Hey all,
This timing is not quite what I expected, but a recent rip-off of the Waystation appearing on Amazon.com forced me to move up the timetable somewhat.
I promise that future releases will have more warning!
The good news is that you can now purchase Nellie and the Nanites: Book One on Amazon in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany, France, Italy, and more.
Priced at...
2024-01-06 11:13:01 +0000 UTC View PostScruff walked lightly over the frosty ground and tried to ignore the screaming argument between Wendy and her mother. She loved the girl; she could admit that now, but would it kill her to have a single conversation without screaming her head off?
Approaching her destination, she took a moment to look around before getting to work. The t...
2024-01-05 09:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostNellie looked at the unconscious man and sighed. Some people were so predictable it was painful. His sudden desire to see the other models she had, plus the fact Lucy had already found the overrides, added up to one of the more obvious betrayals she had faced since coming to this sector.
The simple thing to do would be to break his neck while ...
2024-01-04 09:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostAfter a hectic day for the Waystationers, the sun was finally starting to set. Already, the land owned by the crew was unrecognizable. Flat and clear of everything larger than a blade of grass, with the exception of a large area of space at the furthest point from the road.
Bert watched the orc working to use a very old method to claim th...
2024-01-03 09:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostBert Hudson tapped his fingers on the table in a rapid tattoo of irritation. The cause of that irritation was, well, everything around him. Most significantly, the woman from Earth sat across the table from him and glared at him with undisguised hatred.
She was from Earth, like him, and had been brought to this world by someone a lot more po...
2024-01-03 09:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe heavy metal gates should have been closed. Nellie had seen a lot since she ended up on this planet: walls broken by battering rams and explosives, gates blown open by weapons fire, and the results of gaps in the walls were always the same.
Everyone died or fled.
This was the first time she had seen the gates open, just a crack as the one...
2024-01-02 09:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostNellie watched Duke’s workers unloading her hold. This had been her largest haul yet. The piece of wreckage she had found in the forests bordering the town had not yet been located by any of the Fed forces, so she was free to harvest the whole thing.
Without the restrictions she placed on herself around other people, Nellie got the whole thing in rec...
2024-01-02 09:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostRose gaped at the gleaming wood and metal of the Waystation as she was helped down from the cab of the Express. It would have been hard to believe it was even the same place if she couldn’t feel it herself.
Being in the Waystation had a certain feeling to it. Rose didn’t have a name for it, but if she had to guess, she would call it home. Th...
2023-12-29 09:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“If you return in twenty minutes, the payment will be left in the same place,” Fourteen’s clipped tones sounded from the speakers again.
“Unnecessary,” Sal insisted again. “We have no ill intentions.”
“Necessary,” Admin Fourteen insisted. “We require secure transactions.”
“Unnecessary,” Sal said again. “No ope...
2023-12-28 09:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“I don’t want to do this!” Rose struggled in his grip as her feet touched down in deep mud.
“Yes. You said,” Death noted as he pointed ahead of them. “Now, look at that!”
Rose turned her eyes to the scene ahead of them.
It was a small campsite, with several people gathered around the small fire. An older couple w...
2023-12-27 09:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostRose shot out of the keep's doors; shadows gathered around her as she blurred across the ground. She stumbled here and there; her wings fluttered occasionally as she struggled to stay upright. Her class came with a natural balance increase, but trying to stay balanced without arms was almost impossible, especially at speed.
She heard the shout...
2023-12-27 09:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Thank you for your purchase of a Synthetic Automated Life - Echo Model,” A plain voice came from the blank, emotionless face. “This Echo Model is proficient in a number of skills and capable of above-average strength and reaction times. It is also equipped with an adaptive AI capable of learning any task you may require.”
Lucy snorted at th...
2023-12-26 10:20:29 +0000 UTC View Post“A little to the left!” Paren yelled over the comms.
“You know you don’t have to yell, right?” Nellie sighed into the mic.
“A LITTLE TO THE LEFT!” Paren screamed over the comm line, which erupted into hisses and squeals of protest. When it cleared, the sound of giggling broke through the static.
Nellie couldn’t stop slightly...
2023-12-26 10:18:09 +0000 UTC View PostHey all!
I just wanted to say thank you on the eve of this celebration.
Whatever holiday you may be celebrating, or even none at all, I wanted to say a personal thank you for your support over the last few months. This has been my first year as a writer, and thanks you all of you, a great one. So, whatever your traditions, I hope you have a great time, and I look forward...
2023-12-24 16:31:05 +0000 UTC View PostGavin woke up tangled in the naked form of Lyra. He was still bleeding slightly, but he must have taken at least two healing potions at some point. He knew this because he could see the empty vials lying crushed and broken against the wall.
Images and flashes of what had happened came back to him in fits and bursts. They had fought the spi...
2023-12-22 07:56:22 +0000 UTC View PostCrush-Cha pushed out the grating on the roof vent and crawled out onto the frozen roof. The cold air tightened his scales instantly. He had built up quite a sweat in the tight confines of the vent work, and he couldn’t help but shiver.
Despite the freezing temperatures burning against his naked form, he was careful to stay flat against the roof as...
2023-12-21 07:48:03 +0000 UTC View Post“So, they are really like that?” Lyra asked for what felt like the fifteenth time since Gavin had started to explain life aboard the Waystation to her. “They just accept people?”
“Aye, lassie,” Gavin said in a slightly irritated voice. “I’d no say it otherwise.”
“And you were really adopte...
2023-12-20 09:05:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Sure about this?” Bell asked him for the third time.
“Aye,” Gavin nodded and drew himself up. “I’m nae a child.”
“Okay,” Bell sighed, and Way Way lowered the quest board down for him.
There was only one quest left, and he put out his hand and claimed it, feeling the familiar rush of an adventure...
2023-12-20 09:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostNellie practically vibrated in her seat as she flew away from Duke’s place. She was still careful not to speak until they were almost half an hour from the farm. He was clearly a man with abilities beyond anything she had imagined before. It was only wise to be cautious.
“Well?” She asked eventually.
“Well, what?” Lucy asked in her too-ca...
2023-12-19 09:42:00 +0000 UTC View PostNellie sat on top of the passenger shuttle and looked around the yard. A lot had changed since she bought the place, but so much still needed to be done.
About a third of the space was now occupied by the two prefab hangars and the large scrap pile hiding the entrance to Lucy’s workshop. Not to mention Paren’s little shack. In front of all that...
2023-12-19 09:40:43 +0000 UTC View PostBert found himself in an entryway of sorts. It was a singular circular room with the opening a few meters above in the center of a small dome. Looking around showed nothing but smooth walls with no apparent way out.
His grappling hook would easily reach, but it did hint at what kind of temple this might be.
Anyone co...
2023-12-15 10:20:45 +0000 UTC View PostNellie walked around the table several times, ensuring it looked right from all sides. The design looked right to her, but was there any way to be sure?
“Hey, Lucy? Can I see what this would look like in three dimensions?” She asked.
“Here we go,” Lucy sounded distracted, but the design flickered into life as a hologram that rotat...
2023-12-14 09:23:30 +0000 UTC View PostBert was not surprised to see King Dagon outside the Waystation the following day. With a heavy sigh, Bert walked out into the cold to greet the strange King.
“I love the new waitstaff!” King Dagon bellowed as he took a steaming mug from a tray held by the robed form. “Very nice! Yes!”
“So when do we get to th...
2023-12-13 09:05:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Does this seem too easy to anyone else?” Bert asked as he stared across the table at the two small orbs.
“What the hell?” Wendy protested. “We are getting them, aren’t we?”
“Personally, I think the challenge was reasonably high,” Bud added. “That castle was overrun with ghosts.”
“Still,” Bert drummed hi...
2023-12-13 09:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostNellie brought the cargo shuttle in to land near the breach in the wall. The town inside looked abandoned from the air, but you never knew. When they first started doing these runs, Nellie and Paren had always landed inside the towns and villages, only to learn the hard way how aggressive desperate people could be.
They had barely managed to get...
2023-12-12 09:05:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Are you ready?” Lucy asked, her voice imparted directly to Nellie’s eardrum, confident and calm.
“Ready,” Nellie confirmed, feeling a ticklish sensation in her throat the moment she said the word. The confirmation of the upgrade scrolled across her vision a moment later.
Voice Synthesizer Module Installed. 2023-12-12 09:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Bud kept a count as they went. There were at least fifty guards per floor, and that didn’t include the actual ghosts who were maids, butlers, or servants. All of those carried ghostly knives in addition to their other supplies. It would have been a nightmare to fight through them all.
According to the Knight Captain, th...
2023-12-08 09:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostNellie woke with a scream; the lifeless eyes of Tor-Am had chased her through another nightmare. Wiping her eyes as she took a drink of water from the cheap plastic cup next to the camp bed, Nellie wondered if the nightmares would ever end.
At least it was just Tor-Am last night. Those dreams were bad, but the ones where she watched th...
2023-12-07 10:19:56 +0000 UTC View PostChanelle ‘Nellie’ Bonne-Chance, an orphan from birth who was raised by some very unusual nuns, was having a terrible day. Fired, broke, and dumped all in a matter of hours, she was licking her wounds while watching TV.
Things immediately got so much worse.
She was abducted, replaced, and yanked across the universe by the powerful I...
2023-12-07 10:18:43 +0000 UTC View Post“Do you think there is ever any actual treasure?” Lily asked Bud as they cleared yet another small room full of dust and moldy furniture. The first floor of the Castle had turned out to be a complete waste of time. Passages and rooms filled with dust, mold, and a pervading damp smell.
And little else.
“Probab...
2023-12-06 09:05:01 +0000 UTC View Post