Smith's Monthly #9 Read online

  “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.

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  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