Recently, I have been trying my hand at writing short stories, mostly in the science fiction genre. I have included excerpts for a few of
them below. In addition to what is found on this page, I also wrote the scripts for a number of the television commercials that can be viewed
in other sections of this site, and have considerable experience in academic writing as well. One of my most recent
project is writing dialog for a game mod called Skywind.
Skywind
Character Dialog
Skywind is a mod for the game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The goal of the project is to recreate the world of an older Elder Scrolls game, Morrowind, utilizing the modern technology of the newest entry in the series. One of my roles in development is the creation and editing of new dialog for NPCs in the cities and towns throughout the game. You can view some of the areas I have written for to the right.
Short Stories
Scarlet Bubble
Overview: No one knew gatestations, enormous hubs of interstellar travel, better than Daqusheen Alvera, a member of a
nomadic profession known as Spacefarers. Now her friend and partner is imprisoned on one, accused of murder. It is up to Daqusheen,
aided by the laid-back gatestation inspector Melo Trumble, to uncover the real culprit. In doing so, she must confront the pain
and grief in her own past.
This story received an Honorable Mention from Writers of the Future.
Total length: approximately 5,900 words.
"Another thing she could not bear was walking in bubbles, especially this one. The interior had been made blank white to help with the investigation. She had been inside once before with the door closed, and it felt like she was lost in an endless monochromatic universe, bereft of the subtle shadows necessary to distinguish dimension. Since then, she had developed a slight phobia over being shut inside."
The Woman Without a Planet
Overview: Anka is a woman struggling with identity. She turned her back on her home planet, Ronar, after the start
of an aggressive war launched by its radical leader. Yet she finds no sympathy on Vandar, the object of that aggression,
where the people treat her with suspicion and derision even while she tries to aid their cause. As the Ronarian fleet descends
upon northern Vandar, Anka must finally decide with whom her loyalty truly lies.
This story received an Honorable Mention from Writers of the Future.
Total length: approximately 5,500 words.
"She had agreed to help Genelsburg's loose resistance group partly for the money, but mostly because of her hatred for Supremus Pel, the chief architect of the war. Yet it had not been a particularly good experience, and she was now in very real danger, for if the Ronarian forces ever found out about her actions she would be branded a traitor, and despite Meilin's words she was not certain that some members of the resistance would not reveal the secret if they felt that it would somehow further their cause--a convenient scapegoat might make it easier for the organization to operate. Anka knew that she was on her own, as always, and would have to make the best of the situation using her own ingenuity."
Incident at Dearborn
Overview: Linus Skala is a promising young scientist, and has recently been given the opportunity to work on a project
at the prestigious Dearborn Laboratory, the floating experimentation facility of the Intergalactic Science Development Council.
Upon arrival, however, he becomes disturbed at some of the practices and procedures of the other scientists.
Linus, and member of the Council for years, has never questioned its leaders or the Laws that guide it. Might he do so now?
The excerpt follows Linus as he meets a strange man while trying to ease his troubled mind.
Total length: approximately 7,700 words.
"Since coming to Dearborn Laboratory, he had witnessed over 40 tests for Project Deep, each with a different human volunteer. As time passed, various things about these tests began to bother him. Every subject shared the same downtrodden look. The diversity among them was surprising: men and women, young and old, representatives of almost every ethnicity on Earth. Then, there was the way every failed experiment ended; with screams of pain and sudden death."