Short Stories/Novellas

In a world where only the young and the old survive, Kathy is right on the edge. Society hasn’t been the same since the Armageddon Clouds scoured North America. Survival demands ruthless attention to detail, problem solving on a medieval level, and good positioning. Kathy has a pack of loyal dogs, cases of cheap bear, and tons of food supplements. Chain-link fences keep invaders out. The high school public address system broadcasts the soundtrack of her life to half the Oklahoma Panhandle as she reads books in the dying light endless days. The Mother’s Brood besiege her stronghold until something worse forces them to desperation. Stadium is dystopian short story full of dark beauty, suspense, and panoramic action. If you enjoyed Wool by Hugh Howey, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, or The Stand by Stephen King, then Stadium has something for you. Pick up this story today and read it in one sitting. Share it with that friend who thinks life after the apocalypse will be fun.

Lieutenant Colonel Reginald Humann led a science expedition to find ancient technology on a frozen planet. Now he has to evacuate a mixed team of civilians and soldiers before nightmare creatures drag them down into winter.

The Hall of the Burning King has fallen and Hueg is alone. Born a prince of Ansguax, trained to rule the fire giants, Huegransguax is a child hidden in a world that knows more of superheroes than magic. Sure he's six and a half feet tall and built like a lumberjack, but he’s just a boy being hunted by assassins and traitors. What will he do when his new friends learn the truth? First he must pass for human and survive. Next he must find his enemies and crush them before everything he's come to love is destroyed. Fans of superhero stories and urban fantasy will love Fire Prince, originally a short story published in Collateral Damage: A Superhero Anthology.

Johnny Boss has what it takes to fight and win. His Ogre Fist Company is loaded with raw talent... and a few problem children. Boss was originally published as a short story in the For a Few Credits More: More Stories from the Four Horsemen Universe (The Revelations Cycle Book 7). JOHNNY Boss looked across the interior of the rented assault ship. The broker had spent an hour describing how reliable it was for a planetary assault, and Johnny hadn't argued. The fewer people who knew about this highly illegal insanity the better. Infiltrating an Ultra Max Prison had nothing to do with a planet in the traditional sense. He wasn't sure if he had talked his XO, Gabriel Davenport, into the scheme or if it had been the other way around. The facts of Johnny’s situation were as follows: The last three contracts he secured for the Ogre Fist Company (OFC, LLC) had made 10% profit. Problem was, he needed 75% to pay back money he'd borrowed to repair and upgrade the CASPer mechas in his unit. He needed everyone functioning at full capacity on every mission. Davenport had disagreed, as always, and claimed it’d be smarter to get special upgrades for the best performers in the OFC. “Everyone wins or everyone dies in this unit,” Johnny said. Davenport snorted. “Idealists die first, Boss.” “Tacticians lead from the rear,” Johnny retorted, holding the XO’s gaze. A moment passed. “Not this tactician.” He shifted his weight, then tightened something on the cuirass of his armor. Johnny settled against the bulkhead, his armor already tuned and synced. He needed money; that was the first fact. The second, and this was bad, Jessup Moran, one of his better mercs, had been arrested for murder. Some of his Ogres thought it was a frame job, and some thought Jessup had always been too quiet and had been storing up rage that came out at the wrong time. The thing was, Jessup wasn't the type to go rogue. He was responsible. Level headed. Idealistic. So why had he run off to Calista at exactly the time this mysterious, worth-more-money-than-a-battleship slate went missing? Johnny'd never seen a contract with this type of bounty attached to it — not for equipment recovery. “This would’ve been easier if Jessup’d come to us in the first place,” Davenport said. “You need better control of the men.” Johnny looked at him. “You’re my executive officer.” “And you don’t let me do things the way they need to be done. We’re all killers, Johnny. If one of our mercs disrespects either of us, we need to land on them with both feet. You know I’m right.” Johnny stared at the wall, concentrating on all the things that had to go right if they were to survive an assault on a space station. “You let Jessup off the leash. He stole a slate worth all our lives plus the price of a new house back on Earth, then got arrested for murder. Now you and me and the rest of the OFC have to break him out. Don’t get me wrong, it’s gonna be a good time, but some of us are gonna die,” Davenport said.