Sensational: Havok Season Four

Friday is a pre-order party (join us!) for Sensational, Havok’s collection of sensory-related flash fiction. I have a story in here, too!

But not just a story — a puzzle.

My entry “Apprentice Call” is a side story the world of The Shard of Elan series, featuring the Silver Mage Elysia Parma. Also, I have hidden a terrible groaner of a nerd reference pun in my story.

I actually hide terrible reference jokes in my stories on a regular basis. These sly winks range from the overtly geeky (Tom the Baker is interrupted as he offers, “Would you like a jelly–?”) to the nerdy (the soldier Vagus is so named because he dies of a blow to the vagus nerve). This one is a bit of both.

You don’t need to have read the Shard of Elan series to enjoy this standalone story or to identify the truly awful pun. But the first person to identify the pun, in an email to me, will win a $5 Amazon gift card. Timestamp will determine the winner in the case of several simultaneous correct responses.

(Yes, that means if you pay $3.99 for the whole anthology and find the pun, you actually make money while getting 49 stories to read.)

The collection releases April 30, 2021. Join us Friday night, April 23 for the launch party!

Immerse Yourself in a Journey of the Senses

Our five senses shape our entire human understanding of life. But this is fiction, so you can listen to the world through the ears of a dragon. Smell the odor from outer space. Watch ripples form where another dimension touches ours.

Could an exotic purple flower invade earth and transform the entire human race? What if you were cursed by a jilted aromancer to smell only coconut and vanilla for the rest of your life? Discover the mess King Midas left behind for his heir. Hear the siren call of the sea as the poisoned melody changes Ariella into one of them. Cheer for the invisible girl as she fights to be seen. Experience the mysterious sixth sense.

Forty-nine sensational tales written for fans of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller, and comedy by authors from all over the world. Somewhere hidden in these pages is an experience we hope you’ll never forget.