First Quiver

Immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially for the 3,375-year-old virgin of Mount Olympus.

Day after eternal day, Cupid launches his love-tipped arrows, then watches from the sidelines while everyone else has all the fun. His dull, sheltered existence takes an abrupt turn for the worse when he sends an arrow into the wrong rump.

Banished by the gods, Cupid plunges to Earth and lands in present-day Tarra, Indiana, where mortals go on about their daily routines, oblivious to the capricious gods stirring the pot from above. Discovering that his wings and pubescent pudge have been replaced with an impressive human form, Cupid swiftly leaves his virginity behind, but his carnal spree comes to a screeching halt when he falls passionately in love for the first time in his immortal life. Soon, Cupid understands the full measure of his punishment: he must find the true Right Love match for the mortal he desperately loves, and then he must let her go.

Caught between two worlds on a quest to fix Love, Cupid will have to master his own tortured heart and battle the powerful gods conspiring against him. Failure will not be tolerated; success will cost him everything.

Beth C. Greenberg is a former CPA who stepped through the portal of flash (1000-word) fiction into the magical world of creative writing and never looked back. She earned an Honorable Mention in the NYC Midnight Competition for her piece, "Hero at the End of the Day." The story and earlier round entries can be found on her website.

First Quiver is Beth's debut novel and book one of the Cupid's Fall series.