CHARACTER BACK STORIES Different authors have a different approach to this most important detail, the character’s back story. Many simply ignore it, especially in short stories. Others do so much character backstory, the story itself suffers. I like to think I am somewhere in between, closer to the right amount of backstory. So let us take a look and see if I am right. First up is Rapier. Cindy’s backstory is pretty much the whole book; the story follows her from age five unt

The convoy stops at the base of the mountain, and I count the wolves flanking it. More than a dozen. They sent a small army of armed shifters to collect one human woman. Either I should be flattered, or I should be terrified. The noise of the convoy dies, and the silence that follows is absolute. No birdsong. No wind through the pines. Even the forest knows better than to make noise in this territory. Through the tinted window, I watch the wolves fall into formation with mili

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER ONE Dylan opened the front door of his shared apartment to find a strange woman sitting on the couch, her back to him. Her long black hair, with random strands of gray mixed in, cascaded over her back, and even sitting down, he could tell she was uncommonly tall. “Um, hi,” he said, uncertain, as he closed the door behind him. “Are you a friend of Roger’s? I think he’s at . . .” The woman stood and turned around, and all Dylan’s words drained out of his mi

I stretched to lift the first of the four kayaks we’d take out on the Bay this evening. It was the inaugural moonlight float for my company, Love’s Kayaking Floats, and Tours. My clients and fellow paddle enthusiasts were scheduled to be on-site within the next half hour. The full moon reflected off the mirrored surface of the bay. Despite the fog moving in, it promised to be a perfect night for a float. I pulled four life vests from the Amish-built shed I’d bought over the w

Vine Street Living in a small city in New Jersey in the 70s was an interesting time for a young boy, especially if you were a minority but when you’re 10 years old it really doesn’t matter. My concern back in those days was hanging out with my friends, especially the kids in the neighborhood. It was hard to keep friends back in those days. It always appeared that our family was moving from place-to-place almost periodically. It was confusing at times but I did not questi

Chapter 5 Kolya Barinov’s POV I don’t know how long I’d been staring at those closed doors, but it felt like hours. My hands were shaking, and breathing had become a much harder task. Fearing that this waif of a woman may not survive caused a crushing band to form around my chest. My hands, jacket, shirt and tie were covered in her blood, the metallic tang of it saturating the air. “Would you like to take a seat in the waiting area, sir?” a nurse asked before taking my arm an

Chapter 2 Tessa Malone opted not to join her husband, Joe, on a fishing charter he’d booked earlier this morning. She’d decided to get some rest and relax by the pool. It was only the second day after their big Italian wedding, and she relished the thought of some much-needed peace. After applying her sunscreen lavishly over her olive skin, she threw on her cover-up, ready to head downstairs. She noticed there were only two other guests out by the pool as she perused the vast

My Lord, Please excuse the formal tone of my address, but despite our previous closeness, I could not feel more like strangers at this moment. I could reconcile myself to the idea that we were simply not meant to be, and that your parents had arranged a much more advantageous marriage than I could ever have provided. However, what I cannot overcome is that as the months since our parting increase, so does the inevitability that our history will be revealed. I tell you this n

Prologue “Shit, I’m going to be late!” Kathy hops out of the bathroom of her tiny flat, pulling up her pantyhose. She looks at them as she does. “Damn, I’ve got a run in them,” she growls at the streak on her right thigh. Maybe no one will notice. You’d think that with all this innovative technology, being able to travel among the stars, that someone could invent pantyhose that don’t run. She frowns at the thought. Kathy adjusts her skirt so the patch she sewed will be covere

CHAPTER 16 I drank my way through half a bottle of gin before staggering up the stairs to bed. I fully expected to spend half the night fretting about having to endure the company of James Mortimer for four hours or longer on our drive to Manchester. Fortunately, luck was on my side. The two paracetamol I swallowed down with my last tipple had served me well. It was a miracle. After roughly six and a half hours of quality sleep, I managed to wake up without a hangover. I scur