Category: Fiction

Posted on

Yuletide Aviary: A Short Story for Flashback Friday

Here’s a story I published a few years ago for the holidays. This story is also available in the free e-Book Weird Vivaria, which you’ll receive when you sign up for my email newsletter. Sign-up Here!

This is honestly my favorite story I’ve ever written. It’s about a bluejay and cardinal who work at the North Pole and they’re having a few drinks after finishing their work on Christmas Eve. Despite how the story sounds, it is Not family friendly. That doesn’t mean it’s bad for kids, but parents should read through it first and decide for themselves if it’s okay for their children.

I hope you enjoy it. And if you’ve read it before, I hope you enjoy it again. Here it is in five parts from the original posts when it was first published as a serial on my blog. If you want the full story, and a couple others, sign up for the newsletter.

Let me know in the comments what you think. Is this a story you’d like to see continued? I have no plans to continue the story, but maybe I’ll change my mind someday. Happy reading!

Posted on

The Hook: A Novel Coming March 7

After a lot of work, my first full length novel is almost here. You can pre-order the eBook now or wait until March 7 to purchase it or the hardcover. The details haven’t fully shown up on different purchase sites yet, but that should change in the next week. It will be some time before I have it available in my own personal store. I’ll send out an announcement once I have my copies. Details and purchase links are located below. Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts about my newest book.

Synopsis

It’s 1976 and Ernest Kemp is looking for his wife and daughter. After leaving the US Navy, he finds his way to Hallowell, Maine. He’s an outsider and the townsfolk don’t trust him. Their suspicions increase when someone starts killing children. After being falsely accused and arrested, Ernest teams up with Samantha Belcher as she investigates the murders for the Kennebec Journal.

They discover the murders are ritualistic sacrifices. Ernest and Samantha’s issues rise as bullfrogs roam all over town and three new outsiders resemble women from a 100-year-old news article. Will they find the killers and Ernest’s family before another child dies?

Praise for The Hook

“Pack is deft when it comes to balancing the plot and the characters, and the dynamic between his intriguing, flawed characters is authentic. Fans of gripping supernatural thrillers will be glad to sink their teeth in this one.”
~ Prairies Book Review

“Pack creates a vivid sense of doom, deftly portraying an intriguing world of brutal slayings, centuries-old curses, deadly rituals, otherworldly beings, and ordinary people who are caught between these anomalies. Readers will be on the edge of their seats until they turn the last page.”
~ BookView Review

“Penned with a gritty grace that blurs the line between reality and something far stranger than fiction, the surprises build slowly with a deft layering of suspense, weaving together different genres and themes, and fronted by an engrossing protagonist.” 
~ Self-Publishing Review

Pre-Order on Amazon
Pre-Order on B&N

Posted on

Keys Reef Part 4

Read Part 3.

            “I’m telling the truth.” Doris said.

            “How’d we lose our powers then?”

            “Belief is a powerful thing. You were once a great sea god called Nereus.”

            “Well, that’s a stupid name. You just made that up.”

            “It’s true.”

            “Oh yeah? What was your name?”

            “It’s always been Doris.”

            “Why’d you change my name?”

            “That was your idea. You enjoyed not being a god anymore. You used the last of your powers to take this form and changed your name to Larcus. It had something to do with the crab in the stars.”

            “That’s stupid. There’s no crab in the stars.”

            “I think you meant a constellation.”

            “I’ve never had one of those.”

            “Anyway, you enjoyed living here with me. But the accident made you forget yourself. You’re still obnoxious though.”

            “You’ve known me all that time? Even when we were gods?”

            “Yes.”

            “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

            “I have. Many times.”

            “Yeah. Okay. I think I’d remember that.”

            “That’s what you always say.”

            “Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I just realized something.”

            “What?”

            “If we had powers when the humans worshiped us, then we just need them to believe in us again. And with that power, we can conquer the world!”

            “Why do you still care about that?”

            “And with my powers, I can melt the ice caps. I’ve completed my master plan! Hahahaha!”

            “You’re an idiot.”

            “You don’t like my master plan?”

            “How do you plan to get humans to worship you?”

            They stare at each other in silence.

            “Shit.”

            “Yep. Your plan still sucks.”

            “I’ll start with the mini lobsters that live in the area.”

            “What?”

            “You know, the little reef lobsters.”

            “I know, but what do you mean start with them?”

            “I’ll get them to worship me. Then I’ll get other sea creatures. It’ll take time. The penguins probably won’t go for it. Then I get the octopi to help me invade the land. They can spread the word of Larcus.”

            “You seriously have a one-track mind.”

            “Thank you. Soon the world will be mine. Look! It’s Wallace. He’ll worship me. Hey! Hey sea tortoise!”

            “No honey. Leave Wallace alone.”

            “Can I speak to you about our lord and savior Larcus the Lobster?”

The End.