Grayson’s Book of Stories
You Blink — How would you spend the long years in prison, inching toward Exile Day, in a future where execution has been replaced by a procedure to induce complete and permanent amnesia?
Love Is a Verb — Life is what happens… love is what we do when it does.
The Gifted Sommelier — An undead wine steward’s job never ends, finding and serving the vintages that help the dead pass on to the other side.
Brightcheeks and Brokenhand — Conscripted into preparing sacrificial virgins for the town’s local dragon, alchemist Din has never been a hero… until dragonslayer Cal shows up with a terrifying plan.
Girl, Woman, Gull, Sea — In her dream she stands halfway across a concrete dam… Nothing can make her go back.
In Which Archibald Wiggers Deeply Regrets His Second Trip to Manfred Mussholm’s Curio Shop in the Woods — Archie gets more than he bargained for when he and his little pet Lola go to stock up on her favorite treats.
A Whole Leaf, Dark and Red — A story of loss seen from the five-year-old mind, when the wall between magic and mundane is still porous.
In Which Liz Builds a Robot with Unexpected Results — Liz loves to tinker with mechanical things—but her latest creation seems to have a mind of its own.
Pathapathy — A fleeting encounter sends a laid-back guitarist on an obsessive quest for more.
To Save Fragile Things from the Pounding of Heavy Ages — Beth hosts a niche science show with a modest audience. When a representative from the National Office of Truth in Media comes on board to edit scripts, ratings soar—but at what cost?
The Message Between the Words — After a lifetime of self-imposed loneliness, a reclusive cargo pilot gets a second chance when her ship picks up a mysterious droplet.
Time Travel Is a Voodoo Rite — It seems all gears and gadgets and the innards of physics, but the truth is surprising.
Putting Down Roots — Laru’s grown up on a space station, dreaming of sunsets and unexpected rains. At last she’s been tapped for her first planetside mission.
Death Comes for Maggie McDaniel — Love can be a hard thing when you have to hide it from the world.
A Puddle of Dead — Fifteen years ago, Mia’s great love left her to chase a different high. She moved on with her life… until Henry shows up one night at her door.
More Real Than Flesh — In an augmented world where perfect beauty is the new normal, real bodies attract a certain kind of client—and Petch has paid the price long enough.