KATE WOODBURY FICTION

Little Merman: Chapter 2

Kyz Los Nares lived nearby. She occupied a maisonette in the oldest part of Schenectady. The area was throwback Nostalgia—winding cobblestone streets and brick houses—but ancient features occasionally popped up, including the Gothic First Reformed Church. Not as old as it appeared but older than anything else.

The maisonette included a full pool in its front room and a canal to the Mohawk River. Siphons needed water the way humans required vitamin C. Not every minute of every day. But regularly, for survival and for health.

Kyz answered the door on two legs but signaled that Rhys and Lider could paddle their legs in the pool while she coyly altered in an attached jacuzzi-sized tub. She dove over the side into the larger pool with barely a ripple, her stem slicing through the water; her head emerged. Through the rippling surface, Rhys and Lider would make out the bright-green stem surrounded by tannish nectophores.

Kyz brushed back damp short hair. “Mum and Dad said you want more information about Brae.”

“Are you concerned about your brother?” Lider said, which was not the question he and Rhys had intended to ask. But it was like Lider to establish emotional connections and background.

“Not as much as Mom and Dad. Not at first. The RaykJanes aren’t unreasonable. You know, marriages for business reasons are typical with Siphons. Even with Los Nares. And they involve negotiations. That’s natural. Mum and Dad can be rather plebian. The RaykJanes won’t hurt Brae. In fact, they will likely get him a mate from one of the families in their network.”

“So you think the RaykJanes have Brae locked up—isolated?”

Kyz frowned, arms slowly churning the water, a habit of relaxation, not necessity. Siphons used their stems to remain upright, and they could breathe underwater. The “colonies” of zooids that melded legs into stems carried out many functions.

Kyz said reluctantly, “Brae has been gone awhile. I assumed the RaykJanes would come forward before the breach of promise suit stalled. It doesn’t look good for them—Brae’s disappearance. Now—”

She trailed off and flicked her stem, so she was propelled backwards in the pool.

“How did Brae meet Phillala?” Another Lider question. He didn’t add, as Rhys might have, Your mother said you introduced them.

Kyz said, “I’m engaged to a Sohm. Not my parents’ choice—they see Sohms as parvenus—but Sohms have a connection to the RaykJanes now.”

Rhys caught the faintest grimace from Lider. Los Nares resided in that uneasy strata of society whose members were more aware of proprieties than the classes above and below them. Rill Sohm was partners with Meke RaykJanes, true, but Rill and Meke had challenged family expectations—on both sides—when they got together.

Keyz tilted her head to gaze at the atrium’s skylight, “I pop down to see Jax, my fiancé, every few months. About six months ago, Brae and I stayed a weekend in New Amsterdam. Jax is a cousin—equivalent anyway—of Rill Sohm RaykJanes, and we ended up at some RaykJanes’ shindig. Phillala was there.”

Keyz kept her eyes on skylight, short curls brushing the water’s surface. In deference to Rhys and Lider’s sensibilities, her chest was a smooth expanse of glittering scales.

She said, “Phillala is vivacious. I guess that’s the word. Attractive. Outspoken. Honestly, I wouldn’t have said she was Brae’s type. I guess she thought the same.”

“But they got engaged.”

Kyz didn’t quite roll her eyes.

“Nineteen-year-olds. And Siphons often stay home until marriage. I didn’t, but I’m engaged, and I have a position in the company business. Brae wants to do something different. I think he likes the idea of diplomacy. Meke ReykJanes went into the General Diplomatic Corps.”

“Meke still networks for his family,” Rhys aid.

“I know. I don’t think Brae understands exactly what Meke does. I think he met Phillala and thought she was what he wanted with the life he wanted. Have you heard of that human fairy tale, ‘The Little Mermaid’?”

Rhys said, “Not all Siphons are fans of the story.”

Lider muttered, “Rill isn’t.”

Rhys carefully held in a grin. Meke’s mate Rill was one of those Siphons who took advantage of temple connections to reach his own goals. He was apologetic in a way but he would never indulge in anything so self-defeating as regret. Or bad planning.

Kyz said, “The Little Mermaid collects a marble statue and places it at the center of her garden. She admires it every day until what the statue means, what it represents, becomes a longing.”

“An imagined life,” Lider said.

“I guess. Brae wanted the life that Phillala offered, the kind of life she seems to inhabit. She’s totally comfortable with all her privileges, you know.”

“What did she want from Brae?”

Lider didn’t sound snide but curious. Lider could do that.

“Brae is—honestly, he’s beautiful. Male beauty. Dark eyes. A firm jaw. Slender and muscular. He looks like a prince out of a nineteenth-century painting.”

By which, Rhys assumed, Kyz included the remote beings of Edmund Dulac and Maxfield Parrish. Though maybe she was thinking more of sturdy N.C. Wyeth protagonists.

“He’s quiet,” Kyz said rather hopelessly.

Quiet but intense, Rhys gathered. He caught a quick glance from Lider’s dark blue eyes. Lider was intense and insouciant.

“She broke the engagement over a month ago. We tried to get Brae to come up here, to stay with Mum and Dad or me, but he insisted on staying in New Amsterdam. And then he went to the Great Lakes Duchy. We haven't heard from him since.”

“You searched for him,” Rhys said.

“Yes. I went to his initiation temple. To other temples. To Los Nares in the area. I can give you a list. Temple officials have his name in case he shows up at one.”

Kyz had started the conversation with a matter-of-fact lack of anxiety. Now, her stem churned the water, a much more accurate indication of a Siphon’s mental state.

“Do you think he would try to undo his orientation?” Rhys said.

“Give up women for men? I’ve known Siphons who tried—but, you know, it only truly works with teens within weeks of their initiation ceremonies. Brae underwent his two years ago.” Another lash of the stem. “Mum and Dad’s idea—mimicking clans like the RaykJanes. I initiated with my fiancé, a sweetheart initiation, which is far more common with Los Nares. But that’s the point: sweetheart initiations are common. Mum and Dad wanted better. It wasn’t just taking Brae to that party that gave him unrealistic ideas.”

Yes, some blame there. And guilt. On both sides. Rhys didn’t even nod. Lider was the one who was good at resolving issues of remorse connected to condemnation and sin.

And Lider said gently, “No one knows for sure what has happened with Brae. But it sounds, ultimately, like he made a deliberate decision to disappear.”

“Yes. I suppose. He’s not a practical person. Maybe that’s just the way we see him, you know. Dreamy. But I’m not sure the alternative is better, if he intended to marry Phillala so he could live off RaykJanes’ wealth without making his own contributions.”

“Siphons aren’t opposed to practical marriages.”

“No. And maybe a purely practical reason would be a relief. Brae seemed to think he was getting a whole new existence with Phillala. Too much imagination,” Kyz said decidedly.

Rhys said smoothly, “We will find him.”

Lider didn’t frown but he bent his head forward, red-brown hair shading his eyes. He didn’t have much of a poker face. Rhys knew what he was thinking. Rhys was thinking the same.

We may not find him. We will find out what happened to him.

Hermes: Chapter 2

Hermes got to Olympus by following the prior Hermes.

He was five when he followed the lithe man with the creased face away from his guardians or parental units. He had no idea if they had been his biological parents or foster parents. He didn’t care. It was one of those things he never looked up later.

He followed Hermes out of the other world’s Chicago into Olympus’s copy of Chicago. The gods did that—copied the other world’s cities. It was easier than creating something fresh; easier to use what was already there and then tweak it, change it, revise it, adapt it, supposedly improve it.

The Hermes's temple back then was the Chicago Board of Trade with its sun dial in a flat granite face. Older Hermes strode inside where he dumped purses and wallets he’d stolen to the side of an altar already heaped with items—the boy had watched the Hermes relieve pedestrians of their belongings, and he handed over the wallet he’d taken. The older man gave him a speculative stare from dark creased eyes.

“Okay,” he said finally. “I guess you can stay here. Call me Merc.”

The boy chose a corner behind the altar. The next day, Merc or Mercury had him take in items from followers who came to ask Hermes for help with their deals.

“You have to leave something for me too,” the boy said, and most of them did—some amused, some serious.

Merc laughed when he heard. “A full altar keeps me a god,” he explained to the boy.

“So we steal from other altars.”

“Unfortunately, stealing for that reason is against the rules. One of the few rules that can’t be changed. Only citizens decide which gods get their offerings. But as the Hermes I can trade other gods’ goods. Lots of citizens leave me all their offerings to distribute. Of course, I take a cut.”

And the boy gained a mentor.

* * *

Current Hermes went to his temple first. Olympus was based on Portland, Maine at the moment, and his temple was in the KeyBank building that overlooked Monument Square, now a park maintained by Kouros.

Kouros was from Maine and liked it, so the city probably wouldn’t change for a few decades. Jes-Jer were not the type of head gods to rotate cities in any case. Changing cities took more administrative acumen than either of them had. Although buildings often remained the same inside, the settings altered. “Your lives will get better when we move” would temporarily increase offerings from citizens but the subsequent problems would considerably lower them, especially from farmers.

Jes-Jer would never take the risk. They were currently not entirely in favor with the farmers, who had spent a decade pleading for a Kouros before one was appointed. Jes-Jer tried to appoint a Kouros they could threaten and control.

Their efforts failed. The farmers continued to pay token allegiance to Jes-Jer. Community leaders mostly fully supported them. But Jes-Jer needed to tread carefully. Their current approach: stock up offerings by promising abstract rewards.

Hermes preferred tangibles. He checked his altar as soon as he entered the temple and spotted a set of tools for Kouros. Most citizens gave goods directly to the gods they admired but a few went through Hermes—for convenience and also, Hermes suspected, to keep Jes-Jer from noticing their preferences.

He also noted a carton of bullets for Artemis—from Ares, probably. He and Artemis were two of the gods allowed weapons: rifles as well as bows and arrows. Ares was a god. He didn’t need to leave offerings, which meant he dropped off the bullets also for convenience. Ares took Hermes’s role as messenger god seriously.

Hermes didn’t complain. He was the messenger god. And thief. And bargainer. And conductor of the dead. The more roles, the more security. He and Kouros agreed on that.

He kept his temple’s décor as classic and orthodox as possible. A marble floor. A marble altar. A screen behind the altar sported red-figure images. Olympus didn't use the mythology of only ancient Greek gods, but Greek gods were the primary inspiration. The images on the screen included a Hermes with winged shoes, a Hermes stealing Apollo’s cattle, a Hermes wielding the caduceus.

Not that Hermes did any of those things specifically. And he dressed in what Ven called “yuppie chic” and Kouros called “slick parvenue”—a loose leather suitcoat over a tie-less collared shirt, skinny pants and combat boots (working on Olympus involved a lot of walking).

Of course, a decade separated Ven from Kouros as nearly twenty years separated Hermes from Kouros. Ven appeared in his mid-twenties, Hermes in his late-twenties. Gods stopped aging, though not all at the same age. Kouros might remain a curly-haired brat for the rest of his life. He might age to fit his various jobs, until he was, say, past 100.

In any case, Ven was legitimately a product of the 80’s as Kouros was a product of the twenty-first century.

Neither Ven nor Kouros could go back to the other world, however, not without losing their status, even their memories. Hermes could. His clothes were current as was his technology.

He used his phone—the only being, God or citizen, to have one on Olympus—to open the narrow door behind the screen. He slid through and locked the door behind him. He stood now in his private rooms. Computers lined one wall. His bedroom stood to the right through another lockable door. No windows. He paused at the computers that stole Internet access from the other world and glanced at the trading screens.

He was the Hermes, after all.

He moved on to the computers that stored information about Olympus. Lots of records were lost during the Chaos and none of them had been in digital form anyway. Most gods had computers now tucked out of sight but Hermes could access them. He was the one who set them up.

Knowledge mattered.

None of the extant records mentioned hounds or dogs, except Apollo’s greyhounds and Cerberus. Cerberus was actually a friendly golden retriever who greeted the dead when they arrived in Hades's realm on the ferry. Not the type of dog to join a Wild Hunt.

Hermes glanced at the Internet-connected computers, then changed his mind. He didn’t want to give himself a reason not to visit Artemis. Jes-Jer thought Artemis would know about hounds. Hermes ought to ask her.

Kouros called Artemis “Tariji Hensen as Daniel Day Lewis.” The first name was one of the few popular culture references that caught Hermes off-guard. Usually, he knew them all: slang, allusions, latest news items, movie references. Whatever. No new citizen could surprise Hermes.

When he first heard Kouros’s reference, he looked up information online and had to agree with it—to a point. Artemis was entirely herself. She was also a slender, compact woman with brown skin and arched brows over deep-brown eyes.

Olympus didn’t use race-based terminology—though Jes-Jer occasionally played with the idea, unsure if it would help or hurt them. Hermes supposed the other world would label Artemis in some fashion.

He didn’t care. The other world was a hellish place that corrupted its residents; it was the source of original sin. Artemis escaped it—they all did.

He checked on her location before he left the computer room—one of the first “apps” he’d set up his computers to do (after he stealthily placed bugs in various items attached to various gods)—and noted that she was currently at her temple in the West End.

He headed there.

Little Merman: Chapter 1

“The last anyone heard about Brae, he was in the Great Lakes Duchy.”

Monseigneur Rhys and Canon Lider made suitable hums of acknowledgment. Brae’s father continued:

“He was upset by the broken engagement. Personally upset. Not just because—”

Sym Los Nares broke off, frowned at his hands, and glanced at his wife, Jyll.

The parents plus Rhys and Lider sat in Sym and Jyll’s home overlooking a river in the ancient city of Schenectady. The main room, like in many Siphon houses, included a sliding panel that allowed easy access to the river. Also, like many Siphon homes, it was a single floor. Beyond one door, at the end of the front room, would be screens and communications that connected the Los Nares to the clan’s company. Beyond the other would be the bedrooms and eating area.

Husband and wife were currently two-legged. Siphons produced their tails or stems when immersed in water. Their Siphon natures showed in the faint shimmer of color along their hairlines: both green, in this case. Siphons often married within clans, a second-cousin type of relationships, though consanguinity wasn’t as much an issue for Siphons as for humans.

Green was associated with a clan that humans would deem middleclass. The Los Nares twenty-year-old son, Brae, had been slated to marry “up.”

Jyll said softly, “The broken engagement was an offense.”

“You have filed a breach of promise suit,” Rhys said.

“Yes,” Sym said. “It has stalled until Brae is found.”

Jyll said, still quietly but the words were deliberate, “The RaykJanes would have reason to keep him unavailable.”

Sym gave his wife a quick, unreadable glance and lightly clasped her shoulder.

Rhys said, “You suspect abduction.”

Sym lifted one hand. “Not to harm. Siphons have a tradition—an old tradition—of ‘circling.’ Anthros do something similar, I believe. An Anthros is surrounded by larger beings. Herded, I think that’s the word.”

Lider said, “The Anthros approach involves direct contact. I understand the Siphon method is more about maintaining isolation.”

“A Siphon is sequestered in a place with access to the deeps. Much to explore but no way to leave.”

Jyll’s hands clenched, the knuckles white. The green along her forehead flared.

“The RaykJanes have many properties,” she said.

Rhys said carefully, “Will the suit be decided against the RaykJanes?”

Lider leaned towards him, shoulders touching. He said, “There would—will—likely be a cash settlement.”

Sym said, “The RaykJanes have the funds.” He sounded resigned.

“You know the RaykJanes took Brae?”

Not quite a statement or a question. No one said, Do you have evidence? Eyewitnesses? A note?

Sym shook his head. Jyll’s mouth firmed but she reluctantly mimicked her husband.

“He was enamored,” Jyll said. “Pillala RaykJanes was his sole focus.”

“A broken heart, then,” Lider said.

“Yes. She threw his heart into a current.”

Rhys said, “A broken-hearted young man may search for a different purpose in life. We checked the manifests for the Moon and for the Mars Mission ships. We’ll request a direct check in all those places.”

Both Sym and Jyll looked doubtful. Brae was apparently not the type to extoll the glories of space travel.

Rhys said, “A broken-hearted young man may also seek for a cause, a purpose—”

“The priesthood,” Lider murmured, and Rhys gave him a quick glance.

“Has Brae expressed interest in a particular group? One in the Great Lakes Duchy perhaps?”

Another shake of the head. “He underwent his initiation ceremony in the Great Lakes Duchy,” Sym said. “Some Los Nares reside in the area, but none of Brae's friends, not that I heard of.”

“We paid for an upscale temple,” Jyll said, the soft voice edged with another emotion—defensiveness.

The Siphon temples around the Great Lakes resembled upscale hotels. They were open to all clans but mostly attended by clans of the solid middleclass. Aristocrats, like the Agulhas clan, had private temples. Siphons who fell into the gentry class—wealthy, established, recognized families with ties in many clans—visited older temples.

The RaykJanes fell into the last category, and Jyll said, “The Great Lakes’ temples are better regulated than anything a RaykJanes honors.”

Older temples had been known to accept bribes, to underpay initiators, to overplay clerics, who did very little. A recent scandal revealed that a temple with RaykJanes’ funding accepted money to sabotage an arranged marriage. The scandal didn’t involve the Los Nares, but it indicated willingness by the RaykJanes to patronize temples for their history rather than their respectability.

Not all older temples were so self-serving, of course. But even more upright temples worked with families to arrange deals between clans.

Families from the same class as the Los Nares believed more firmly that initiation—the ceremony where a teen Siphon chose his or her sexual alignment—should be random chance, door A or door B.

Families like the RaykJanes were less…faithful.

Both detectives thought, Why did these two families get together? Marriage-wise?

Rhys said instead, “Siphons often return to their initiation temples for vacation, a kind of retreat.”

Especially the Great Lakes’ temples, which resembled spas and had—some of them—branched out to welcome humans.

Sym said heavily, “We checked already. Our daughter, Kyz, traveled there. She went through all the temples, spoke to all the clerics and imitators. Sometimes, broken-hearted Siphons will want to change their alignments. The change occasionally ‘takes.’ But not usually.”

Jyll said, still in that fierce undertone, “We only supported the match because Brae was so insistent.”

“Besotted,” Sym said. “The RaykJanes were interested.”

The Los Nares clan did have money—and corresponding interests with the RaykJanes, who focused on producing food stuffs, including options for Siphons currently residing on Mars. The Los Nares specialized in genetics.

And the Los Nares had clan members on Mars; one couple had once worked for the RaykJanes as sub-contractors. A RaykJanes-Los Nares marriage contract was not unreasonable, not from a purely business point of view. And that point of view was not despised by Siphons.

“How did Brae and Phillala RaykJanes meet?” Lider said.

“Kyz can tell you. She was there.” Jyll’s tone contained both resignation and blame.

A romantic young man. An unsuitable choice. Inevitable? Preventable? Go back in time: could Brae or Phillala be distracted into meeting other potential mates? If they were so distracted, might they circle round to each other or to a similar mistake anyway?

Regrets were pointless but people crossed the line from acceptance to blame anyway. Especially when a child was missing.

Hermes Book: Chapter 1

The first clear memory Hermes had of Olympus was a fish dying in water.

He had older memories, of course, both from his arrival on Olympus and from Earth. He favored the dying fish memory because it marked a undeniable break from before, from the self before, that thing that couldn’t bargain for its own security.

Instead, he remembered the fish lying on its side—not out of hunger or its natural life’s end. Because it couldn’t breathe in water. The gods had changed the water to prevent human drowning. And now a fish couldn’t live in it.

This was during the era of the previous gods. Those gods tried to fix death. They wanted to prevent catastrophes, bring about utopia.

The gods now wanted to do the same thing—in a different way.

* * *

Jes said, “We entirely understand Hades’s worries—though one has to note that he is now being influenced by a much younger man.”

Jer said, “Highbound principles get in the way of recognizing painful outcomes.”

“No one wants a repeat of what happened during The Chaos.”

“Though one questions that emotion-laden terminology.”

“But an alternative should be found. Hades’s mate is fairly young. Who knows what he might do next.”

Jer agreed enthusiastically and he and Jes began to issue a series of statements about the mistaken stances of Hades and his “mate.” Hermes couldn’t imagine who they were arguing with since they completely agreed with each other, and Hermes never argued with anybody.

In fairness, they would say all the same things to Hades and Kouros if they were present. Hades would bluntly disagree. Hades’s mate, Kouros would listen and go back to work.

“Not another Adonis, of course,” Jer said and chortled.

“No, no—we wouldn’t want to get anyone jealous.”

“But there are other options. The Wild Hunt, for one.”

“Of course, the Hunt is often associated with Norse myths, but we aren’t so insular, are we, Hermes?”

“No,” Hermes said.

Jes and Jer were Zeus (Jes) and Hera (Jer). Jes was female. Jer was male. They liked to applaud their broadmindedness. Hermes didn’t care what they called themselves. Amun. Waaq. Zojz.

Self-involved idiots.

“The Wild Hunt chases away winter, welcomes Solstice. Spring is coming. A positive myth.”

“Associating the Wild Hunt with ravaging and other unpleasantness is blatant prejudice. It’s a wholesome event.”

Jes and Jer would turn the crucifixion of Christ into an accident with a pen knife. Stigmata? Don’t worry, folks. It is only a pinprick.

Hermes said, “A Wild Hunt needs an Odin.”

He spoke contemplatively—as if he was in complete agreement with Jes and Jer’s enthusiasms—and he produced a concerned look. Jes and Jer immediately began to ramble about their ability to wear multiple hats, be Zeus, Hera, Odin. “If Kouros can do it—”

Hades’s mate, Kouros, was The Persephone and The Adonis and The Eros. And Jes and Jer—who operated as Olympus’s main gods—were irritated. They were always reminding citizen and other gods that they were, ultimately, The Ones in Charge.

They were also afraid of losing more ground to Kouros, who was in his early twenties and scared the shit out of most people, including Hermes.

Hermes understood the need for self-protection, but he didn’t commiserate, didn’t throw himself on their “why don’t people love us more” altar. He didn’t throw himself on anyone’s altar.

The trick with Jes and Jer was to figure out how much of their egos were bound up in their current demands. Was deference his best choice here? A reasoned argument? Would Hermes be able to move on to something else—he was currently working out a deal for paving materials—or would he need to pretend to focus on Jes and Jer’s wishes?

Worse, would he actually have to do something?

“No Odin then?” he said innocently. Not a smirk in place.

“We don’t need him. Only his dogs for the Hunt.”

“Apollo’s greyhounds?”

“No,” Jes snapped, annoyed at the mention of other gods. Hermes kept his expression bland.

Jer muttered, “Not that he would lend them anyway.”

“They should be hunting dogs,” Jes said.

“Artemis then,” Hermes said.

“She will point you in the right direction,” Jes agreed complaisantly. “It is her job after all—to hunt.”

“But not as the Hunt’s leader,” Jer said quickly, and Jes agreed.

“Jer and I manage this world. Our burden. And we need, this world needs, more than one way to create winter. Our responsibility to explore the possibilities, to do better than—to do better.”

Better than our predecessors.

Hermes considered asking, Do the records mention a Hunt?

He refrained.

Olympus was created to be run by gods, and the gods could change. New gods entered Olympus, took on those roles and stopped aging. Jes and Jer, in fact, arrived after Hermes. They evoked the older gods when they needed to parcel out blame. They ignored them when they wanted to claim credit.

Many records were lost during the Chaos. The ones that remained were either in Hades’s computers or city hall’s computers. Jes and Jer’s temple was city hall.

Hermes had access to all those computers—as well as the one he recently got for Ven, who took care of courtships and marriages and what-not. Hermes figured that everyone knew he had access but all of them pretended not to know. Ven might legitimately not care. Up until recently, he’d still been tracking Olympus families with index cards.

In any case, Hermes tried not to remind Jes and Jer about his knowledge. He definitely never reminded them that he had arrived on Olympus before them.

Hermes bowed slightly. He wondered as he strode out of city hall how long Jes and Jer had searched for something, anything, that could possibly allow them to compete with Kouros. Kouros brought on winter when he left the mainland to live with Hades for six months. He brought on spring when he returned. In a world where agriculture rather than industry was still the primary economic mode, the god who started up spring had a lot of power.

Plus Kouros's so-called death and rebirth bypassed Jes and Jer. Jes-Jer were in charge of appointments and in charge of punishments. In the years after the Chaos, Jes-Jer controlled winter and spring through punishing the Adonis. Not a rebirthed god but a destroyed human. Barbaric, of course. Unnecessary now that Kouros had arrived. But—

Everything for the so-called top gods these days came down to one issue: Jes and Jer didn't want to risk a loss of more power.

And now they wanted attack dogs.

Not Hermes’s problem what they did with the dogs.

Books Coming in 2025! Wild Hunts and Mermaids

In 2025, I intend to publish a book in both of my current series: Myths Endure in Maine and Myths Endure on Mars.

I will be posting chapters from books in both series over the next few months. Publishing "serials" is a surprisingly good way to force discipline on a writer. Not that Dickens et al. did it for that reason. They published for money and they threw in 10,000 words here and there to earn more money. But having material "out there," potentially available to readers, forces one to look at the material from that angle. I'm convinced, for instance, that scheduling a peer review for my students helps them more because it forces them to produce before the due date than because they actually pay attention to their peers' feedback.

Hermes' Book: Hermes' book is based on a story I wrote over twenty years ago. In my world-controlled-by-gods, the gods can tweak with natural law. In a bid to keep their positions as "top gods," Zeus and Hera attempt to out-manuever the gods of agriculture by taking back control over the rules of death. They can only control death if it is a punishment rather than a cycle of death and rebirth. And they can only control death as a punishment if they have the means.

They consequently task Hermes with finding the hounds for the Wild Hunt. In the original story, Artemis was tasked with locating these dogs since they are linked directly to Actaeon, the young man who saw Artemis bathing and was punished by being ripped apart by his friends-turned-into-dogs.

Hermes takes over the task in this version. An opportunist with no particular moral code, he crosses from the gods' "bubble" world to our world to hunt for these dogs. What Zeus and Hera do with them once he finds them--not his problem.

Not yet.

Rhys & Lider, a Mystery with Merpeople: My detectives in the Myths Endure on Mars series are currently on Earth. They are requested by a family of Siphons or merpeople to locate a young man, Brae, who disappeared when his engagement was broken. Initially convinced that another Siphon family temporarily kidnapped Brae to end a breach of promise suit, Rhys and Lider instead become convinced that the young man is collateral damage in someone else's political agenda.

The story is a part-retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid."

The Wolf Boy Returns from Space: Published September 7th!

The Wolf Boy Returns from Space is part of the Myths Endure on Mars series.

Panfilo ended up on the Mars Space Station when his adoptive parents kidnapped him from Earth.

He doesn't resent his relocation. He doesn't resent being ejected from Mars when his wolf-like nature is discovered. He doesn't resent being raised by a human clone and his mate.

He does rather resent being almost assassinated.

The assassination attempt on Panfilo motivates him and his guardians to delve into Panfilo's origins. Is he alien? How is he connected to Earth's history? Why do some humans and humanoid aliens fear him? Why do others wish to follow him?

The search takes Panfilo, his guardians, and his investigators--Monseigneur Rhys and Canon Lider--to Earth and ultimately to negotiations between Panfilo and a powerful monarch. Before he can undertake those negotiations, the teenage Panfilo needs to figure out, Who exactly am I?

The Wolf Boy Returns from Space is a Rhys and Lider detective novel. It is the most recent book in the Myths Endure in Mars series. It references characters and events in other books but can be read separately.

Myths Endure on Mars

The Myths Endure on Mars series includes Anubis on Mars, Saint of Mars, Ithax's Offspring in Space, Nerites Amid the Stars, The Serpentine History of the Saint (May 2024) and Wolf Boy Returns from Space (September 2024). The novellas follow a chronological order though each book can be read separately.

Series in Chronological Order

Incubus Lider wants a greater purpose in life than feeding off boring human sex dreams. Catholic priest Rhys wants his own incubus.

Unexpected companions, Lider and Rhys travel to Mars on the same ship as a new religious sect. The sect, which follows ancient Egyptian creeds alongside ongoing prophetic revelations, hopes to create an exclusive community on Mars. That plan is challenged by assault and possible murder within the sect's upper ranks.

Rhys convinces the authorities to let him investigate with his invisible partner, who can enter dreams and memories. He and Lider descend to Mars, where they discover a crime that belongs in myth.

Anubis on Mars is the first book in the Myths Endure on Mars series. It introduces detectives Rhys and Lider.

Anubis on Mars is available on Amazon.

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Monseigneur Rhys and his Cubus, Lider, detectives from Anubis on Mars, investigate another murder when their aid is sought by a Devil's Advocate, Francesca Paraclete.

A Mars citizen is being considered for sainthood. The process of canonization is proceeding smoothly--until it turns up unexpected historical details, angry relatives, and a sudden death. The death could derail the process. Or it could be entirely unconnected.

Frankie needs Rhys and Lider's help. She isn't sure she can trust her own investigators. She isn't sure she can trust Mars citizens. And she isn't sure she can trust the invisible spy or Cubus who enjoys making wry comments in her head. No matter the implications, the Devil's Advocate must know the truth. Mars needs a saint.

Saint of Mars is available on Amazon.

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Quin has a problem. He needs to return to Mars to take up his duties as administrator of the Mars Trading Depot. But someone left a clone in his ship cabin. A gorgeous, clever clone, who might just tempt Quin to break laws he agreed to when he emigrated to Mars in the first place.

Allec doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. So what if he's a clone? So what if he's only going to live a few months? He's on a spaceship. He's learning a new profession, and he has a handsome and kind boyfriend. The politics of his creation are not his problem.

As Quin and Allec near the end of their nine-month mission, they grapple with issues that affect Martian finances, family betrayal, political upheaval, and their own happiness.

Ithax's Offspring on Mars is available on Amazon.

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As merfolk head into space, political complications threaten to scuttle their desire to settle on Mars. Controversy swells over an ancient religious ritual involving immersion, sex, and marriage. The controversy only expands when Meke and Rill, two Siphons or Mermen, arrive separately on the Mars Space Station.

Years ago, bribery and sabotage subverted the ritual between Meke and Rill. Rill fled. Meke wants answers. Their face-to-face confrontation sends a surge through the merfolk or Siphon community that could drown other issues and separate lovers like an outgoing tide. Meke and Rill dive deep into their past to generate wise and pacific solutions.

Nerites Amid the Stars is available on Amazon

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With the help of her investigators, Francesca Paraclete, a devil's advocate, researches the possible canonization of a medieval saint: Lady Margaret.

If canonized, Lady Margaret will be the first Siphon or mermaid saint. Frankie must consequently deal not only with difficult-to-access and interpret historical records, she must also handle political issues--those who support a Siphon becoming a saint; those who don't.

Her duties are complicated by a possible spy from the College of Cardinals, a cat-like being who insists on accompanying her everywhere, and her personal invisible consultant, a Cubus named Will who is possibly over 2,000 years old.

To keep things simple, Frankie focuses on locating Lady Margaret's relics. Frankie, her spy, and her consultant start the search in Bamburgh Castle in Northern England. Their investigation will take them to the Faroe Islands, the Isle of Man, King Arthur's Carlisle, a holy well, several shrines, and Norton Priory. At each location, they encounter lore connected to the sea and possibly, hopefully, the true story of Lady Margaret.

The Serpentine History of the Saint is available on Amazon.

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The Wolf Boy Returns from Space is available on Amazon.