Short Works in Progress
This list covers all stories on which I have begun writing, but have not either published or definitely abandoned. As such, it includes stories in all stages of completion.
The Hedgehog's Daughter
After a lifetime of poverty, misery and despair, she was told that her steadfast love for her father had won her a place in Heaven -- but he could not join her there. Knowing no place could be heaven for her without him, she set forth to find the only man who had truly loved her.
The Sound of One Child Crying
When no one will tell Reza why the girl Hasha must live in squalor, Reza sets forth to find the answers.
A Brother's Love
Misha's secret diary got their whole pod exiled to a lonely asteroid, and now he blames himself for his pod-brother Sasha's illness. But when the opportunity comes to save Sasha's life, can he convince his pod-leader to let him do the very thing he was wrongly accused of?
Broken Bird
Addie thought being chosen by the Madrian overlords to become a bird was a wonderful privilege -- until she discovered she was now a penguin, and everything started going wrong.
In the Court of the Clown King
Ruga was one of the Guests of the Peace, hostages against the resumption of the Polar Wars that had killed so many of her people. But the court of the mad Emperor Yahan can be as dangerous as any war.
Poor Francesco
Well-meaning aliens can cause more harm than good.
Technoserf
Roby was sent outside to find the cause of the disruption in the Madrian transport system -- and discovered an astonishing surprise.
The Penguin-people
The story of how the Madrians created the penguin-people.
Durat's story
He sought freedom from the hated Madrian overlords, but it might not come in the form he anticipated.
Sarto's story
He was the only leader to survive the Madrian conquest, but secular leadership was not his idea of a future.
Dial My Soul
When your religion teaches that everyone has a true, permanent gender, what do you do with a shapeshifter?
Jan-Pawel's First Adventure
A bit of backstory on a character from several novels.
Jeanne-Marie's story
She'd lived all her life aboard her father's ship to prevent the fulfillment of a prophecy. But prophecies have their ways of coming to fulfillment.
Collette's story
The pirates have gotten their hands on an ancient and terrible magical artifact. Can they be stopped in time?
The Prostitute, the Pimp, and the Private Eye
Anne Harris needed work, but she hadn't expected to have an old friend show up and ask her to find out who killed one of his girls. She was expecting the answer even less.
Wolf in the Fold
Who is attacking nuns all over Codytown? The Archbishop wants Anne Harris to find the answer, but it may not be the one he wants to hear.
Anne's Third
An assassin tried to kill the Bishop of Moline, and his metropolitan wants answers. Anne Harris would rather not have to get involved, but she may not get a choice.
The Fortunes of Meroneth House
Janetta discovers the ugly secret by which her family's fortunes will be restored, and has to face an even worse moral choice.
Ice Storm
A glaze of ice on every surface may be pretty, but when it's the result of powerful magic, the danger may be more than anybody anticipated.
My Familiar
Magic appeared to offer the way to the power to heal, but it held its own surprises.
The Road Locusts
Although the US cloning program had officially been closed, secrets remained hidden in the desert sands.
The Rebirth of Vasili Ulrikh
David Suslanov seemed to be the perfect tool, but he refused to be manipulated, even after they worked their biotechnical transformation on him.
The Rascal King
Telepathic powers of healing sometimes can create as many problems as they solve.
Reflections in Time
Rassau's magical gift was the only hope to complete a desperate mission -- but it could only take him so far when dealing with even more ancient and powerful magic.
Blowback
His teacher had taken him on for all the wrong reasons, and then discarded him. Now Remy has a chance to get his revenge.
Dance of Avoidance
What do you do when your magical talent is getting in the way of where you want to go with your life? What if someone else is determined to bring you around anyway?
Augustine and Phedre
His visions were clear -- she was his only hope for getting out of the trap he was in. But how could he convince her to go along?
Grandmaster's Gambit
Isaak Babel and Ernest Hemmingway team up to foil the hijacking of an airship in a world where WWI happened early and went very differently.
To Play a Magic Harp
Vinici wants to save Tina from a fate worse than death -- but will his own bitterness stand in the way?
The Island of No Return
Shipwreck became a nightmare for an artist stranded on a magical island of mages.
The Smoke of a Distant Fire
Margaret had cast a spell to capture a shy young commodore, and got more than she bargained for.
The Wonderful Traveling Medicine Show
For a young woman whose talents with mechanical things were a continual source of conflict with her relatives, a chance encounter with a traveling show was at once both problem and opportunity.
She Dreams Day and Night
Nancy White, the staff of the Hildred House Group Home for Disturbed Children called her, a solid name to help build character. But she could remember her father calling her another name, and she knew he was not a monster or a madman, not when she could see him wandering the shores of the cloud-lake to which he'd been transported by the ancient alien machine.
Friendship Doesn't Die
When Nick was young, Nachalla came to him in a dream, seeking friendship. Now that friendship may be Nachalla's only hope to retain her authentic self, if only Nick can figure out how.
Defiance
When one uses magic to fight one's fate, fate can still fight back.
Murder in the Pleasure Wing
What is the honorable path when one has been enslaved by an evil society, and others are depending on you?
The White Battleship
Crissy was in desperate straits when the battleship appeared out of nowhere to pluck her from the wreck of her sailboat -- but all was not as it seemed.
The Nelson Touch
Crissy thought she'd escaped the trap sprung for her, but things weren't quite so simple as they seemed.
Heath's Merfolk
Admiral Heath thought himself a patriotic man, but how far can you go before the ends no longer justify the means?
My Neighbor is a Mo'o
There was something very strange about that old man next door.
The War of Truth and Lies
Hell hath no fury like a woman spurned -- or one merely jealous because she thinks she might be.
The Urchin
Lillian and her husband had agreed to take in a foster child from the devestated world of Kanderala. But Rinacha brought her own nightmares with her, as sharp as the quills that covered her back.
Wishes
Dorothea had plans for her life, and didn't plan to give them up for political convenience. But wishes can be dangerous things.
With Quiver Full of Vengeance
Even when one's wrath is righteous, vengeance can be a dangerous thing.
Perfect Darkness
Pavlik's obsession with seeing perfect darkness ends up putting his entire pod in danger, and only Vladya's willingness to sacrifice himself can save them all.
Death of the Tyrant
The Immortal came into the Dreaming City armed only with his walking-stick and his cursed ring, determined to destroy the Tyrant who had taken those he loved.
The Captain Who Impressed a Selkie
When the naval press is running hot, what sort of strange creatures can one pick up?
Vengeance Is Mine
When the Sand Locusts first attacked, Bina's neighbors cursed her because the birthmark on her forehead resembled their hated sigil. And then they returned.
Jadah's story
Jadah wasn't supposed to go to the slave-market, but the stories of a falcon-woman were too much to resist.
Love Abides
In a world where the Soviet Union raised its dead to spare the living the task of cleaning up after Chernobyl, one man seeks answers to this abomination
Deception
Lady Margaret hadn't wanted to gainsay her mistress, for the sake of discipline, but then she saw a grave injustice being done.
Ambition
Is it love that moves the royal heir to abandon his duty for a woman who has taken his fancy, or is it a spell?
Memory, Rubies and Thyme
It's been a year since Admiral Shayell and Rissa were cast away on Association Point and had to make a new life for themselves. But the shadows of the past are never far away.
The Other Side of Midnight
Mitya had been a librarian, before someone denounced him and the Soviet secret police took an interest in his poetry. Now he's a political prisoner struggling to survive in a Siberian mine -- and the shaft opens a hole to a very strange place indeed.
Klim's Caucasus Nightmare
Secret projects have a nasty way of coming back to haunt the society that created them.
All the Little Hedgehogs
When Yona runs afoul of his mentor, he is reassigned to a very unpleasant duty, and has to confront some ugly aspects of the program to which he belongs.
Deals in the Dark
When Mark was eight, he took a dare that turned deadly and made a deal to postpone his fate. Twenty years later, it comes back to haunt him.
If you are interested in publishing any of these stories, please contact me at leighkimmel@yahoo.com.
Last updated June 2, 2015.