend your spring tiptoeing through the tulips instead of running on roads, you need a late race date. Be There Races’ mid-November half marathon gives you one more chance to steal the gold medal before the Canadian winter sets in and your dreams freeze up.

Last Chance Antiques & Cheese Café, Tannersville, New York: A more surprising pairing than dark chocolate and smoked gouda, this off-beat combo in the middle of the Catskills has deluxe cheese plates served in front of antique teacups and vintage snowshoes.

Last Chance, Mars: Discovered by the Mars Rover Opportunity in 2004, this rocky outcrop has thin ripples of less than an inch wide. The thinness and steepness of these ripples suggest that they were formed by water. Water on Mars? That means this planet could one day be humanity’s last chance!

Last Chance Saloon, Wayne, Alberta: There were once many Last Chance Saloons scattered throughout prospecting territory, but the last one standing is in this coal-mining ghost town. On the menu are bison burgers and bullet holes in the walls. At night, be haunted by the pro-union coal miner ghost who has taken up residence of the third floor.

Molly Wills Fraser’s short story, ‘Not This Time” is included in Larceny & Last Chances: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense. Mary teaches high school drama in suburban Ontario. When she isn’t giving students one more chance, she’s nurturing her works in progress — three children, a garden, and more than a few fictional characters. Find out more about her at https://mollywillsfraser.com.

Larceny & Last Chances: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense

Sometimes it’s about doing the right thing. Sometimes it’s about getting even. Sometimes it’s about taking what you think you deserve. And sometimes, it’s your last, best, chance. Edited by Judy Penz Sheluk and featuring stories by Christina Boufis, John Bukowski, Brenda Chapman, Susan Daly, Wil A. Emerson, Tracy Falenwolfe, Kate Fellowes, Molly Wills Fraser, Gina X. Grant, Karen Grose, Wendy Harrison, Julie Hastrup, Larry M. Keeton, Charlie Kondek, Edward Lodi, Bethany Maines, Gregory Meece, Cate Moyle, Judy Penz Sheluk, KM Rockwood, Kevin R. Tipple, and Robert Weibezahl.

Buy Link: https://www.books2read.com/larceny