Back in 2011, I set a Baker’s Dozen challenge for myself–13 short stories in 13 weeks. Not only did I have to write each story, I also had to edit, copy edit, and publish each story as I finished it.

The end product was the Baker’s Dozen collection. I’m still proud of this collection. There are stories in it that I really love.

This fall, I’m going to be doing something similar. Not writing 13 short stories, but publishing them, one a week, culminating in the publication of War Among the Crocodiles, the final book in The Shadow Wars trilogy.

For one week, I’ll be offering each story for free in my blog as well as here.

In the first Baker’s Dozen collection, I wrote and published, The Third Raven. That story inspired The Raven and the Dancing Tiger which then led to The Guardian Hound and now I have the final book in that world, coming out in December.

One of the other things that I’m aware of, that I’ll be doing another blog post on at some point, is that I write lots of different things. Lots and LOTS of different things. I believe that’s one of my issues in regards to discoverability: Just because you loved one of my novels doesn’t mean you’ll love the next. I think it’s a rare reader who likes my entire body of work.

For example—I’m best known for Paper Mage– which is historic fantasy. I have three other historic fantasies. The Shadow Wars trilogy, at least The Guardian Hound and War Among the Crocodiles, have strong historic elements in them.

If you read one, will you like the other? Possibly.

I do have two trilogies (that I will be finishing, promise!) that aren’t related, but I believe if you like one, you’ll like the other – The Clockwork Fairy Kingdom books, as well as the Troll books (I’ve only finished, The Changeling Troll but The Princess Troll will be published in 2016. And I have the basic idea for The Fairy-Bridge Troll which is the third in that trilogy. Plus I’ve promised to finish The Dwarven Wars – the last of the Clockwork Fairy Kingdom trilogy, this year.)

Then there are the Chronicles of Franklin. I consider these “immersive”–dive down deep into the world and revel. The setting is rural. Franklin is deliberate. But boy, is he voicy.

If you like The Popcorn Thief (which is now in audio!) and The Soul Thief (which has audio coming soon!) what else would you like?

If your focus is on voicy characters, you might like the Cassie stories. But the pace is completely different. The voice and setting are also so very different. So the reader for one might not be the reader for the other.

And then I have the other novels. Like When the Moon Over Kualina Mountain Comes, which is dark, epic fantasy. Immersive, but different than Franklin. Much more fantasy, much less real world. (There will be a sequel to that, as well as other dark, epic fantasy novels.)

Which brings me to, Of Myst and Folly. I loved writing this novel. It’s a post-apocalyptic fairy tale. (The prequel to the novel, Of Rifts and Myst is here.)

If you like post-apocalyptic, you may like the following short story, the first of this Baker’s Dozen Redux. It’s called, Touch and it’s post-apocalyptic. It’s also flash fiction – 700 words long.

I’ve received some great rejections with this story. Many editors really liked it, wanted me to send them the next thing I wrote. But after a dozen submissions, it couldn’t find a home.

So I present it here. Strap yourself in. It’s gonna be a hell of a ride.

 

(here and gone!)