Retropunk Stories

America lost the Sky War. Germany rules the world and the sky above. Can one U.S ship make it out of orbit and chart a new course for the future, or will it plummet as an an asteroid in ruin?

Cora Marshall has no regrets over abandoning her old life as a socialite for a career in detective work, especially since her partner is the dashing werewolf Sam Hayes. She brings the connections, he brings the brawn, and by honing both with their intelligence, they've impressed even the most cynical minds of Crescent City's elite circles. Yet they're about to be given an unusual challenge: to prevent a murder before it takes place. Phineas Clayborne, one of the richest men in the city, is convinced he'll be murdered at his very own wedding, and he's further convinced that only Cora and Sam are clever enough to find the potential killer before he carries out his bloody deed. Tasked with posing as wedding guests, they must navigate through cunning magic, dark motives, and a list of suspects both human and inhuman. It won't be easy; everyone has secrets to hide, especially the bride and groom themselves...

Railroad City, Missouri is a place like no other. Bordered by four bustling rail companies and a foreboding forest to its west, it became a hub for traffic, immigration, commerce, and cattle. But in 1877, a silent blue explosion by the infamous element NEGATRITE mutated ten percent of all its living things. Now, the Rail is a living fable, a Wild West Wonderland enveloped within the labors and nightmares of the human condition. This is steampunk, intertwined with the classic powers and vivid imaginings of the comic book superhero genre. It is Wild, Wild West with an Uncanny X-Men flavor. Every chapter will present a different short story of steampunk daring, introducing characters from my novels and new ones seen here for the first time. This is your ticket. Step off the platform. Take a seat. The train is leaving the station...

They rode into Railroad City, Missouri with money in their pockets, and vengeance on their minds. But the Rail is unlike any place on earth. The cowboys were about to find out the hard way.

1920. The Sky War is over and Germany is victorious. But success has its price. Berlin is now a metropolis of merriment, vice...and danger. Enter Hauer, Freikorps officer, hunter, law enforcer. Hauer is tasked with hunting down illicit, lethal black market items in the city he knows and loves. But though the war is over and the night lights gleam bright, the shadows have grown ever longer. This is a tale of decopunk in the Legacy Universe, of a Berlin that never was, and always has been...

After a robotic plumber leaves a tool behind at her home, Tullia sets out to return it and stumbles on a dark secret.

Tristan of Steelbend arrives in the famous city of Hosanna with nothing but his beloved harp and a pocket full of dreams. In this beautiful Kingdom By The Sea, mysterious angelic beings known as the Seraphim rule and protect mankind from the insidious Devils. Tristan hopes for fame and freedom in his glorious new home. Secrets unravel the further he's drawn into the echelons of power within the city, and the price he must pay may prove too great a sacrifice. This decopunk re-telling of Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem 'Annabel Lee' was inspired by vintage science fiction, cyberpunk, and noir. The original story appeared in "Merely This And Nothing More", a collection of 'punked Poe' stories published by Writerpunk Press. The version published here is an expanded story containing previously unreleased scenes.

"Solswept" is an upcoming atompunk series, co-authored with my husband, Max Gonzalez. Set in the retro-future universe of the "Family Of Earth" series (three decades after the climactic hijacking of the infamous Ruby lift in "Ruby Descent"), this saga follows the adventures of a rebellious group of teens from Mars who do things their own way, no matter what. From their wild youth of drag races and dares, they grow wiser and bolder and ultimately help to pioneer humanity's first interstellar voyages. These kids face an exciting but uncertain future in the face of corporate corruption. In spite of it all, the spirit of rock n' roll never dies, and it will guide them through the challenges ahead. This book contains various short stories set in the world of the upcoming series. Here we'll intro the characters and the often precarious lives they lead. The Skyfall Strip: Avee Lyn An adventurous girl challenges an overconfident rival to a drag race. Classic hot-rod style. The rock n' roll culture on Mars is well-known for its love of thrills. To a bunch of bored teens out in the dust, roaring engines and dares are a way of life. The Meaning Is The Feeling: Su and the Dust Bunnies Here we meet the Dust Bunnies, a tough all-girl hoverbike gang from Mars. Take a ride with these carefree gals and their robotic companion, Vex. They must defend their Say against the corruption of a terraforming tycoon, Mr. Ronald Frump.

The War has ravaged Earth for two generations. Young Walter Marlow and his family struggle to survive, in a world of desperation and death. When Walter and his loved ones are captured by the enemy, everything turns upside down. Loyalty, friendship, and faith are tried to the utmost, and he will come to discover what is truly valuable, amid the turmoil of revolution, and the birth of a new society. Diesel robots, water raids, sadistic Pruessian officers, fanatical boxing, and mysterious cats abound.This short story is a prelude and introduction to the retrofuture universe upcoming in my decopunk novel, "Ruby Descent". Note: This story contains violence and dark situations, in an apocalyptic setting.

"We don't hand out vices. We hand out an escape from pain." -Silas MaCallister, drug kingpin In Hellhole, the sordid city situated into the volcanic basin of the Moloch Caldera, drug bootlegging reigns supreme. A red demon, Asher Glassberg, witnesses the murder of his parents in a gruesome in-home shooting, He finds himself caught up in Hellhole's seedy drug underbelly seeking retribution for his parent's murder. More drug related murders soon follow in Hellhole and black demon Milton Romero, a freshly hired drug mule, stumbles across a deadly strain. The witty Tengu detective, Renshu Karasu, looks into the murders with his keen eye for detail and hunger for solving puzzles. Will this new drug strain bring Hellhole to its knees? Find out in this gritty art deco Prohibition era noir of the demonic kind. The full novel available now on Amazon!

"Perfect World Somewhere" is now a Featured Sci Fi novel! Thank you to the Wattpad team and all of you fantastic readers and friends who have made my millennium ;) I hope this story inspires and uplifts others as much as it has me. *** Lily Fairpoole is a girl of many talents. Gifted with a brilliant mind and a beautiful singing voice, she excels at an early age, working as her father's apprentice in their robotic maintenance shop. Her loving family and complacent life in the rural town of Plumgrove are sheltered from the outside world, though the War with the Pruessian Empire has raged across Earth for two generations. Even the most peaceful havens fall on Black Sky Day, as the robotic armies of the Kaezer devastate the homeworld. Faced with overwhelming destruction, Lily and her loved ones begin a journey driven by sacrifice, and the will to remain free. Lily's struggle takes her to the strongholds of the resistance, the dreaded ration camps of the enemy, the glittering and powerful off-world colonies, and finally to the Ruby lift--the swanky and yet often chaotic space elevator operated by the Royal Crown Orbital Plaza and Resort. Chromed and streamlined rocketships, heroic robots, brave revolutionaries, flappers, and plenty of jazz! A blend of early twentieth century eras and possible futures, as well as a coming-of-age story, this is the first complete novel in my retrofuturistic "Family of Earth" series. This novel is in revision status, so please feel free to comment and leave any feedback. Note: This story contains violence and dark situations, in an apocalyptic setting.

Far away, World War Two ravages Europe and the Pacific. In Southern New Jersey, a more sinister war is unfolding. A crew running on empty. A secret weapon. An enemy beyond description. Welcome to Down Jersey. Cows are resting. Harvest has ended. Death is in the air...

War. War never changes. More than two hundred years after the end of the world and Jacob Burns knows this better than anyone. Once a decorated Knight of the Brotherhood, he now lives in disgrace among the scavengers of Goodneighbor. Ever since the Brotherhood had fallen, he'd been a wanted man. Wanted by Diamond City, by the Minutemen, and most of all... by his own kin who called him traitor. But Jacob's luck is about to turn when he unearths a young woman named Ilya Astor, frozen in time since before the Great War. He discovers her father was a high ranking scientist who had worked on a top secret project known as "Project Omega", said to be humanity's last great hope. But they are not the only ones searching for this great treasure. A shadow hangs over the Commonwealth as an ancient and mysterious society known only as the "Order of the Algorithm" returns. Jacob and Ilya must follow the clues left by her father and uncover the truth behind Project Omega before the insidious Order destroys all that is left in this world.

In Victorian Railroad City, speed is king, powers reign and steam forges a new future. But with all this rapid change, what about love? Can love endure in a mutated metropolis?