Gaslamp Stories

In a city where the steam network remembers your secrets, the revolution begins with a wrench. Thomas Li-Harrison is a mixed-heritage engineer fixing the pipes that keep Shanghai warm. When impossible readings start appearing in the network - and his body starts doing things he never learned - he discovers the infrastructure he's maintained for years is hiding something vast, watchful, and alive. Now every pipe whispers a question he can't ignore: who built this system, and what is it really for? ⚙️ THE INTERACTIVE EXPERIMENT: This is an iterative serial. Your comments and votes shape the plot and the romance in real-time. ⚡ JOIN THE RESISTANCE: Sign up for the Substack (link in bio) to get the secret Marco prequel story and vote on future chapters!

𝐁𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐬! A pact with the darkness left her twisted and deformed. Strange noises and flashes of light have been coming out of her basement at night, and her pet monster stalks children from the shadows. 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬. Eliza Scaggs (not Scraggsies, thank you very much) is tired of all the rumors about her. Sure, she's looking a bit haggard as of late, but she's been working herself to the bone on a secret government project to prove that she, the only woman in the wizard's guild, belongs there. So, maybe she's got some gray in her hair, but she's not old, not old-old- and the only thing she's made a pact with is her purveyor of rot brew tea. Okay, the pet monster thing is true, but Throat Ripper hasn't caught anyone, not yet. She's even taken on a new apprentice. Mentoring a teen, that's not something a twisted hell spawn would do, right? Still, there is something off about the boy, Oliver. He's a good kid, but he's quiet, too quiet, and she's worried that when he asks if she can "fix" people, he means himself... Witches, Boys, and Other Monsters is about: A witch who's not really a witch, A boy who's not really a boy, All the "monsters" who are regular people, All the regular people who are monsters... That, and a bunch of fireballs.

A girl with a window. A boy that walks past it. A cook with a clear conscience. A secret that destroys it. A woman with a thousand regrets. A man that won't believe the truth. A killer with a plan. A ghost that wants revenge. What could go wrong?

When Liam Bromswell sneaks aboard a pirate airship to prove a point, he thinks he's in for an adventure of a lifetime. But life sailing through an open sky turns out to be much harder than he ever imagined, and he'll have to survive a boisterous captain, a cold-hearted quarter master, and a wild array of other adventures before he can make it home again. In this tale of fantastical journey, one boy will discover the art of being a slightly better cabin boy, as well as what it means to find one's family... ***Currently editing*** Featured on the Adventure reading list, Voyages and Sea Epics. Winner of the Amby Awards Punk Stories genre NOTE; This book's gorgeous cover was made by @Monelo_Aurum ! Make sure to go check out their profile! ALSO NOTE; This book is intended for readers 14 and up :)

The Island is about a lady whose baby dies. She struggles to recover. She goes to an island to do scientific studies. She and her automaton assistant Nartis must winter over on the isolated island.

William Latimer has an unusual experience on the staircase...

When the Kingdom is engulfed in flames, Fire Glass doesn't burn. The night of Princess Rhiannon's official anointing is also the night of the Grand Peace Talks between all the Elemental Fae Royal families. But the Dark Fae Lord has plans of his own. Coming out of hiding after eighteen years, he decides to make an appearance and attack the Fire Fae castle with his signature blue flames. If the Fire Fae can't fight against the mystic flames of the Dark Lord, who can? What is the fate of the Royal Elemental Fae families, and will anyone survive? Holly Black meets Victoria Aveyard in this new tale full of Royal Fae mischief, secrets, betrayal, and loads of intrigue.

Take two of the original rp.

Life during The Raj can be full of perils for an English girl, even one raised in India with a parasol in one hand and a rifle in the other. Bunny Spencer's father sends her to London, but the moment she reaches British shores, a nightmarish beast attacks from the shadows. Now stranded in an unfamiliar land with her companion, Anju, she fears for their lives - until she meets a dashing stranger in pilot goggles. Jim Penderry is a reporter. He's also a monster hunting enthusiast with a passion for fine dining and a good mystery - not necessarily in that order. When a werewolf appears in London, Jim is determined to catch it. Or at the very least, find out why the creature is stalking Miss Bunny Spencer. With the help of the journalists at Penderry's Bizarre magazine, he chases the menace from the foggy streets of London to the colourful bazaars of Bombay. But nothing prepares Jim and Bunny for the secret they're about to uncover. Or the danger afoot. Mystery, monsters and science collide in this rip-roaring tale of adventure, romance and smoked eel.

A sequel story to The Flame Owl, a novelette I published last summer. After Dr Barton's death, Lowe Road workhouse warden Andrew Russell has to employ a new deputy. He is at his wits' end - until a mysterious soldier smooths his path to Russell's door.

Cursed with clairvoyance, Millicent Sinclair has been seeing ghosts for years. More annoyingly, she can hear them, speak with them, and worst of all, feel their clammy, cold touch. She takes no nonsense from the dead (or the living, for that matter), but an overnight stay at the haunted 'Black Swan Inn' leads to more than she bargained for. A short story for Christmas. ~Selected by Crimson Peak (sponsored Reading List 'Historical Horror')

Nothing says romance like a man-eating plant. Westman and Sophie are back. This time, a carnivorous plant from Africa is on display at the Royal Botanic Gardens. But are the man-eating myths true? Welcome to another Victorian mystery certain to thrill. Valentine's special short story

The year is 1896, and Michael MacBranain is in desperate need of a job. Fortunately for him (or perhaps not-so-fortunately), the Grim Reaper is also in desperate need of an assistant! The trouble is, Michael is terribly superstitious and loathes himself for his own cowardice. But with a dark supernatural force on the loose in New York City, there may be more at stake for Michael and his employer than just job security! ~~~ A multi-part short story, serving as a prototype for the future web-serial "Mortality", the episodic adventures of the Grim Reaper and his assistant. While this story is not as well-researched or polished as I hope for the actual series to be, it does give something of an idea of what I'm going for character and story-wise. I hope you enjoy this debut~ ... (Cover art by my sibling: https://www.deviantart.com/stramberrymilkyway )

A poem about a mortal god.

Romance, action, adventure, Shades, and clockwork. When unexpected events proceed the Viscount's Ball, Annabelle Esperbane —daughter of a lord— finds herself thrown into the world her affluent childhood sheltered her from.

An orphaned fey must find a means to survive despite the crown's ruthless hunters. This is the first encounter of Effie of Glen Coe and the fey hunter, Edmund Glover, set years before the events of the novel, THE LAIRD OF DUNCAIRN. To align with THE LAIRD OF DUNCAIRN, the following version of "Effie of Glen Coe" has been revised since its original publication in Stories in the Ether. For starters, Effie wasn't Effie then, she was Aelfie, and the Fey Finder, Edmund Glover, only a land surveyor working for the crown. But the heart of the tale, that of a young, orphaned fey lost in a larger world of prejudice and propaganda, remains. When writing the first novel of the Fey Matter series, I had first thought to leave out all of the action of this short story. It is a separate tale, after all. But my editor rightly convinced me parts of it were needed as backstory, so into the novel they went. For not only do these scenes depict the first encounter of Effie and Glover, but more so, they show the brutal reality of Effie's childhood and what drives her toward adventure.

Doncia sees what no one else can: colours bleeding through walls, creatures flying over the city at night. Her father's final gift--a pocket-watch that can blink the visions away--might be the only thing keeping her sane. When the beautiful boy begins to appear and vanish, belief itself becomes dangerous. The demon's purpose is stirring--and the world will break if she can't face it first.