[ONC 2023 Honorable Mention]Zero is the resident hacker of the Heights Crew, the best drone 'jacking crew in all of Bernal Heights. During a routine heist, the crew stumbles upon a storage drive that turns their world upside down. Now on the run from enemies within and without, Zero must find unlikely allies to rescue the crew and carry the day.Heavily inspired by Neuromancer and Snow Crash!#onc2023…
As the youngest colonist on Venus, Nessa is in the middle of her pilot's test when she gets the chance to show that she, too, has the right stuff.Winner of the January 2021 SciFi Competition - Silver Lining.…
An innocent dragon, a jobless superhero, a canoe that travels between the stars, and more stories than you can shake a stick at.Check back every week for new tales!This is an ongoing anthology of stories inspired by writing prompts from r/WritingPrompts/.Cover art derived from "The Dragon's Princess" by neocaos. Used under CC license.…
Most people have no idea what they're talking about when they write/direct movies about space (I'm looking at you J. J. Abrams). This work is intended to help clarify what actually happens when physics is applied to stories. Welcome to a Writer's Guide to the Galaxy!…
Open Novella Contest Entry - 2020Roses don't grow in the town of Rose Woods.Jimmy Sarkins is back home for the first time in a long time, and nothing is as it appears. His sister is missing, the only mark of her absence a single red rose.In the woods he finds a gateway. And beyond, a world beyond his imagination.Prompt: Red Petals…
Open Novella Contest 2021 Entry - Every thirteen cycles of the blue moon, the elves came down the beanstalk to take their tithe of children.Mary lives with her family in their clinic in the small town of Ishida. Wanting to make a difference - and to see the wider world - Mary decides to tithe herself to the elves to learn their healing magic. But the elves hide a darker secret, and it will take Mary everything she has to free herself from their clutches.…
Entry for SciFi Competitions 12 - Space Debris. Story in 400 words.#SciFriday…
Entry for SciFi Competitions Challenge #4. This is a drabble, a 100 word story based on a one-liner given by the judges.…
The pilots threaded their way through the bursts of flak with an adroitness born of desperation. I was in the first seat by the clamshell doors. The jump light shone amber above my head, casting a pale yellow glow on our nervous faces. I was trying desperately to hold on as the seat buckled beneath me, and then the light turned green and I stumbled to the open door. The plane exploded. A wash of broiling heat slammed against me and picked me up and hurled me straight out into the open air. I was lucky, my parachute was still intact. I hung under a canopy of silk watching as the broken pieces of the transport plane spiralled towards the ground, spewing bodies. There was nothing I could do. I landed in a clearing, hid my parachute like I'd been taught and headed to our rendezvous. Five of the forty men in my platoon made it out alive. The 31st platoon was no more.My submission for Word Vibes II. The keyword for this story is 'convoluted'.…
Something changes in you when you live in a place where everyone hates your guts. Paranoia clenches around you like a vise. That old lady crossing the street?She despises you. You can see it in her glare. She's just waiting for a reason to turn you in. The cops will swagger up to you, every movement semaphores of their disgust. Where are your papers? They'll squint suspiciously. You know all too well what they do to illegals. Even so, it's not the cops that you fear the most. They are still obliged to operate under the aegis of the law. The Crimson Rising thugs have no such obligation. Your ribs are still bruised from the last encounter you had with them, over a month ago now. You doubt you'd survive another.#promotionsoct2014…