Published Short Stories
Young Adult Fantasy Stories
At the Gates
(Not suitable for younger children)
How far would you go to save a sick dog? However far, Grace will go further. Even if it means traveling to the gates and facing the terror that is awakening there.
Find out more and read the story.
Crab Apple
(Not suitable for younger children)
"I saw her first the day I found Dad on the kitchen floor. The new girl. The wild girl.
"At first I thought Dad had been drinking again. There were beer cans scattered across the floor. But the cans were still full, and I couldn't smell alcohol."
Find out more and read the story.
Adventure Fantasy Stories
Fire Magic (co-written with Stephanie Burgis)
Marko is far too old for romance and adventure. As captain of the king's guards, all he wants is to do his duty and keep his head down. So it really is a shame that his hotheaded young friend has fallen in love with a princess and that the princess's chaperone is so infuriating. Because adventure and romance are coming for Marko, whether he likes it or not.
Find out more and read the story.
Science Fiction Stories
A Veil, A Meal, and Dust
Three stories, three candidates. One will live, the other two must die. It's time for the storytelling to begin.
Find out more and read the story.
Modern Fantasy Stories
Lavender’s Blue, Lavender’s Green
When Ralph's wife leaves him, he and his daughter set out to find out who she really was. Neither of them are prepared for what they find.
Find out more and read the story.
A Field Guide to Ugly Places
(Not suitable for younger children)
If you're looking for redemption, you might not choose the ugly places of the world. Jamie Barton didn't go to the broken-down industrial estate for redemption. He went for despair. But when he meets an unusual woman there, everything will change, and not just for him.
Find out more and read the story.
Dragonfly Summer
(Suitable for adults only)
Once, long ago, four friends made a terrible mistake that ruined their friendship. Now they are meeting up again for the first time since. But things have changed, and the past is not the way they remember it.
Find out more and read the story.
Camelot
(Suitable for adults only)
Sam's brother was shot down over France in 1943. Now it's 2010 and Sam is still searching for his lost brother, and for a dream of flags fluttering over crumbling castle walls...
Love Stories from the Jungle
(Not suitable for younger children)
In the rainforest, there is love and magic, jealousy and romance, hope and fear. Now the road is coming, and it cannot be stopped.
Find out more and read the story.
Five Things of Beauty
Srilal does not know why his wife has left him. He does not know what he has done wrong. The five gifts that appear on his doorstep are a message, but can he understand it before the war in the north calls to him, and it is too late?
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Dawn, by the Light of a Barrow Fire
(Not suitable for younger children)
In an archaeological dig, Cameron uncovers the bones of a young boy. In that ancient tragedy, Cameron finds echoes of his own grief at the loss of his own son. The distant past may be closer than Cameron realizes, and two fathers are searching for a release.
Find out more and read the story.
Fantasy Stories about Childhood
Uncle Vernon’s Lie
"Your uncle will only tell you one lie in your whole life," Benji's dad tells him. But in Uncle Vernon's house, it's hard to tell lies from reality, and the true lie is something that will break Benji's heart.
Find out more and read the story.
When the Dragon Falls
"Tam found the fossil jutting from the crumbling slope above the lake..."
But is the fossil a dinosaur or a dragon, and what does it mean for Tam?
Find out more and read the story.
History and Fantasy Stories
The Western Front
(Not suitable for younger children)
In the trenches of Ypres, a young Lieutenant finds himself in a hell of mud, rain, and thunderous shelling. But each night, his men are disappearing into No Man's Land, and he must find out why.
Find out more and read the story.
The Land of Reeds
"The dead, he had discovered, had mouths and could speak, but they could not be heard."
Amenemhet has been murdered, but his ghost cannot find its way to the afterlife, and his murderer still walks free.
Find out more and read the story.
Darker Fantasy Stories
Next
(Suitable for adults only)
"Moderate learning disabilities, he says. Schizoaffective disorder, autistic spectrum disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, epilepsy, depressive psychosis. Well, Keith, he says. Looks like you've got a pretty good bundle there.
"The nurse behind him gives me a nice smile. I like her. She's very pretty.
"Got a cold, I say.
"He raises an eyebrow. He's laughing at me and thinking I don't realize it. He thinks I'm stupid."
Find out more and read the story.
Finisterre
(Suitable for adults only)
What happens to a place when it's name changes? What happens to a person when they change their name?
Thomas Carlyle is about to find out, and all that he has lost may still exist, in Finisterre.
Stories of Magic
Bonnie stepped out into the star-lit blackness. She was carrying something. I squinted. Angela’s broken fairy wings. They hung loose, diffidently from Bonnie’s hand.
She stood in the darkness for several minutes, staring ahead. Then she turned and came back into the house. As she closed the door, I saw a glint of purple light like the edge of glass beyond the hedge.
- Lavender's Blue, Lavender's Green (read free online).
Stories of Adventure
"Have you ever burnt your hand, Captain?" Prince Sigard asked.
"Of course."
"Then imagine that burn. Imagine that same pain inside your chest. Imagine it there every day for nearly six years. That is what they have done to me."
- Fire Magic (read free online).
Of Love
"I am dying, Vichu. It is too late for me to dance." Yet he wanted to spring to his feet and take her in his arms. I would do it too, if my knees and my hips were not so painful.
- Love Stories from the Jungle (read free online).
Of Mystery
"A river of stars flows over the house," Uncle Vernon said. "You have to be careful at night. If you stand on your head while you're outside, you might fall in and be swept away."
- Uncle Vernon's Lie (read free online).