Tag Archives: Grendel

Story Time: A Mother’s Love

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Late again. My only defense is that it has been a very busy day. I had a story due and I barely made that in time, in addition to trying to get a handle on a project affecting almost all of my books, and a writer’s group meeting. On the plus side, Scott Andrews over at Beneath Ceaseless Skies has picked up “In Memory of Jianhong, Snake Devil” for the next “Best of” yearly compilation of the magazine. That’s always a boost to the day.

Regardless, and just under the wire, today’s Story Time is an original piece of flash fiction, “A Mother’s Love.” Enjoy. And if you can’t, at least you didn’t pay a lot for it.

 

“A Mother’s Love” will remain online until next  Wednesday. You know the  drill by now.

Story Time: The Right Sort of Flea

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Today’s Story Time is a retelling of Beowulf, specifically an account of his final battle with the Great Wurm. The old king, long past his prime, taking up his weapons one last time because it is his duty and he’s the only one who can, except for one other with more courage than sense. For some reason this part of the legend always fascinated me more than the more famous part about Grendel and his mom. Maybe when I’m old enough I’ll figure out why, but this story was me trying to sort it out. I think I got somewhat close to the heart of it.

“The Right Sort of Flea” was my second appearance in Realms of Fantasy, back in April 1997. It’s never been collected, and now I’m wondering why. My bad.