Speaking of Collaborations...

It started as a Sic! tweet, an advertisement that was a bit...Off. ;)

Bug spray guaranteed to kill ants...up to 14 days!

My friend Will Swardstrom ruminated on that and wrote a tale about what might happen on the 15th day! The result? A slow-burning horror story titled, Ant Apocalypse. Fun stuff.

Rick and his wife, Jennifer have just moved to a house in Kentucky.The only problem is - the previous occupants never left. Ants. Regular, everyday ants are one thing. But what do you do when they develop a taste for flesh? How do you kill ants that are already dead? Ant Apocalypse is a short story about one man's struggle with the bane of the Midwest - ants.

He then wrote a science fiction story called Contact Window (which is free today, btw!!). I read that and it inspired me to write a story in his world. It's titled, The Return - A Contact Window Story.

And it just went live!

Basically, I surprised Will by sending him a sequel of sorts. He tweaked it, made some suggestions, and we agreed to co-publish it. (The original characters, premise, and setting are his, after all!)

Here are the two blurbs.

Contact Window: The inhabitants of Yeitr Prime use what they call a Contact Window to reach new worlds and civilizations. Gatr and his young lieutenant are sent on a mission to make first contact, but face a narrow chance at success. When disaster strikes, will they abort the mission or continue on in the face of danger? This is a short story, just over 6,000 words.

The Return: Yeitr Prime’s mission is to share their advanced technology with the universe. Thanks to a stable wormhole they call a Contact Window, they visit planet after planet with their Diplomatic Corps. Their first visit to Earth ended in disaster, but Senior Ambassador Defl has a chance to correct his predecessor’s mistakes, and in fact to correct the mistakes of an entire planet. This is a short story, about 6500 words (30 pages).

So there you have it. Full circle. And another collaboration!

If you wish to purchase The Return, it's only 99 cents at Amazon. Or, if you sign up for my occasional newsletter, I'll send it to you for free. Just let me know. (See info, top right.)

As always, thanks for reading!