Author: Jerry Gerold

I am in the process of adding my work to Smashwords, but it’s going to take some time. I have to wait for KDP to expire on most of them and it’s going to be a couple months. Below is the dates KDP expires on the works I intend to add to Smashwords:

Reclamation Project 2 – 3/26

Faith Lost – 4/18

Strike Aura – 4/18

First Gold – 4/20

Opopanax Lighthouse – 5/17

Artist Rendering – 6/14

In the future, I suspect I will not be signing up for KDP on Amazon and will be able to add works to Smashwords at the same time.

Early last week I started three new stories in the same day. Might be a first for me. The first is a collaboration between me and another author on a new subject for me: zombies. It’s not going to be your typical mindless, standing around, moving in groups kind of zombie. These zombies will be smart, intelligent and can attack with weapons. They still want to kill and eat you, though.

The second story is about a girl who sees ghosts and can bring the dead back to life. Not going to say much more on that right now.

The third story is the third in the Reclamation Project short story series. This one is going to tie the first and second ones together.

As always, I am trying to find ways of getting my work noticed and reviewed and improving in any way I can. If you read something of mine and like it, please don’t hesitate to at least rate it highly, if not write a review. Every rating and review helps and spurs me on to keep writing.

Thanks!

My short story Craddock has been professionally edited and republished. Five other short stories are currently in the re-editing stage:

First Gold

Opopanax Lighthouse

Penelope’s Vines

Reclamation Project

Reclamation Project 2: Abandoned Subway

My next novel, Artist Rendering, is in the editing process and will be released soon.

I had three book covers done for the stories that make up the collection of “Abnormali-trees.” That compilation will no longer be available for purchase. Instead, the three stories will be sold separately for 99 cents apiece.

Kameyo, a tall, athletic type, entered the room and sat on the end of the table near Breanna and Eban. He glared at Ky.
“It’s about time you joined the rest of us,” Ky said, nonplussed.
“Didn’t you say I’d was coming?” Kameyo asked Breanna.
“Yes. I said she, I mean, he will be here in a minute. Sorry. I’m still having trouble figuring out what to call you two.”
“Well,” Ky said, her mouthful. “Since pronouns are predicated upon the gender of the person being referred to, you can call me ‘she.’ After all, I’m the one with the pussy currently.”
“Hey,” Kameyo shouted. “Don’t talk like that.”
“Why not? You’ve been doing it to me ever since this happened.” She looked at Breanna. “Call him ‘he,’ since he has the cock.”
“Can you two stop it?” Olivia asked sternly. She returned with a stack of pancakes and a metal decanter of syrup. “Until you two are willing to change things back, I would appreciate it if you would stop fighting about it. You’re going to ruin breakfast.”
Eban watched her put the pancakes and syrup on the table, completely confused.
“Did I forget anything?” Olivia asked. “Oh, yes. Butter. Does anyone want any milk?”
“I do,” Breanna said, raising her hand. “Orange juice hurts my mouth.”
“Oh, that’s right. Sorry, I forgot about that. Be right back.”
“Hey, Eban,” Ky whispered. “Look.”
Eban turned his head to watch Ky lift up her shirt and show him her breasts.
“Stop it,” Kameyo screamed. “That’s not funny!”
“Knock it off out there,” Olivia called from the kitchen. “I don’t know what’s going on, but if it doesn’t stop, you’re both fired.”
“Actually,” Bree said to Eban. “You can help us with this.”
“With what exactly?”
“No,” Ky said. “Don’t tell him.”
“No, do,” Kameyo insisted. “I can’t go on like this anymore. I miss…I miss my body.”
“But I don’t want to go back to mine,” Ky pleaded. “It’s sick and weak.”
“Not any more, it’s not,” Kameyo reminded. “It’s been working fine since I’ve been in it.”
“Well,” Breanna said. “To be fair, both of your bodies are dead. Therefore, no sicknesses. You couldn’t get sick if you tried.”
“So,” Ky said. “Are you saying we can’t die?”
“I never said that,” Breanna told her. “I said you can’t get sick.”
“Can you guys hold on a sec?” Eban interrupted. “I still don’t understand what’s going on. If you want my help, I need to know.”
“Basically,” Breanna said. “Ky and Kameyo are siblings and currently they are inhabiting each others’ bodies.”
“Okay,” Eban said. “And I’m guessing that one of them wants to switch, but the other one doesn’t?”
“That’s about it,” Kameyo said, pointing at Ky. “She doesn’t want to switch and I do.”
“I see what you want me to do, then,” Eban told Breanna. “But maybe we can come to some other kind of arrangement.”
“But there is no other arrangement,” Kameyo insisted. “I want my body back.”
“No, I understand,” Eban said. “But clearly Ky doesn’t want to.”
“I’m Ky,” Kameyo said, indignant.
Eban sighed. “Okay, I get it. I’m sure you can get your body back, but what if Ky agrees to vacate your body if she is allowed to inhabit a different body?” He eyes returned to Breanna. “And that’s where your power comes into play.”
“I see where you’re going,” Breanna said. “But the answer is no. I don’t want to sacrifice another living person just because these two can’t get along.”
“It’s nothing to do with getting along,” Ky told her. “I just can’t go back to my body. Too many bad memories. I agree to leave my brother’s body in exchange for another.”
“Then it’s settled,” Eban said.
Breanna shook her head. “No, it isn’t.”
“But you don’t have to kill anyone,” Eban insisted. “We just find someone who is dying and—“
“Like what happened with me,” Kameyo said with a heavy sigh.
“So, what,” Breanna said. “We just waltz into a hospital and look for people who are dying? No way.”
“No,” Eban said grimly. “I will handle that part.”
Three pairs of eyes blinked at him.
“You asked for my help, didn’t you? It would be ruled a suicide, so technically it’s not murder.”
“Absolutely not,” Olivia shouted from the kitchen doorway. She slammed Breanna’s milk on the table and dropped the tub of butter next to it. “I forbid it.”
“But—“
“No, buts, mister,” she snapped at Eban. “It may not legally be murder, but murder it surely is and I will not be a party to it. Kameyo, Ky: you will have to learn to live with your new situation and like it. I will not have to live with someone’s death on my conscious just because of the selfishness of you two.”
She turned on her heel and returned to the kitchen.
“Well,” Kameyo said, his voice low. “That’s that, I guess.”
Ky silently got up from the table and went upstairs to her room, gently shutting the door.
“Awkward,” Ky murmured.
“You’re lucky,” Breanna said to Eban. “You didn’t get the tail.”

I just wrote this short piece. It’s the beginning of something:

He found himself lying on the ground upon long, bluish green grass. He was surrounded by thick foliage of the same color, an occasional pink or purple blossom interrupting the color scheme. Leaves from an unseen tree tumbled upon his face as a light breeze caressed his cheeks.

A giant behemoth of an aircraft slowly passed by overhead, blocking the sunlight. There were two columns of soft yellow lights on the underside of the craft, changing the hue of the scenery around him to a sharp green.

Then the craft passed, the sunlight returning. He shielded his eyes from the distant blue orb, squinting at a flock of birds passing by.

“Mama,” cried a young child. “There’s a man here!”

The child was a girl of about six, her blonde hair in short pigtails tied with red bows. The bows matched her white and red dress and likewise colored shoes.

“Are you okay?” the girl asked him.

Before he could answer, a woman in an old-fashioned black dress complete with a bustle upon which was affixed a black bow. Upon her head was a black bonnet with another black bow hanging down in the back, her dark brown hair hanging in loops about her ears. She gazed down at him with her large, brown eyes, placed her hands together against her bosom and inquired,

“Are you okay, sir? Do you require assistance?”

“I-I don’t know,” he said, struggling to sit up. “I don’t…know.”

“Are you hurt?” she asked. “Are you bleeding anywhere?”

He sat up and looked at his body. He wore a white button shirt and black cotton pants with no shoes or socks. He didn’t feel pain in any part of his body and he didn’t see any blood.

“I think I’m okay,” he said. “Except… I don’t know where I am.”

“Were you robbed?” she asked. “Did someone hit you on the head?”

He touched his scalp and felt a bump. It hurt a little and he winced.

“Just as I thought,” the woman said. “You need to see a doctor. Head injuries are serious business.”

She walked to his bed, her right hand on her left side. She winced with each step until she lowered herself to sit on the edge of the mattress, her body half-turned to him.

“You’re not responsible for other people’s actions, you know. You need to stop blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong.”

“Maybe,” he said and sighed. “What I need to do is take shooting lessons.”

“Maybe we all should,” Jess said, looking to Sabrina.

“Yeah,” she said. “Sounds like a good idea.”

Jess laughed. “I’d like to see you with a gun, girly-girl.”

Sabrina’s face turned red. “I can’t help it if I am,” she protested. “And the thought of even touching a gun makes my insides upset, but the way things have been going lately…”

“When Jess and I get better,” Derek said. “We’ll have to take field trip.”

“We’ll also need to each get a weapon,” Jess pointed out. “You don’t plan on walking around with that acquired revolver of yours, do you?”

“No, I suppose I should get a registered hand gun. Hamilton should get one, too. Where is he, anyway?”

“I think he’s out with that girl,” Sabrina said. “Bree, I think her name is.”

“Bree,” Derek repeated. “Have you met her?”

“Nope,” Sabrina said. “She’s not been by yet.”

“Do you know anything about her?”

“Only that Ham seems to like her a lot. I’ve seen her picture. She’s got fake boobs.”

Derek laughed. “I don’t know why that’s funny, but it is.”

“Because it’s Ham, that’s why,” Sabrina said and snorted. “I thought it was funny, too. I don’t think he knows, either. That they’re fake, I mean.”

“I don’t know your brother well,” Jess said to Sabrina. “But he strikes me as the kind of guy that doesn’t care what a girl looks like. Any girl who likes him will do him just fine.”

“You’re right there,” Sabrina said.

“That doesn’t sound like a compliment,” Derek commented. “Makes him sound desperate.”

“Isn’t he?” Sabrina teased.

“Oh, and you are so experienced, are you?”

“Dad,” Sabrina exclaimed. “Of course not!”

“Come on,” Jess said. “Why don’t you tell him what you told me?”

“What? I didn’t tell you anything.”

Jess burst into laughter. Sabrina punched her hard on the arm, making her cry out. Sabrina immediately apologized and Jess laughed again.

“I don’t even have a wound there,” she declared.

“Why you—“

“Come on, you two,” Derek intervened. “Please stop. You’ve got an injured man between you here.”

“Sorry, Dad.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Jess said. “I shouldn’t tease her, but it’s too much fun.”

“No,” Sabrina protested. “It’s not.”

“I swear,” Derek said with a grin. “You two act like sisters.”

“Are we?” Sabrina inquired.

“Are you what?”

“Are we sisters? I mean, are we going to be?”

“Now, come on,” Jess said. “It’s way too soon for that. Isn’t it?”

Derek looked at her. “Yes,” he said. “Besides, I’m still married to your mother, Sab. I couldn’t marry anyone right now if I wanted to.”

“Well,” Sabrina said. “If you were going to marry someone, it should be Sierra. I really like her.”

“Don’t pressure him,” Jess cautioned. “You don’t want to jinx it.”

Sabrina nodded. She gave her father a kiss on the cheek and exited the room.

Jess fell backward onto the mattress, the back of her skull lying on Derek’s right shin. She looked up at him, her eyebrows raised.

“I can’t say I want you to marry my mother,” she said. “Because that would make you my step-father and I really don’t want that kind of relationship with you.”

He gave her a lopsided grin and said, “I know.”

“I shouldn’t talk about it, though,” she said. “It puts you in an awkward position. I wouldn’t blame you if you dumped the both of us.”

“Maybe I should,” he said, cutting off a piece of enchilada. “But I like you both, so I won’t.”

“If you’re hoping for a mother/daughter three-way, it’s out of the question,” she said. “Mother wouldn’t allow it.”

“But you’re okay with it?”

Jess chuckled. “Are you?”

Derek ate another piece without comment.

“It’s not fair,” Jess sighed. “I saw you first. I don’t care how old you are. I’m over eighteen. It shouldn’t matter.”

“I don’t even think about that,” he said. “I’ve got other things on my mind.”

“Then why are you sleeping with my mom and not me?”

He thought a moment and said, “Because she takes control and I let her.”

“Oh,” she said after a pause. “I didn’t know that would work.”

She got up and exited the bedroom, closing the door behind her.