The first of a trio of short stories I penned earlier this year has made its way to publication.  It’s the shortest of the three, but I’m pleased with the result. 

The story “Sagan’s Law“ has been published in Issue #11 of Fusion Fragment.  This is a taste of what they usually publish, if you’re into that sort of thing:

Fusion Fragment is a science-fiction magazine. We are not interested in fantasy or horror stories. Not that we have anything against them – they’re just not what we’re looking for. As for SF, any subgenre is fair game, though our interests lean towards cyberpunk, slipstream, and anything with a little taste of the bizarre. Still, we’re more than happy to look at stories from all across the SF spectrum. Quality far outstrips genre preference in terms of importance.

Head on over for a good read.  I guarantee full enjoyment.  And if you don’t, then you get a free augmented pink hoodie in your next box of Ecoverse Starcrunch cereal.

Between finishing the first draft of my novel and starting the laborious process of editing it, I decided to write a few short stories based in the Digital Sea.  I’ve decide to post the first one I wrote here–There Is No Truth In The Digital Sea.  I would love to hear your comments. 

I also uploaded it to Amazon for the Kindle, so I could see how their Digital Text Platform worked.  My preference is you read it here for free, unless want to see it on your Kindle or iPhone, then its $0.99 (it was the cheapest I could make it). 

There Is No Truth In The Digital Sea

            Tibor had two more days until high school resumed from spring break, but as sword-mage of the Destaria, he had a score to settle first. 

The light from the silver sky filtered down around him like a haze while three fat moons calmly hung far above.  He paused as the massive volcano on the biggest moon, Sarpharian, shot a jet of lava spaceward like a pimple exploding on its red surface.  Ignoring the distraction of the beautifully rendered landscape, he spun around, hoping his enemy hadn’t snuck up on him while he gazed skyward.  As he scanned the surrounding area, Tibor saw the leg sticking out of the old dumpster like a discarded doll, except this one had dried blood covering the tattered boot. 

            Momentarily forgetting his duel, Tibor trotted to the dumpster.  The body, a middle-aged man in an azure jogging suit, lay stiffly over the old rubble.  A jagged piece of steel stuck through the hip. 

The stench overcame Tibor and he dropped back down, coughing into the crook of his elbow.  The air around him exploded in fire, the flames licking over the dumpster.  The view screen on his shades flashed red and a skull covering his vision indicated he had died. 

            A man in red trimmed velvet black robes, a shaggy gray beard and a bald head ran towards him, pointing and laughing.  Tibor had lost the game. 

            “You low-rez whore, I wasted you.  Never saw me coming, I told you today was my day,” William said.  The wrinkled face grinned.

            “I was distracted…” Tibor started.

            William cut in.  “Oh, that is so vag if you try to take my win.  I told you I was going to beat you today.”

            “There’s a body…” he tried to explain.

            William continued to bluster about being cheated.  Tibor waited until William had to take a breath, then rushed, “There’s a real body in the dumpster.”

Click here to read the rest.