my mid length stories
None started out to be 'novellas'. But then that often happens; shorts become longer because that's how the story unfolds. I like to let the story determine itself as it takes form on the page. Consequently, these are the middle child, the Goldilocks presumption. Love is Red Balloon was written as a challenge, and aptly, I love it for that and for the character it birthed. And, The Final Incidence is a tale that seeks to explore what lies at the end of the universe, and how as humans, we can even grasp the idea of a vast, immeasurable universe.
Love is a Red Balloon
Written in 2020 and at a little over 20,000 words (74 pages, approx), this is a coming of age styled story, with gender and diversity themes (but which isn't targeted at young adults) and with a tale about love at its core, but not quite as it first seems.
This lovely little story came into being after I was challenged by a dear (younger) friend to write a story with love as the theme (Penny knew just how brain-bending that would be for me; clever, clever!). So I decided to take a peek at neurodiversity, and because Penny is younger and hot under the collar about many things, I worked the identity angle.
The War of the Three Systems
Written in 2020 and at 45,000 words (180 pages, approx), this is a speculative story about three brothers and the realities of fighting wars in space (but it isn't a war story or hard military sci-fi). It does has spaceships, though.
A few years ago I wrote a story telling the history of man, but I didn't like the writing style and binned it. This story is a salvage from that. It's about the hard realities of war once we take that uniquely human endeavour into space. I plan to retell that old story idea as a series of linked, but independent stories. This – the first – tale is told through the eyes of three quite different brothers.
The Final Incidence
Written in 2021 and at over 18,000 words (80 pages, approx), this is a philosophical science fiction story about simulation, reality, real and artificial, God the universe and everything. What will happen at the end of time and how will we know it, and it know us? Big hand, small map stuff.
I started this story thinking I was writing The Observer Effect, but I decided that whatever that is, this wasn't that. This is a story with a different focus. I like that the characters are new, and not derivative of previous stories. And I like that it's present tense but isn't engaging the reader directly. It's more as if the reader is merely viewing, which is key to the story.
Shattered Light
Written in 2023 and at over 28,000 words (120 pages, approx), this is a pure science fiction story about the effect of the observed upon the observer, flipping the Observer Effect idea on its head. It is also, I hope, the first element of universe building in which other stories will be based.
I acknowledge some Banksian influences with this story, and make no apology for that. I wanted to write something with a ballerina assassin at its core and set the scene for other stories within this world. This is not a homage to Banks' Culture but it does absolutely borrow from that. Hence the dipping of a toe into societal forms, something Banks had a sensor receptor for.
The Man Who Lived at the End of the World
Written in 2023 and at 18,000 words (74 pages, approx), this is a simple science fiction story wrapped in a relationship between two adolescents battling to save their World.
I was on a long flight, and bored, so I challenged myself to come up with a story idea. And this is it. It's speculative, but mostly it's a science fiction story based around these two characters and what they mean to each other. So it's love and sacrifice. Oh, and all while trying to save the World.
The Humans Must Die
Written in 2023 and at over 19,000 words (94 pages, approx), this story is one of those where the title came first, and then I had to wrap an idea around it. So, there's some race, some prejudice in there, but it is more about what immortality means, at a species level. What would such a concept – currently being actively pursued – do to us? Our evolution. Are we at the point where we would want to stop, because that's what immortality would do; we would stop dying and so evolving, growing, learning, trying to better ourselves as a species. Quite a scary thought.
A fun little story, told in a light way, but with a bigger idea lurking over the shoulder of the characters.
The Highest Hill in the Sky
Book Two of the Scarborough Shoal Sequence
To follow.
Welcome to the Polycrisis
To follow.
What's the plan to publish these mid length stories?
I am going the indie author route and will publish them through a bespoke publishing company. This will make them widely available as ebooks and in paperback. Once the preparatory work is done, then I will go through the technical process of publication for all these titles.