A Consolata Mary Browne mystery, the second in a series. (To get the most out of it, first read The Feral Strut, which establishes the main characters and background.) After her near-fatal encounter with a grizzly bear, Mary goes to college in Salt Lake City, then tries to return to her job as a forest ranger at th...
Kitik is a fighter in the Kurdish peshmerga, clearing snipers and mines from cities in Iraq occupied by Daesh (ISIL), and freeing captives. It's tough, dangerous work, and she's good at it, having survived more than a year on the front lines. Her grasp of house-to-house tactics gives her an advantage, along with he...
Escaping her trailer-trash background for a summer job as a forest ranger in Wyoming, Mary Browne deals with various hazards, natural and human. But when she moves to Jackson Hole, and starts playing with her band, The Feral Sluts, she steps unwittingly into a life-or-death game that makes the wilderness seem safe...
"If you like Political Satire, and crooked politicans getting caught in the rain If you're not into 'fake news', if you have half a brain If you like tweeting at midnight, and posting comments on the netscape I'm the satirist that you've looked for, read my tales, and escape" Welcome one, welco...
Honor is a sword that can cut both ways. It can protect the innocent, and it can pierce the soul. It's steel cares little for the desires of those who must bear it. It is a heavy weight to wield, but Ndete is no ordinary girl. She holds the power of the future. It flows through her veins. When the greatest challenge s...
Sometimes Life starts handing us choices we are none too ready to make... and some choices should never have to be made at all. Here's a story originally written for a 500 word flash-fiction from a prompt that has taken on a life of its own, and now actually DEMANDS its own presentation in a length of its OWN choosi...
In search of the truths of the past, a book has been written, containing the histories of characters written by a certain author. Their truth has been determined, and at last, they are being released to the public. Enjoy the pasts of unwanted heroes, space pirates, fairy tales, thieves, rebels, and more as we delve i...
[Exciting news! This story is now 100% free!] A young sorceress, sworn to protect life at all costs, must choose whether to sacrifice her humanity or let an invading dragon army destroy her homeland. ***** Sorceress Liselle Alta has decided to put...
A girl from a remote Siberian village, who learned to hunt to keep her family fed, goes to war as a Soviet sniper. Swept here and there by the tides of battle, she learns to hunt men, falls in love, and eventually suffers the consequences. (Inspired by 'The Unwomanly Face of War' by Svetlana Alexeivich.)
Rayne Gray is a man between worlds; the mad, magical clans into which he finds himself married; and the mundane world of politics and betrayal, rapier and poison, which outlawed him. Spadassin, ex-soldier, heroic figure in the dawn of the industrial 19th century, when sword-wielding heroes are romantic anachronisms...
Rose Doyle has lived a normal, quiet life in Vordrim, Georgia. She's a normal high school with normal parents--and a not-so normal cousin named Rich. However, when Rose is accused of murdering an old woman she's never met, Vordrim turns against her and the eccentric Rich takes her case. Rose and Rich must investigate...
"Science is magic comprehended, and magic is science misunderstood." ___ The evil kingdom of Gatál has conquered the peaceful kingdom of Halcía and has ruled the land with an iron fist for the past sixteen years. When an infamous Gatál press gang captures a young Halcían peasant, Helena de Grazia, she has to make a c...
A trunk box for the stories I tell my kids when they are not in the mood to listen to any of the standard fairy tales or moral science stuff and want some that we all can giggle together about.
A collection of short stories written to prompts given as part of the weekend write-in challenge - a weekend ritual of the erstwhile WriteOn community of writers.
Before Rachel Andric, there were two people. Their fates were intertwined, destined to live and fall together. They are Guardians. They are the Rogues of The Story. Philip Andric has always been a rebel. As a Guardian of the world of fairy tales known as The Story, he's constantly in trouble with their leaders for his...
Centuries ago a mysterious family of mad geniuses split into five clans; feuding, hiding, hording their secrets of fighting and art, magic and science. Now at the dawn of the mechanical 19th century, only the five clans united can hold back the blood-red tide of industrial apocalypse. Unless they dive into it lau...
Good and evil is not black and white ... The Academy is a school consisting of the characters of every story ever told. Heroes and villains take classes and teach together in harmony. But not everything is as it seems. A dark murderer lurks in the halls of this enchanted Academy, threatening the lives of students and...
After 13 years of living in the largest mansion in Ridgeview Estates, the Lane Family is ready to leave the neighborhood. Socialite Clarissa Lane wants to turn their Open House into the soiree of the season, and gets her wish when the event takes a twisted turn and one of the attendees winds up dead. Meet the resident...
A book club for goat lovers. And old people. "Normal is boring. Weird is better. Goats are awesome, but only in small quantities." ― Jenny Lawson, Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things
With her mother's diary in hand, Hailey now has more chance of finding her than ever. Her search will lead her on a journey to one of the more obscure places of the kingdom of Aeolus where she will discover creatures she thought were only legends. Meanwhile, she can't forget that the enemy army from the Outlands is...
Hailey always thought she had a pretty ordinary life. The only thing that could be called unusual in her life was that her mother had disappeared into thin air not long after Hailey's birth. Soon, though, her mother is not the most important thing on the young girl's mind as she discovers a hidden side of herself and...
A collection of short stories and random thoughts, covering various genres and tropes. Expect the unusual.
[Completed] A U.S. expatriate is cast into a rainy, foggy corner of Europe. He went there on the pretense to work on his research, but he actually wanted to put as many miles as possible between himself and his ex. The university he works for has found him an apartment in a house inhabited by a set of strange characte...
Astra Tooren Zartraxx felt good. Why bother going to the other end of the universe if you weren't going to have some fun? He casually flipped his zapper into his back-holster and grinned, and there was a lot to be said for that grin. It was the kind of grin that defined a man or, indeed, his whole lifestyle. 'Look at...
Rachel Andric has undergone Final Death. Written out, forgotten, and beyond help, she finds herself cut off from her friends in a world of those she thought dead. She knows the Editor has changed The Story, and she struggles to find a way back into The Story to stop her. With a bard and two knights at her side, she fi...
Fate is all. Destiny is written and every single mortal is beholden to the whims of the Gods. Except one. Her thread broke. Deliberately or on purpose? You will find out. Swanhilde possesses an abundance of beauty but not much in the way of wit and character. She is a vain and shallow girl, convinced of her own su...
At the request of discerning readers desiring an actual ending to one of my stories once in a while (not that you're getting one this week either), I have created a two-part story out of last week's prompt. Nothing much has changed in the original, so no need to read "Brian's Story" unless you are looking for a refre...
Danny Foster is a typical teenager on the surface. The third child after two high achieving sisters, he just blends into the household, barely noticed. When his sister, Theresa, is paralyzed in a car crash on her way home for Thanksgiving break her freshman year of college, his world is upended and he sinks further in...
