“So what were you thinking about?”
“Honestly,” she said, “about what we are going to build and about how much I love you.”
“I really like both of those thoughts,” he said, hugging her even tighter against him. “You know, we’ve never really talked about that we are committing ourselves to each other for a very long time.”
“Does that bother you?” she asked.
He laughed softly. “It actually is one of the things I love about doing all this. I’m going to get to do this for a very, very long time with you.”
She kissed him on the chest and said, “I like that thought as well.”
“How about you?” he asked. “Are you bothered by us being together for such a long time?”
“I’m worried about one thing,” she said, snuggling down against him.
“And what’s that?” he asked.
“I’m worried that a very, very long time won’t be long enough.”
“Then we’ll make it even longer,” he said, squeezing her. “I promise.”
“I promise as well,” she said.
And with that she kissed his skin one more time and snuggled down close and went to sleep with the man she loved and planned to love for even more than an eternity.
SO YOU WANT TO BE A WRITER
It has been almost eight months
since my fresh resolution to a new year
broke with a snap that no one heard
and I didn’t notice.
Somehow, I filled those eight months
with getting ready to start the resolution, again
hoping it hadn’t aged like fruit
in the sun.
Now, tonight, I ignore the ripe smell,
the stench of fear,
and the drips of sweat
that make my fingers slide off the keys.
Two weeks on, eight months off.
Tonight I restart the resolution to write,
grinding my creative engine
like a car that needs a complete tune-up.
The engine sputters, the tires need air,
everything smells of mold and burnt oil,
yet there is a jerk forward, a few words, this poem.
I call it progress.
I hold my breath and work to keep typing,
waiting for the impulse to choke and die,
since there never seems to be enough time,
even with a good resolution.
If you enjoyed this volume of Smith’s Monthly, don’t miss the next: Subscribe today!
Subscriptions are available in electronic or trade paper formats and begin with the very next issue.
Find out more at www.SmithsMonthly.com.
Missed a volume? No problem. Buy individual volumes anytime at your favorite bookseller.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith published more than a hundred novels in thirty years and hundreds of short stories across many genres.
He wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, they wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.
He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown.
He now writes his own original fiction under just the one name, Dean Wesley Smith. In addition to his upcoming novel releases, his monthly magazine called Smith’s Monthly premiered October 1, 2013, filled entirely with his original novels and stories.
Dean also worked as an editor and publisher, first at Pulphouse Publishing, then for VB Tech Journal, then for Pocket Books. He now plays a role as an executive editor for the original anthology series Fiction River.
For more information go to www.deanwesleysmith.com, www.smithsmonthly.com or www.fictionriver.com.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: Science Fiction and Space Issue
Music in Time
One
Two
Three
Four
Memory
The Tragic Tale of a Man in a Duster
One
Two
Three
Four
The Life and Times of Buffalo Jimmy
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Dreams of a Moon: An Earth Protection League Story
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
The Adventures of Hawk
What came before…
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
As the Robot Rubs
Morning Song: A Seeders Universe Novel
Section One: Impossible Mission
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Section Two: The Past Controls
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Section Three: An Understanding of Power
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
Section Four: The Mission Change
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-nine
Forty
Forty-one
Forty-two
Section Five: The Future
Forty-three
Forty-four
Forty-five
So You Want to be a Writer
Smith's Monthly
About the Author
Copyright Information
Smith's Monthly #9 Page 23