Even at home, Blade went about her business with uncharacteristic silence, and it was only after she came back into the living room, with traces of the same substance he was applying to his wound visible on her lips, that he cursed himself for a fool. She probably can’t talk after that crazy spell of hers… he thought. He also knew that she wasn’t just smart when it came to hacking into things. It wouldn’t surprise him in the least if her mind were treading a few of the same avenues as his; trying to figure out how something as … [READ MORE]
Hack the Future Part 6 ( Steven Schaufler & J Dark )
“He’s gone, we’d better get scarce too.” Blade nodded, and focused on the alcohol. Her burned lips and tongue mumbled out the spell once more. The plastic bottle started softening in her hand and she immediately threw it at the glass. She and TJ darted back to the other side of the narrow room, barely avoiding getting splashed. The window, made of Lexan, melted quickly, but for Blade, it was a glacial process. TJ took the time to re-store the plastique, and the detonator back in the hollow heels for later. He grabbed the chair he’d sat in and a … [READ MORE]
Hack the Future part 5 (Steven Schaufler & J Dark)
Some parts were still fuzzy, though much of the things he wasn’t even consciously aware of after being hit in the shoulder, came back with surprising clarity. He still had questions, of course but, for now, he was all business. Had anybody watched him move about the room, they might have believed he was ignoring his partner. They would’ve been mistaken. Every little snippet of information Blade gave him was stored away in his brain, either to recall or to cross reference with observations he made himself, as he took stock of their situation. It wasn’t /all/ bad. Their guns … [READ MORE]
Hack the Future part 4 ( Steven Schaufler & J Dark )
“Well” ‘Hanson’ said thoughtfully, “Do it. We can always flatline ’em later.” Blade looked down as strong hands slid along her arms and knees. She didn’t struggle as she was lifted by three men. The front two held her by the armpits, while the one wrapped a metal limb around her knees. As they turned, she caught a glimpse of TJ. Her captors felt her stiffen.
“No squirming, or we change our minds and flatline you here.” She felt the press of a muzzle between her shoulder blades. “You two”, ‘Hanson’ growled, “Get that meat sack up and to security.” … [READ MORE]
Hack the Future Part 3 (Steven Schaufler & J Dark )
Blade watched as TJ lurched sideways, spinning in a grotesque pirouette as the bullet took him high in the shoulder. “SHITASS IDIOTIC DUMBJIZZ ASSHAT!” She dropped to her back, and aimed her heel at the shooter. He stood partially covered behind a cream-colored Cadillac. The high powered rifle nestled against his shoulder in a classic upright stance. He saw her movement and dropped behind the car, rolling away as fast as he could. Blade pulled a break dance move, swiveling up and back to her feet. She ran as fast as her bare foot and booted one would let her.… [READ MORE]
Hack the Future part 2 (Steven Schaufler & J Dark)
Despite the annoyed retort on the cusp of exploding into his microphone, it was the doors finally opening which made him pull it back only to be forgotten with the countless others she’d more than deserved, but never heard, over the course of their working relationship. And it had been one that was not only mutually beneficial but, also, quite lucrative. If that meant he had to take her sass along with her skills, then so be it.
Now he winced. Not only because ninety seconds was cutting things way closer than he would have liked, especially with his paunch … [READ MORE]
Hack the Future part 1 ( Steven Schaufler & J Dark )
She flipped her straight black hair back with a light toss of her head, then grunted in annoyance as strands floated like black silk back in front of her eyes. Grumbling, she took an alligator clip from her open kit with her right hand, and used it as an impromptu barrette to hold her hair. “Come on Blade, where’s that hack?” She muttered something low and scathing as the wires leading from her left hand continued to send signals, attempting to finesse the security login. “Hey! What’d you….”, the voice growled. She snapped back, “Shut it, spud. It’s hard enough … [READ MORE]
Interviewing the Father of ‘Building Baby Brother’ part 2
Here is the second half of my interview with Steven Radecki, the author of ‘Building Baby Brother’.
Here’s a question about choosing a topic to write about. Do you feel that a story needs to have relevance in society?
I think that having some kind of social relevance helps to deepen a story. The trick, though, is to do it in such a way that it doesn’t feel preachy or pedantic to the reader. That can turn them off to the message (and story!) very quickly.
Comics are used at times to offer controversial subjects in stories. In ‘Civil War’, … [READ MORE]
Interviewing the Father of ‘Building Baby Brother’
Hello all!
I’m J Dark, author of ‘Best Intentions’, book one of a series I’ve come to call ‘Glass Bottles’.
I’m here to interview the author of a story I really have wanted to see in print since I first critiqued it. That story is ‘Building Baby Brother’ ( BBB ), by Steven Radecki. What we’re going to do today is a little Q&A about his story. This is a two-part series, with the second portion tomorrow.
I’m really honored to be the one to do this interview. So to jump right in, thank you Steven for sharing your time … [READ MORE]
Skid Style part 7
The dark-skinned man groaned as he rolled to his hands and knees, laying flat and spreading his arms out spread-eagle on the wooden pier as the heavyset woman waited for backup. It got to the pier in five minutes, along with a police cruiser. The two men were handed over to the police while both Skid and the security guard’s statements were recorded. “How’d you find them?”, the officer asked Skid.
“Uh, I saw the crates out of alignment, when I went down the pier I saw they were twisted. It looked like they’d been looking for something.” The officer … [READ MORE]