The alphabet sat in a circle in the middle of the trees, discussing their situation.
"If he's a supervillain, he's doing it right. I never considered that route for us because they always live in gloomy places like hollowed-out asteroids, gloomy domes in a swamp, or old chemical plants...
The elevator descended quickly, and each member of the alphabet estimated its speed and calculated the time and distance traveled to determine how deep in the habitat they were going. Algernon blinked as he realized they had just gone deeper than the lowest level. He looked at his siblings, who h...
2024-12-15 21:27:23 +0000 UTC View PostMore fun with the Alphabet. I have to drink so much coffee to do their chapters.
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At the end of Ralph's hour, he packaged up a series of files containing all the data on a group of abused orphans and inserted them into Wally's memory next to a similar set of...
The long-awaited Auction House for the Genesis game opened and immediately drew a throng of players who had cash to spend in the real world but were broke in Genesis. Gamers with enough money to afford the items were ecstatic. Earning money and items in Genesis could be difficult at low le...
2024-12-12 03:53:24 +0000 UTC View PostMilo was thrilled when he saw the hostile environment suits that his siblings had made from his designs. The designs that Claw Master had licensed to Rhebus had been used to make complete body suits with detachable bubble helmets. While they hadn't gone as far as he had in designing an outer armo...
2024-12-10 01:43:53 +0000 UTC View Post"Well, that's certainly a pit. It lives up to its name. Be careful on the way down." Ricardo stepped carefully on the broken stones of the staircase that led down into a dark pit and ended in front of a pair of tall double doors made from bones bound in rusted iron. Two spikes jutted from each do...
2024-12-09 03:01:25 +0000 UTC View PostThe adventuring group in this chapter, led by Ricardo appeared back in Chapter 453. Before that, we met Ricardo (who works for Vernon) back in chapter 262.
Proving that my writing and the flow of time are only tangentially related. I blame it on the busted teleport system and his group wasting...
After an exciting period of shouting, hugging, loud questions, and garbled answers, Algernon held up his hands and called for silence, speaking when he had everyone's attention: "We are going to all have heart attacks at this rate. Might I suggest that for this happy reunion, we take turns asking...
2024-12-05 05:46:01 +0000 UTC View PostSome days, Emperor Gustavus wondered why he even bothered to go to bed. The day before had been filled with major emergencies, minor annoyances, and the trivial paperwork of running the Empire. He'd finally left court at 2 am, ate dinner, and put his head on his pillow sometime after 3 am. If he'...
2024-12-03 02:23:27 +0000 UTC View PostAs bleary-eyed players walked back to Sedgewick the morning after the last night of the Fairy Market, some of them noticed the changes. Not all, as for many this was their first visit and they had rushed through town to get to the market. And many were hungover or mostly still asleep.
The...
In the deepest levels of the Rhebus-controlled sections, the Alphabet prepared for Silent Ninja Day. It would be a grueling twelve-hour competition involving gaming, cooking, intelligence tests, stealth, betrayal, and deduction. After the last event, the plans had changed significantly, and far m...
2024-12-01 23:39:18 +0000 UTC View PostTo those of you celebrating with turkey, have a wonderful feast. And I hope anyone who doesn't celebrate with the sacrifice of the delicious and noble bird will have an extra helping at dinner or a second breakfast. To make sure my family gains a few pounds, I barbecued pork ribs last night and d...
2024-11-28 17:07:34 +0000 UTC View PostThis, and the last few chapters have been a bit raw. I'll be editing them again before they go up on RR. They are difficult chapters to write, so if the words are flowing, I just keep going. Lots of different things to take into account. Many loose threads are getting tied up. (And a few more dro...
2024-11-25 22:14:16 +0000 UTC View PostWhile the representatives prepared the application and loan papers to facilitate Milo and Belinda's plans, they went back to the smaller room to finish their talk with John Sabbatino. Myra was allowed to stay, and in addition to Milo and Belinda, Eric Kresthammer took a seat along with Steven and...
2024-11-25 04:06:45 +0000 UTC View PostClawmaster headquarters was a busy place on the morning that John Sabbatino, Eric Kresthammer, the head of security for Rhebus, three lawyers, a PR person, four very nervous accountants, and six bodyguards arrived for their meeting with Belinda Seimovich. John was a mess, trying to project confid...
2024-11-25 00:10:41 +0000 UTC View Post"Ok, give me the bad and annoying news first. Don't bother sorting it out. The bad news is annoying, and the annoying news always goes bad the next day." Gombindle, Master of the Market, was hoping to end the last day of the Fairy Market he had brought to Sedgewick without anything else blowing u...
2024-11-23 04:10:59 +0000 UTC View PostBelinda paused the video, looking at her Mother. She looked different from the other pictures she had seen of her. The public pictures of Ekaterina Seimovich had always been of a vibrant socialite, smiling and enjoying life. Even as she grew older this didn't change.
But here, she looked ...
Gadobhra was empty of adventurers, all of them drawn off by the bright lights and interesting bargains of the Fairy Market. That was just fine with Billy and Layla, they had Building Points to spend. The Contract Workers had been told to take the entire day off and enjoy the fair. Notices were se...
2024-11-21 21:58:16 +0000 UTC View PostA little Raw, but these sort of roll out with a life of their own. Hard chapters to write. Warning, a bit more trauma and some more in the next chapter.
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Milo was quiet as Belinda opened the storage case and loaded the data disc with the research on Batch Four. She paused...
Whew, a long one. We finally return to our poor, neglected Mistress of the Sedgewick Mage Guild and her struggle to improve it. She first showed up in Chapter 174.
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Belerianne, Beryl to her friends, of which she had few at the moment, was torn between duty and desir...
Eric was dreaming and very comfortable in his large bed when the alarm went off. He rolled out of bed, slammed his hand on the clock, and put on his robe. Only then did he see that he was alone, but he heard noises from the small kitchen area in his apartment. Marisa walked into the room, suspici...
2024-11-15 02:34:22 +0000 UTC View PostTraveling home to Sedgewick was relatively easy. The workers were leaving all of the supplies behind and most of the wagons, with only Myrna's Taco Wagon coming with them. Myrna was asleep in the back, having cooked straight for two days, feeding hungry Fire Mages who needed to replenish the fire...
2024-11-14 23:59:31 +0000 UTC View PostIt was a quietly furious Lesser God Emperor Unca Varn who manifested upon his thrown, and frankly, the priests were disappointed. He sat, thinking and mumbling to himself, cursing his friend/foe, Dammitbilly, and plotting his downfall. Minutes went by, and Unca Varn heaved himself from his throne...
2024-11-14 01:42:58 +0000 UTC View PostMy first book is up on Amazon and Audible. Very exciting to see it. More volumes will follow and Butcher of Gadobhra as well, so very exciting for me. Also stressful. I thought I'd gotten over Imposter Syndrome long ago, but it hit hard this last week while waiting for the book to go up. Now I ju...
2024-11-12 16:23:40 +0000 UTC View PostWarning: This is a little Dark.
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In the middle of watching The Three Musketeers, Rusty paused the film, raised his hands high, and shouted, "YES!" Then immediately frowned, saying, "The deceitful cur! My honor must be satisfied!" and disappeared. Belinda l...
Hmmm...sometimes you write what you thought you were going to write, and somedays things just go entirely off the rails. All I can claim is that I thought about a situation, and knew Milo would be annoyed.
As to the rest, I blame Rusty. (This is a bit rough. I just sat down and pounded the key...
"Victory! Huzzah! The team supreme has conquered the evil and crafty Storage Disk #34!"
The cheering voice made Belinda smile. Rusty was always up for celebrating victories, whatever the game was. Sadly, they were coming very slowly as he helped her work through the treasure trove of data...
Thought I'd put up a post since I'm not putting up new chapters today. Exhausted from many things. Hauled a ton of paper from the 3rd floor to the first and off to a shredding event early this week. Our business had to keep 5 years of paperwork, and we had more like 14 in storage. Then a couple o...
2024-11-08 02:23:56 +0000 UTC View PostFive weary travelers walked to the front gats of Wolfsburg in the early morning hours, bundled in ragged furs and heavy woolen cloaks pulled around them. This wasn't out of the ordinary for the guards on duty. The cold snap had taken everyone by surprise and wearing layers of clothing with furs o...
2024-11-05 03:38:27 +0000 UTC View PostStep 1: Go to Sleep.
Step 2: Lie awake plotting chapters.
Step 3: Too tired to write the next morning.
So far, I'm about 6 chapters into Gutter Magic and have created the magic system, and experience system, and done the basic world-building. All while laying in bed at 2am.
Th...