Short Fiction

Kaine is dying; he has nothing left to help him heal. The time has come for Iai to remember who and what he is, and what he must do ...

Kristan Ginther is a professional copywriter and published nonfiction author. Her recent short fiction work has appeared in apt Literary Journal, M Review, and Planet Magazine. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Dan, two cats, and Boxer dog. She has no photos of herself without the husband or the pets.

Part of a shaman's work is to tell how things are with the world of the Unseen. Spooky? Maybe. But sometimes being the Voice of a ghost is pure job satisfaction.

Iai, Kaine, Jynx, and Kumiko have something in common on the harsh desert planet of Phoenix. It's not their courage, or their battles -- it's that for their own reasons, their hearts are all breaking ...

Kids never believe their elders about anything. Is it any wonder we can't stand them?

There is more than one side to any story, even a fairy tale.

"I always hated this fairy-tale," says Lydia Manx. "It was a pleasure to give 'Snow White and Rose Red' a new look."

Spin staw into gold? A little man with an unknown identity? Lydia Manx revisits "Rumplestiltskin".

Dan twists another fairy tale into something to make your eyes bug out.

Dan Mulhollen tokes a new look at an old classic fairy tale: "The Little Match Girl."

An Aser story. Is there anything sicker than an entire community of mimes? First appeared 2003-11-29

Evil and mystery have haunted the desert nights of the planet Phoenix, but the creature of malice and cruelty, Suada Zacharias, strides confidently under the blazing sun, dining on the pain of others, and quenching her thirst ... with death.

Moonlight, a graveyard, and who can you turn to and call your best pal?

The sun and the moon are found, but how will Raven steal them and put them back in the sky?

An Aser Story: The evil wizard Fellmount has every intention of tracking down the two shamans who exposed his wicked deeds -- now Aser and Danner have no choice but to pay their respects to certain deceased relatives.

The encounter was just chance, but both of them knew that there is a fire that can be sought when one is cold and alone. Sometimes the world seems so cold, and a life can seem like such a lone spark in a vast emptiness, that finding fire is the only solution human eyes can see...

Raven has no choice but to visit the scene of the crime, and finds not only a witness and a helper, but the inspiration to sell Girl Scout cookies.

Okay, so maybe blowing up the evil wizard Fellmount's house wasn't the smartest thing Aser and Danner ever did. The clans of Ur suggest they not let the door hit them on the ass on the way out.

Raven is accused of stealing the Moon and the Sun. No one believes the trickster, of course, so the only solution is that he is going to have to find the culprit himself!

An Aser story. A legal question besets the company: is conjuring an object the same as theft? And just to keep things interesting, is "demanding"a tip for delivering a message the same as theft? Do chickens really count as "theft"?

The Unknown is out there, waiting, mostly empty, but holding mysteries that may be no more than just memories. Agnes Stephenson wonders if there is more out there than memories, and if she'll ever be more than a rear guard ...

Unexpectedly, McBride is the next best hope for the injured Kaine and Iai. McBride knows that Iai has the power to heal himself, but what about Kaine, who was never expected to survive his own birth? But it is an odd fact that power comes when you're willing to take it ...

Staying mad at each other is easy until you realize how silly you look doing so. Cloudraft the Wizard and his hot former apprentice let two angry empaths trade insults for them.

Which is more attractive, the dreamer or the realist? Roy became an explanation in and of himself...

Unexpectedly, McBride is the next best hope for the injured Kaine and Iai. McBride knows that Iai has the power to heal himself, but what about Kaine, who was never expected to survive his own birth? But it is an odd fact that power comes when you're willing to take it ...

Aser, Danner, and Margot the Troll find a really excellent tavern -- but it has a nasty secret, and not just that a certain bartender has a thing for trolls...

Originally appeared 2007-10-22.

The Piker Press recently caught up with the noted ornithologist Bernie Pilarski at his home in Ripon California where he graciously consented to an interview. Seated in a lawn chair next to a fish pond in which a dozen or so good sized gold fish swam lazily about, Bernie answered our questions.Originally appeared 2007-08-20

Forgotten and dusty, alone and unwanted. Even the cast out can long for freedom, fulfillment, and the joy of seeing a different life ... Originally appeared 2007-05-14.

"This isn't me writing about love, it's me writing about writing about something that looks like love," the author tells me, and adds, "Her name was not Alice. Originally appeared 2007-02-12.