I’m late again. There are reasons, but I won’t bore you with them. I’m late, that’s all, and to somewhat atone, today’s Story Time is a novelette, “Golden Bell, Seven, and the Marquis of Zeng. It was originally published in the debut issue of Black Gate back in 2000.
The character Golden Bell, literally, came to me in a dream, and this is what she said “I have a fever of poetry that consumes me, a malady of song that wears me down.” I had no idea what that was about, so I basically wrote the story to find out. I did the hard part. If you want to know, all you have to do is read it.
Assuming I’m not late again, “Golden Bell, Seven, and the Marquis of Zeng” will stay online until next Wednesday, September 5th.
Richard Parks 
Is the story available in any collection? Other than ” the debut issue of Black Gate back in 2000.” If not, you know you’re tempting me to copy this 🙂
That one’s included in my very first collection, The Ogre’s Wife: Fairy Tales for Grownups (along with other stories you might enjoy). The Kindle edition is still available, though the print edition is only available now from 3rd parties, who charge over-optimistically. As an aside, I don’t have any problem with a reader copying a story for their own use and reference, so long as they’re not posted or distributed anywhere else.