It’s official! Cats of War III (my third Herc Tom, Champion of the Empire collection) is ready for its July 8th release date. So this Fractured Fragment Friday, we’ll visit the eighth story in the series (and the first in the collection) – “Imperial Imperilment.” Here’s the Blurb Lord Phylo and his Canine Armada have … Continue reading
Category Archives: Excerpts
Fractured Fragment Friday: I Know He’s Big and Hairy for His Age, But You Think He’s a “Sasqwhat?”
“Sasqwhat?” actually began from a look in the mirror and the observation that even though my hair is silver, the roots (as well as the hair at the back of my neck) is very dark; it was almost as if someone had been secretly coloring my hair silver while I slept to make me think … Continue reading
Fractured Fragment Friday: Can Aaron Walker Save His Town from Their Alien Overlords by “Riding the Devil”?
“Riding the Devil” is a science fiction / fantasy story with a western steampunk flavor. The story’s seed was a dream my significant one shared with me, saying “you should write a story from this.” Of course, what I wrote bore no resemblance to her dream as far as she’s concerned (no matter how much … Continue reading
Fractured Fragment Friday: Egomaniacal Food Critic Meets His Match and Is Treated to the Revenge of “A Dish Best Served”
“A Dish Best Served” started simply with a desire to use a multi-course meal as the vehicle for a story. I started writing with the critic vs. chef theme, and the rest of the story came out of the pen on its own (or with the help of my favorite Poe story, “A Cask of … Continue reading
Fractured Fragment Friday: Detective Jimmy Delaney Discovers That “Too Much of a Good Thing” Can Indeed Kill You
Even though the release weekend for Ups and Downs: Detective Jimmy Delaney Collection #3 has completed, I still have on emore of the stories to revisit. Today’s Fractured Fragment Friday visits the 9th story – “Possession.” Life insurance can be useful, but sometimes it can be a case of “Too Much of a Good Thing” … Continue reading
Fractured Fragment Friday: Release Day for Detective Jimmy Delaney’s Third Collection, and a Look at Whether It’s Gaslight or Ghostly in “Possession”
Today is the release day for Ups and Downs: Detective Jimmy Delaney Collection #3! The collection contains stories 7 – 9 in the Detective Jimmy Delaney series, and today’s Fractured Fragment Friday visits the 8th story – “Possession.” I thought it would be fun to give Jimmy a fantasy element for one episode. Something supernatural, … Continue reading
Fractured Fragment Friday: Detective Jimmy Delaney Struggles to Thwart an Old Nemesis Who Has “Hacked Off” Police Monitoring
Now that I have Ups and Downs: Detective Jimmy Delaney Collection #3 ready for its May 20th release, Fractured Fragment Fridays can return to Jimmy Delaney, resuming with “Hacked Off”, the seventh in the series. At the very start of the series, Jimmy exposed himself to mind control through an illegal AugMentor™ implant. Despite how … Continue reading
Meandering Monday about Trying New Things
Where would we be if we weren’t willing to try new things? Think about something as “simple” as bread? What genius even thought to put those ingredients together, let alone EAT them? “Hey, Smerg – I’m going to take this funny grass and pound it with this rock.” “Still tastes like grass. Let’s try scraping … Continue reading
Fractured Fragment Friday: Discover How a Time Traveler “Passed Life”
Time travel is one of my favorite themes. There are many ways to approach how REAL time travel would work. My own thinking has evolved over time, but since most scientists agree that time-travel is impossible (we’ll see how long that consensus holds), who’s to say which theory is more valid than any other. In … Continue reading
Fractured Fragment Friday: Detective Jimmy Delaney Races Against Time to Stop Whoever Is “Killing Them Softly”
This week it’s time to visit the fifth Detective Jimmy Delaney tale: “Killing Them Softly.” Writing a pseudo-speculative-fiction detective series, I often find myself looking for creative and unusual ways to kill people. It often reminds me of The Avengers (not the Marvel superhero club – the old British television series about secret agents Mr. … Continue reading