Works

Armand Tarkanian is trapped in a dead-end job: embalming decedents under his uncle’s watchful eye. Every day he goes through the motions, making death look beautiful while his life is anything but. What began as a dangerous game between secret societies has led Armand on a frightening quest to save the only family he’s ever known and a chance to get closer to the rebellious misfits who saved him. Heartfelt and evocative, Accursed Son is a story featuring generational clashes, found families, and the rewards of tempting fate.

When magic is outlawed and government agents murder her father, Nanette seeks out Paris’s greatest sorceress – the mysterious Madame Astrid – who trains her in the thaumaturgical fighting arts, an elegant combination of physical agility and elemental magic.

In a city where magicians are scared and gargoyles sentient, Nanette risks everything to unravel a conspiracy that could shake the Second Republic to its core, or destroy the remaining family she has left.

SHORT FICTION

My short story “The Black Cloak” appears in Rituals & Grimoires.

It’s 1977 and reporter Thea Miller is the executrix to her uncle’s estate. While sifting through arcane items from a lifetime of occult study, she finds a mysterious black cloak. As she plunges deep into her research, Thea discovers the startling truth about the Hag of Rutland, a witch from the wilderness whose indelible presence haunted her family for generations.

My short story “Muskrat, Hunter” appears in Conspiracies & Cryptids Vol. 1.

Ridiculed by his Legion of the Lamb brethren and running from his past, Darren “Muskrat” Tepper must prove himself by hunting the Fresno Nightcrawler, California’s most elusive cryptid.

My short story “Make Lovecraft, Not War” appears in Great Wars.

In 1917, when conflict rages overseas, America’s sons respond. Twenty-seven-year old Howard Phillips Lovecraft, a former blueblood and obscure New England scribe, willingly enlists for what he thinks will be a patriotic crusade. As the Great War intensifies, Lovecraft witnesses atrocities beyond his imagining. Will his writing pen be enough to keep the madness away and inform the world of the encroaching horrors, or will the battlefield claim another soldier?

My short story “Never Meet Your Heroes” appears in Three Time Travelers Walk Into…

A conman from 2028 gets more than he bargained for when he unites John Dillinger, Jesse James, and Blackbeard for an audacious heist that goes spectacularly wrong.

My short story (novella, really) “Panned Peter” appears in Panthology.

Peter Pan has grown older but he hasn’t grown up, a fact everyone around him seems painfully aware. Unfortunately for Pan, Neverland has changed from a magical fairyland to a swanky tourist destination. Frustrated, the middle-aged Pan loses himself in booze, sex, and despair, until a rare twist of fate nets him a lucrative podcast. Now a spokesman for incels everywhere, Pan confronts his feelings for Wendy, his past, and his role in a world that no longer believes in magic.

My short story “A Monkey’s Uncle” appears in BananThology.

When Professor Ulysses, a hyper-intelligent gorilla and academic darling, receives a banana containing a hidden message, U.S. Intelligence sends him on a harrowing mission. Our astonishing ape calls actor and U.S. Army Forces Colonel James Stewart, samba singer Carmen Miranda, and daring soldier of fortune Smitty Crashman to defeat the Nazi’s insidious operations in the Brazilian rainforest.

Across the Universe: Tales of Alternative Beatles presents stories from 25 authors whose unique views on the Fab Four range from science fiction, fantasy, and alternate history.

My short story, “Liverpool Band Battle 1982” chronicles a world where the Beatles never were famous, and a bitter 42-year-old John Lennon gets the band back together for one last hurrah, which paves their way as the biggest New Wave act of the 1980s.

My short story “Rogue Scholars” appears in Dear Leader Tales.

Penelope Valdez, pampered daughter of Santo Monstruo’s bloodthirsty dictator, aspires to inherit her family’s tyrannical rule. After an acceptance letter arrives from Ironfist University for Authoritarian Studies, Penelope is enrolled in the world’s most exclusive private school, where the children of despots learn lethal lessons in clandestine comfort. Between torture classes and forced pep rallies, Penelope finds herself attracted to the son of an up-and-coming oligarch, and infatuation turns deadly as her obsession grows.   

“Five Stages of Fear from Interstellar Travel” appears in Aphotic Realm’s March 2020 Interstellar issue.

Between the stars lies the Deep Dark, a soul-crushing force that terrifies and destroys. For an astronaut aboard the Demeter One, a starship bound for Proxima Centauri, the Deep Dark is a dangerous and sadistic presence. As the years grind by, the astronaut sees his fellow crew members perish, and he’s left alone, tortured by an alien menace.

“Confession of Irving Endicott” appears in Aphotic Realm’s November 2018 Eldritch issue.

When a college professor investigates a deserted town in upstate Massachusetts, he uncovers a strange and horrible secret. The entity that had been dormant for years suddenly awakens, and with it, the town’s former inhabitants.

“Citizen Alpha” appears in Outposts of Beyond’s October 2018 issue.

This retro-futuristic noir tale about an alternate history of space colonization, government conspiracies and murder is set in Champion City, a technologically advanced metropolis where things seem a little too perfect. Alfred Cross, an “Alpha”, the highest citizen class, is tasked with infiltrating dissident scientists whose research could shake society’s very foundations.

In 1898, the Martians attacked, but we got lucky. Now it’s 1936 and they’re back with a vengeance, but humanity is prepared. Aetherium, commonly called the Martian metal, has altered some folks and given them the power to fight back.

Ravaged Earth is a science fiction pulp RPG for the Savage Worlds gaming system. Play as your favorite Golden Age pulp hero: a superhuman, masked avenger, gadgeteer, ace pilot, archeologist, Rocket Ranger and more in this thrilling game of heart-pounding action and adventure.