What the Soul Still Fears, Released!

Have you ever jumped because a moth flew at you? At a peculiarly-shaped shadow in the night? Something harmless like that? These reactions are a part of your brain that is a relic of evolution, so ingrained that you need not even think of it--or more so--even if you think of it, sometimes you cannot resist the sheer instinctive force of your ancient reptile brain. 

What if there was something that, instead of terrifying your brain, brought a similar instinctive fear to your soul? Something, perhaps, long banished from this world, that no human has been exposed to for hundreds or even thousands of years. Would you shake? Jump? Scream? If you did, would it be your brain doing those things?

What the Soul Still Fears is now available at your favorite e-book retailers!  This time, I set up a simultaneous release at Smashwords and Amazon.  See?  I'm learning!

Get my homage to Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness just about anywhere you like.

You want it at Amazon?  I got you covered.

You prefer Barnes and Noble?  Get your Nook and hold on for some weird sci-fi.

You're one of those Apple lovers?  Sweet.

You like vanilla Smashwords?  Of course, I've got a link for you.

You use Kobo?  Here you go.

Odilo?  I'm on it.

What the Soul Still Fears (Novella preview!)

A photo of Rome by Martin Guido at Unsplash

I am finishing up my next novella, a story of fear even deeper-seated in our beings than those peculiar reflexive reactions we have to certain shapes that suggest predators, or movements that hint at imminent attack.

Have you ever jumped because a moth flew at you?  At a peculiarly-shaped shadow in the night?  Something harmless like that?  These reactions are a part of your brain that is a relic of evolution, so ingrained that you need not even think of it--or more so--even if you think of it, sometimes you cannot resist the sheer instinctive force of your ancient reptile brain.

What if there was something that, instead of terrifying your brain, brought fear to your soul?  Something, perhaps, long banished from this world, that no human has been exposed to for hundreds or even thousands of years.  Would you shake?  Jump?  Scream?  If you did, would it be your brain doing those things?

What the Soul Still Fears follows the efforts of psychiatrist and neurologist Arthur Barstow as he is drawn into a bizarre study of the unknown by his childhood friend, physicist Luca Pellegrino.

Sample below... full version coming soon to e-book retailers!

Edit: Available now!

Jade Cargo (about 2800 words)

"The Infestation" prompt image from Iron Age Media

“Unidentified skiff, please respond.” It was the fourth time I had hailed them. I waited a few more seconds, and then I keyed my communicator off. It looked like the ship was dead, and my patrol just got a lot more interesting. I set my autopilot to approach for docking, and I walked over to the suit compartment near the airlock. I slipped out of my magnetic shoes and put on the pressure suit instead. The helmet went on with a turn and a crunchy click. I still needed to get those damn seals changed. With a flick of my fingers, the suit started its self-tests, and I stood still as the whole suit over-pressurized a little to test for leaks. It was hard to move when it was like this, anyway.

My Story Has a Laser... (math)

Time for more fun with real physics!

In my most recent novella, I talk about a laser in use by Luca's group in an interferometer.  Initially, I just wrote "The best measurements they had suggested that the beam might be expected to increase in size by one percent over a hundred meters, a fairly difficult feat, considering the diffraction limit at that wavelength," but damn it, I can do better than that, so let's go!

Draft of new novella finished: Immaterial Terror (tentative title)

Just finished the first draft of a cosmic horror novella I've been working on the past while.  I had an idea I liked, thought it would make a good short story, and I was 6000 words in when I realized it was going to be significantly longer than I originally thought. The full story comes out at a little under 20000 words.

The Broken Home (about 2900 words)

 

"The Outlanders" image prompt from Iron Age Media

    The item at auction was floundering. Bidding had been contentious up to one hundred thousand, but now it had slowed and the auctioneer was surveying the crowd. No one seemed willing to go over two hundred thousand. The auctioneer slammed the gavel once, twice, but then a voice rang out, clear and confident over the rest of the grumbling crowd.

    “Ten million.” The tangled thrum of voices vanished in an instant. The auctioneer blinked, failing to hide his shock for a second before he acknowledged the bid.

    “I have ten million,” he murmured, a twinge of disbelief clear in his voice. “Do I have eleven?”

    There were no further bids. The sound of the gavel rang out with finality.