Another short story is out! The Craigslist Killers is now available from Amazon. The Craigslist Killers makes my fifth book baby delivered to the world and marks the first urban, police procedural, slightly romance-y story I've written to date. It is priced at 99 cents, the same as all my other short stories. Just imagine, you could splurge and get all five stories for less than five bucks!
A much shorter version of the story was released as “The Symbol & the Ring” in the Summer: Magic & Mayhem Anthology from Wolfsinger Publications, June 20, 2016. For those unfamiliar, Wolfsinger Publications is a one-woman show that deserves all the love. She hasn't been as active lately, but she used to produce some great things.
While getting the killers ready for publication, I went back to one of my previous releases (Black Char & the Crystal Caves). It was great to read the additional material I added for release. Black Char has a preface, to assist the reader in enjoying the story. Here it is:
THE WORLD OF BLACK CHAR IS SOMETHING ELSE, a break from our ordinary, everyday world and a deep dive into the different.
He lives on the fringes of a fantastical world ruled by magic and mayhem, a world of wonder where anything is possible. Not to give anything away, but there are caves of magical crystals! And what is found in the depths will hopefully delight, amuse, and slightly confuse you. All will not be explained. Leaving the reader’s imagination working overtime is one of my goals. Bear with me though, because all mysteries will eventually be brought to light. If not here, then in another tale.
So, those brave enough, come take a leap into the waters of my mind. Swim far away from the comfortable shore.
I look forward to getting back into the fantasy world of Black Char and Sea Dog from Pirates & Demons.
The Killers has a Thanks & Author's note section, which gives some more insight to the background of the story. No real preface needed because the story takes place in Los Angeles, not some mythical realm, though I can see how some people might confuse what happens in Los Angeles as stuff that only happens in magical places. I also recognized the contributions of a couple of really cool people, my wife Cheryl and my editor-in-friend Dave Owens, who several of you should be familiar with.
Here is an excerpt from The Craigslist Killers. Hope you enjoy it!
With distractions out of the way, she focused on the doorframe. Tally marks were short, probably done by a left-hander from the angles. She fixated on the circled symbol. At first glance it reminded her of a patch written in Arabic or some design work. Done with the same marker and the same hand as the tallies. The border of the design was well done, a perfect circle about three inches across. The symbol inside the circle, well, there she had no idea at all. From the upper left quarter of the circle, it began as a short straight line, then curved around like those open-heart jewelry pieces they advertise on TV, and finished with small circles at the end of two points. Her eyes crossed uncontrollably. She shook her head and stared. For a second she thought the pattern shifted, wriggled like a worm on a hook. She blinked and the black marks froze in place, or had she imagined it? What could it mean? She held up her hand and reached out to trace the symbol in the air, trying to decipher its meaning. Well, she would take some pictures of it and then…she froze.
Her ring was glowing. Her grandmother’s gold hand-me-down thing was glowing, plain as day.
Not a bright glow, but enough to rattle her. She fanned her fingers slowly, careful not to disturb whatever was happening. The light warmed her soul, like the afterglow from the setting sun of a perfect day that makes you feel relaxed and mellow. Carol raised her hand and turned toward the open front door. A shout to Dave died in her throat as the glow dimmed. A second later and the light was gone, the ring once again just a hunk of metal.
She frowned.
*****
The Killers has a Thanks & Author's note section, which gives some more insight to the background of the story. No real preface needed because the story takes place in Los Angeles, not some mythical realm, though I can see how some people might confuse what happens in Los Angeles as stuff that only happens in magical places. I also recognized the contributions of a couple of really cool people, my wife Cheryl and my editor-in-friend Dave Owens, who several of you should be familiar with.
Here is an excerpt from The Craigslist Killers. Hope you enjoy it!
With distractions out of the way, she focused on the doorframe. Tally marks were short, probably done by a left-hander from the angles. She fixated on the circled symbol. At first glance it reminded her of a patch written in Arabic or some design work. Done with the same marker and the same hand as the tallies. The border of the design was well done, a perfect circle about three inches across. The symbol inside the circle, well, there she had no idea at all. From the upper left quarter of the circle, it began as a short straight line, then curved around like those open-heart jewelry pieces they advertise on TV, and finished with small circles at the end of two points. Her eyes crossed uncontrollably. She shook her head and stared. For a second she thought the pattern shifted, wriggled like a worm on a hook. She blinked and the black marks froze in place, or had she imagined it? What could it mean? She held up her hand and reached out to trace the symbol in the air, trying to decipher its meaning. Well, she would take some pictures of it and then…she froze.
Her ring was glowing. Her grandmother’s gold hand-me-down thing was glowing, plain as day.
Not a bright glow, but enough to rattle her. She fanned her fingers slowly, careful not to disturb whatever was happening. The light warmed her soul, like the afterglow from the setting sun of a perfect day that makes you feel relaxed and mellow. Carol raised her hand and turned toward the open front door. A shout to Dave died in her throat as the glow dimmed. A second later and the light was gone, the ring once again just a hunk of metal.
She frowned.
*****
What happens next? Go on intrepid reader, and spend less than a buck to find out! Get your copy of The Craigslist Killers today!
