NEW!

13 Stories, 13 Essays

Includes Hugo and Nebula shortlisted story “The Good Pup”
Enter a world of miraculous dogs, invading fairy swarms, and mysterious eggs. Ride the blue highways with a retired organlegger, and journey through a wasteland with three poets. Visit a government-funded laboratory crowded with typing chimpanzees. See what a dying man sees in the waves. Meet one man with a hunger for deadly music and another who sells it on the street. 

Hugo and Nebula Award finalist Bridget McKenna presents thirteen short stories of fantasy, science fiction, and a few things in between, illustrated with 13 full-page color illustrations and accompanied by thirteen essays telling how each story came to be.

Evenings, Mornings, Afternoons is available now for $2.99 or the local equivalent from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores worldwide.

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Yorrie Rose
Yorrie Rose’s mama is dead. She wants to stay with her Aunt Wanda, but Aunt Wanda’s husband—violent and cruel Uncle Ralph—is determined to send her away to live with strangers.

Yorrie needs to keep the only home she has, and her talent for slipping from the world we know into new futures may hold the key.

“Yorrie Rose” originally appeared (as “Probability Factor”) in Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine Issue 12, edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Pulphouse 1993).

Buy it for 99c at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com.au, and all Amazon Stores.

Also available from Scribd, iTunes, Kobo, and B&N.

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A King in Exile, by Bridget McKenna

A King in Exile
Lady Penelope Smythe-Everton is a bit of a fish out of water as a gentleman’s daughter in mid-19th-century England. She’s independent, courageous, adventurous in the extreme, and not a particularly good risk on the marriage market. After a brush with death in the tropics, she returns to London with a rather large egg, which hatches to reveal a bipedal lizard she christens "Rex." Her life—and that of her dearest friend, solicitor John Maguire—is about to change in ways neither of them can possibly imagine.

“A King in Exile” originally appeared in Quantum Zoo, edited by D.J. Gelner and J.M. Ney-Grimm (Orion’s Comet, 2014).

Buy it for 99c or the local equivalent at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com.au, and all Amazon Stores.
Also available from iTunes, Kobo, B&N, and Scribd.

Or get it free!
Sign up for my newsletter, and I'll send you a link to download a free copy of “A King in Exile” in .mobi, .epub, or PDF format.

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Revised and Expanded Edition

This is not a book about why you don’t need an editor. This is a book about beginning the editing process by first editing your own work to the best of your ability, so that when you hand your manuscript over to an editor, it is as free of placeholder writing, as devoid of verbal crutches, as lean and clean as you know how to make it. This is a book about how to recognize common errors when you encounter them in your own writing, so you can lift your work a step above the mediocre majority of works out there.

Good editing by the writer—before an outside editor ever sees your work—can make the difference between an okay book and a good one, or between a good book and a great one.

“Even in today's world of self-publishing, good editing can mean the difference between an okay story and a great one. ...We need to put our best foot forward and The Little Book of Self-Editing for Writers can help. Concise, yet descriptive, following this guide can only make your writing stronger.” 5-star Amazon Review

“...What this *is* is a book about crafting the most polished, powerful prose possible -- so that when you do hire an editor you aren't wasting your money fixing things you could have & should have fixed on your own.... 

“ ...every section in this book is both dense and immediately useful. A quick skim will improve your writing, your writing process, and make your rewriting time more efficient. And you can come back to it over and over....” 5-star Amazon Review 

The Little Book of Self-Editing for Writers is available for $4.99 or the local equivalent at amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores. Also on iTunes, Kobo, Scribd, and B&N.

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Evenings, Mornings, Afternoons

Jonathan sees something in the waves—something terrifying and wonderful. But he's probably just crazy. There could not possibly be beautiful young men and women playing out beyond the breakers in the frigid winter ocean, festooning their naked bodies with seaweed, singing the songs he hears in his dreams. It's probably only the drugs the doctors give him for the pain that never leaves him alone.

But as he feels death coming nearer, the song grows more insistent and the sea-people swim closer to shore. Jonathan must know once and for all if he's  “a crazy old fairy”  as his best friend insists, or if the people in the waves have some message for him.

“Evenings, Mornings, Afternoons” was originally published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, edited by Gardner Dozois, in December 1990.

Available now at amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores. 

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The Little Things

They came in twos and threes and half-dozens, flying above the main street of town on some unknown and unimaginable errand, perhaps twice the size of large butterflies, with pale slender bodies, and dragonfly wings sparkling in the sun.

The children noticed them first, and followed them down the street, looking up in wonder.

“Fairies!” they shouted to their parents inside the cozy houses. “Fairies!” they shrieked to one another in high voices. “Fairies!”

In Morgan's Glen, everything is about to change. 

The Little Things was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Available now at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores. 

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Kidnapped by Aliens!

Suppose you felt trapped in an unhappy marriage. Suppose you saw this ad in a newspaper...

“Have you ever wished your loved one could be kidnapped by aliens? Call 1-800-GOODBYE for more information. No salesmen will call.”

If you're Guy Collier, well-meaning tech-writer schlub, you might just pick up the phone and call. But that might only be the begining of your problems.

“Kidnapped by Aliens!” was originally published in June 1995 in Tomorrow SF, edited by Algis Budrys. It includes an essay by the authors, “Writing Kidnapped by Aliens!”

Available now at amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores.

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Hole in the Wall

It’s 1956. Dwight D. Eisenhower is in the White House, and all’s right with the world. Morton Grimes is a county health inspector on a mission: run Ladislaw Tomacheski out of business. Between Tomacheski’s strange foreign accent, his Negro fry cook, and the strange phenomenon that keeps appearing on the Ladies’ Room wall, Tomacheski’s Hole in the Wall diner is a thorn in Grimes’ side. But someone from another place and time has a different plan for Tomacheski, and all the power vested in Morton Grimes by the health department will be no match for them.

Hole in the Wall originally appeared in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. This edition includes an essay by the author: “Writing Hole in the Wall.”

Available on amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores worldwide.

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End of an Aeon

When Aeon Speculative Fiction ceased publication in 2008, the editors still had more than a dozen stories and a nice handful of poems in inventory. Fairwood Press published them as an anthology in reasonably-priced trade paperback and ebook editions.

"Aeon probably nurtured the most eclectic group of writers and stories anywhere. During the four years of the magazine’s run, the McKennas produced a fine publication which offered stories by Big Names, Up-and-Comers, and New Discoveries. It’s great to see the last of Aeon collected and published — a completeness and summation long overdue, but never too late."   --Howard V. Hendrix, author of The Labyrinth Key

"End of an Aeon is a wonderful collection by some of today's most outstanding short story authors. It's like finding an old friend you haven't seen in years. I'll miss this magazine. Seeing End of an Aeon coming to publication is a bittersweet moment. You’ll love the stories inside, don't get me wrong. The McKenna's have a way of picking winners. I’m just sad that this marks the end of another fantastic magazine." --J.A. Pitts, author of Black Blade Blues

"End of an Aeon serves as an epitome of the small press, because it puts a cap on the McKennas' fine e-zine Aeon."  --Rich Horton, Locus
Available at amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores.

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The Good Pup

A summer rainstorm, a speeding car, and all that’s left for Romer Wills and his family is to build a coffin and hold a funeral for their beloved Pup so the children can feel they’ve done the proper thing. And that would be that, but three nights later something comes scratching at the kitchen door. Pup has returned, and with him have come happiness and rejoicing, trouble and sorrow, miracles and dark deeds.

“The Good Pup” originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, in March 1993. It was a finalist for the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Short Story.

The Good Pup is available for purchase at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores worldwide.

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The Defiling

On a pilgrimage across a pitiless desert, three poets find a small child dying of thirst and exposure. They stop to observe and create art from the moment, for this is the work of true poets—their duty to the world. One will not comprehend the tragedy they are about to witness. One will lose everything she possesses, and the third will feel the weight of her next decision for every moment of her life to come. 

The Defiling is a science fiction short story of approximately 3000 words. It originally appeared in Amazing Stories magazine, edited by Patrick L. Price. 

The Defiling is available for 99c at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores worldwide.

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Red Fuji

Katsushika Hokusai is dying. His daughter brings him a brush and ink to write his death poem, and the greatest living artist in Japan laments “If Heaven could only grant me ten more years! Even five more, and I would become a real painter!” But soon his life and his painting will come to an end. It falls to a visitor from a different realm to make the master an offer he never expected. 

Red Fuji is a previously unpublished short story of approximately 2200 words. It is available for 99c at Amazon.com,  Amazon.co.uk,  Amazon.ca, Amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores worldwide.

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The Old Organ Trail

Pewtie Marshall’s days of tearing up the blue highways in his hot-rod with an Igloo full of black market organs are long behind him—or so he thinks. When Angelo “The Eliminator” Angelini calls upon Pewtie to make one last run, he knows it’s not an offer he can refuse.

Now Pewtie and his sorry-looking dog, Dave, need to gas the old hotrod, and burn up the roads to the Oregon border. Between here and there, they're going to need to be invisible to CHiPSat, the murderous traffic-control satellite, and keep a weather eye in the rearview for any sign of Jimmy-Bob “Roadkill” LaRue and the Skullbusters M.C. 

“The Old Organ Trail” was originally published in Writers of The Future, Volume 2, edited by Algis Budrys, in 1986. This edition includes the author's afterword, “Finding ‘The Old Organ Trail.’”

Available now at amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores.

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A Little Night Music

Richie is a dealer, selling tickets on a steep drop to hopeless addiction. To music. His best friend Vince lives in poverty to support his craving for Mozart. Somewhere in L.A., a virtuoso chemist has targeted them for a brutal experiment. Can either of them survive it?

“Music and drugs have a connection that goes way back. In “A Little Night Music,” Bridget McKenna takes that connection and tightens it down until the words come to mean basically the same thing....” -Kim Mohan, Amazing Stories Magazine

"A Little Night Music" was originally published in 1992 in Amazing Stories, edited by Kim Mohan.

Available at amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores.

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The Bard Effect

A team of scientists has assembled lots of government funding and a staggering number of chimpanzees to train in communicating via keyboard. Jackie is a promising beginner, and Harold is an up-and-comer, but Billy is a failure who types nothing but gibberish. Today, Billy is being transferred to the San Diego Zoo, but before he goes, he has a few things to say...

The Bard Effect originally appeared in Amazing Stories Magazine. This edition includes an essay by the author: "Writing The Bard Effect."
Available on amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, and all Amazon stores.

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Quantum Zoo

Quantum Zoo Anthology

12 Fabulous Stories by 12 Talented Authors

Stories by D.J. Gellner, Sarah Stegall, A.C. Smyth, S.E. Batt, Ken Furie, Scott Dyson, John Hindmarsh, Morgan Johnson, R.S. McCoy, Frances Stewart, J.M. Ney-Grimm, and Bridget McKenna.

From Amazon:
“From a ghost park to a time-travel penitentiary of murderers to a menagerie of Egyptian deities, Quantum Zoo presents 12 compelling stories involving 12 very different living exhibitions. Including a wonderfully atmospheric tale by Hugo- and Nebula-nominated Bridget McKenna.”

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The Amaranthine Heart

Madoc is a decorated federation hero drinking himself to death in the fleshpots of Castanica. His biggest creditor—castanic crime lord Praedo—offers him a job that will wipe out his debt: sober up and escort a caravan to Val Aureum, where a shadowy priest claims to have the secret that will grant Praedo eternal life.

Val Aureum is the one place Madoc swore never to return to—the home of the battle that changed his life forever. When the federation mustered him out, he ran from everything he knew—alone, ashamed, courting the oblivion he almost found. 

Now he’s going back, along with three of Praedo’s henchmen and a mysterious cargo. There’ll be a rendezvous with death, with destiny, and with the unwelcome past when the party keeps its appointment with Ealhain, a blood magician, at the Dark Cathedral. 

Set in the world of the first true action MMORPG, TERA™, “The Amaranthine Heart” travels the paths that lead to the heart of heroism.

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Photo by Douglas Herring

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