2018 started well, and then June hit… and so did Life
and health, and things went just a bit off track for our authors. Still, when
we look back, 2018 wasn’t a bad year, even with its complications, and we’re
grateful for that. Given the number, we'll break them down. Today, to celebrate the short story release on Friday, we'll list the short stories from 2018.
The year started with a novella-length foray into our own world, but one where magic has returned and elves, trolls, and pixies are a regular occurrence - and they're not the worst of what humans can encounter. This novel wraps the long-running Troll-Hunter storyline of short stories and flash fiction.
Never get involved with the Otherworld Fey. Take
my word for it. I saved the Queen of Summer, and was betrothed to a lord of
Winter by way of thanks—and then the human underworld got involved. So what do
I do, when every choice is bad? What would you
choose: death by troll, or the mercy of an elf?
The year continued in an urban-fantasy vein, with another story involving elves, pixies and trolls, but this encounter involved an officer from the hastily-formed Paranormal Operations Squad, and a very difficult choice to keep a fragile peace between the elves and man.
I woke up in a car—upside down, staring into the faces
of a half dozen pixies sitting on a tree branch. To one side, was a cliff face,
to the other, sky, and things were starting to shift. Apparently, I’d had an
interesting night… if only I could remember what it was, and why I’d run, and
why following the pixies scared me almost as much as the idea of staying in the
car…
In Reluctant
Liaison the Paranormal Operations Squad is faced with a dilemma outside
their usual remit, when Otherworld and ‘real’ world cultures clash.
In March there was a slight departure from the paranormal theme... well, from trolls, pixies and elves, at least - and we saw our first vampire short, involving vampires of a slightly different kind.
Not all vampires feed on blood. The ones we hunt
take your memories before they take your life—and now they are hunting back.
We’ve been compromised, and I don’t know who to trust. That comes later. Right
now, I just want to make it back to my body alive.
April saw a shift from urban fantasy to science fiction, with the first Odyssey story of the year, this one involving alien contact and colonial liaison.
When the contract’s done, and you’re fleeing for your
life, the company’s supposed to be on your side, right? Am I right? So, you
tell me what happens when the company understands the contract wrong, and you
get stuck somewhere you really don’t wanta be. You tell me how I’m gonna make
it back to the stars.
A short science fiction story set in the Odyssey
universe.
You can purchase Dreams of the Serpent at a link from HERE.
May saw us go from science fiction to fantasy - and a fantasy ghost story, at that - where a bereft queen has to make a choice to wed for her country's security, but cannot shake the ghosts of her past.
A dark fantasy short story about royalty, rivalry, and
assassination
Life’s not fair, when you have to find a fiancé or
risk setting your kingdom up for a fall. It’s not fair, when your dead lover
comes to call, assassins in his wake, and your dead maid by his side. And it’s
really not fair, when everything happens on the night of your suitors’ ball. It
never rains but it pours. I am a queen by blood and right, and not some random
happenstance—yet who am I to argue when Destiny comes to call?
You can purchase Destiny's Queen at a link from HERE.
June saw the arrival of a new 'regular' character - and a new facet of the pixie-dust universe - although we didn't know it at the time. It also saw a return to urban fantasy, but one blended with science fiction, forming the first sci-fantasy story of the year. And time travel... let's not forget that.
“The world turns differently for each of us, and we have
no choice but to take its hand and dance the next set of steps.” (Argyllis,
2017)
Harper disagreed. Rescuing pixies from drug-runners,
and working alongside unicorns and elves was part of her job. The world had
turned, and she had chosen, but, when she is badly injured and taken into the
elven realms, Harper finds she has a whole new set of steps to choose—and that
time, indeed, moves differently in the Other World.
You can purchase Harper's Choice at a link from HERE.
July was another month for science fiction, with a short story inspired by events at the end of Mack 'n' Me: Origins. In that story, we get to see exactly what happens to Cutter after she gives Mack, Tens and Odyssey the finger and tries to make a life of her own.
All I had to do was disappear. That was it: disappear
and stay out of sight. Hard enough with Abs running an auction for the last
location she left me, but then I poked the Depredides communications
network—and everything else looked downright easy… I’m not even sure there is a way out of this…
The Depredides
Dance is a stand-alone short story set in the Odyssey universe. However,
if you’re into reading things in order, it tells the story of what happened to
Cutter after the end of Mack ‘n’ Me: Origins, and thus forms
story 1-1 of the Mack ‘n’ Me ‘n’ Odyssey
series.
NOTE: The main character
swears like a sailor, and the support cast aren’t much better. If swears bother
you, this this story may not be to your taste.
You can purchase The Depredides Dance at a link from HERE.
Science fiction remained dominant in August, too, with a short story that explored a hidden corner of the Odyssey universe, and which didn't feature much of Odyssey, at all - although it does have a lost colony, monsters, and an unlikely rescue.
When my mother told me to run, I ran. I ran all the
way to the river and then stopped—because the river was a frightening place,
and forbidden by the raiders who came to take their annual toll of settlers.
Faced with the choice of being taken, or taking my chances in the river, I took
a step back, and hoped that somewhere, across the river I’d find help.
You can purchase River's Edge at a link from HERE.
September brought another sci-fantasy tale, and another new character that may make more appearances. What happens when a bunch of space wolves take a siren captive and try to make her do what they want? Yeah, well, they find that out.
Once a space merc, now a singer, Taran keeps her
identity as a siren secret. When spacewolves join the audience at her current
gig, she knows what they’re looking for. The only question is can she slip
away, before the wolves and her past can catch up with her? And can she kick herself
free, if they do?
You can purchase The Songster & the Pirates at a link from HERE.
Harper made a comeback in October, in a story set before the events in Harper's Choice. In a pure urban-fantasy adventure where unicorns show their propensity for getting P.O.S. officers into trouble, Harper travels to the Otherlands and meets a bunch of particularly nasty elves. She meets some nasty humans, too, bu that's par for the course.
When Harper goes after a lone unicorn without back-up
she’s breaking every rule, and none. The only questions are: will her partner
get to her before things go totally to pieces, and exactly how much havoc can
one lone unicorn and a P.O.S. officer create before back-up arrives?
You can purchase Harper & the Unicorn at a link from HERE.
November, again, finds us in the company of Cutter and the crew in an adventure that occurs between Books 3 and 4, and which highlights the danger of the arach both present and past. And does Cutter look like needing a regen tank again? Well, it is Cutter...
“They’re just kids,” he said.
“You won’t need your blaster,” he said…
“It’ll be easy…”
Yeah, and when I saw Mack next he and were going to
have a little chat about what was easy and what was not. With our fists, even…
Because half a dozen kids on a starship to nowhere good, with some unauthorised
passengers on board? Not my definition of easy—and I missed my blaster. I
really, really did.
You can purchase What Happens on Axis 58... at a link from HERE.
December ended the year with another sci-fantasy story involving Harper, but set after the events of Harper's Choice, and involving a member of her team, and a rescue mission on a distant world where the Otherworld has made connections.
Snow, trolls, dustrunners, blackmailing werewolves,
and mercenary elves…
From the sun-drenched outback to the snows of a
distant world, Mathilda Mathieson is in trouble. Dodging a drunken promise to a
werewolf while trying not to coerce the love of her life, and rescuing pixies
from dustrunners on a distant world are just the start. . The stakes are high.
If she gets it wrong on Waverran, the unicorns and pixies won’t be the only
ones to lose it all.
You can purchase Where Else but Waverran at a link from HERE.
