Short Fiction

What do you do with too much money?

The shadows of Old Town were her shadows, and the breeze drifting through the twisted lanes was her breath, and it spoke with her voice, saying, "Kill him ninety-nine ways ... " (Originally appeared 08-21-2006)

In Zimbabwe, law books and facts are respected, and taken into serious consideration. But the Elders know that there is much more to justice than sentences written on paper by strangers who may or may not have ever tasted the satisfaction of curried goat.(Originally appeared 04-03-2006)

In the middle of suburbia, a murder-suicide leaves a house haunted by the weeping of a baby, and a garage as cold as a tomb.(Originally appeared 11-07-2005)

Strange forces are at play, but no tiny, chirping, harbinger of the apocalypse is going to get away with destroying the world tonight.(Originally appeared 06-06-2005)

Spring is a good time of year to look at how we view the block we live on ... (Originally appeared 03-27-2004)

A fable, as told to children. (Draft excerpt from 'Natural Causes', a NaNoWriMo 2003 work-in-progress)(Originally appeared 11-08-2003)

An old fairy tale with a new twist.(Originally appeared 06-10-2002)

Adventure Scouts are helpful, polite, and work hard at being good. But darn it, it's hard to sell cookies when you're all hungry ... (Originally appeared March 31, 2003)

A creation myth.(Originally appeared 04-17-2004)

If you're going to play at office politics, you had better know just who you're meddling with. Some people have talents the company relies on, and satisfaction in the workplace is priceless.

They're not pets, they're not a different race. You've got to take into consideration their future and what's good for them, or some shaman might have a talk with you.

Take a deep breath -- there's something on the breeze. Must be the Twosday Market in Crosspasses.

Oh, quit trying to convince everyone that you only eat healthy fresh food. Almost everyone has some nasty craving for foods that are less than gourmet. Maybe it's Vienna Sausages. Maybe it's those four-for-a-dollar chicken pot pies. Maybe it's nachos made with jar cheese and barbecue flavored potato chips ... you'll note, as some Filthy Pikers share their thoughts, that not one of them mentioned chocolate, Bane of Waistlines everywhere. Hmm. Probably because not a one of them feels guilty about it.

There was no excusing those disgusting young men and their outrageous stunt. Even Tiaan Bester could see the shame of the incident. Even Oom Paul Kruger from the old days would have agreed -- there was no way to describe the activity in the café after the rugby game as anything but disgraceful ...

Illiteracy is a curable ill. Aser encounters a town in which the malady is preferred to the consequences of the cure.

You know, there are things you can say when it's "just family" and then again, there are things you might say that are "just too much."

Relationships, undergarments and long-dead lechers mark keep Aser company along the road.

Explanation of the difficulties we had from February 24th, 2007 to March 9th.

Sometimes having the right answer doesn't help at all when you weren't supposed to actually respond the question.

They sent him to a shrink to try to make him "normal," but Mad Jack Runner knows it will never work, and has a plan to keep the Agency from picking up his brain waves. Maybe it would have worked, if it wasn't for the incident with the ghost-pirate ...

Born and raised in East Tennessee, Vivian Rinaldo grew up close to nature and related to nearly everyone in the valley. "Later on," Vivian relates, "we moved to Kentucky to a larger city, and I worked very hard to lose the hillbilly accent that was the source of much teasing in school. Since I've become an adult, I understand how precious that background and those memories are, and I now try to recapture the flavor of the mountains in everything I write."

Aser and her Twosday night beer are interrupted by a lizardman. A lizardman with love on his mind ...

A cold and dreary day dawned, with only laundry and the sound of her own footsteps to keep her company. No wonder Sarah was ready to fall in love.

Looking at the calendar I couldn't believe it was already February. Where had the time gone? It seemed like only yesterday I had been out at my mom's tapping her jugular. How time flies!

The neon sign above the door hasn't worked for twenty years, but even so, one night in thirty Ernie's Diner illuminates two lives with love.

Why on earth would you ask a hedge shaman for recipes?Ya think she's Betty Crocker or something?

The prospect of writing stories that could be seen publicly might scare the bejabbers out of you. The only solution? A pen name.

How can I tell if I have a big ass? The first of the Aser stories.

Wait a minute! What happened to California weather in the winter of '06 - '07???