I’ve got a new story out in the latest Realms of Fantasy, “The Man Who Made No Mistakes,” which chronicles a black man with a unique time traveling ability who faces a wrenching ethical delimma.  It’s a longer story, approaching short novel length — a tale of race, murder, and the nature of sin, all wrapped into one.  It’s an idea I made a run at years ago but didn’t get quite right, and the idea stuck with me, so I made a fresh attempt at it.  It’s also accompanied by a stunning — and fitting — illustration by Billy Norrby.

The opening of the story is below.  You can subscribe to Realms of Fantasy or buy individual issues on their website.

The Man Who Made No Mistakes

Scott William Carter

It may have been the steady drone of the rain on the church roof, or it may have been the second bourbon he’d had with dinner, but Father Holder found himself dozing in the confessional.  His whole body was slumping against the heavy oak panels when the young man spoke.

“This won’t be your usual confession,” he said.

The voice jolted Father Holder awake — heart pounding, breath catching in his throat.  For a moment, looking through the thick gray mesh, he thought he’d dreamed the voice, that it was a fabrication concocted from a stomach full of beef stroganoff — but then the young man opened his eyes and Father Holder saw the bright whites, luminescent almost, surrounding a pair of penetrating dark pupils.  That’s when he realized the reason he was having trouble seeing his confessor was because the young man had skin nearly as black as the darkness.

“Oh my,” Father Holder said with a nervous laugh.  His heart was still thundering in his ears.  He also had an embarrassing line of slobber on his cheek, and he wiped it away with his sleeve.  “You do know how to make an entrance, son.”

“Sorry,” the young man said.  “I didn’t know you were sleeping.”

He had just a tinge of a Southern accent, but of a particular variety — Cajun, maybe?  It was barely there, like a radio playing faintly in another room.  Whoever he was, he certainly wasn’t from around here.  Of course, that was true of just about everyone in Las Vegas.

“I wasn’t asleep,” Father Holder said, even as he blinked away the bleariness in his eyes.  “Just resting my eyes a little.  I was — what time is it anyway?”

“Late,” the young man said.  “Very late.  Midnight almost.”

“Ah,” Father Holder sighed, and he was going to say that he should have closed the church an hour ago, but then he would have to admit he’d been nodding off.  Instead he said:  “Well.  I do need to be getting home here soon.  You didn’t start by asking for my blessing, son.  Did you really come to make a confession?”  He felt vaguely guilty for the accusatory tone, but he knew it was because he was feeling defensive.

“Yes.  Of a kind.”

“Of a kind?”

“Well . . . I didn’t ask for your blessing, Father, because I don’t think I sinned.  I did something awful, I guess, but I can’t see how it’s a sin.  I don’t know.  Maybe you can tell me.  All I know is it wasn’t a mistake.  I don’t make mistakes.”

Father Holder chuckled.  The young man didn’t.

“I’m sorry,” Father Holder said.  “I assumed you were joking.”

“No.  I wouldn’t joke about this.”

“Hmm.”

“I just don’t make mistakes.  Even now, after everything, I can say it.  But maybe a mistake and a sin aren’t the same thing.  I guess that’s why I’m here.  That and to tell you my story — I want you to hear it.”

Continued . . .

It’s wet and drizzly and cool here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley — in other words, perfect reading weather.  I’ve posted the prologue and first chapter of my latest fantasy, A Tale of Two Giants, over at the Rymadoon site.  If it’s wet and drizzly and cool where you are (or even if it’s not, I suppose), I hope you take a few minutes and read it.

What is the Rymadoon site?  Well, since much of what I write is not really appropriate for younger readers, I wanted an easy way to help kids (and parents, too, I suppose) know which of my books they might find interesting.  Of course — and this is directed at you, young Johnny — you are perfectly capable of making up your own mind about what you want to read, and I certainly won’t stand in your way.  But then I can say I did my part in helping to protect the innocence of youth.  Think of it as a Surgeon’s General Warning.

(Part of this might stem from the fact that I’ve already gotten a fair amount of criticism from some quarters claiming that my first novel, The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys, full as it is of inappropriate stuff, is corrupting young minds all over the world.  So far, however, there hasn’t been quite enough of this criticism to drum up any book burnings or even a school library expulsion or two, but a writer can dream.  Believe me, nothing would please me more than to know my book had been banned.)

Anyway, I’ll be adding to the Rymadoon site from time to time, both with books set in Rymadoon and other books for kids.  And what is Rymadoon, you say?  Well, I actually wrote a poem about it, which I put at the beginning of every book set there:

THE LOST LANDS OF RYMADOON

Fellow traveler, have you ever journeyed to the Lost Lands of Rymadoon?
Have you ever been to Morfen Sley or Ilia or the caverns of Mana Thune?
Have you ever been to Nogero or Willow Isle or the deserts of Giant Bone?
Or perhaps, like others, you’ve discovered a Lost Land all on your own.

Dear traveler, you must be warned of what awaits you in a world like Rymadoon.
There are towering peaks and deep chasms and great cities that now lay in ruin.
There are slumbering dragons and hungry giants and soldiers who never die.
There are even places in the Lost Lands where you never have to say goodbye.

Oh traveler, I fear this will not be your last sojourn to the world with the shadow moon.
I fear you will plunge into a hole or creep through a cave or sing an enchanted tune.
I fear, like me, you will find your way back here, not eventually, not someday, but soon
For no warning or caution or even a rhyme can stop you from returning – to Rymadoon!

(Click for a larger image)

Exciting news. My fantasy for younger readers, Drawing a Dark Way, is now available in trade paperback. It’s been selling steadily as an ebook for a few months, but it’s great to have it available for those who haven’t made the leap to e-readers yet — or at least still have one foot firmly planted in both worlds, as I do.

Right now, you can only get the paperback at Amazon.com, but it should be available via Barnes and Noble, Powell’s, and other online retailers within a few weeks.

Read more about the book over at Rymadoon.com, my website geared for younger readers (and the young at heart, of course).

Down here teaching at the North Coast Writers Conference and I managed to squeeze in some hiking while I was here.  This is Stout Grove near Crescent City, California.

I’m pleased to announce the publication of my latest novel, a fantasy aimed at younger readers (or the young at heart) called A Tale of Two Giants.  It’s set in Rymadoon, the same world where I’ve set Drawing a Dark Way, though this one is in a different Lost Land — Mana Thune.  (I’ve deliberately set up Rymadoon so there’s lots of stories possible, some of which will be connected, others which will exist more independently.)

Right now, it’s only available as an ebook, but the paperback will follow from Flying Raven Press in a couple of months.

Here’s more about the book:

You don’t have to be tall to be a giant.

They meet on a rainy night, penniless and alone, both of them without a friend in the world. He’s a disgraced, down-on-his luck giant, short for his kind, banished forever from his tribe. He just wants to be left alone — and pity the poor person who annoys him.

She’s a stubborn human girl whose mother has been kidnapped by a evil dictator — and she’s determined to get her back. No matter how long it takes. No matter who gets in her way.

Together they take on an empire.

*****

Grade 4-9; In this intriguing fantasy about two outcasts on a remarkable journey, Carter offers up a riveting adventure that should appeal to fans of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series or Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson books. Although this book stands on its own, readers may want also want to try Carter’s first foray into his Lost Lands of Rymadoon series, Drawing a Dark Way.

Buy the ebook today:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Smashwords

If you’re a writer anywhere near Crescent City, California on September 16-17, consider attending the North Coast Redwoods Writer’s Conference.  I’ll be one of the guest speakers, and one of the things I’ll be talking about are all the amazing changes taking place in the publishing industry — and how you can take advantage of them.  (I’m going to touch on many of the same topics that Dean Wesley Smith and I talked about in our How To Be Your Own Publisher workshop — which, incidentally, we’re doing again in October.)

More information about the conference can be found here.

Me, I just wanted another excuse to visit the Redwoods, which is one of my favorite places on Earth.

It’s a little early for Halloween, but if you’re in the mood for a ghost story I’ve got a collection that might be up your alley.  Flying Raven Press has just released a collection of five stories by me — four all-new tales and one reprint — that’s available in all the major electronic formats.  The blurb from the sites, as well as links where you can purchase it, are below.

Equal parts riveting and stirring, Carter takes a staple of campfires and rainy nights – the ghost story – into surprising new territory in this collection. No gore or gratuitous splatter here – these tales are meant to raise the hairs on the back of the neck and leave the reader feeling quietly discomfited hours after reading.

On a dark night in the Virginia woods, a boy encounters a former slave protecting the Confederate sword of Robert E. Lee in the spellbinding “The Sword of Surrender.” In “All My Invisible Friends,” a grieving child psychologist who’s lost his way finds meaning again with an assist from an invisible friend. An old amusement park called “The Enchanted Grove” helps the parents of children who died tragically find closure – but maybe not for everyone. In “The Easel,” a man on an evening walk buys an old drawing easel at a garage sale and soon discovers it has a secret power. And finally, a recently divorced reporter randomly picks a town to start over with his life and happens upon a “Stone Creek Station” in the woods where no train has a right to be.

Moody. Atmospheric. Provocative. These five tales have all the makings of good ghost stories with a touch of strange thrown in for good measure.

Available Now:  Amazon | B&N | iTunes |  Smashwords

Who doesn’t like a good time travel story?  Following on the heels of last week’s mini story collection, Flying Raven Press is releasing another four-pack of short stories for your e-reader, these all centering around time travel.  But not all entirely in the way you might expect.

Here’s the official blurb that appears on the sites:

In these four riveting tales, Carter takes a classic of science fiction – the time travel story – into surprising new territory. A man finds a room where time doesn’t pass in the spellbinding “The Time Of His Life.” When a scientist becomes the first person to time travel, “The Time Traveler’s Wife” refuses to be left behind in this touching tale. A salesman on the road has a chance encounter with a girl who gives him a glimpse of his “Happy Time,” a better life that might have been. And in “Static in a Still House,” a garage sale hunter finds a baby monitor tuned into the future and makes a harrowing discovery.

Available Now:  Amazon | B&N | Smashwords

One of the beautiful things about this emerging new world of publishing is that authors can package and repackage their work in lots of different ways at very little cost, appealing to readers with different interests.  For readers who like my science fiction stories, Flying Raven Press has put out a new mini collection called The Unity Worlds at War, which includes four far future science fiction stories set in my Unity Worlds universe — three originally published in some of the leading science fiction magazines of the day plus one story called “Tarkalow Station” that’s published in this collection for the first time.  It’s available in electronic form at the bargain price of $2.99.  At nearly 30,000 words of fiction, this is the length of a short novel.

It can be purchased right now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords.

Here’s the blurb that appears on the sites:

Whether it’s the soldiers on the front line or the bartenders who serve them, war leaves no one unscathed. These four tales set in Carter’s war-ravaged Unity Worlds universe — three originally published in the leading science fiction magazines of the day, plus one story original to this collection — will leaving you thinking about war’s effects long after you finish the final words.

THE LIBERATORS

“There’s one rule in the interstellar liberation force: you never take off your helmet. Even if the atmosphere of whatever planet you are liberating from the vicious aliens does happen to breathable, there could be any number of lethal viruses or microbes. The body armor and comm equipment is first rate, and the aliens seem to be on the run. Then, one day, a soldier is forced to take off his helmet to survive. The consequences are disastrous for the liberation force, but it is no toxin, virus, or microbe that infects the military: it’s the truth . . . Carter’s warning about how military might be used in the future stands undiminished.” — The Internet Review of Science Fiction

THE BREATH OF THE GODS

Duty versus love. It’s a choice that Commander Richard Hagel, charged with overseeing a wayward planet’s entry into the Unity Worlds and everything that entails, has to make when an asteroid — and an act of terrorism — threaten to both destroy the planet and kill the woman he loves.

“”The Breath of the Gods” by Scott William Carter is another adventure tale—the protagonist is racing against the clock, since he only has a few minutes to save the woman he loves before a giant asteroid strikes the planet and destroys it.” — Tangent Online.

THE TIGER IN THE GARDEN

“The Tiger in the Garden” by Scott William Carter presents a classic duty versus honor conflict. Jose, a constable on a poor, out-of-the-way planet, is expecting a government Agent, an alien with unpleasant appearance and even worse personality. He is there to apprehend a terrorist—someone Jose knows well. The situation is complicated by the fact that the alleged terrorist is not the man he used to be, and his past crimes are irrelevant for anyone but the Agent, relentless in hunting down the members of the Resistance. Jose can either help the Agent and betray his friend, or help his friend and kiss his career good-bye.” — Tangent Online

TARKALOW OUTPOST

On a whim, a husband and wife buy a bar on a space station in a war-ravaged corner of the galaxy. When a fragile peace evaporates, their marriage is tested in ways they can never imagine — and one of them will pay the ultimate price. But in the future, can a marriage survive even death?

Buy Now:  Amazon | B&N | Smashwords

Praise for Other Works by Scott William Carter:

“Carter’s writing is on target.” – Publishers Weekly

“…compelling…good choice for reluctant readers…” – School Library Journal

“Scott William Carter makes it look easy. But if anyone thinks that writing good, intriguing fiction with a clear, plain voice is easy…Well, they should try it sometime.” – Chizine.com

SCOTT WILLIAM CARTER’s first novel, The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys, was hailed by Publishers Weekly as a “touching and impressive debut.” His short stories have appeared in dozens of popular magazines and anthologies, including Asimov’s, Analog, Ellery Queen, Realms of Fantasy, and Weird Tales. He lives in Oregon with his wife, two children, and thousands of imaginary friends.