Year of Stories – Week 21
Check out this week's free short story, We Dragons.
Mel Yung is a hero of humanity, responsible for the discovery and exploration of three human-habitable planets. When a young, enthusiastic explorer gets a chance to go with Yung to explore planet Glyna, he sees it as the opportunity of a lifetime. But he has no idea what they're really about to discover...
This story has previously been published by Ray Gun Revival.
Year of Stories – Week 19
Check out this week's free short story, Adaptations.
An apocalypse has ravaged the planet, dousing the world in deadly radiation. But nature has a way of rolling with the punches, and humans are pretty resilient, themselves, when they have to be. Certain species of worms have turned out to absorb radiation while they're passing through the intestines, and a new industry has grown up around the incredible creatures. Now Boss Osman and his crew have taken to breeding the grubs in illegal labs and exporting their crop to the desert. They're going to be rich! What could possibly go wrong?
Thank you to everyone who watched me live-write the first draft of this story, and who provided feedback and suggestions throughout that process.
Year of Stories – Week 12
Welcome to week 12 of the Year of Stories!
Free this week is Plasma, a 2,000-word sci-fi drama. Read it now! You can also buy it for 99¢ in the Store.
Synopsis
There's a war on. Jayk is a willing soldier in the fight against the Fargon, and he's ready to do his part whether he's in the fray or back at home recuperating between tours. But does his idea of "helping from home" line up with reality?
The highlighted Store release for this week is Unsettled, a 6,800-word sci-fi action epic. Read it now for only $0.99!
Synopsis
Darien Hammond and his wife, Tiffany, helped clear planet Oronado of the incumbent alien Cust almost two decades ago. They laid down roots, started a farm and a family, and settled into their new life. Then the Cust returned. The human settlers are on the run, scrambling into shuttles as their cities and farms are burned from orbit. Can Darien and his family make it out in time?
To read previously released stories, check out the Year of Stories page.
“We Dragons” on Ray Gun Revival
Before I decided to do the Year of Stories, I spent a few months submitting some of my work to different online magazines, to see if I could get any traction with my short stories via the "traditional route." I received the standard stream of rejections, but I earned a few acceptances, too.
Today my story We Dragons went up at Ray Gun Revival, a "space opera" magazine dedicated to sci-fi short stories.
We Dragons is definitely among my stronger work, in my opinion, so I hope you go check it out and leave a rating and a comment. It's a cool site, and I've enjoyed many stories that have been posted there.
I expect I'll probably include We Dragons in the Year of Stories at some point later in the year, because I'd like to be able to put it into one of the print collections, but I have to read my contract with RGR a little more closely to make sure what the exclusivity period is.
Year of Stories Week 6
Welcome to week 6 of the Year of Stories!
Free this week is Darla, Dragon Hunter. It's a 5,700-word sci-fi action story, now available to read for free or buy in the Store. Here's the synopsis:
My "friends" think I'm a paralegal. I amuse myself sometimes by wondering what they would say if they found out that a couple of times a month I exchange my pantsuit for camo gear and a high-tech sniper rifle and hunt dragons. They'd probably think I was joking. Fine by me.
The highlighted Store release for this week is Escape Velocity, a 1,700-word sci-fi drama. Read it now for only $0.99! Here's a teaser:
I thought stasis would be like sleeping. I thought I’d simply close my eyes on Earth and when I opened them I'd be a hundred light-years away, with no memory of the intervening time or the immense distance I had travelled. I thought stasis would be an escape, but I've spent the absent infinity of our voyage through space exploring the inside of my own head, reliving every one of those moments, those days, those joys, those sorrows.
To read previously released stories, check out the Year of Stories page.
Special People
Special People is serialized superhero fiction with a fistful of twists.
Special people have special problems.
BECOMING
The second quarter of the Year of Stories has arrived in print! BECOMING contains over 200 pages of great short stories for only $11.99. Order yours now.
DISCOVERY
Prefer the feel of paper to the look of a screen? DISCOVERY is the first quarterly Year of Stories print book. You get nearly 200 pages of exciting fiction for only $11.99! Grab your copy now.
Galloway’s Hunt
Galloway's Hunt is a novelette set in the world of Galloway's Voyage, my work-in-progress novel based on the same title character. Buy it now for only 99¢!
Losing Freight
Losing Freight is a serialized sci-fi novel where you get to vote on what happens next at the end of every page.