First Stories

On the distant, ecologically wrecked world of Stumble, Venn is an orphan who dreams of adventure. But her day to day life is shattered with the arrival of the Hegemony - an empire that seeks to reunite humanity's scattered worlds. Led by the mysterious Lord Drak, the Hegemony seeks an ancient and powerful relic. When Venn gets between them and their quarry, Drak's attention focuses on her! Now, hounded across space, the only hope for Venn lies in rediscovoering humanity's forgotten past.

Young people say it all the time: "That's not fair!" Who said life was going to be fair?

Jan and Bobby get parts in the school play that involve a love scene. How do you prepare for that? What do you do to ... practice the part? Now far should you go to suggest ... realism? Practice makes perfect, they say, so come along for the ride of ... their ... lifetime. This story is the companion piece to "Getting Into The Scene" / (Reviews)

This is not a stroke story per se, but it does have some sex. It is dedicated to those young Americans who have for over 200 years, fought and died for this country, some I imagine like our hero PFC Rader, a Marine and a virgin. He is trapped on a roof-top in Iraq with his field surgeon Commander Nancy Roberts. As he lays mortally wounded she fulfills his desire to lose his virginity.

When the Germans occupied France during World War II, the Resistance fought back against the invaders. That didn't stop Marie and Christof from falling in love, despite the consequences.

A Story in the Wendy's Worlds Universe
Junior is turned 14, Connie is turned 16. They have watches. Everybody duck.

John Jacob "Jake" Nicholls and Gillian "Gill" Louisa Moorhouse have both been damaged in the past. Each has worked together and admired each other for years, although they seem miles apart in their careers. Now a broken marriage and broken family have brought them into alignment. Together they climb a steep hill, but will they fall and will they be hurt? A gentle romance set against a backdrop of high hills, high finance and a low character, a story full of humour, drama and love.

A Climbing the Ladder Story
Part of the A Well-Lived Life universe
'Climbing the Ladder' is the story of Jonathan Kane, a young man from rural Ohio, who begins a new life in Chicago in the mailroom of Spurgeon Capital. This is a story in the 'A Well-Lived Life' universe, and provides history and backstory for Spurgeon Capital, the Spurgeon family, the Glass family, the Lundgren family, Anala Subramani, Tom Quinn, and others from the 'A Well-Lived Life' series. The story stands on its own, and does not require reading any other stories in the universe.

I bought the bikinis on a whim. Actually, it was the towels that caught my eye and made me stop, but the bikinis were there, too, at the sidewalk vendor's stall. And I was in a hurry, so I didn't examine things very much. I trusted the girl working there to offer me information I should have sought out. Anyway, I bought matching bikinis for my wife and daughter. Turned out they were very small bikinis. My wife's reaction wasn't what I expected. My daughter's reaction blew my mind.