Monday, March 30, 2015

Rise


“Rise” is a stand alone story set in my Human Republic Universe. The story follows some of the events after the tragic deaths of the colonists in a small colony in a distant star system.

Here is an excerpt to give you a sample:

There were days when MP Lyn Rankin just hated the Earth. Especially Africa; especially Kenya. On the human level, she could understand Sandra Lewis’s idea of placing the Capital of the Human Republic – this brand new step in the history of Humanity – on the continent that gave birth to Homo sapiens. On a political level, she could appreciate using the location of the Capital as a way to placate a continent for centuries of abuse and neglect. But on the personal level, she hated being here. The air was too thick, too heavy, too dusty or, on days like this, too humid.

The window of her cab was streaked with water. How anyone could find rain beautiful, something to look forward to, was beyond her. Even inside her sealed cab everything felt damp.

To take her mind off the rain, she again tried to figure out the summons to see President Väkelä. It must be Trident Colony, she thought. But if it had been attacked by pirates or rogue Lumens, you call out the Guard and Navy to hunt them down. You inform their MP, but that does not require a meeting with the President.

Unless, something else had happened. Maybe the colonists were being held captive. But what could she do? The Human Republic would not negotiate with terrorists. An epidemic? Call in the CDA. Then – to make things more confusing – Lyn wondered what if something wonderful had happened instead? What if the colonists had found evidence for another alien race, one the Pentans did not know of? Would that warrant a meeting with the President?

She had been down this road several times before, but could not get anywhere. To take her mind off the problem, she looked back out the window.

***

If you are at all curious, you can find “Rise” on Kindle.


Monday, March 23, 2015

A Cabin Under a Cloudy Sea and other stories




Hopefully, in the not too distant future humans will return to the moon. We will build bases and colonies, create farms and factories, and live, love and learn. “A Cabin Under a Cloudy Sea and other stories” contains five short stories set upon the moon. They give the tiniest glimpse of the possibilities awaiting us there.

For an example, here is an excerpt from “Putting Down Roots”

#

Julie smiled to the camera and gave a little wave. “Hello from the Armstrong Research Station at the Lunar South Pole. I’m the Station Director, Doctor Julie Herrin, and this is a very special broadcast.”

Spreading her arms, Julie stated, “I’m talking to you from what in the station specs is referred to as ‘the common area,’ but here at Armstrong we call it The Bunker.” She shrugged and explained, “The name was here before I was, so don’t ask me why. Anyway, this is where we usually make our media presentations, but it’s also where most of us eat, play games, and watch movies every Tuesday and Friday night. And today, thanks to you, it’s becoming even more.

“About twelve hours ago, one of our resupply shuttles landed with a special package from the Lunar Auxiliary. For those of you watching this video who don’t know about the Lunar Auxiliary, they are a private group on Earth who raise money to ship various items to us here on the moon. Things like treat baskets each Halloween and knitted socks for all the staff up here … which I probably shouldn’t have brought up because I’m not wearing mine today.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Julie saw several of the staff laughing silently as they showed off their socks. She clenched her jaw for a second, before continuing, “But the reason for today’s video is this.” She held up the package: a thick plastic tube about a meter long. The tube had already been opened, so Julie only had to slide the top up off the contents.

***

If you are at all curious, you can find “A Cabin Under a Cloudy Sea and other stories” on Kindle.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Links to all of my stories



The other day I was looking around the web for new ways of promoting my books.  On one of those “Ten tips for better sales” types of pages, one of the tips was to have a blog post with clear links to everything you’re trying to spread the word on.  Having one spot with everything makes sense because then you only have to link to that one thing.  So this just has links and short descriptions for my main stories online.  If you’re really curious for all of my stories you can find online, you’ll need to wade through my webpage.

 

Print anthologies


I have three anthologies that I self-published.  The links take you to the page on my webpage that has links to where you can buy the paperback versions, as well as the Kindle version.

A Man of Few Words

Fifty stories, all under 1,000 words.

The All-You-Can-Read Buffet

Forty stories giving you a buffet of my style.

Political Pies

Forty stories with political themes.

 

Mini-anthologies


These mini-anthologies contain five short stories that are to give a sample of my writing.  All of them are on Kindle, and the links take you to the US site for them.

Brain for Rent and other stories

Five scifi stories.

The Most Powerful Man in the World andother stories

Five scifi stories.

A Cabin Under a Cloudy Sea and otherstories

Five scifi stories, all set upon the moon.

 

Single stories


These are single stories available on Kindle.  The links take you to the US site for them.

Rise

A story about a tragedy at a space colony

Lonely Phoenix

A tale about a surprise on an interstellar colony ship.

Duty

Who cleans up the mess when the time machine malfunctions?

The Only Certainty

What’s the only certainty in a body swapping world?

 

Essays

 

The Future is Coming

This is a collection of ten, short essays dealing with science fiction ideas I believe will soon be science fact.

 

Stories on Patreon


I’m working on a series of stories that I am posting on my Patreon profile.  Patreon is a place where patrons can help content creators.  Eventually, I plan to collect them into an anthology which will be available on Kindle.

 

Stories on QuarterReads


QuarterReads is a site where you can buy short stories for only $0.25.  The best part is that $0.22 of that goes to the authors.  Here is my author page with links to all the stories I have on there.

 

Some miscellaneous stories


I write for several sites where I get paid for page views.  Every now and then, I’ll publish a story on them.  This link will take you to a page on my website where I’ve listed these stories from the various sites.