Three months after promising the railroad, Nathaniel examines the latest report of destruction by the wildlife. Once more, he’s having to balance the requirement for weaponry or repairing the damaged tracks. While eating a meal, Marcus barges in to discuss the status of the tracks and latest from Kethra ploy...

After the alliance with the Dwarves and Elves shattered, Tarian spends his time sulking in the former meeting hall. As the days and weeks march on, only Keldon can disturb his solitude. Though those meetings continue growing briefer...

With two Patreon stories down, I focused on the last tale for January, a Political Satire. Getting these stories always is a mixed bag, because I’m not a political person. In fact I try to avoid the news altogether. But there are times when I can let some of my personal beliefs bleed through and takle particular issues...

With both teams back on the boat, the Captain plots a course back home. The entire crew is somber with the destruction of everything they have ever known. While some members can cope with this enormous loss, others become ill-mannered with short tempers...

With my first Patreon tale completed, I turned my attention to working on my second story, a Historical Fiction. I’ve gotten this genre a few times and they are always fun. They require a lot of work, but they’re enjoyable to craft. The last one I wrote in this genre was Letters for the NYC Midnight competition. Just like with Letters, I dug into the history of the period to graft clues to ground the piece in its place in history...

“Why do we need the escort?” The navigator asked while she referenced her map.

The pilot’s fingers tightened around the steering yoke as he inquired, “Aside from us being at war?”

“Their aircraft aren’t as advanced as ours, Erik,” she said, leaning into her seat. The young woman pulled her legs onto the edge of the chair, wrapping them up with her arms.

“True,” Erik hedged. “Unfortunately, that’s not the only aspect of warfare. Their sorcery far outstrips ours.”

“What can five witches do for us?”

Erik covered his mouth, stifling a yawn, then snatched the microphone from the console and switched channels..

I hope everyone is enjoying the New Year. When I collected the votes from the Patreon Poll for January, I was excited to work on the Crime Caper. I’ve gotten a few of those recently, so I count on everybody being ready to revisit Jessica in her latest transgression...

With the colony of Nova beginning to thrive, Nathaniel has to diffuse another volatile situation with the leader of the Eastern Region. Kethra complains about her region’s inability to meet their quota, citing that she doesn’t have the people she needs to achieve the desired results. He saddles up his trusty mount and heads to Marcus’s ranch to speak with his friend...

While the triumvirs of Aurora are orchestrating their fledgling colonization effort, they await the return of their ships. With most of the scans of the solar system’s planets and moons in hand, the leaders are waiting for the completion of the last steps for starting their first colony...

Darren is falling into a grove with his studies, but his most taxing field is not martial arts with Volodar. Instead, it’s defensive magic, something Darren assumed would be easy. The instructor, Imryll, is a fair yet demanding teacher who wants Darren to stop relying upon his raw physical power...

Ever since February 2nd, 2019, when I posted my first Patreon post, Harrison & Sylvia Part One, I’ve had a Discord server. Unfortunately, like so many things, it got lost in the shuffle between my day job, my writing, and my family. But with the new year on the horizon, I buckled down and fleshed out what I wanted the server to look like. I borrowed some concepts from other servers, while I tinkered with a couple on my own. For the moment, I’m happy with what I’ve prepared...

With a note that contains the signature of the dwarves, on the one hand, the time has come for the leaders of the alliance to discuss everything. Fitik is furious that he’s being accused of treachery. And he brings up the behavior of the elves, in particular how quickly they produced the cure for the toxin that ravaged Tarian’s people and hurt the dwarves...

With the birth of his son, Marcus has turned his attention to his homestead. As agreed, the production of specialized plows stopped, but the resourceful colonist used the freshly crafted steam engine and a piece of the Novus’s hull to create a plow. In addition to the newly forged equipment, Marcus hired three individuals from the Central region to work his land. As the farm develops, Talia’s effort with their animals continues to excel...

With Liquid Assets and Weighing an Alibi completed, I turned my attention to the third and final Patreon post for December, a Thriller. Unlike the other tales, I don’t have a character waiting in the wings. Without the benefit of character, more blanks need to fill in, so to ease the burden, I jumped to NYC Midnight’s catalog. Once there, I searched the page for the word thriller and picked a random prompt...

Fresh off the heels of Liquid Assets, I started exploring the second Patreon post of December. Just like with my Crime Capers, I have a character that stars in my mysteries, Kyle Rickman. His story began with Inception of Inception of Insight Investigations and has continued both here on my site and on my Patreon feed. Trying to cram a mystery into one thousand words is difficult and sometimes the discovery can be a little rushed, but I enjoy this challenge. With the character selected, I turned my attention to the crime he would be solving...