“Don’t worry your little head none about that. I’m not supposed to kill you unless you’re difficult,” said the little man. “He gave me a note to read to you. It says: Next time it will be you. What’s that supposed to mean? Next time it will …”

Something gurgled and collapsed with a heavy thud. I looked over my shoulder and saw my assailant on the ground, surrounded by dried blood. A zip-tie, pulled tight enough to have embedded itself into the man’s wrist, bound his hands in the small of his back. Next to the body was a pile of neatly folded skin and two skewered eyeballs sitting on a small ceramic dish pointed directly at me. The eyes had been placed so that they appeared to be looking into my own.

There was no need to check his pulse; the man had been dead for a long time, several hours if the Sun’s elevation could be trusted. The massive gap in my memory ached like a missing limb. How do you deal with someone who can immobilize you without warning, I thought to myself.

The plan is still to release this in an episodic form, with periodic role ups of several episodes.  The main reason I haven’t pushed out some of the earlier episodes (read that as 2) is that I’m having trouble finishing them up in a timely manner.  Once I can nail that down, and build up enough of a release backlog to have a spare episode or two waiting in the wings, The Erasable Man will hit the figurative presses.

Anyone have suggestions on a viable platform to publish episodic fiction?

There is a sense of elation and accomplishment that comes with completing a run like that, and some withdrawal pangs as you realized it’s all over.  I can honestly say that this competition has devoured almost all of my free time since it was first announced back in January.  Now that it’s finished, I will have to get to work on some of my own writing again and back to my sorely neglected reading list.

If you didn’t get around to reading entries before the April 1st deadline, don’t worry. Scare Us from last year is still online with all the entries and comments that went with them, and I’m certain that Teleport Us will be left up indefinitely as well.  All you have to do is get an account on LitReactor to access all of those amazing and sometimes gruesome stories!

Here’s a short list of my favorites with quick links:

• The Gorund – A story about a robot who learns what the world is like outside his building ….
• Rings – Who is really in charge of the universe?
• Anamoly – Find the one who isn’t human …
• Ubi Cor Ibi Domu – The good life of a guard dog …
• The Machinery of Xmas – Christmas by the numbers …
• Fracture – What part does an evil master mind have in uotpia?
• One Tunguska Story – An isolated family finds something amazing …
• Gravidism – A new life and a lost job …
• An Incy Wincy Holocaust – This one has one hell of a twist!
• Corporate Person – What is the essence of a person?
• Of Flesh and Steel – Factory life is for the robots …
• Higher Minds – Dangerous minds …
• State of the Art – When writers become obsolete …
• The Song of the Ship – Can you hear what’s wrong?
• A Song for my Brother – A sisters trys to save her brother …
• The Last Dance – Comfort at the end of life ..
• His Man Stanley – If you’re a Dr. Who fan, think of the “Planet of the Ood”
• The Memory Remains – Time heals all wounds …
• Sunken Hearts – Their mission is destruction …
• Yes, Admin – So much worse than slavery …
• The Human Argument – What does it mean to be human …
• The Demon Chef – A family obligation, a family curse …
• Kill (command) – Freeing the world from perfection …
• Chip Head – The dangers of temptation …
• Deep Sleep – What happens when the world goes to sleep?
• The Business Spirit – Coming to terms with death …
• An Incident at Winter House 12 – Surviving against all odds …
• The Horse With No Head – Fighting for her masters life …

Yeah, way too long a list!  There’s also my own entry, Implant, but it seems disingenuous to include it in a list of my favorites.  Good luck to all those who entered!  As I’ve said before, there were some down right amazing gems  in this challenge!  I wonder if any of my picks will win?

Both of these texts have been part of the KDP Select program for the past ninety days and their enrollment is just about to run out. That means it’s use it or lose it time for their remaining “promotion days” and another give away for you!

If you do pick TWIN or ATC up, I’d really like to hear what you though of them. Be sure to drop a comment here, review over on Amazon, or get in touch with me via Good Reads.

Cover for “A Thousand Cuts”

It should be ready to push out to Amazon here in the next couple of days, Until then, here’s a little taste from the beginning:

A Thousand Cuts – Excerpt

We were a happy couple, Catharine and I, moving from an apartment of little more than two rooms, into our very first real home. It wasn’t much to look at, but it was ours and that was all that really mattered. Catharine’s parents had known the old widower who lived next door for years and were good friends with his two daughters. When he passed, Mr. Gallinulae willed the property to his children. Neither of the women could use the place, and Catharine’s parents knew we were looking for something larger now that we had Julia. They helped us negotiate with the Gallinulae women, now Mrs. Nosopsyllus and Mrs. Pulex, to buy the place.

In the new house, Julia would get a room all to herself. Her crib had occupied the corner of our bedroom for just over year and a half. Now she was going to be sleeping in a “big girl bed” in her own room. She was so happy with her newfound independence, and Catharine and I were looking forward to a little more privacy.

Samson, our big orange cat, was as ornery as ever. His royal highness could not stand the indignity of being stuffed into a carrier. He scratched me good across the bridge of my nose, along my right arm, and just about anywhere else he could bring a claw to bear when I forced him into the cage. I’m sure that obstinate feline damaged the hearing in my right ear with his yowls. If the trip to the new house had been any longer than the five minutes it took to cross town that wild beast would have clawed his way through the carrier’s thin plastic.

I wonder if that was what started it? Did they smell the fresh blood from my injuries? Did the prospect of fresh food wake them from their slumber?

UPDATE:

A Thousand Cuts is in the process of being published on Amazon and should be live in the next 12~24 hours or so. I’ve already got the link setup to the right. Yay!