L. G. Samson Novella Well Underway

 I'm making some fun progress on my new novella.  I'm about 10k words in and really enjoying it.  Lawrence George Samson is a character I introduced in my short story "Old Forests and Older Things Within," (also available at Smashwords for free in a variety of formats) and he's my take on a pulp hero.  Forced into hiding after an incident that consumed the rest of his scientific team, he's put together a good suite of skills and technology to root out and extinguish all sorts of nasty creatures that threaten mankind.

The PAEAN Project (about 3100 words)

 0630 hrs (local time), March 19, 1968: I'm starting this journal without knowing exactly what will become of it. It may be destroyed, or I may be allowed to keep it, but I have had the habit for a long time, and my circumstances now suggest that recording these events may be advisable. I am sitting now in a dingy passenger cabin on a large cargo ship, having boarded yesterday under orders. The ship's name, painted on the front, is Cavalier, but it was obvious that this new name was recently painted on as I boarded. I am, or rather was, a communications officer at the U.S. Naval Station at Guam, under command of the Naval Forces Marianas. A few days ago, I and several other officers were ordered to prepare to change our station to a large cargo ship that had just arrived in port. We were not given many details, and the operation was treated with high secrecy, but not classified in any official manner, which is why I feel justified in keeping this journal. We are to set sail in about three hours, according to a schedule I have seen, but aside from that, I have no other details. We are apparently heading south. After we get underway, there is supposed to be a briefing for us. The crew seems to be a mix of Navy and civilian people, and I saw a large group of what looked like scientists housed near the aft of the ship.

The Corner of My Eye (about 2400 words)

 The massive front door, made of thick, dark wood, swung closed with barely a squeak. I heard the latch catch, and at last I was alone in my new house. Now that it was mine, I felt a powerful urge to tour my beautiful home once more. The walls, painted in deep colors--the entrance hall in hunter green, the living room in apricot, the study in carmine, the kitchen in a creamy alabaster. Each room had its own color and its own feel. The wooden paneling, dark and smooth. The rugs and runners, soft and warm and dyed in ornate patterns. The heavy wooden doors, which mostly swung easily and without a sound, cut off the sounds from outside each room, making each space a world of its own.

Missed Contact released!

My new novella, Missed Contact, has just released!  It's only on Smashwords right now, but it should be appearing on the other platforms they work with once it's approved.  I'll edit this post and add more links when that happens.

Edit: I've got a full store page for it now!

It's another adventure with the Misevelin Salvage crew from my first novella, The Hyacinth Rescue.  This time, they're looking for a survey team that stopped checking in while they were exploring a newly-discovered planet.  An old coworker from back when Aric was working at his uncle's company, Greg Ralchester, drops by the office to offer them the job.

What follows is an uncertain and tense experience as Aric, Bill, and Lew try to find the crew and get to the bottom of what happened to them.

Sleight of Hand (about 1500 words)

People love magic shows. The skill, the misdirection, the unexpected--what's not to like! So when I discovered as a young man that I could actually do magic, not just little tricks like palming a coin or trick-shuffling a deck of cards, I was overjoyed--at first. But as I managed to perform a few neat tricks here or there, I realized that I didn't have complete control over it. Sometimes I would feel a weird tingle in my spine, and the hairs on the back of my neck would stand up, and something even I wasn't expecting would happen.

Old Forests and Older Things Within

 

    It was supposed to have been a slow, relaxing, two-month holiday in Peru. Victor Martinez-Silva and his wife, Amy, had retired early, both in their fifties, and had decided to take a long trip to the country Victor's family had left when he was just a baby. Victor's work as a library historian had always left him itching to visit the ancient places of the world, and this was a first step into the unknown for them. When they left, their three kids, now grown, had wished them a fun vacation when they dropped them off at the airport.

Novella First Draft Complete!

 Just finished the first draft of a new novella with some of the same characters from The Hyacinth Rescue.  It comes out at a little under 22,000 words.  I tried to sneak in a little world-building as well as some fun twists and turns.  Now comes the part where I go through it a few times and add details, reduce fluff, and clean things up!

Edit: Missed Contact is out now! Preview it on Amazon!