The Wayward Wormhole - Barbados February 2026 / The Art of the Novella

Really pleased with the current project, a continuation and expansion of A Seed on the Wind:

He took a landing towards Neryon neighborhood, a narrow outjut of stone augmented with board and rope buildings dragging at the stone, which was carved with a sinewy overlay of snakes and bees. In midday, it seemed to be drowsing. In a few hours it would begin to stretch and yawn itself awake. The caffeine vendors, selling chai and kaf and a dozen teas would range about filling cups and mugs or doling out thick cups that could later be chewed to mushy fiber for a quick thirdmeal as the evening began in earnest.

He made his way to a sleepy tavern, and slouched in a rear table, nursing leedink, mind thumbing through the possibilities as he fingered the wicker and wood puzzle centered on the table.

He could always go back to Poit. Or Ellsfall. Either of those choices itched him wrong, though.

A being sliding onto the bench across him in the wall niche. The stone shelf under its elbow as it leaned forward. “Pleasance, chum.”

Expensive clothes. Rasp-skinned, narrow-headed, not-human. Flat dark eyes, cold as shadowed caverns. Smile tied on with insincerity.

“Fuck off,” Bill said.

The smile widened, deepened, showed pointed teeth, filed sharper. Gold inlay in the closest one, a design of fish and flowers, a spray of rubies in a line down the front. “An asking for you, Mr. Bill.”

Panicked question stabbed through his stomach. Why did this stranger know his name? He sat back. “What’s that?”

“You know a guy, cook at Fleur, name’s John.”

Chef John. One of the possibilities that had been flickering through his minds. He shrugged. “Don’t ring no chime.”

“All I want is you to takespeak a word or two.”

Bill waited. In the room, the clackclask of pool balls, two youths playing, dressed in leather and thorns. The electric light flickflickered on arcs of white and jasper plastic, stacattoing light.

“Tell him the big companies don’t mind freelancers trading bittybit on the side. But he’s getting bittybig. Needs to step back.”

He hunched his shoulders in a shrug. “Happen to run into him, may say. What’s the what if I do?”

The stranger’s fingerscales were pointed, each tipped with a flower of gold, a stinger of steel, as it spread them as though to smooth the shrug away from the air.

“Bittybit money for you, friend. Just come here an asking.”

(If you want to make sure you get to read the finished version, sign up for my Patreon campaign and get two stories a month for as little as $1 each!)

Last day of the giveaway! Remember that you can comment five times (one per giveaway post) in order to be entered five times in the jewelry giveaway. Here’s another shot of that jewelry, just because it’s so pretty. 🙂

The book launch has been going well. If you’re one of the people who’ve finished the book already, Amazon reviews are most welcome if you feel so inclined. (Yeah, I know that’s shameless, but I’d really like this book to do well because I love it so much.) Lots of people have signed up for the Goodreads give-away and 165 people have added it on there.

Some of the interviews, reviews, and guest blog posts:

• An interview with Marshall Payne
• A plug from my cousin Tammy Salyer, author of CONTRACT OF DEFIANCE 🙂
• A giveaway on Diabolical Plots
• Interview for Amber Sistla’s Writer Wednesday
• Review on Tor.com by Stephen Raets
• Katherine Sparrow calls me daring, twisted, dark, hilarious, and wise. Your mileage may vary.
• An interview and giveaway on Far Beyond Reality
• Interview with Bryan Thomas Schmidt
• I talk about sex and the book for the Outer Alliance blog

So here’s the last five of our images, left to right.

Image #1 accompanies the story “Angry Rose’s Lament.” It’s another of the images that remind me of a submarine, if you had one carved by Aztecs.
Image #2 was chosen to go with the story, “Long Enough and Just So Long.” I like this image to the point where I’m considering another tattoo, featuring this. I don’t know why it appeals to me so much.
Image #3 was chosen for its swordlike aspect to illustrate the superhero story, “Ms. Liberty Gets A Haircut.”
Image #4 is set with the story “Seeking Nothing.” This one’s half submarine, half brass musical instrument.
Image #5 illustrates the story “Surrogates,” because it often looks to me like a laughing jester’s face, of the sort that perfectly illustrates that story.