Coming soon to an online retail giant named after a big ol’ river near you!
Coming in early May, my new novelette, The Body Politic: A Parable for the Twenty-first Century.
It begins like this: “All the girls at Ellen’s eleventh birthday party were having a great time until her pinkie finger fell off.”
Like any pandemic, the disease that social media has named dropsy started with just a few isolated cases that couldn’t be easily explained. But even as it was taking hold around the world, scientists could find no cause, no common source, no traceable vector. Could that eleven-year-old girl, one of the plague’s earliest victims, discover the cause and the cure that even science could not fathom? And what does it mean for the future of the human race?
All will be answered. (Okay, most will be answered. That last one’s up to your own optimistic, cynical, or realistic view of humanity.)
Also included in this book are two short stories:
In “The Perfect Gift,” Matthew has found the most amazing birthday present for Joan. But a gift this personal might reveal once and for all his secret feelings for her. What if she finally understands that he loves her? Or worse, what if she doesn’t?
(You might have read this one before. It was the first story I ever sold and is still online at SaturdayEveningPost.com.)
What would you do if you won the world’s first trillion-dollar lotto? You can guess what Eldridge does with his winnings in the story titled “The Man Who Bought the Moon.” But he soon learns that owning all that lunar real estate isn’t as satisfying as he had hoped, as each new day begins with the same question: What next?
Just as exciting (but much less nerve-wracking) as this forthcoming publication is the book’s cover. I’ve enlisted the talents of Rue Sparks (who also writes) to illustrate it. We finally decided on the design this week, and I’m giddy with anticipation of the final product.
No firm decision yet on the price (it won’t be expensive), or even exactly when it will be available to order on
More info coming soon.