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Category: Fiction
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IN/HUMAN: A Cyberpunk Fantasy, Chapter 1
They forged me, trained me, made me into a weapon.
But weapons only exist to be used…Maxine “The Fist” Ali believes what her church and the Inquisition have told her: Nova Mundo is a city of sinners. Six hundred years ago, the Ayu saw fit to bless humanity with divine magic. Then came the alterations. The disrespect. Now, the filthy, mutated Inmani must be eradicated.
Deployed to quash an Inmani insurgency, Max’s zealous mission is upended prematurely by her reckless gambling and an unlucky fight. Desperate for a dime, she finds work with charming local fixer Jaq — nonbinary, queer, and street-smart.
But carrying out “you pay I punch” jobs means Max can no longer avoid the Inmani. Tangled in their dangerous day-to-day, Max stumbles on a mass grave — evidence of a horrifying socio-scientific experiment. And the Inmani are far from its only victims.
As she slowly begins to question the authorities that propel her to violence, Max is forced to confront an earth-shattering truth: if her life so far is a lie…she has no idea who she is.
In/Human is an LGBTQIA+ science fiction novel that explores religious power, identity, belonging, and the morality of justice.
Listen to IN/HUMAN by Cullen McHael, performed by Cullen McHael right here, on Patreon, on Spotify, or in your podcast app of choice using patreon subscriber RSS links.
Updates Thursdays! Patrons get audio updates around one month early, among other benefits. If you like this story, please share widely.
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Beamed Up!
Whose name is that on the cover? Why, it’s mine! I’m thrilled to be part of this amazing space team! I hope you’ll pick up a copy!
Or if you prefer other sellers besides amazon: https://books2read.com/u/3R11ev
The publisher, Amphibian Press, is doing a pre-sales promotion, giving away artwork of the characters if you take a screenshot of your sales receipt and email it to beamedup89@
gmail.com, but only during pre-sales, so act fast 😉 Writing for Amphibian Press has been a delight. Their team is hardworking, inspiring, capable, and has really great taste (if I do say so myself). I haven’t read all the stories in this anthology yet, but I can’t wait to! The Nel Bently series by V.S. Holmes is solidly entertaining fiction that I’ve admired since I first picked it up, so this is a very satisfying development for me. Squee!
Write on my lovelies!
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Cold Morning Launch
Howdy! I’m launching an online, free to read, web-serial at cold-morning.com – a globe-trotting, knuckle-popping, urban fantasy set in 1935, following the trials of Mark Simmons, who wants really badly to be called Markus Summanus, Professional Adventurer.
This blog will still see updates from me, mostly when I travel. which I haven’t been doing much of because of all the writing.
Write on and tally ho my lovelies!
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New Fiction: Last and Alone
I’ve posted a new short story over in the fiction section: Last and Alone is the narrative of cloned soldier marooned on an alien world when the last human arc ship dies.
I’m turning away from apocalyptic (and post that) narratives these days. Real life is too full of doom, gloom and worry. We need a daily dose of reason, some science, some empathy, and a little optimism about the future.
As this story shows, I’m still reaching for that. But I’m working on it!
In the meantime, Last and Alone is an older piece which does well enough what I set out to do: breathe the air of an alien world, and contemplate the ultimate future of our species against the backdrop of our failures and potential.
About 7000 words.