Christopher B. Wright's Blog, page 23

Truths and Lies: Part Three

Thorpe Island

David Bernard shivers slightly as he steps into the large gym. It’s large, and mostly empty—most people are at work, and the few who are there are sticking to the stationary bikes.

It’s a well-provisioned gym. There are the traditional stationary bikes, ellipticals, free weights, bench weights and weight machines, as well as some devices David recognizes as specific to physical therapy and rehabilitation. He hadn’t used any of them—healing from the concussion came first—but they...

Truths and Lies: Part Two

Robert Thorpe's Office

Robert Thorpe’s pain is real. The pain’s location isn’t.

He feels pain because his nervous system is damaged. The kind of pain changes: sometimes he has headaches, sometimes he has muscle cramps, sometimes he has sharp, stabbing pain going up and down an arm, or a leg. Today his pain is in his lower back, and it’s more severe than usual.

There’s never anything specifically wrong with the part of his body that’s suffering at any given time, but he feels the pain all...

Truths and Lies: Part One

South Bronx, Morrisania

Years ago the sight of a young black woman sitting alone at Elliot’s Diner might have been cause for concern. Morrisania was once considered the worst the South Bronx had to offer, and the Diner was the unofficial stomping grounds of the Red Sevens, a gang with a reputation for ruthlessness and cruelty. Back then, anyone who wasn’t a Red Seven would immediately be marked a victim if they dared set foot in the place—and a young woman would be considered particularly vuln...

Issue 29: Truths and Lies

Story: Christopher Wright
Cover: Jamie Robertson
Logo: Garth Graham

A Rake by Starlight - Chapter 23

WHEREIN a Business Partner Transitions Into a Very Expensive Client

Baron Tyrelos stared at the Station Authority newscast, taking in the images flashing by: the remains of the Second City Bellows, the gritty particulates of the incinerated debris hanging in the air, Station Authority forces cordoning off the area, and one brief image of Lord Sonim Makar and Chancellor Muringyne being ushered into a secure area by Station Authority units. That last image was, she knew, standard emergency proto...

The First Year of Curveball is now Free

I know the website has been pretty quiet for the last month, but I've actually been working rather furiously to try to get some things done.

Last October I got the Year One and Year Two runs of Curveball professionally edited, which I then used to update the Curveball Year One Omnibus, and then release Curveball Year Two. Since then I've been trying to move those edits into the individual issues. I finally finished that last week, and delivered a batch of updated issues for my Patreon Subscri...

A Rake by Starlight - Chapter 22

WHEREIN a Business Partner Experiences an Unwelcome Change in Status

Amys walked into the Wardroom to find Grif and Baron Tyrelos locked in the middle of renegotiating their business relationship. This renegotiation consisted of Grif and the baron trying to drink each other under the table: so far, two bottles of Varkavian Whiskey and half a bottle of Stellis Blue had been sacrificed on the altar of Trying To Get the Upper Hand.

Grif looked up, saw Amys, and raised his glass in salute.

“Appare...

Support Your Local Webfiction

IT IS A TRUTH UNIVERSALLY ACKNOWLEDGED, that a writer in possession of no fortune to speak of must be in want of good reviews.

(Sorry Ms. Austen.)

If you enjoy reading Curveball or A Rake by Starlight and you generally approve of the webfiction model, would you consider taking some time to review them?

Web Fiction Guide is a nexus point for webfiction. Authors list their works there, and readers discover things to read. Because of the vast (and I mean VAST) number of listings on the site, rea...

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I'm 45 today!

Today, in honor of my birthday, I am getting in a car and traveling 10-15 hours (depending on traffic and stops) in order to spend the week with family.

A Rake by Starlight - Chapter 21

WHEREIN Secrets are Revealed, and Negotiations Begin Anew

Grif stared at the impassive face of Stebbil Tanz and tried not to look surprised.

Tanz was human—that made sense, since Mogra Tylaris was human, and Tanz had been his doctor. Some doctors specialized in cross-species medicine, but it was more common for doctors to study their own racial biology. He was a tall man, slight of build, and his light brown hair was thinning on top and graying on the sides.

“You look more distinguished alive,...