This is a short story I wrote in response to a short story challenge designed by my friend Calyo, who asked for stories up to 15 pages in length. This one just fit the page limit. This story tells a brief snapshot of the life of John Darwin, freelance space courier in the grittier areas of space, who is about to have a near deadly encounter with a dangerous woman by the name of Tanitha. Can he and his plucky computer generated companion, Delphi, escape their latest predicament?

This is a character concept for Andrew Rayner, one of the major characters in a project I am intending to write at some point in the future. It is actually connected to an aborted story from about six years in my past, which I have had a long standing intention to come back and develop again from scratch, but which, for now, will be cryptically called "Project Rebirth". Of course, I have other priorities for stories that need completing, but I thought that now would be a good time to get this concept down, while it was well formed in my head. I think it turned ot pretty well, too.

My story for NaNoWriMo 2004, again in the month of November. This was my second attempt at the 50,000 words in a month challenge, after not learning my lesson after the first time! I reached the schedule with time to spare, and now the story continues, though at a slightly less frenetic pace! Read the story of Julian as he is drawn into a secret and conspiratorial war being fought behind the illusions of everyday life, the outcome of which may very well depend on the memories that he has buried and locked away, unbeknownst to him, within the confines of his subconscious mind.

Chapter 1: Marshmallows & Marketing	Chapter 2: A Shot In The Dark
Chapter 3: Misdirection & Revelation	Chapter 4: Rescue
Chapter 5: Negotiating with Demons and Angels	Chapter 6: Betrayals
Chapter 7: Alliances	Chapter 8: Total Recall

I started writing this as part of the NaNoWriMo competition in November 2003. I finished the competition, but the story continued, though at a vastly slower rate, before being picked up again for NaNoWriMo 2006 and yet again for NaNoWriMo 2007, where it still failed to end! The tale begins with the last elf in the world travelling with his dragon guardian and unravels their dark pasts and even darker futures. I am really pleased with how this turned out, and with the "Journal" feature at the end of each chapter allowed me to show a different aspect to the characters. Hope you enjoy it! For those of you interested, or perhaps those who want a taste of what to expect before reading the full thing, there are also two character "trailers" that I wrote as a warm-up prelude to starting the NaNoWriMo competition.

Character Trailer: Wyldfyre	Character Trailer: Larieth
Prologue: History of the Fallen	Chapter One: From the Darkness
Chapter Two: Aspinara	Chapter Three: Denials and Evasions
Chapter Four: Korlath	Chapter Five: Dreams and Decisions
Chapter Six: The Edge of the World	Chapter Seven: Interception
Chapter Eight: Truth	Chapter Nine: Desperate Measures
Chapter Ten: Victims of Circumstance	Chapter Eleven: A Gilded Cage
Chapter Twelve: Hyaralene	Chapter Thirteen: Consequences
Chapter Fourteen: Redemption	Chapter Fifteen: Despair's Requiem
Chapter Sixteen: Raison D'etre	Chapter Seventeen: Unfinished Business
Chapter Eighteen: The Unwalked Path	Chapter Nineteen: ???

The idea for this had been knocking around in the recesses of my mind for a while, but it didn't take shape until I finally wrote it, which only took me a single hour-long lunch break at work. It's quite a personal story for me, and is a not-so-pessimistic look at death and what may lay beyond. Oh, and there's a vague dragon theme, because you know I can't resist it!