Moe Lane's Blog, page 676

In the e-Mail: Seize What’s Held Dear (Fall of the Censor Book 3)

Seize What’s Held Dear is Karl Gallagher’s third book in the Fall of the Censor space opera series, and I will get around to reading it as soon as this week calms down. So, I guess… November? The first week of school stretches.

08/30/21 Snippet, FLIM-FLAM MAN.

Creaking!

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There was a road in these woods. And not just a dirt track, either. Actual stones could be seen, peeking through the grass. Gregor had found the road via the time honored tradition of stumbling across it, and the sudden change of footing made him lose his balance. Fortunately, the tree that stopped his undignified, headlong rush hit him in the shoulder, and not the nose. It still hurt enough that, comparatively speaking, falling on his rear was barely painful.

But after Gregor picked himself up — I’m too young to be this creaky, he thought, as he used the tree to get vertical — he felt a bit more philosophical about it. Even an abandoned road was a road, after all. It would go from one place to another one, and as long as he avoided the end closer to mobs and millponds, it should all work out. Besides, it was well past noon. The odds of him finding shelter at least before nightfall would be much better.

The DECISIONS Chapbook is now available on Kindle!

DECISIONS consists of four stories, illustrated, all different genres. I want clear decks for September, frankly. Also: I need to have those books ready for the fair I’m doing in October, so the sooner I get on that the sooner I can order author copies.

These are, I think, some of my best short stories. Well, so far.

First day of school!

…Hip deep in making sure the computer’s working for the youngest (he’s on all-digital, still). What fun. What amazing fun.

‘The Greatest Action Story Ever Told.’

This is better than any music video I could think of. Not to mention being a better sequel to Terminator 2 than, well, any of them. And it’s not even horrible theology! I’m amazed Mad TV managed that last trick, honestly.

Hurricane Ida is bad.

New Orleans has lost power completely. Pray for them. And you can donate here to the American Red Cross.

08/29/21 Snippet, FLIM-FLAM MAN.

Woods!

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But a few of the townfolk were starting to follow, in an idle way which could turn serious in a heartbeat, and Gregor could take a hint. There was an overgrown patch of old wood, almost all the way up to the millpond; and while it looked pretty damned wild there he didn’t see any wasps or snarevine. Not the sort of thing you’d want to follow an already-chastised mountebank into, unless you were really mad at him.

So he plunged into the underbrush, wincing at the brambles (which were there in abundance). Gregor was good at running away, too: he didn’t waste time on amateur mistakes, like looking back to see who was following him, or panicking. He knew these kinds of races were won by the people who kept on plugging until the other side gave up. After ten years in this business, he thought, I should know a few things.

Today I finished up DECISIONS!

DECISIONS is another chapbook, and probably the last fiction thing I publish this year. The stories in it are not related, except in the sense that I happen to think that they’re four of my best short stories ever. Thirty two thousand words, four illustrations, here’s the cover.

$2.99 in Kindle, $6.99 in print. I’m planning to pull the trigger on this one tomorrow. Just in case there’s any last-minute stuff that needs doing.

Patreon Microfiction: Suboptimal Career Paths.

100WS-Suboptimal Career PathsDownload

I imagine that it was all very awkward, while it was going on. I think by the end the people of ‘Suboptimal Career Paths’ were just assuming that every collaborator was a double agent of some kind. Which would be a self-fulfilling prophecy, no?

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‘Birdseeds of Vengeance.’

Yes, it’s a parrot.

Birdseeds of Venegeance, Hatebeak