Short Stories & Publications Science Fiction · Fantasy · Speculative Fiction

My short stories run the gamut from science fiction to fantasy to simple speculative fiction. Many blur the line between Fantasy and Science Fiction, because let’s face it–one person’s technology is another’s magic. Story lengths range from 3800 words to 11,400 words.

Blood Soap

On a journey to Africa aboard a wooden ship in 1892, M. Nigel Fairclough, British gentleman, engineer, and platudinous melon encounters a very odd fellow that might just be able to give him what he wants.

Published in Bards & Sages, January 2018 edition

Canvas Tears

Civilization has been laid low by traitors with a magic cream that bestows incomprehensible power. Now, Amis and Terraud must hunt down every one of the men who brought down their city, even if it means confronting the sorcery of giants.

Received Honorable Mention from the Writers of the Future contest.
Published in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly (May, 2018)

Cortex

In a world where game controllers are used to enslave, only a special kind of networking can help a teenager escape his captivity.

Published in Electric Spec Magazine, Nov 30 2013 edition

Damned Reprieve

In the last year of a civil war fought through magic, a farm in the path of Sherman’s march receives a very unique visitor.

Received Silver Honorable Mention from the Writers of the Future contest.

Detective

Fifty years in the future, detective Luke Belayo is one of the last implant-free renegades in a population studded with brain implants. But when everyone is a superhero, a little bit of kryptonite goes a long way–and Luke will need it to solve the most dastardly of political crimes.

Published in Black Ice Magazine, Vol 1 (March, 2017)

Freaks

In a future where insect-sized drones monitor a populace rapidly evolving via biomods, cop Fred Barlin must uncover the truth about one particularly odd strain of biomod that threatens to out-think us all.

Published in the anthology “Ruined Cities” (Deepwood Publishing) 

Gronnvolk

In 8th century Europe, Charlemagne’s Franks have asserted their control over the province of Westphalia, forcing a young Saxon girl to confront her father’s instructions in the ways of ancient runic lore.

Published in Black Denim Lit magazine, August, 2015 (magazine was semi-pro at the time)
Story has fallen off archive queue, Black Denim Lit author bio is here (search for Steve Rodgers)

Hacker

Russian hackers Giorgy, Elena, and Vladimir must figure out what to do when they receive a very odd “credit card terminal” to dissect.

Received Honorable mention from the Writers of the Future contest

Hoppers

Interdimensional detectives Len and Ryssa must catch a killer with more duplicates than a Kinko’s store.

Published in Cosmic Vegetable’s Anthology of Humorous Science Fiction (Dreamscape Press)
Also published in NewMyths magazine

Housefly Tours

Four hundred years in the future, a very special adventure tour takes tourists to spy on the only other sentient race ever discovered. But human mistakes and frailty may just ruin everything.

Published in Compelling Science Fiction Magazine June 2020,                Received an Honorable Mention from the Writers of the Future contest 

Limpadore

Follow Gabriel through the surreal, magical streets of a Brazilian Favela, as he struggles to save his sister from dreaded disease. But the medicine to cure her is jealously guarded by the Wizards of the Slums, and they do not give up their treasures easily.

Received Silver Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future contest

Malena

At a time where mechanical ants seek to wipe out humankind, Malena must convince her people that the odd creature she’s found will be their salvation.

Published in Aurora Wolf Magazine, April 2014

Maniloa (renamed “Canoes of Hava’iki)

In the mythical land of Havaiki, ancient Polynesians come face to face with a strange creature bearing horrible news.

Published in Metaphorosis magazine. April 2017
Received Silver Honorable Mention from the Writers of the Future contest (under the name “Canoes of Havaiiki”)

Oelinium

A man in a repressive 27th century stellar empire is broken apart and reformed into a monster of qubits and machinery. But in the vastness of space, a budding civilization spawned by Earth’s psychotic rulers may help him fight back against his oppressors.

Published by “Compelling Science Fiction”, June 2016

Omnos

Follow Gordon Everly, priest of a very odd religion, as he oversees an experiment to solve the biggest mystery of mankind’s existence.

Published by “The Colored Lens”, Spring 2016
Also Received Honorable Mention from the Writers of the Future contest

Pivot Point

In a civil war fought through magic and guns, a freed slave, a dastardly confederate magician, and an increasingly skeptical confederate sergeant come together to make the final decision that will end a war.

Possum

Tlacuatl, a boy in the 16th century Aztec empire, must find out why his sister has been brought to Tenochtitlan. And in the process, he must use weapons from the Gods to bring down the evil at the heart of the city.

Published in Longcount Press Anthology of MesoAmerican Fantasy, July 2014

Raven

While in the middle of a horrible breakup, free-lance journalist Ellene Ortiz is hired to investigate a group of hippie cult members on Orcas Island, Washington. But what she finds on that forested, mist-shrouded island defies all explanation, pulling her deeper into the mystery of a Native American myth.

Soon to be published in Stupefying Stories

Recall

A woman with dementia is accosted by two teams of doctors, but one with a mysterious cure that cannot have originated from any normal place.

Published in KY Story’s “Dysfunctional Family Stories” anthology

The Science Project

Mort Passon’s family is more than a little odd. And now that he’s entering 7th grade, he knows his only chance to be accepted is to use his family’s bizarre talents to craft the science project of the decade.

Published in 4Star Stories, February, 2016

The Talisman

A British colonial in 1914 Northern Rhodesia is tasked with negotiating with the natives for their gold. But the village Kumbali has tricks up her sleeve that the British army will have trouble circumventing.

Titans

When giant creatures made from networked humans threaten the rest of us, the only savior is the most unlikely of heroes.

Published in Perihelion Science Fiction Magazine
Story has fallen off archive queue.

Trifecta

A hard-bitten lawyer with an ego the size of Manhattan watches his hubris crash to earth as coincidence after coincidence scuttles his case. Only later does he learn what was behind his fall, and the answer is more bizarre than anything he could imagine.

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