The Gift

Margaret visits a train station to reminisce about the past, but she is about to learn that another hand from the past has shaped her present. This story was first released on the podcast Every Photo Tells… and was nominated for a Parsec Award in 2010. Now the text is available in print for just $0.99 from Smashwords and in the Kindle, the Nook, and iBooks stores as well.

A Walk in the Park

Professor Crackle and his assistant Miss Titania Bang have arrived in Darwin to meet with an informant. Their friend is providing them cover by playing in a local cricket match, if only they can arrive on time. But a lot can happen during a simple walk in the park.

This story is a teaser for my upcoming Adventures of Crackle & Bang series. It provides a taste of the world of the Eternal Empress. This is one of several short stories available in the Special Steampunk Issue of FlagShip. The text only version of the magazine is available at for the Kindle for just $3.49. Audio version will be available soon.

Welcome to Paradox

Lars Keller is history. Literally. Sentenced for temporal crimes he has not yet committed, Lars is caught in an endless cycle of paradox unless he can find a way to restore the timeline… from the outside.

This story was first released on the podcast Every Photo Tells… and was nominated for a Parsec Award in 2010. The text has been released on Smashwords and for the Nook, iBooks and now for the Kindle for only 99 cents.

The Cross of Columba

Agent Bryan Teague travels from the London offices to a remote area of Scotland on the call of Lord Pennyfarthing, a self-proclaimed scientist and specialist in ancient and rare fauna. Agent Teague arrives to find his skepticism of Pennyfarthing’s previous follies challenged upon finding a traumatized valet and a dying English lord with an incredible fish story…

This story was formerly under the code name “Northern Mists”. Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris commissioned this short story for their Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences universe as part of the Tales from the Archives Season 2 (or Volume II) anthology. They released “The Cross of Columba” in audio form as Tales from the Archives Volume II, Episode 7. The e-book version of the story is available for just $0.99 for the Kindle, Nook, and from Smashwords and Kobo as well. I really enjoyed the opportunity to play in their world and add to the history of the Ministry. Please let Tee and Pip know if you’d like to hear me tell more stories in their world.

Some reviews for The Cross of Columba:

• My World… In words and Pages
• Goodreads
• Amazon Reviews

The Perils of Prague, A Crackle & Bang Adventure (Book 1 of The Adventures of Crackle & Bang)

The year is 2010 and it is still the reign of Her Eternal Majesty Empress Victoria the first. Steam power is still ascendant and the digital age has never arrived. While the people feel safe in their homes under Victoria’s Peace, ambitious men and woman plot to gain power without incurring the wrath of the Eternal Queen and her lightning powered armies. Onto this stage comes Professor Harmonious Crackle and his assistant Miss Titania Bang. Exiled for a crime he did not commit, Professor Crackle tries to prove his loyalty to the crown by seeking out those who threaten the empire.

A young English lordling is taking his Grande Tour to mark the completion of his education and the beginning of his adult life. A night at the Opera of Prague leads to a chance meeting with an eccentric professor and his lovely young assistant. But before the evening’s entertainment is over, a hidden assassin attempts to kill a visiting member of the royal court, destroying the opera house and putting our trio on the track of a mad scientist bent on toppling the Imperial Court from power. Can they find him and stop him before he makes another attempt on the Crown Prince? Or will they have front row seats for the first salvo in a war for control of the empire?

The Bright Lands

Casey Jackson doesn’t like her new town, or her new school. Her family moved when her dad was transferred to a new base. Her mom, a talented artist, has finally lost touch with the world around her and has been institutionalized. Casey wants her old school back, her old friends back, and most importantly she wants her mom back.

But Casey has more than just school to worry about. The doctors say that her mom’s condition is usually hereditary, and Casey has seen some glimpses of strange things out of the corner of her eye. She’s terrified that her mind is going just the way her mom’s did.

Then one day Casey literally falls into another world. Her school and town have been replaced by a beautiful landscape filled with magical creatures. Befriended by a handsome elf who calls himself Roderick and introduced to The Bright Lands, a realm of wizards and creatures of magic. Roderick helps Casey find her way home, which he refers to as the Grey lands, and in the process they discover that Casey has the gift of magic.

She returns home to discover that students have gone missing from her school and the entire community is in a panic. Casey’s friends, the school misfits, notice a change in her and ask her what is going on. She finally spills the story to them and is surprised when they believe her. When one of Casey’s friends disappears at school and she detects the traces of magic, the trail leads them all to the Bright Lands looking for answers and trying to rescue their friend. When the clues indicate that a dark wizard is kidnapping the children to steal their creative potential from them, it seems that Casey and her friends may have bit off more than they can chew.

Can Casey and her friends rescue the missing children? Can Casey learn to control her magic and defeat the dark wizard? Can any of them get home from this alive?

The Shining Cog (The Way of the Gun Anthology)

Alexander Copperspring was just a Cog in the Machine. A proud Cog, follower of the Clockworker, tinker, and engineer. He had come to Bowman’s Station on behalf of the Midlands and Pacific Railroad Company, to help build the station and prepare the infrastructure needed for the railroad on its long way to the coast. That had been six years ago, and while the station was ready, the railroad was still slow in coming to the valley.

That was when the Martials came to town. The lead Martial was belligerent and showed his disdain as he explained that Judge Wilcox had ruled that no proper claim was filed for the settlement and the valley had now been claimed by Hanson Cumberland, the cattle baron. As trespassers on this land, the Judge was giving them 24 hours to grab their possessions and leave the valley.

Alex’s temper, and his mouth, got the better of him. He railed against the Judge and his “justice” on behalf of the man with the biggest bag of gold. Before he knew it, he’d managed to challenge the Martial to a duel to decide the matter. But before the Martial could drag him to the Circle and gun him down as an unarmed man, an old drifter spoke up, invoking some obscure clause of the Way to gain Alex another week to prepare for the duel.

As the Martials rode out of town, Alex realized the situation he was in. He had a week to build a gun, learn how to use it, and then fight for his life and his community. A week left to live, his only help, this weather-beaten old stranger who offered to teach him The Way of the Gun.