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I almost forgot to post this here. New fantasy story from me, going up in 8 parts. The blurbage:

Erick is a young daoine sidhe (black elf) who should be leading a sheltered life in Stout Hart forest as the son of a rhyndarhim king's security advisor. But the young elf is unhappy with the quiet, scholarly life, and he prefers to take his lessons while escorting trade convoys with the dwarfs instead.
Erick's rebellious streak gets him in trouble with King Finrod, who punishes Erick by assigning him with an important task that will right the balance of Lissand and prevent a war between the local orcs and the werekin.
During the journey, Erick meets a wyrm, an ancient blood drinker who has just recently been released from his prison inside a tree. Dimitri takes an instant liking to Erick, and the shape-shifting wyrm agrees to assist the young elf in his quest for the king.
But once the secondary goal of their hunt becomes clear, Erick is no longer certain if he can fulfill his mission. With everyone urging Erick to "do the right thing" by killing a sentient creature, Erick begins to question if maintaining the balance in Lissand is important enough to justify cold-blooded murder.
But if there is no one that Erick can trust, where else can he go?

Part one is up on the site, and I will be posting every three days. For the next few weeks at least, there should be plenty of new writing updates, to make up for my inability to do podcasts or live readings for now.

Later...

After being teleported between buildings, Roger drops into a heavy sleep. When he wakes up, he finds himself in the remains of Austin, where the last pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. But once Roger has an answer to why the aliens left so suddenly, will he be able to do anything to stop the coming massacre?

Part 5

And a note for e-book readers: the full version of the story can be downloaded in one of three formats from the Stories page of my web site.

And so, that's it, no more free stuff again for a few months. I'm tempted to say the vampire story will be the next free book, but the timing isn't right. "Redemption Lost" won't be out until November, and since this story takes place after that, I'd prefer to hold it back. Then again, I'm not sure it will be a free story. In any case, I will hopefully have something to post in October or November.

In part four, Roger arrives in a new city and takes shelter from a storm in the sub-levels of a residential building. Roger is nearing the point of total collapse, and still he struggles to understand the mysteries of the alien's technology. His curiosity pulls him deeper into the building, but the journey only creates more questions about the plans of the aliens.

Part Four

Roger leaves his apartment to explore the city and meet Phillip and Nicole, who explain more about the aliens and their lives in the factories. Roger recives yet another rude shock when he discovers he's not in Houston anymore, and he begins tentatively making plans to return home to search for his wife and son.

Part 2

Roger Maple, a forty-one year old cab driver, wakes up from a five year coma to learn how the entire human race has been enslaved by an unknown race of aliens. He has barely had time to process the information when the aliens depart the earth with an ominous parting message: the Kimellians will arrive in seven days to kill the remaining survivors of the human race. Roger has woken up, and now the real nightmare begins...

Part 1

The circus is buzzing with chaos and fear, and it soon becomes obvious that Eddie has taken more animals than just the gorilla. Alice and Jessie head downtown to search for Eddie while Jessie reveals another part of Eddie's past.

Jessie's memories are overwhelming him, pushing him toward some greater revelation. But the men in the white van are still tailing Jessie and Alice, and the kids are racing the clock to find Eddie before the police do.

And they're already late for bed. What else can go wrong?

Part 3

Jessie and Alice return to the field behind the complex to talk about another incident in Eddie's past. But when Jessie returns to the apartment, he finds out Eddie has snuck off to the circus again. Returning to the bus stop alone, Jessie must sort out what Eddie's plan is. Before he can find any answers, Jessie notices a white van pulling up to the bus stop...

Part 2

Thirteen year old Jessie Mendoza is still trying to cope with the murder of his mother, and he isn't having much success while he has to put up with constant fighting between his new parents. Living with a father and a stepmother he's never known, Jessie spends his nights running small scale scams with his little brother Eddie and his next door neighbor, Alice Roth.

When Jessie's reclusive little brother comes out of his shell at the sight of circus tents outside a mall parking lot, Jessie thinks he's doing a good thing by letting Eddie check out the sideshows.

But then Eddie talked to a gorilla, and all hell broke loose...

Part 1