One of the benefits you get from becoming a member of my mailing list (which is, of course, free) is exclusive access to short fiction, and the more people sign up, the more fiction I release.

“Gnome Day”, the second piece of fiction, has just been released this week.

The protagonist of this 6000-word story started out as a face in the crowd in a scene that was first cut from Realmgolds, then moved to Hope and the Clever Man – where he ended up getting trimmed out. Meanwhile, though, I’d written his story: a tale of love, tragedy, family and friendship over many years.

It’s downloadable in mobi, epub or pdf format. Check the Membership page for more information (whether or not you’re already a member).

And if you enjoy that story, I also have another short, “Good Neighbours”. You can wait until it gets released automatically when my mailing list gets another 30 members, or you can buy the December 2013 New Realm magazine, where it’s just been published. It’s also set around Gnome Day, and features an elderly lady who has to answer the classic question: Who is my neighbour?

I’m planning to write more short fiction this year, as well as more novels. I have a strategy, in fact, which I’ll share in another post once it’s underway.

Novel News

Speaking of novels, Hope and the Patient Man (the sequel to Hope and the Clever Man) is with my editor right now, and my cover artist Chris Howard is hard at work on the cover. Here’s where he’s got to so far:

Yes, that’s an airhorse, as introduced in Hope and the Clever Man.

Mike Reeves-McMillan

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Mike Reeves-McMillan lives in Auckland, New Zealand, the setting of his Auckland Allies contemporary urban fantasy series; and also in his head, where the weather is more reliable, and there are a lot more wizards. He also writes the Gryphon Clerks series (steampunk/magepunk), the Hand of the Trickster series (sword-and-sorcery heist capers), and short stories which have appeared in venues such as Compelling Science Fiction and Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores.