Out of the Light

by Douglas Smith

  A brightness grew ahead. A few seconds later, she stepped into a clearing lit in cold luminescence by the half moon above and enclosed by high rock walls ahead and to her left. To her right, the clearing gave way to the pines again, the level ground sloping away sharply. She walked to the top of the slope, looking for a way down. Her heart fell.

  Halfway down, the pines thinned and then disappeared completely where the forest had been cleared near the bottom. The slope ended at the road leading onto the top of the dam. Beyond the dam, the black surface of the lake rippled like some great beast shuddering itself awake in the night.

  She’d run the wrong way, back toward the dam.

  With a sudden sick feeling, she realized what she should have figured out earlier. The dogs would have followed a scent. They hadn’t followed her, so they must have been on Jimmy’s trail, which meant Jimmy had taken another path, not the one that had led her here.

  She’d taken the wrong path.

  She looked around the clearing, searching for some alternative to retracing her steps. The slope below led right back to the dam and the scene of the crime, so that route was out. The dark lake caught her attention again, recalling childhood memories of her grandfather’s stories, the ones about the evil spirits that lived in deep water.

  She turned her back on the lake and those memories. Enough. Time to go home. She considered the rock walls rising above her. The one facing the entrance to the path was almost sheer and rose too high for her even to think of trying to scale it. The wall facing the lake was less steep and offered some handholds for climbing.

  It looked about twenty feet high. She examined its face for the best route, finally selecting a path that would bring her up beside a large boulder perched by itself at the top of the wall.

  Or maybe it was a bush, since she saw something move on it, like branches shifting in the wind. Just then, a cloud scuttled across the night sky, swallowing the moon. As the clearing fell dark, she shivered at a sudden strange thought—that the shape had resembled something crouched there, and what she’d seen moving were actually long locks of hair.

  Another gust brought a smell down to her, thick and heavy—the smell of mushrooms and rotting wood and wet moss. Bitter, and yet, at the same time, so sickly sweet she thought she would retch.

  The cloud hiding the moon moved on. Pale moonlight shone down again, cold and cruel, and Mary finally saw what crouched above her, waiting.

  …

  [end of excerpt]

  ~~~

  For more information on The Wolf at the End of the World, including full buying links for all major retailers, go to http://www.smithwriter.com/the_wolf_at_the_end_of_the_world.

  Playing the Short Game: How to Market & Sell Short Fiction

  “We short story writers have needed a book like this for decades. … It’s spectacular.”

  —Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Award-winning author and editor

  Take your first step to becoming a professional short fiction writer—Buy this book!

  In an engaging and conversational style, award-winning author Douglas Smith teaches you how to market and sell short stories—and much, much more.

  Even experienced writers will find value here as Smith takes you from your first sale to using your stories to build a writing career.

  Contents

  The Fundamentals: The different types of writers. The benefits of short fiction. Rights and licensing.

  Selling Your Stories: Knowing when it’s ready. Choosing markets. Submitting stories. Avoiding mistakes. How editors select stories. Dealing with rejections. When to give up on a story.

  After a Sale: Contracts. Working with editors. What your first sale means. Dealing with reviews.

  A Writer’s Magic Bakery: Selling reprints. Foreign markets. Audio markets. Selling a collection. The indie option.

  Becoming Established: Leveraging your stories. Discoverability and promotion. Career progression in short fiction.

  With an introduction by multi-award winning writer and editor, Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

  ~~~

  Find out more information on the book, including full buying links, at http://www.smithwriter.com/playing_the_short_game.