Should have gone to sleep, didn't, and wrote until 3 am. Part of writing this story is the setting, and it takes time. I go down rabbit holes trying to find out prices in 1993 or what rifle an ex-police officer might use, and then twenty minutes later, finally returning to the story. So much easi...
2023-08-11 14:36:41 +0000 UTC View PostIt was rare that Wally was permitted to investigate a corporation's financial dealings. His kernel included very restricting rules about what he could and could not do without human permission and who those humans were. His ability to interfere in any way with Governments and Corporations was nar...
2023-08-11 02:35:56 +0000 UTC View Post"Your pardon, My Lord of Summer, but are all the roadways through the Fae Lands so quaint and distinctive."
Alwyn, Lord of Summer, looked to his right, where the human Courier kept pace with him as they escorted Prince Leporidon's carriage to the Court of King Oberon. "Please, I think it w...
I had to dogsit today with a small laptop to work on. Hard to write the other two stories, where I usually have three or more windows open with background material. So I fiddled around, and a fourth part of the upcoming story formed out of the chaos.
This is the story I write when I can't...
Bork triple-checked everything again. All of his systems were operating within acceptable parameters. It wasn't easy working this way. The more direct the linkage was, the easier it was to breach security systems. Immersed in their pod-induced comas, wandering the digital landscape of the interne...
2023-08-07 06:30:24 +0000 UTC View PostIt took an hour to find the spot Belinda had told him about. He'd taken to the rooftops to search for it, and the little cul-de-sac was nearly invisible from above. The alley leading to it was narrow and partly roofed, where someone had connected two rows of buildings with rooms between them. The...
2023-08-07 03:15:21 +0000 UTC View PostA third installment of the Scrapyard dungeon. A bit raw, and needs proofreading. Creating NPC's, setting up backstory, and the little bits and pieces that might become important later.
The sound of movement in the kitchen woke Huck from his dream of furtive black shapes that wanted his sch...
I'm still working on the rewrite of 236, and it has gotten so large that it will become 236 and 237. It just needs some more polishing, and I'll put up the revised text. Pushing on with the story. Sometimes I burn out writing one chapter and move on, coming back later.
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There are a couple of bugs that have cropped up with Patreon. One of those is causing some banks to decline a patron's monthly payment, which causes Patreon to delete that person from the list of followers.
So, if you suddenly find yourself with no access to stories and aren't a follower,...
The ride had started easily, Mudhead loping across the fields and orchards, bringing them rapidly to the Fae Maple tree that rose in the sky and held the portal to the lands of the Summer Lord. Mudhead hit the ramp that spiraled around the trunk at sixty miles an hour and didn't slow as Ben leane...
2023-08-04 01:58:50 +0000 UTC View Post"What do you mean it won't work? Do you have any idea how hard I worked to get this thing?"
Baron William, his Baroness, and the esteemed Professors of the College of Practical Alchemy and Experimental Magics were clustered around a twenty-foot-wide slab of stone that occupied the center ...
Stayed up late reading odd stuff and looking for a quote about Iron and ended up reading Kipling until 6 am and writing most of this chapter. I'm not really meaning to write a third story, but if I can't write the other two, I putter with what Huck is up to. And Kipling. I had to find the p...
2023-08-02 23:13:18 +0000 UTC View PostThis is what happens when I get bored while driving. New ideas pop up and slowly grow. I'm taking this story slow, and mapping it out bit by bit. Here's the first chapter. This is meant to be a creepy story, with some trauma thrown in the mix. It's set in a fictitious part of Allentown PA, in a s...
2023-08-01 22:25:02 +0000 UTC View PostThere were many stairs between the Red Chapel and the exit from the crypts, and Ozzy was familiar with each and every one of them by the time he was done pushing the unfinished altar stone to the top. He couldn't have done it without everyone else in the crew. Ben and Rolly kept the stone balance...
2023-08-01 03:08:55 +0000 UTC View PostRound two of this chapter. Some changes were made based on feedback. As usual, when I go back to a chapter, more words were generated. Take a look (Ignore typos) and give me some more comments. This chapter is now up to 4200 words. I'll be doing one more edit of this chapter before it's finished....
2023-07-30 01:15:39 +0000 UTC View PostA difficult chapter, mostly conversation, hindered by Milo's paranoia and fear of saying too much, and Belinda being kept sequestered most of her life. Send me feedback if something feels off.
***
"Hi"
"Hi"
With opening statements out of the way, Belinda and Milo settled down to an aw...
A well-armored figure moved down the streets of Shadowport, waving to a few people and making her way across the city. Belinda was easily recognized by her sky-blue robe, grey plate armor, and shining crystalline shield. A flanged copper mace was tucked into a belt loop. As a known healer, she ha...
2023-07-27 02:35:46 +0000 UTC View PostThe sound of a pipe organ swelled, accompanied by the strange sound of a hundred ghouls forcing their deformed throats to provide a chorus of chanting to go along with the deep rumblings of the organ. Huge lamps dangled from the ceiling on chains, their red glow growing each second as the music s...
2023-07-26 00:16:20 +0000 UTC View PostVery busy this week with my girls in performances of Beauty and the Beast and then Immediately starting the rehearsing for the musical version of Finding Nemo. And a visit by the granddaughter and older daughter.
Most of my writing time went into editing over the weekend and almost finishi...
Milo leaped from the third floor of the building he had climbed, turning a flip in mid-air and landing in a three-point stance. Two rough-looking men walking by were startled and started to draw their swords, then relaxed and held up a hand. "Kulag!" Milo did the same and then continued on his wa...
2023-07-22 22:25:36 +0000 UTC View PostMoving upward through the Mining Guild, Tallsqueak nodded politely to people but said nothing. He didn't ask where to go and walked through the guild as if he had every right to be there, showing confidence and poise. Milo contrasted that with his first trips up and down, getting lost and asking ...
2023-07-21 03:02:59 +0000 UTC View PostOver a dozen curious members of the Shadowport Mining Guild were 'just hanging around' in the assay office to see what the new member had dug out of the rock. After his display of breaking stone, no one openly questioned his ability to mine. The next question was: "What does it have in its pocket...
2023-07-20 23:06:52 +0000 UTC View PostSuzette wanted to scream but kept the thing talking. "I'll bargain for what's left of him." Rolly and Squirmie began to sneak their way around the perimeter.
"A bargain. My, my. I suppose we can sit and discuss a payment for this fine, Fae Lord. Is he a relative? Or do you just want to col...
After killing another dozen Carrion Eaters, the crypts became silent. Billy and Layla leaned against the walls, white-faced and gasping for breath.
Layla looked at the workers, who weren't even breathing hard. "How the hell do you people do this?"
<Superior breeding. My pet's nes...
Billy sighed with relief, and Layla did the same as they crossed the boundary of Hungrytown. "Damn, that woman scares me. It felt like she was watching us all the way to the border."
Sitting down on a tombstone to catch her breath, Layla agreed. "She was. Every person in town, even the lit...
Once again risking his soul and sanity, Kensai has made a suggestion.
What is your opinion on the name of the new coffee and pie shop in Hungry Town?
Can you train a ghoul to serve coffee and not eat a customer? Do we even want to find out what a ghoul bakes in a pie?
Whatever Billy and Layla were arguing about became moot as Suzette and Ozzy walked into the kitchen with half of a pecan pie. "Sit and eat, Ozzy, and I can finish drying." The two nobles didn't have to be told twice to abandon the job. Billy looked at the gooey brown pie, took a tentative bite, a...
2023-07-13 21:11:09 +0000 UTC View PostOnce again, Milo wondered who had designed Arcane Libraries. Arriving on the wide porch that fell off into the void was unnerving. He opened the door and scampered inside as fast as he could. Cichol was reading through a book, one of those from the Code Mage's library, and chuckling to himself. "...
2023-07-13 03:12:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe biggest building in Hungry Town was the home of Mama Laveau. It was older than the rest of the shanty town, with a foundation and first two stories of worked stone. Ozzy could just see the original outline if he used his imagination. Expansion after expansion had turned it into something else...
2023-07-12 00:50:49 +0000 UTC View Post"Who taught the damned ghouls how to backfill?" The tunnel that led to the crypts had been filled with layers of stone and earth. Not a barrier to workers with high STR and the Dig skill, but annoying. The ghouls came out of the ground from small crevices and crypts constantly. It was suspicious ...
2023-07-08 02:26:35 +0000 UTC View Post