Tag Archives: sci-fi

Cover Reveal – It’s Cold Outside

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I write a lot of short stories, some of which are for the blog, like answers to challenges, and some that never make it to the blog. I have twice put out books of short stories. My first book was Seasons of Imagination and then I did Embers. The stories in these books were very eclectic and tended towards the short, though both had longer stories, even novellas.

You can see where this is leading, can’t you?

Yes, I am putting out a new book of short stories!

This time I decided to use a selection of only science fiction stories. The average length is also much longer. As with the other two books, the theme unifying these stories might be a little thin, but it does exist.

And here is the moment you’ve been waiting for, the cover:

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Random Rambling About (My) Short Stories…

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I am in the editing stage of a book of short stories.  This will be different from my other two books of short fiction in a number of ways.  The other two were both pretty eclectic, while this is all science fiction.  Seasons of Imagination had 36 stories and totaled about 71K words.  Embers had 22 stories and totaled about 90K words.  This book will only have 11 stories and be close to 75K words, so the average story length, having jumped for Embers, has jumped again.

I like short stories.  I like to read them, and I like to write them.  Although I like the novels and longer novellas I put out, I think my short stories (and short novellas) as given in these three collections are my best works of fiction.  I know this format is not the best if trying to sell books, but…  Both Seasons of Imagination and Embers have sold better than The Old Mill or The Haley Branch and much, much better than my two fantasy novellas, so…  They also each have almost as many reviews (or at least stars) as those three put together.

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It’s Cold Outside

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Rob paused at the door.  Pa had gone into his special grove, as he did most days.  Sometimes he’d just go in, whisper a few words, and then quickly catch up to Rob.  Other times he might spend a half an hour or more, silently staring at the ground and that little bit of granite.  Or that is what he used to do.  Rob hadn’t followed him back in there in a few years, at least since he was 10.  Now almost 13, he knew better than disturb Pa in his special place.

Satisfied that Pa wasn’t right behind him, Rob put the numbers into the cipher lock. 

Pa had built the little three-room entryway ages ago, just after the Collapse, but over the years, Rob had helped him flesh it out. 

Still not seeing Pa, he let the door shut and lock.  Nobody had ever tried to break in, at least not that he knew of, but there were crazies out there and there would be Hell to pay if Pa found the door open.

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The Yearning #writephoto (Repeat)

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yearning

Photo by Sue Vincent

(This was originally posted on May 30, 2019 as part of Sue Vincent’s writephoto challenge)

Meg crested the small hill and stopped.  A last fragrant breeze wafted up from the ocean as the sun slipped down for the night, causing the sky and water to flame.

Her heart bounded and for a minute she felt like a little girl, full of the desires of youth and pull of the sea and distant lands, the deep unending yearning, the yearning to be someplace, anyplace, else.

She brought herself back to the present and found An watching that same sunset.  She gave a knowing smile and walked over to her granddaughter.

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Human or…

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Really-changed

A woman jostled Conner as she pushed her way past him.

He swore under his breath.

It wasn’t as if he was going slow.  In fact, he was at almost a jog as he headed for the security line.

He hated air travel, and being late for his flight made it even worse.

The line for security stretched forever.  Obviously people were back to flying after the latest scare.

He joined the line, just two back from the woman who had pushed him.  Animal.  He took out his phone, double-checked his ticket, then looked at the time. Continue reading →

Darkness #writephoto

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dark-clouds-on-a-sunny-day-darkness

Photo by Sue Vincent

A cosmic switch went from “on” to “off” and the darkness followed.

Of course it didn’t feel that way to the people living at the time.  To them, the race to the end was an imperceptible crawl. The Final Event, the “switch”, had been decades in the making and many years in the execution.  Even after the “switch”, the light still hung on for decades and the people were deluded into thinking all was fine as they slowly died out.

But to the planet Earth itself, the span of a few human lifetimes was as nothing, less than a cosmic blink of the eye.

The remaining crew of the spaceship Endeavor, having aged less than five years in the over three centuries of travel at close to the speed of light, looked over the barren landscape of what was once home. Continue reading →

Shimmer #writephoto

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Photo by Sue Vincent

Spiff watched the clock-slaved workings of the tides.  He stared fascinated as the shimmering water rushed over the land.  He had seen it all before, but the speed still took him by surprise.

Once again, as it had every other day, a strangely shaped figure approached just in front of the water’s edge.  He waved as always, but the figure ignored him.

Ignoring the figure in turn, Spiff set his focus past where the tides had shredded his ship as it pushed it against the rocks, and out towards the horizon.

The sky began to shimmer orange and yellow.  It wasn’t a strong effect, more like a mist, at least at first.

But then, as the star left full noon and began to set in the west, the form of the gas giant, filling the entire east side of the sky was visible beyond the blue atmosphere.

After watching the huge planet grow more distinct for a few minutes, Spiff turned to go back to his makeshift camp.  He had to hurry to beat the water, which, pulled by the immense planet, rose over a hundred meters at every tide, before receding back down, many, many kilometers away.

“Wait!”

The odd figure advanced past the onrushing water and strode up to Spiff.

“Perhaps I can help get you home.”

The sea shimmered read and gold as Spiff’s starship rose above the surging ocean.

Spiff climbed up the ramp just as the water reached him.

As the door closed, he heard the creature say, “Next time you stop for a visit, be more careful where you park!”

***

If Spaceman Spiff” doesn’t sound familiar, maybe it should…  It was Calvin’s alter-ego in some of his best fantasies (comic strip Calvin and Hobbes)  Spaceman Spiff was either crashing his spaceship on distant exotic worlds or being captured by aliens.  Occasionally, the alien would turn out to be his mom, and actually help him (it was humiliating enough to be rescued by the alien without that kiss on the cheek!)   For some reason, every time I looked at the photo, I saw the huge gas giant in the sky, back beyond the clouds, and can hardly believe it isn’t there!  So I wrote it in…

***

This was written for Sue Vincent’s writephoto weekly challenge.  She provided the photo at the top, as well as the key word, “shimmer”.

The Skull

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jaw-prompt

Photo by Shari Marshall

I studied the little foyer as I waited for Mr. Klieber.

Real marble floors.  Nice touch.

A Hudson River School painting on the wall. It was in the books, but not one of the top artists of that school.  Beautiful none the less.

A late 19th century French bronze based on a Roman marble that was a copy of on an earlier Greek bronze.

I smiled.

Mr. Klieber certainly knew what he was doing

And I knew that what lay behind the mahogany door was far more interesting than the art in the foyer, which was mostly high-priced decorative items to impress those who had more of a sense of price than of value. High culture for people who were uncultured.

The door opened and a middle-aged man entered.  He frowned at me.

“Higsworth told me a known colleague was here.  I don’t know you.  You can see yourself out.”

He spun on his heel and was about to go back into the main house. Continue reading →

Glass #writephoto

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glass

Photo by Sue Vincent

Jay looked across the lake at the distant mountain. Nothing was moving over the glassy water.

Good.

He slipped the kayak into the water, stepped in placing his little backpack on the floor between his legs, and pushed off. After a couple of hard paddles to get the boat’s momentum up, he relaxed into a routine of gentle, quiet, yet efficient strokes.

Silent. That was the key word. Didn’t need anyone to hear, and there were a lot of ears, not to mention the Guardian.

After several minutes, Jay glanced back. The kayak created a small wake as it sliced through the smooth water. Eddies swirled where his paddle had pushed the water back, propelling his tiny craft. The shore was receding, but still near, too close. There was no movement, his theft had yet to be discovered. Continue reading →

Final Battle

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I enter a corridor. It is a trap. I know it is, and they know that I know.

A quick scan revels nothing. There are no obvious explosives, no beams or triggers, nothing. Innocent.

I move slow, slow and methodical.

There is a book that talks about moving to blend in with nature so your footsteps cannot be detected, to mimic the wind across the sand. What can I mimic as I feel my way down the giant spaceship’s most important corridor? And yet I know my movements stay below that ½ decibel over background that is so important.

A door. Closed. Locked.

I know I can enter, but at what cost?  I would lose time and make a racket.

I scan as well as possible, yet I can’t tell if the room behind is occupied, there isn’t enough data.

I think for a tenth of a nanosecond and move on. I wouldn’t forget that the door was there, a potential enemy, a menace. Continue reading →