Why The Wedding of the Princess-King and Other Stories?

So. My second collection is out, and doing nicely, thank you all very much. I'd love it if everyone in the world would go over to Smashwords and download a copy. Or even if "everyone in the world" turned out to be about as many people as you'd find a rural town in mid-Michigan.

 Now I'm going to share a few thoughts about it with you.

First. I'm in love with the cover. Simon Brom did a great job translating my vague notions and hopes into a vivid cover which, I think, fairly represents the actual contents.

Second. I'm satisfied with the actual contents. I feel like I stretched and grew in the writing. I wanted three full-sized short stories in this collection. As it turns out, a "full-sized short story" isn't a uniform unit of measurement.

Second, sub-head One: "The Wedding of the Princess-King" got its start as flash fiction effort to answer the question, "what would people who live in a fairy tale world tell in place of the fairy tales we tell about them?"

Second, sub-head Two: "Take the Moon at Full, Now She's Changed" was always intended to be a downer of a story where defeat was never really a possibility, but success wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Second, sub-head Three: "Earthfall" came about because another story wasn't coming together the way I wanted it to, and I wanted the final story in the collection to be light-hearted, and airy in both the narrative modes and plot. Of the three, this one is the story I had the most fun bringing together.

Third: Let's talk about availability. Smashwords, obviously. It is also, as of this writing, available at the Kobo store, the Nook store, and the Apple store. Kindle soon. I promise.

Fourth: Let's talk about pricing. At Smashwords, the price is whatever you want it to be! Free! Ninety-nine cents, if you like! More than that! A LOT more than that! If you like! At the other stores, it's $0.99, that's ninety-nine pennies. That's like all the cents you'd collect on a really productive walk across the parking lot at your favorite grocery store. Why? I'm experimenting here. How do the tools I have available to me work, and how do they work together? We're in this together, dear reader, you and I. So let me know. Take a moment to review the book, here or at the retailer where you got the book. Let me know how you feel about pricing, what you feel is fair and why. Seriously. Let's talk.

Excerpt: Earthfall

My new collection, The Wedding of the Princess-King and Other Stories, will be available for download later today!

Here's an except from the third and final story in the collection, "Earthfall," about a royal tax collector who gets in over his head outside a mountaintop hamlet.

“Wake up, Thief!” Astrid was kicking his shoulder.

Breakfast was eggs, bacon, fried tomatoes, a mixed fruit platter, flaky pastries, and coffee with sugar refined by secret southling processes to the whiteness of the noonday sky. Astrid kicked Roger harder, and he woke up to a bowl of jerky and a mug of fermented yak’s milk. “Look, Thief. Closely.” She was pointing at the Being’s breastplate. It was pierced; the hole was jagged, and big around as Spider’s stone hut.

“That’s a big, big hole.”

“It’s a big, big Celestial Being. Look closer.” She pointed again, but since she was still pointing, it just looked like a wave of irritation moved from her shoulder, down her arm, and out her finger, then the wave, now visibly moving through the morning mist, washed up several stories, and disappeared through the gaping wound.

“Hey…” Roger leaned forward. “That crest. It looks… I mean the hole rips across it… I can’t be sure.”

“You’re sure.”

I hope you've enjoyed these excerpts. You'll be able to get the e-book soon!

Exceprt: Take the Moon at Full, Now She's Changed

My new collection, The Wedding of the Princess-King and Other Stories, will be available for download very soon! I'm eager to get it into your e-readers and desktops. 

While we wait, here's an excerpt from the second of the three stories in the collection!

“But the problem with the plan…" Carl watched Samantha deck two cards, and draw two. He could tell she was looking to fill a straight. The problem with the plan wasn't so much the sheer improbability of convincing the world that the Moon posed a serious threat to humanity and, therefore, had to be pushed into a higher orbit. The real problem was keeping the world's enthusiasm for the project in check. People love to be afraid, but they also love being involved.

Carl shook his head to clear his mind. It was easy to spend too much time running over past successes, allowing the past to wear paths in his mind, paths that could easily turn into ruts. He had to keep moving forward. Focus on the future. The plan was set, and it would work if he stayed focused for one more day. Plenty of time after that for prideful tale telling, when he returned to his grandfather and the Twilight Kingdom.

The full collection will be available very soon from Smashwords and other e-book retailers!

Exceprt: The Wedding of the Princess-King

Here's a brief excerpt from the title story in my new collection, due out in just a few days!

She burst from an alley, panting in an empty courtyard, facing a gate of the walled city, a gate sized for a wagon, she leaned upon it, forced it open, and saw a vision of sanctuary, a field with forest beyond. She ran. Running now on open ground, the king’s charger came fast on the princess who, falling, became an oak, mighty, now towering above the pastureland.

The king and his steed leapt upon the oak, and as an eight-legged bear, made for the crown. Licking his chops, the bear-king bellowed, and bit at acorns, ready to make a meal of the princess-oak, who shook in the winds and, changing again, blew into the forest on swarming locust wings, and leaving the bear unsupported, tumbling to the ground. The bear, unstoppable, ran through the ancient forest, eight paws tearing at the trail of leafless limbs and fern stems scoured to stubbled ground by the cloud of princess-locust.

As with my previous collection, "The World is Bigger than an Ell," this collection will be available through Smashwords, and your favorite e-book retailers. The file is with Smashwords now, grinding through the review and distribution process.