The Five Days of Christmas Giveaway

Happy Christmas one and all! As well as everything else, today is also the second monthly SpecFic Authors Collective freebie giveaway. This month, the following are available to download for a brief time, absolutely free:

Simms begins to uncover the truth about Boneyard. Problem is that nearly gets him badly killed and now he has to walk a line between a bunch of religious fanatics and the GMA who want him to spy on them.

Meanwhile, just to make life interesting, he's employed to find the DNA of the members of the punk band The Zombies of Death. To do that he needs the help of his old friend and old enemy, Devi. But she's gone completely AWOL. And he's finding it hard to concentrate anyway because of what he's learned about his ex-love, Kelly...

A Sci Fi cyberpunk novella set on an Earth slowly going to hell. The Zombies of Death is the second of five science fiction stories following the adventures of Simms, genetic detective.

Soul Thief

James is home alone, having once again turned down an invitation from his family to share in an evening out. He's about to come face to face with a thief of a distinctly unnatural kind.

Free December 25 - 29:   

1 Dozen
Short Tales of the Strange and Spectacular

1 Dozen collects 12 flash-sized tales in the slipstream, horror, and science fiction genres; 11,000 words in total. Contents:

"A Creature Stirring" - A boy's imagination may be his undoing -- or his salvation.

"When Tomorrow Comes" - At the end of the world, friendship is all that really matters.

"Breathe" - An incredible gift becomes the source of violent sibling rivalry.

"Scuttle" - A milk run ends with a fatality -- but not the kind you might think.

"Soul Smuggler" - Mercer doesn't take kids into the afterlife, but one vagrant may have to go.

"Grandpa's Bluetooth" - A senior citizen's new hearing aid allows him to hear too much.

"Just Leave" - Home invaders get more than they bargained for.

"Stone in the Sky and Bread Below" - Sometimes the gods get hungry, too.

"For a Handful of Crowns" - Two teens do what they must to afford a plate of nachos.

"Suburban Legend" - Some urban myths really should be taken seriously.

"Captain Quasar and the 'If Only' Elixir of Opsanus Tau Prime" - The captain is willing to sacrifice everything for his quest, but at what cost?

"Tomorrow's Dawn" - Trapped in a lunar tube with an alien terrorist doesn't allow much hope for the future.

Free December 25 - 28:   

West of the Texas Nebula

by Dan Devine and Lyndon Perry

While honoring the visiting dignitaries from Tau Ceti, Sol’s Mayor, Wit Thomason, had a heart attack. He spent a good couple of minutes twitching on the floor, soiling his finest suit, right there in front of aliens, citizens, and everybody. It was only a matter of time before some gunslinger made a move to take over the job. If I wanted to save my skin, it was time for me to get out of Dodge.

Free at Smashwords in the the e-format of your choice (ePub for Nook, mobi for Kindle, PDF, and even online reading). Look for other free stories there as well. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!





And to help celebrate the festive season, I've made all of the following books free to download from Amazon for for the five days too. Hope there's something here that takes your fancy if you have a new (or old) Kindle that needs filling:

Screaming Machinery are a moderately successful power-trio from Manchester, playing gigs to rapturous local crowds. But none of their fans realise they are also mighty heroes, regularly saving the world with magic and sword.

They are called upon again when Manchester comes under dire threat. Eighteen murders take place, each a node in a vast rune drawn across the city in blood. Something very large and powerful is coming through and it's up to Screaming Machinery to try and stop them ...

   

An SF novella in the golden age tradition.

The last, battered remnant of the feared Draconian starfleet limps through space, shadowed by ships of the victorious Million Star worlds. But the Draconian ship is still a terrible threat: it is the Draconian's final weapon, a device that can trigger the cascading collapse of space/time itself.

Mackenzie, in charge of the Million Star fleet, fears what will happen if he attempts to destroy the device. Then, one of the semi-mythical Xin ancients arrives on his ship, suggesting a plan that appears to endanger all of reality. In the final battle with the Draconians, Mackenzie must decide whether to trust the Xin or not. The fate of the universe itself hangs on his actions ...

   

Desperate magic worked in the face of terrible danger. An old house with a hidden secret. An interview with a zombie. A woman allergic to the twenty-first century. A necromancer with evil written all over his face. Literally.

Spell Circles contains twenty-seven stories of the weird, wonderful and fantastical originally published between 1999 and 2011 and now collected together for the first time. Stories range from the very, very short up to novella length.

     

An astronaut alone in the void of deep space. An alien starship capable of destroying all creation. A DNA Detective in search of the genetic code of The Beatles. A terrorist explosion trapped inside a bubble of space/time. A new life-form found in the quantum echoes of the void.

Eccentric Orbits contains seventeen SF stories originally published between 1999 and 2011 and now collected together for the first time. Stories range from the very, very short up to novella length.

     

Tilting at windmills in the twenty-first century. A dying woman's surprising final wish. The unlikely connections between a Manchester woman and a 17th century Renaissance man. A chance encounter on a motorway. A woman allergic to the modern world.

Life Cycles contains thirty-one short and very short stories originally published between 1999 and 2011 and now collected together for the first time.

     

Spell Circles + Eccentric Orbits + Life Cycles.

Perfect Circles contains seventy-three stories originally published between 1999 and 2011. Stories range from the very, very short up to novella length.