Best Content for you is right here. Of course, we must start with “Bears on a Plane”. The question for you is, a short story or a novel? Tell me and I’ll send you a copy. If not this short story, then another one.
By the way, I have more short stories for you below.
He felt great, full of energy. He led his flock out of the woods. Now there was another field in front of them, with a large barnlike structure on it. Maybe it was another turkey barn!He’d go free them and gain more members for his flock. They had acquired more wild turkey flocks during their march. Now twelve thousand strong, they charged the barnlike structure.
* * *
The Caterpillar Edwards Dealer Education facility was preparing for a big customer demonstration. A large 390F backhoe was digging trenches and D-11 and D-10 tractors were filling them in—inside the voluminous demonstration building. It was only 7:30 a.m., but they had a scripted and choreographed performance to practice, showing the capabilities of the company’s huge machines. Part of script was for the 390s to dig a huge trench, have a small D-4 tractor go into it and smooth it out, and then have the big D-11s fill it back in. Then an enormous flock of turkeys entered through the open arena door. “Gobble! Gobble!”
The death of an egg. Always a sobering topic. He’ll be savored long after he’s gone.
How About a Hypersonic Jet for You?
The SR-71 was one of my favorite planes of all time. Top speed of around 3,000 mph (4,800 kph for you metric folks.) Here’s a possible successor which is planned to go at twice the speed, up to Mach 8.
I now take you from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Is this next video ridiculous or sublime? Or just history? Or just fun?
My Most Romantic Story – this’ll be the first time I’ve shared this story with you. I wrote it especially for this weekend. But it isn’t your gift. Your gift is at the end of this blog post.
Go ahead. Scroll down past the romantic story to see it, if you want.
My Most Romantic Story – For Valentine’s Day
He was hyper. His dream of marriage was finally coming true. He couldn’t believe she’d said ‘yes’, back in February when he proposed. Now it was June, a week before their wedding day.
She was gorgeous. Red-haired and petite, she’d fit nicely in his lap.
Stock photo, public domain
They had to buy their marriage license from the courthouse. Their minister would sign it after their wedding. They’d do that this week on Wednesday.
But today was Monday. Now he’d activate his plan. He’d surprise his fiancee with a gift she didn’t expect. They’d already bought each other’s wedding rings and her engagement ring. They’d been practical, with the two of them looking over the jeweler’s wares, picking the rings they wanted.
She was really practical. He loved that, since he tended to be highly romantic. She’d be a good balance for him.
He called the store and give very careful, precise instructions for the coming week. She’d never expect this. Not only was he romantic, he had a wild imagination.
He waited eagerly for her call. She called him daily from her job as an office manager to his cubicle where he worked as a programmer.
After lunch, she called.
My Most Romantic Story – Part 2
“You mushball!”
“Did you like the rose and the poem?”
“Of course I did.”
“I wanted to do something special for you this week.”
“A single long stemmed rose.”
“And a poem. I’m an amateur, but sincere.”
“I know.”
Long-stemmed rose
The next day, she called again.
“Two roses! And another poem.”
“Were you surprised?”
“Yes. Am I going to get twelve roses, eventually?”
“Could be. You’ll have to wait and see.”
Then on Wednesday I answered the phone and heard, “I got your four roses and poem today. Everyone in the office is going nuts.”
“Good. I wanted to create a sensation.”
“Well, it’s working. Everyone says you’re so romantic.”
“What about you?”
“I think I’m getting a steal. I don’t know why the other girls didn’t go for you.”
“Probably because I was wearing off my rough edges on them. I was dating for ten years before I met you. I know I wasn’t ready for marriage.”
“I’ve got you. That’s all that matters.”
The Conclusion
The following day she called. “I got twelve roses today. And your poem. What’ll happen tomorrow?”
“Wait and see. Tonight’s the rehearsal.”
“Yes. I can’t believe we need to do all this.”
“Its traditional. And afterward we’ll have a nice dinner together, our two families.”
“Your family is so different from mine.”
“I think my family’s closer to normal than yours.”
“C’mon. My family’s normal!”
“Your mom and dad raised seven kids in eight and a half years. She breast-fed all of you through the 50s and 60s when that was not the thing to do. Your dad gave up promotions so he could come home and have lunch with you guys. That’s all unusual.”
“It didn’t seem odd.”
“Let’s see how odd we can be.”
On Friday, I picked up the phone and heard, “i think I liked this poem the most of all.”
“I worked the hardest on it. Poetry doesn’t come naturally to me.”
“I love it. All the girls are gushing in the office.”
“Am I impacting your productivity?”
“No. I can run this office in my sleep. What am I supposed to do with all these roses?”
“Whatever you want. Strew the petals over your bed.”
“Our bed. It sounds uncomfortable. And it’d be lot of work to take off the petals.”
“We’re getting married this weekend. Are you excited?”
“Of course.”
Your Own Valentine’s Gift from Me
My novel My Undead Mother-in-law begins on Valentine’s Day. I’ll give you a romantic excerpt I’ve never shared before.
George and Diane Newby are a normal, middle-aged couple who turn zombie. Note that my zombies don’t eat human flesh. Rather, they regenerate from injuries very fast, as their zombie bacteria copy their cells and replace them. As a side effect, their eyes turn bright, glowing red.
This excerpt falls between My Undead Mother-in-law and Paranormal Privateers. I tell it in the latter book as a flashback.
Through an unbelievable plot line, the Newby’s acquire a five-hundred foot superyacht in the first book.
I vividly remember the rechristening of the yacht, formerly named Rule Britannia, in January in New Orleans.
Diane had held the bottle of champagne at the boat dock and smashed it against the prow. The sheet covering the new name had slipped down, revealing Resolute Too—and the figurehead.
“George, is that supposed to be me?” Diane yelled in excitement.
“Of course, Diane. Can’t you see the resemblance?”
“Yes, in the face. She even has cat’s-eye glasses just like me. But she’s too buxom.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.” I knew that part of her anatomy very well. The sculptor had actually made Diane’s waist narrower, which made her seem more buxom, but I hadn’t wanted to point that out.
Which book do I have for you? None other than this one.
This story begins with a happy family story of zombies who start their own business sharing zombie blood. Diane Newby, My Undead Mother-in-law, is the natural leader. You can read a tiny snippet from late in the story here. (I promise: no spoilers)
My Undead Mother-in-law back cover, no blurb.
She gasped for air as she hauled herself up on the transom dock, and she tasted gulf water. Salt water! Her zombie bacteria were dying!
As soon as she stood up, two zombie ninjas charged her, one with a katana and one with a naginata. And she was weaponless.
The lead one called to someone behind her, “Get her!”
Glancing behind her, Diane saw the two woman bodyguards she’d thrown in the water were coming up behind her. They didn’t have weapons, so she turned her back on the two killer women in front of her and charged the two behind her, slowly, painfully.
‘The Death Doll’ by Brian White is post-zombie-apocalypse story, but oddly, the zombies aren’t the main antagonist. I’ll let you read and find out who is.
The first chapter irritated me because none of the characters seemed to be acting rationally. True, they were in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, running for their lives, but still they were over the top. Or so I thought.
I’ve learned to have patience. Over the next few chapters, the author showed me each person’s point of view and their motivations and their irrationality made sense, after a while. Mr. White has given the reader some excellent characters–good, bad, and ugly ones.
If you’re a lover of zombie books, dystopian books, and action-adventure books, this next book is for you.
I received a copy of this book to review, but that did not affect my opinion of it.
Another My Undead Mother-in-law Excerpt for You
There they all ate four huge steak filets from the fridge. They didn’t bother cooking them. For the second course, they planned a whole chicken apiece. The four chickens roasted in the oven while they gobbled the steaks.
They finished clearing out the Newbys’ commercial-sized refrigerator. They each topped off all that protein with their food of choice: George ate a whole family-sized pizza, as did Don. By the time the pizza delivery arrived, they looked quite normal, for zombies.
Diane ate an entire cheesecake. And Maggie devoured a box of sugared flakes. They had never been so ravenous—and they had never been so close to death.
From My Undead Mother-in-law
You can find the excerpt here, along with a lot of other authors’ excerpts.
The latest excerpts on SciFi, Fantasy from SciFi Roundtable. I have another bit from 'My Undead Mother-in-law'.
Astounding Science Fiction was a SciFi magazine during the golden age of science fiction. These stories could have come from there, but they’re all genuine science stories.
Okay, this is science from 150 BC but it’s astounding and it’s like an alternate history scifi where mechanical technology from the 18th century is introduced to the 2nd century BC.
