Adrift on the Sea of Free Fiction

The free fiction flood continues with three more good genre magazines linked this time (and that doesn't count Thrice Fiction in "Other Genres").  There's also new horror at Nightmare Magazine, part two of Ian Sales' Adrift on the Sea of Rains, and much more awesomeness. And yes, there's more to come!










Fiction
• At L5R: "Voice of the Empress" by Seth Mason. Fantasy.
      "The Imperial   Court was quiet today, as the large, elaborate chamber hosted only a small handful of individuals. It was rare for the Empress to hold such a small gathering, but events of late had warranted unusual protocols. Secrets had to be kept, Toku Hikaru noted from his position near the Throne… but not beside it as was customary."

• At Nightmare Magazine: "Halfway Home" by Linda Nagata. Horror.
      "'Those diagrams are terribly optimistic,' the woman in the seat beside me said, eyeing the brochure as our plane climbed away from Manila. She spoke masterful English, clipped with a Filipino accent. 'Let’s hope we never have to test that theory.'"

• At Project Gutenberg: Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (Volumes I and II) by Songling Pu. translated by Herbert A. Giles. Ghosts.
     "Pu borrows from a tradition of oral storytelling where the boundary between reality and the odd or fantastic is blurred. The stories are filled with magical foxes, ghosts, scholars, court officials, Taoist exorcists and beasts. Moral purposes are often inverted between humans; the supposedly degenerate ghosts or spirits are often bold and trustworthy, while humans are weak, indecisive and easily manipulated" - Wikipedia.

• Now Posted: Allegory - Fall 2013: Horror, Science Fiction. Fantasy.

• "Graveyard Love" by Wendy C. Williford
      "Annie sat waiting on the small couch, wringing her hands uncontrollably. It had been an hour since they’d arrived and her nerves were shot. She’d been like this for over a month and now that she felt she was at the end of this personal disaster, the fact that this was almost over didn’t help one bit."

• "How I Became a Murderer" by Django Mathijsen
     "The stratotractor was bigger, blacker and newer than the dilapidated little tractors my neighbors and I ploughed through the air with. It had a menacing appearance, similar to the komodo-flies that were recently discovered on GammaStimba. I had read about those in the Galaxy Telegraph, while hanging in my weightless field."

• "Ben's Moonshine" by Jennifer R. Povey
     "Anyway, that's beside the point. Back then, people still made shine and people still cared about making good shine. It wasn't just about avoiding the revenuers. It was about pride. Good, old fashioned, mountain pride."

• "Dead Meat" by C.I. Kemp
     "She leaned over and put her hand on his cheek, unmindful of the smoke rising from the charred herb-doused meat. The herbs were necessary. The Clan might think their purpose was to add taste, but Finn and Dara knew better – it was to disguise taste."

• "Body Bag" by Eric Bonholtzer
     "His wife was in the bag, well, what was left of her. Vincent had been able to get rid of one of the hands when he’d stopped for gas, providing a very hungry and very scrawny dog with a decent meal, and he knew that if he could just make it to Forester City, he’d be in the clear."

• "Firefly" by Evan Mallon
     "Bo, the most competent of my unimpressive group of cousins, read the will aloud after her funeral. My sister had a habit of misspelling at least one word in every sentence, so those who knew her best were not surprised to see “My Last Will and Tetament” sprawled across the top of the paper."

• "The Porch" by Kevin Wood
     "The woman in the street, who he recognized as Dawn Bradley, the divorcee from two doors down, was likely worrying about friends in the city who were now just smoke particles billowing into the sky or maybe puddles of melted fat in the middle of 5th Avenue and still did not see the creature sauntering in the street light."

• "Marigolds" by Gavin Broom
     "As I turn and close the door on the suited men out on the landing, I think of ways to answer the question but as the lock clicks shut and the world shrinks to this room and me and my younger brother, the only thing I'm left with is honesty."

• Now Posted: Ideomancer Vol 12 No 3.

• "A Painted Room" by Adam Smith.
      "She hesitated for a moment at the end of the drive, but there was little she could do. The appointment was set, and some portion of it had already been pre-paid for supplies. She eased her foot off the brake and coasted into the street, sending up prayers that this gift wouldn’t turn out quite as badly for Will as some others had."

• “Loved and Lost” by Sarah Byrne.
     "Maybe it’s a meteor. Or an asteroid, or whatever they’re called. Going to wipe out the earth like happened to the dinosaurs. Maybe it’s an alien invasion."

• "Melusine" by Danielle Coombs.
     "Eluned is nine and it’s high summer. The sun has baked her skin brown, and sand dusts her like sugar. The beach stretches away to the left like a golden road, but she turns right and plunges into the jumbled rocks that hide the tidal pools. There are small red jellied globules clinging just above the water line, and when she pokes them they squirt water at her."

• Now posted Nightblade September 2013:

• "The Kiss of Legend" by T.H. Lee 
      "The cops launched a full-fledged investigation, careful to keep the circumstances of the deaths out of the media. The F.B.I. was even calling, but no one would discuss details with me."

• "Le Cirque" by Jess Simms 
      "A gray-jumpsuited Bellagio mechanic was tethered to the highbar rig above. It had malfunctioned last night during the Masked Thief’s first-act solo. The Muses had been on it at the time."

• "Empire of Ash" by Cameron Johnston 
      "It seemed to him that somehow even in death the land protected what it could. Maybe the heathen Cruithii had been right in a way."

• "Jonesy" by Evan Purcell 
      "Cleveland is in my backyard now. He’s in the spot with no grass. There are three other spots like it, but Cleveland is in the one behind the porch."

• "With The Band" by Carl Barker 
      "His voice was louder this time, somehow closer than before. Stronger. I could hear his long dead fingers patiently drumming out a familiar rhythm in the background."

Flash Fiction
• At Daily Science Fiction: "Love Is Orange, Love Is Red" by Eric James Stone. Science Fiction. 
• At Every Day Fiction: "Steel Killer" by JR Hume. Horror.
• At Silver Blade: "Prometheus" by Robert Borski. Poem.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Spark" by Mickey Hunt. Science Fiction.
• At Yesteryear Fiction: "Sparrows Live Forever" by Donal Mahoney. Fantasy. Poem.
At Nightblade: Poems.

• "Starry Night" by David Luntz
  
• "Bitter Mnemosyne" by Sara Norja
  
• "Lady Mary Speaks of Dreams" by Sandi Leibowitz
  
• "Alice Underground" by Brittany Warman
  
• "The moon, so low" by Dan Campbell
  
• "This Man" by Erik Amundsen
  
• "Not Too Bold" by Shira Lipkin
  

At Ideomancer: Poems.

• "Speech of the Witch of the End" by Brittany Warman
• "Tuesday Tuesday, Born on Wednesday, Was Born to Travel Time" by Sarah Terry
• "Cosmology" by Quinn White
• "When He Fell" by Dominik Parisien

Audio Fiction
• At Drabblecast: "Partial Inventory" by Helena Bell. Read by Hananel Mavity. Horror.
      " November in the South is hardly hot, but thirteen hours in any vehicle with nearly a half dozen relatives and mismatched belongings, each one trying to both curl and crowd themselves into their claimed seats had left the air warm and slick and smelling faintly of musk." also "Knock " by Chris Thompson.

• At StarShipSofa: "Adrift on the Sea of Rains - Part 2" by Ian Sales. Science Fiction.
     "nuclear war has killed everyone on Earth, leaving stranded on the Moon nine astronauts at Falcon Base. With them they have a "torsion field generator", a mysterious device which they hope will find them an alternate Earth which has not succumbed to nuclear armageddon." - Amazon.

Other Genres

• Audio at The New Yorker: "Ice" by Thomas McGuane, read by Rick Bass. Streaming only.
• Fiction: Thrice Fiction No. 8
• Fiction at Project Gutenberg: The Royal Life Guard by Alexander Dumas. Historical.

Mommy, There's a Cthulhu Under My Bed.

Lovecraftian style horror at its free best. The latest issue of this kick *ss horror mag is available for free online reading.  Read it! You really don't want to annoy the great old ones, but be ready to make several sanity checks [I failed all mine on issue one]














Now Posted: Lovecraft eZine #25: Horror.

• "Cthulhu Does Stuff, #4" a comic strip by Ronnie Tucker & Maxwell Patterson.

• "Echoes From Cthulhu’s Crypt, #3" a monthly column by Robert M. Price

• "And They Did Live by Watchfires" by Evan Dicken
     "The secondary hatches cycled shut, sealing the two astronauts into their tiny tomb. The low thrum of the reality furnace provided an unwavering bass accompaniment to the measured beep and whir of the machines that drained the fluid from Petra’s lungs. Grant checked the straps that bound his wife into bed one last time before engaging the jump sequence."

• "In Dark Corners" by Bradley H. Sinor.
      "From the moment I saw The Charon Company’s Number Six oil rig I knew something was definitely wrong with it, and that made it just perfect."

• "Missing Presumed Wiped" by Derek John
      "The presentation had already begun when I arrived at the public screening room of the Film Institute and so I slipped unobtrusively into the comfortable shadows of the back row. The ghostly black-and-white images flickered in and out of focus as the projectionist carefully adjusted his lenses and the accompanying soundtrack swelled in crescendo, filling the auditorium with the relentless two-tone electronic war-drums of the original theme from Doctor Who."

• "The Eye" by Justin Munro
     "I met Mike in a freshman computer science class in college. Our jockeying for the highest grade quickly developed into a fast, if competitive, friendship. We were always racing to be the first to solve some new mind bender, or find the flaw in some hot new encryption algorithm."

• "A Glimpse of the Future" by Stewart Horn
     "The Old Ones predate not just our world, but our universe. The big bang was the moment when our dimensions expanded and sapped the energy from all the others, leaving them as tiny snail-shells of memory. If the Old Ones exist still in some form in those infinite spirals of nothing, how sane can they be after ten billion years. What does time even mean in that place?"

Four Free 'Zines

Four outstanding free magazines (two fiction, two gaming) available for download and/or online reading.

 [art from all four 'zines)




Fiction
Now Posted: Clarkesworld Issue 81, June 2013. Speculative Fiction

• "The Urashima Effect" by E. Lily Yu
     "Leo Aoki awoke with a shudder in the cold green bubble of the ship, nauseated and convinced that he was suffocating. He shoved his way out of the sleep spindle, found his balance, ran his hands through his sweaty hair, checked his bones: all unbroken. Well, then. There was a snaking black tube cuffed to the wall, its other end pointing into the black vacuum of space."
"• This is Why We Jump" by Jacob Clifton. 
     "I can curl myself around him like an ammonite, and call him little names, and he will smile. Arms and legs getting bigger every day. A little starfish, crowding me out. It is my name for him, but only when he will be gentled can I say. It happens less and less."
• "Free-Fall" by Graham Templeton
     "Our elevator has stalled some thirty kilometers above the surface of the Earth, and my first thought is not heroic: I need to start fasting, lean up these haunches in preparation for the Donner decision trees that most likely lie ahead. There’s food for a month below the floorboards, but thirty kilometers? Looking at my three fellow passengers, hot-shot scientists all, it is distressingly easy to imagine our mini-society devolving into tribalism"
• "Mongoose" by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
       "Izrael Irizarry stepped through a bright-scarred airlock onto Kadath Station, lurching a little as he adjusted to station gravity. On his shoulder, Mongoose extended her neck, her barbels flaring, flicked her tongue out to taste the air, and colored a question. Another few steps, and he smelled what Mongoose smelled, the sharp stink of toves, ammoniac and bitter."
• "Dead Men Walking" by Paul J. McAuley
     "I guess this is the end. I’m in no condition to attempt the climb down, and in any case I’m running out of air. The nearest emergency shelter is only five klicks away, but it might as well be on the far side of this little moon. I’m not expecting any kind of last-minute rescue, either."

Now Posted: Mirror Dance - Summer 2013. Fantasy.

• "Behold" by James Lecky
     ""I regret to tell you, your majesty," the Doctor said to the Queen. "That the child has been born ugly."
• "On Festival Road" by Jonathan Olfert.
     "The Festival of Forbidden Arts came every seven years to Allsoulsanchor, that most diverse and liberated of cities. Aalem couldn't quite remember the last time caravans of aloof, argumentative magicians passed his family's roadhouse."
• "Old Rootling" by Trevor Shikaze. Fantasy. Flash Fiction.
• "Hagia Sophia" by Chandler Groover.
    "If you have never seen Hagia Sophia, you should find a picture of it, or else visit it in person if you ever have the chance to. It is (or was) a church turned into a mosque turned into a museum, and it is (indeed, it is) one of this world’s greatest architectural marvels"
•  "Caught in the Weave A Story of the Crow Witch" by Mike Phillips.
     "Two women hurried in through the door. Each had a lantern in one hand, a crucifix in the other. Though it was night and well past time for decent folk to have gone to their beds, they were both fully clothed, arrayed in stout, woolen dresses that swept the floor as they hurried inside the room."
• And fantasy poems by Sandi Leibowitz, Alicia Cole, Glenn Halak, and Deborah Walker 

Gaming
Now Posted: Fighting Fantazine #11

• The conclusion of an interview with Fighting Fantasy writer Paul Mason
• A new 219 reference adventure "Ascent of Darkness" by Stuart Lloyd and illustrated by Michael Wolmarans
• The "Rogues' Guide" tourist book team paying a visit to Port Blacksand
• "The Fact of Fiction" looking at the sci-fi tale Star Strider
• An introduction to the Titannnica wiki
• A round up of the rollercoaster ride that was Bloodbones going to print
• Chapter 6 of "Aelous Raven and the Wrath of the Sea-Witch"
• The regulars such as Fighting Fantasy Collector, Chronicle of Heroes, Fighting Dantasy, Omens & Auguries, Everything I Need to Know, and The Arcane Archive.

Now Posted: Footprints #18

• The Cult of the Devourer (article)
• A Riddle (article)
• "The Mired Cathedral" (adventure)
• Magic Items (article)
• The Holy Sword (article)
• Tribal Spellcasters revisited (article)
• Creatures of the Tulgey Wood (article)
• The Sorcerer (class)
• An Unhealthy Obsession with Equipment (article)

Audio Fiction, E-zines, and More Free Fiction

There are three free 'zines today (two via Regan Wolfrom, the hard-working free fiction guru at SF Signal),  new fiction at Cosmos, flash fiction, and audio fiction from some of the best audio fiction sites, including a Rachel Swirsky story at PodCastle. Huzzah!

Back later with e-books, comics, QD Radio, and more. - Your host, Dave Tackett.


Fiction
• At Cosmos: "Time Trash" by Michael Greenhut. Science Fiction.
      "The only shock of real-life time travel is mediocrity. If this were a movie, I'd be asking why they can't pay at least ten dollars for a cheap special effect - a flash or a rattle or something."

• Now Posted: Bourbon Penn issue 06 (slipstream, cross-genre, magic realism, etc.)

• "Rorschach" by Carl Wilhoyte.
• "The Haunting" by Holly Day 
• "Zombie Song" by Derek Owens 
• "Extreme Medicine" by Linda Peer 
• "Kill Me Again" by Jessica Hilt 
• "Body Language" by Alex Aro 
• "Child" by Beth Hull 

• Now Posted Kaleidotrope Winter 2013- science fiction, fantasy and horror

• “This Is Not a Metaphor” by Christie Yant
• “Remembering the Days That Hurt Us” by Crystal Lynn Hilbert.
• “Necronaut” by Corey Mariani.
• “The October Witch” by Francesca Forrest
• “Wetwork” by Brendan Detzner
• “How I Found My One True Love and Saved the World from Ruin” by Russ Colson
• “Before the Blood” by T.D. Edge

• Now Posted: The Were-Traveler #6. Werewolves.

• "Canis Major" by Melissa Crory (Flash) 
• "Legend of the Amatshotsho" by David Edward Nell (Short Story) 
• "The Last King of the Werewolves" by Christopher Bleakley (Short Story) 
• "A Werewolf Finds Her Paradise" by Reed Beebe (Drabble) 
• "Obituary" by Dawn Nikithser (Micro-fiction) 
• "Nearby Wolf Packs" by Tim Tobin (Drabble) 
• "Going Home" by by K.R. Smith (Short Story) 
• "The Road of Yellow Brick" by Reed Beebe (Drabble) 
• "Cosmic Lycanthrope" by Audiowriter (Short Story) 
• "Unanswered Prayers" by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt (Drabble) 
• "Werewolf in Space" by Robert Lee Frazier (Short Story) 
• "Point Towards Enemy" by Reed Beebe (Drabble) 
• "For Charlie" by David Edward Nell (Short Story) 
• "Changed" by Margaret Glover (Drabble) 
• "No Vacancy" by Jonathan Ems (Flash) 
• "Mackenzie’s Lot" by Jack Rousseau (Micro-fiction) 
• "The Lame Thing" by Lesa Pascavis Smith (Short Story) 
• "The Battle" by Michael A. Kechula (Flash) 
• "Big, Bad Wolf" by Matt Cushing (Short Story)

Flash Fiction
• At Every Day Fiction: "Out Shopping in Hyperspace" by Michelle Ann King. Science Fiction.
• At 365 Tomorrows: "Touching" by David Gill. Science Fiction.
• At Weirdyear: "Franz Joseph Gall, Phrenologist" by Jacob Thiessen.
• Poetry At Kaleidotrope

• “Curiosity” by WC Roberts
• “Houdini’s Sister” by Christine Hamm
• “The Murk-Journal (or Once Beyond a Time)” by Danica Cummins

Audio Fiction
• At The Classic Tales Podcast:  The Wizard of Oz, part 2 of 4, by L. Frank Baum.
      "The Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion join Dorothy and the Scarecrow on their journey to the emerald city. But their journey through the dark forest is fraught with peril – and poppies."

• At PodCastle: "A Memory of Wind" by Rachel Swirsky. Fantasy.
      "Before I woke, I lost the flavor of rancid oil and the shade of green that flushes new leaves. They slipped from me, and became gentle breezes that would later weave themselves into the strength of my gale. Between the first and second beats of my lashes, I also lost the grunt of goats being led to slaughter, and the roughness of wool against calloused fingertips, and the scent of figs simmering in honey wine."

• At Pseudopod: "The Persistence Of Memory" by William Meikle. Horror.
     "It couldn’t be her husband, for he had been dead these three years now. But whoever was downstairs knew exactly what to play to get her heart racing; the old songs from when the sun shone and life was good."

• At Tales to Terrify:“Violent Delights” by Harry Shannon. Horror.
     "an increasingly feverish and chilling drama plays out between a selfish young actress and her hit-and-run victim who lies helpless on the hood of her car." Sony ReaderStore.

Lovecraft eZine and More

 A few more good free fiction items, including the always awesome Lovecraft eZine,











Fiction
• Now Posted: Lovecraft eZine #20. Horror.

"Of Faith and Fallow" by William R.D. Wood
     "Deidre Lopez slumped on the side of the bed, elbows on her knees, face pressed into her hands. Pain hammered in her skull threatening to splinter bone with each blow from her heart."
"The Dead of Winter" by Jay Caselberg
      "When you walk the streets of Moscow, though you may not know it, you walk among the dead.  In every city there lies a risk, but if you treat the uncertainty dispassionately, with just a jot of sang-froid, then you survive." 
"Herbert West in Love" by Molly Tanzer
        "A boy called West sat in the back row, hand aloft, arm quivering with tension. Behind his thick spectacles his eyes were firmly fixed upon the professor as the man scrawled “voluntas aegroti suprema lex” across the board. When the chalk squeaked halfway through suprema, West was the only student who did not flinch."
"Wind Walker" by Neil John Buchanan.
      "It occurs to Hugh Gibson as the Fiat Galaxy shudders beneath his feet that driving a clapped-out banger through the worst snowstorm in history might have been a bad idea. He should have bought the hire car like Maggie wanted: something big with four-wheel drive, and six-foot tyres, capable of driving over any terrain – snow, ice, even water – and making it to their cottage in the woods."
"Yule Log" by Richard Holland.
       "The log had not come willingly from the earth. It was if the roots at its base had gripped the peat in a fist of refusal. All the men on the estate had found themselves called to assist: pounding with mattocks, hauling on slippery chains or seeking a purchase on the slimy surface of the wood to drag it from its resting place deep in the bog."

• At Yesterday Fiction: "Ewan Dools" by Beth J. Whiting. Fantasy.
      "Ewan Dools was a strange boy. He wore glasses and had bad posture. It was sixth grade. He always sat alone on recess crocheting. The blonde whose name was Natalie knew her grandmother did it. But how many boys crocheted?"
 
Flash Fiction
At Every Day Fiction: "A Neodymium Christmas" by Chris Behrsin. Science Fiction.
At 365 Tomorrows: "Suriel" by Jae Miles. Science Fiction.
At 365 Tomorrows:  "It’s The Little Things" by Clint Wilson. Science Fiction.

E-Books
• via Pixel of Ink:  Wander Dust by Michelle Warren. Fantasy.
• at Free eBooks Daily.

• Book of Remembrance by Tania Johansson. Fantasy.
• Ocean Kills by Jade Hart. Urban Fantasy.
• Seventh Dimension - The Door by Lorilyn Roberts. YA Christian Fantasy.
• Dark Matter Heart by Nathan Wrann. YA Paranormal Thriller.
• The Traveler in Black and White by Jemima Pett. YA Fantasy Mystery
• The Tower of Babel by G. T. Anders. Science Fiction.
• Of Kings and Demons by George Han. Fantasy, Political Thriller.
• The Sky Between Two Worlds by Glen Books. Science Fiction Thriller.
• Graves' End by Sean Patrick Traver. Fantasy.

Other Genres
Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Distant Thunder" by Andrew Stancek.
Audio Fiction at 19 Nocturne Boulevard - Christmas Stories

• "Endeavor" by John Galsworthy
• "Christmas by Injunction" by O. Henry
• "Christmas Eve on Lonesome" by John Fox, Jr.
• "The Mouse and the Moonbeam" by Eugene Field
• "Nobody's Story" by Charles Dickens
• "How Santa Claus Came to Simpson's Bar" by Bret Harte
• "The Burden of Christmas"
• "The Christmas Present" by By Richmal Crompton

Friday Freebies Part Two - Five Ezines and More

Wow five more free e-zines, including the two flash fiction ones!  There's the always great Apex Magazine with three short stories (be sure to check out the whole magazine though, there's also non-fiction there). Plasma Frequency has its third issue up, and two new for here ezines The Dream People and Kazka Press have flash fiction up.  And mixed news, another good looking new for here ezine Dark Recesses Press has its thirteenth issue available for free PDF download, but its the final issue. There's also more great free fiction, flash fiction, ebooks, gaming items, and more.

I'll spare you most of my extra advertising whine.  It's just a bit disconcerting to find extra advertisements on QD that I didn't put there and, even worse, are of the fake link type which are more annoying than pop-ups. argh!

[art for Apex Magazine below]




Fiction
At Weirdyear: "Remembering" by Susan Dale. Weird Fiction.
       "David walked with his shadows stretched across the earth: hollow within, soul yearning, heart heavy. Yesterdays, his only companions. With padded steps, he moved onwards: silent, quick."

Now Posted: Apex Magazine Issue 43 – December 2012  (Fantasy, SF, Horror Magazine)

 "Blood from Stone” by Alethea Kontis.
       "He had no idea that I loved him. He barely acknowledged that I existed, a maid twice over, little more than a shadow in empty hallways. Trapped in unhappy marriage and prisoner in his own castle, he did not conceive that anyone loving him was even possible. The baron was a man of war, not of love."
“Labyrinth” by Mari Ness.
      "It is a true enough guess—but the doors open only after they have been marked with the fingernails and teeth of those desperate enough for water to try to claw through bronze and gold before their deaths. Some attempt to outwit us by waiting at the beginning of the maze or some other place for a time, hoping we will let down our guard, or that we, too, will grow weary with hunger and thirst."
“Relic” by Jeffrey Ford.
      "Out at the end of the world on a long spit of land like a finger poking into oblivion, nestled in a valley among the dunes, sat The Church of Saint Ifritia, constructed from twisted driftwood and the battered hulls of ships. There was one tall, arched window composed of the round bottoms of blue bottles."

Now Posted: Dark Recesses Press #13 (final issue). Horror.

• "Post-American Princess" by Abby Goldsmith,
• "Three Second Memory" by Anna Schwind.
• "Borderland Fancy" by Mekenzie Larsen 
• "Where The Wiffle Ball Went" by Geoffrey W. Cole.
• "Club" by Drew Wilcox.
• "Three Grams" by Jamie Lackey.
• "Rosie’s Knife" by J. Adrian Cook.
• "The Dead Factory" by Chris Stageman.
• "13" by Craig Wallwork.
• "Wood & Flesh" by Sunil Sadanand. 

Now Posted Plasma Frequency #3 (Speculative Fiction Magazine in E-Book formats)
     "Fiction by K.S. Dearsley, Sarina Dorie. Bev Elliott, Joanna Michal Hoyt, Nathaniel Katz, Tim McDaniel, Kate O'Conner, Travis Omernick, Shane D. Rhinewald, and Mark Wolf"

Flash Fiction
At Flashes in the Dark: "Secrets" by Jim Harrington. Horror.
At New Scientist: "Too good to be true" by Jouni Sarkijarvi. Science Fiction.
At New Scientist:"Go D" by Michael Rolfe. Science Fiction.
At 365 Tomorrows: "Cerebral Mechanics" by Desmond Hussey. Science Fiction.
At The Dream People: ("stylized fiction that escapes the boundaries of reality")

• "Incendiary" by Grimley Bogue.
• "Butter Pat Babies" by Steve Rasnic Tem.
• "Preamble" by KJ Hannah Greenberg.
• "Stockholm Syndrome" by Lucy Mihajlich.
• "Painting" by Sayuri Yamada.
• "Konfessin Mouser K." by AE Reiff 

At Kazka Press: Holiday Speculative Fiction.

• "The Seven-Faced Bird" by William Cheshire.
• "Eyes Like Dark Chocolate" by Stephen Gordon
•  "Jolly and Old" by William R. D. Wood.

E-Books
At Smashwords:

• "Anticipations" by Isabelle Arocho. Urban Fantasy. 43k.
• "The First Vampire (Prequel to Venefica)" by Ashleigh Neame. YA Fantasy. 14k.
• "The Isk Rider of Bazuur" by Chris Turner. Fantasy. 15k.
• "Odin's Gift" by Michelle Sonnier. Fantasy. 2k.
• "Sinners' Breakast" by Scott Weaver. Horror. 2k.
• "Psychonaut" by K.Z. Freeman, Science Fiction. 9k.
• "The Second Chance" by Joseph DiMari, Science Fiction. 5k.

At Free eBooks Daily:

• The Eldridge Conspiracy by Stephen Ames Berry. Time Travel
• Foretold: Betrayed By Desire by E.S. Tilton. Paranormal Fantasy.
• Path of Seven by Norman S. Robertson. Science Fiction.

Gaming

• At Dragonsfoot: "The Tallfellow Point of View" Article.
• At DriveThruRPG: Pathways #21 Magazine. Pathfinder.
• At DriveThruRPG: Game Geek Issues #36 Magazine. RPGs
• At DriveThruRPG: Town Square Clock Tower Paper Model.

Other Genres

• Flash Fiction at Spinetingler: "Harvest of Smiles" by Jason Ridler. Suspense.
• Flash Fiction at Every Day Fiction: "Re: Camp" by D. B. Dubuisson. Suspense.
• E-Book at Free eBooks Daily: Mr. Pettigrew by L.J. Martin. Western.

Free Fiction Part 1: Electric Spec, Ideomancer, Mirror Dance, and More

Here's a ton of good free genre fiction, with more to come. There are two great e-zines up and two more free SF stories from other great sites, quite a bit of flash fiction and poetry, and a couple of classic, pulp era stories..


[Art from "Salvage in the Void"]










Fiction
At GigaNotosSaurus: "Deadman Switch" by by A.J. Barr. Science Fiction.
     “What I wouldn’t put past them,” George whispered, barely moving his lips, “is putting a camera right”–He glanced at the clock above the door–”there. They could be evaluating us right now.”

At Kasma: "Salvage in the Void" by Alan Baxter. Science Fiction.
       “I don’t know how long I can bear this,” Peevy said. Deep fear churned his stomach as he absently stroked the SimHound’s head. “I didn’t want to die back there on a doomed ship, but I don’t think I can take this.”

 Now Posted: Electric Spec Volume 7, Issue 4 Science Fiction. Fantasy. Macabre,

"Lest They Drink and Forget the Law" by Malon Edwards
     "I wouldn't know. I've been locked up in here the past six months." I refuse to sit up in bed and greet him like a good prisoner would do. I'm not looking to get time off for good behavior."
"Wolfshead" by L Young. 
      "The noose chafed around his neck. Where once they had backslapped him for tweaking the noses of the nobles, now the crowd jeered him. Jack kept his expression blank. He would not give them the satisfaction of reacting to their cries."
"Ximena" by D.L. Young.
      "Yes, indeed," she said happily. "And again, thank you so much for helping me test the new models. It looked to me like they performed to your full satisfaction, yes?"
"A Magician's Silver" by Jesse Knifley.
      "Adel Blackwood knelt and bowed to the ancient man reclining on the divan. It was best to appear humble, especially when Adel had to deliver ill tidings with gold still in the balance"
"The Last Car in Town" by Lesley L. Smith.
      "I made a severe mistake and opened the front door to two little girls. I'd looked through the peephole and saw them standing there in their green uniforms. Forgetting what the world was like now, I thought for a second they were girl scouts."

Now Posted: Ideomancer Vol. 11 Issue 4. Speculative Fiction.

"Sub" by Sara K. Ellis.
     "The whole class explodes. Sub, Mr. James or Jaynes, there’ve been so many you can’t keep track, drops his hands to his sides and lets out a big loose sigh like he’s covering a fart. Then he turns nervously to the boardskin where our objective blinks like a warning light on a self-destructing space ship."
"The Artist in the Tower" by Adam Mills.
     "We all remember how cruel and unrelenting the Campano regime was. Such a topic has been covered on a regular basis in our public schools and universities. Months of research and polish have been devoted to condensing the tragedy and fire of that time to the space of a textbook chapter."
"Alterations for Beginners" by Rachel Derksen.
      "So Venice tries. He closes his eyes and concentrates. He squints until his eyes hurt, he hums a little teacup song. He makes Please Be Mine motions with his hands. He silently pleads with the teacup."

Flash Fiction and Poetry
At Anotherealm: "Hello Dolly" by Ahmed A. Khan. Speculative Fiction.
At Ideomancer: Speculative Poems

• "Jörmungandr" by Vajra Chandrasekera
• "After Songs" by Lisa M. Cole
• "Haiku" by Yunsheng Jiang
• "Apple" by Holly R. Appling

At Mirror Dance: Fantasy Flash Fiction and Poems.

• "Snow, Blood, Silver" by Sara Cleto.
• "Goodnight, Sweet Lady" by A. L. Loveday.
• "The Twa Magicians" by Sandi Leibowitz.
• "The Absurdity of Dragonslayers" by Sterling Slechta.
• "The Siren Hears Orpheus" by Sandi Leibowitz.
• "In the Labyrinth" by Deborah Walker.
• "Once" by Jessica Bell.
• "Master Craftsman" by Shelly Braynt.
• "Green" by L. C. Ricardo.

Other Genres
At Online Pulps: "Serenade With Slugs" by Robert Leslie Bellem. Noir 1948. and "Back Again" by May Harris. [Pulp 1919]

eZines and Audio Fiction

A few more cool freebies to start the weekend.





Fiction
Now Posted: Aurealis #45 [Via SF Signal]
"Aurealis is the Australian magazine of fantasy, science fiction and horror. It has been publishing continuously since 1990, but this issue is its first e-publication. Aurealis #45 features the return of the legendary bunyipslayer in a brilliant story by Lachlan Huddy, a harrowing fairy tale from Aimee Smith, and an interview with Glenda Larke, as well as reviews, news and more. "




Now Posted: Theaker's Quarterly #38.

• “The Lives and Spacetimes of Thornton Excelsior” by Rhys Hughes.
• “The Daylight Witch” by Jim Steel.
• “Off and On Again” by Alison Littlewood.
• “Old Preach’s Gods” by Z.J. Woods.
• “Better than Llandudno, eh?” by Michael W. Thomas.

Now Posted: Stone Telling #5 featuring speculative poetry by Patricia Monaghan, Yoon Ha Lee,
Shira Lipkin, JT Stewart, Delia Sherman, Erik Amundsen, Sofia Samatar, Alexandra Seidel, Elizabeth McClellan, Sonya Taaffe, Koel Mukherjee, Jennifer Givhan, Mike Allen, Eliza Victoria.

Audio
@Classic Tales Podcast: "The Lord of the Dynamos" by H.G. Wells, read by B.J. Harrison.

"Azuma-zi came to London from the dark jungles of Asia. Nearly penniless, he secures a job and is constantly bombarded with verbal and physical abuse. But to Azuma-zi, each beating holds a hidden justification. For he alone has uncovered the secret of the Lord of the Dynamos."

@Escape Pod: "Playing Doctor" by Robert T. Jeschonek, read by Josh Roseman.

"The problem with having a crush on your mad scientist boss is, every day she doesn’t see how wonderful you really are seems like the end of the world."

@Pseudopod: "The Voice In The Night" by William Hope Hodgson, read by Wilson Fowlie.

No — I DARE NOT,’ replied the voice, and it seemed to me that in its tones I detected a note of stifled craving — as though the owner hushed a mortal desire.”

Three Free eZines

All quite good.


Now Posted: Clarkesworld #61
"Staying Behind" by Ken Liu.

"The dead pity us and call us the left behind, as if we were unfortunate souls who couldn't get to a life raft in time. They cannot fathom the idea that we might choose to stay behind. And so, year after year, relentlessly, the dead try to steal our children."

"Pony" by Erik Amundsen.

"Skull Pony is eying me again. He drifts in the paddock, shifting every now and then, always facing me. I don't like him and I don't trust him and I've more than half a mind that thinks the feeling is mutual."

"Silently and Very Fast (Part One)" by Catherynne M. Valente.

"Inanna was called Queen of Heaven and Earth, Queen of Having a Body, Queen of Sex and Eating, Queen of Being Human, and she went into the underworld in order to represent the inevitability of organic death."

Now Posted: Redstone Science Fiction #17 October 2011
"iTime" by Ferrett Steinmetz.

"I’d say that my roommate Rochelle had to have the latest in technology, but that would be incorrect. Rochelle had to have the most expensive thing, and the trendiest thing, but it barely mattered what her accessories did so long as they didn’t clash with her cheerleader’s outfit."

"How We Fall" by Andrew Knighton.

"The air was electric with her presence. Sergeant Grund’s exposed hands and face tingled with it and it sparked like tiny blue flares from the frayed remnants of his parachute harness."

Now Posted: Residential Aliens 5..7 – October 2011
"Rivalry on the Sky Course" by Bryan Thomas Schmidt.

"The alarm on the targeting computer of his VS28 starfighter filled Davi Rhii’s ears. He glanced down to see several blips had appeared."

"Brother Silence" by Karina Fabian.

"His eyes widened to see a dragon, but apparently, he’d heard my story, though I can’t imagine how. He stepped back, bowing."

"The Old Magician’s Club" by Louis N. Gruber

“Enough with the grand entrance, Zando,” said the Great Rappini, shorter, almost bald, a few gray hairs combed over his pate. “Nobody cares anymore.”

"The Fletcher’s Daughter" by Jeff Chapman.

“It can’t be helped,” said the Chamberlain. “And what a scandal would erupt if a princess from a neighboring kingdom snubbed Prince Arwek. Your father wants to flatter Arwek’s family, not insult them.”

"Freedom of Movement" by Steven Saus.

"Allaya straightens the cool pearls about her neck, then runs her dark hands down the stiff pink dress. A glance and sniff at the stove assures her that the ham is almost finished"

Audio Fiction
Clarkesworld: "Staying Behind" by Ken Liu, read by Kate Baker.

Part 2

A trio of cool free eZines and a lengthy PodCastle episode featuring a story by Peter S. Beagle.










Now Posted: Ideomancer Speculative Fiction Vol. 10 Issue 3

• "Convent Geometry" - Georgina Bruce
• "Broken" - Ian Donald Keeling
• "Jacob and the Jane Riches" - Jen Volant

Now Posted: Mirror Dance Autumn 2011 with fiction by K. R. Hager, Paul L. Matthews, Stefan Milicevic, Madeline Dyer, and Mike Phillips.


Now Posted: Sorcerous Signals Sep - Nov '11 Issue

• "Faery Lands Forlorn" - Frederick Hilary.
• "Necromancing the Stone" - R.S. Pyne
• "Perfect Present" - DAT Anghelatos
• "Serpent's Heart" - Donald Jacob Uitvlugt
• "Songs of Frogs" - Laura J. Underwood
• "Soul Shard" - Robert William Shmigelsky
• "When Cats Are Away" - James S Dorr
• "Worthy" - TJ Dipple

Audio Fiction
@PodCastle: "El Regalo" by Peter S. Beagle, read by Emily Smith.

“You can’t kill him,” Mr. Luke said. “Your mother wouldn’t like it.” After some consideration, he added, “I’d be rather annoyed myself.”

Three Great Zines, Brin/Ellison, and More Freebies

Some more great freebies from great sites, including an audio story "Bubbles" by David Brin, read by Harlan Ellison at Lightspeed Magazine (I hate to be the one to count how many awards those two greats have won.) There's quite a bit more greatness this time and a second post is quite likely - but no promises.




Now Posted: Clarkesworld Magazine #60 - Sept. 2011.
"Pack" by Robert Reed.

"He was standing in front of my castle, watching windows. When I came out, he bent down low, mouth to the plastic grass, and asked if he could stay."

"Signals in the Deep" by Greg Mellor.

"There's a place in our future where we are all heading, driven by our instincts and the deep heritage of our genes. It is a place where we are more at peace, in harmony with the universal fabric from which we were born. It's what I was taught, and it's what I believe"

Now Posted: Expanded Horizons #31 - Sept. 2011

"Kuda Kepang" by Fadzlishah Johanabas.

"Malik watched his bride as she cheered at the Kuda Kepang troupe performing in honor of their wedding. Nine men astride legless horse puppets woven from nipah palm leaves danced in choreographed silat martial art movements, with his brother Hassan leading them on a black-painted stallion."

"Blue Dahlia" by Larisa Walk.

"After six years of therapy, Melissa’s voice still calls me from the lake. My shrink’s three hundred and twelve cream-colored business cards sit on my desk. One card for each appointment that failed to stop me from hearing my lover’s whispers in the patter of rain on dead leaves, in the footsteps on a flagstone path, in terror-soaked dreams."

"Unfit to Eat" by Tyus Barnwell.

"When I was still a juvenile an old man made the long climb from the village to our mountainside home. A boy walked at his side to aid him. I remember studying the elder carefully as he stood in the arched entry to our cavern casting a stocky shadow."

Now Posted Redstone Science Fiction #16 - Sept. 2011.
"The Jenny" by Cheryl Rydbom.

"There are A.I.s for the street, A.I.s for the shopping market, and A.I.s for the bars. Some bars even require holoprojections. If they fill their quota for say, Marilyn Monroes or Grace Kellys, and that’s the only projection you have, too bad."

"The Day the Pod Landed" by Jeff Cross.

"Tremors shake the earth. Buildings in the village topple over. Blasts of hot air roll across the land in its wake. The bells in the village church ring in alarm, but the sound is lost in the roaring wind."

@Strange Horizons: "Messengers from the Stars Will Come To Help Us Overcome the Obstacles That Hold Us Back From Achieving Our True Potential" by Grady Hendrix,

"The Staging Area was full of purpose that morning. Everyone was excited about the Upload and we were all on task for Mission Success. I woke up full of glory and went down to Room A to calorie load, which was what we called breakfast."

@Lightspeed: "Bubbles" by David Brin.

"Serena still felt the heat of her passage through Kaluza space. That in­candescent journey via the bowels of a singu­larity had raised her temperature dangerously near the fatal point."

@Pixel of Ink [Kindle]

• "The Human Addict" by Scott William Carter. YA. Fantasy.
• "Clockwork Fagin" by Cory Doctorow. Science Fiction.
• "Thirst" by Claire Farrell. Paranormal. Vampire.
• "Anathema" by Megg Jensen. YA. Fantasy.
• "Legacy Universe: Wandering Man" by Martin Perry. Science Fiction.
• "Once a Princess" by Sherwood Smith. Fantasy. Romance.

Serial Fiction
@Author's Site: "Deluge - Parts 82, 83, and 84" by Brian Greene. Horror.

"They sailed on, and over the next few days, the mood of everyone aboard the ship became even tenser and more paranoid. On the first night, only a few hours after Simon and Novak lured the crew of Locke’s ark into a trap, Henry snuck onto the bridge and tried to radio the vessel while"

Audio
@Clarkesworld: "Pack" by Robert Reed, read by Kate Baker.
@Lightspeed: "Bubbles" by David Brin, read by Harlan Ellison. Science Fiction.
@Ministry of Peculiar Occurences: "Darkest before the Darkwater" by Tee Morris. Steampunk.

"A group of survivors from the airship Guy Fawkes find themselves washed ashore on an uncharted island. In their search for survival they uncover one mystery after another."

Comics
@Digital Comics Museum [free membership required]: Weird Terror 006 (inc), Champion Comics 009, Rangers Comics 008, Rangers Comics 028, Jumbo Comics 148, Web Of Evil 019,