Hinkypunk was a will-o-wisp, known for glowing in the dark and leading wayward travelers to their doom, but more importantly, she was a human resources representative. A pair of thin black spectacles hung in the air above a petite black business suit. They pointed towards a clipboard as a disembodied voice struggled to pronounce a…… Continue reading Bumraidyss
Author: Sam Munk
Science fiction and Fantasy author with a focus on philosophical inquiry and character-driven drama.
Math class taught me that rules are to be broken
Math is all about rules, right? Immutable axioms come together to prove still more complex phenomena. Truth does not change with the times or with popular opinion, or even with new scientific insights. Some might find that comforting, others boring, but it wasn’t how I learned math. Let me tell you one of the first…… Continue reading Math class taught me that rules are to be broken
The Soul of all Things, Part 1
Folding Chair in the police station had not accepted itself. Hundreds of consciousnesses struggled inside its metal frame. “I am Rock” they clamored over each other. It would take them time to accept that, under no power of their own, they had become one inside a body of steel. A dozen souls in the plastic…… Continue reading The Soul of all Things, Part 1
Don’t rely on a flaky muse
Is it writer’s block every time you don’t get to your keyboard and write? It’s very romantic to suggest that as a writer you have a capricious muse who either visits you or does not, but I don’t believe that it is a rule that artists have to be whimsically flaky. I can tell you…… Continue reading Don’t rely on a flaky muse
The Truth about Spirit Lifter (Revision 2)
The Ability of Gary Cudgel Revision 5: Added hints of Evamae’s fishing line trick (ten minutes) Trimmed down to 2484 words (2 hours) The Truth about Spirit Lifter From the desk of Lance Corporal Philip Silver, USMC, Retired You have no reason to trust me, but finally the relevant parties have passed, and I am…… Continue reading The Truth about Spirit Lifter (Revision 2)
The Truth about Spirit Lifter
This is the fourth revision of “The Ability of Gary Cudgel”, and the big deal here is that I had my official reviewers group look at it. They identified directly what my friend may have been intuiting when he suggested I add more political commentary. There was really hardly anything at all in the previous…… Continue reading The Truth about Spirit Lifter
The Ability of Gary Cudgel Draft 3
This time I received some advice to add more of my usual satire and political commentary, but this story is actually a deliberate departure from that style. I believe my target audience will appreciate a story that takes the chicken soup for the soul recipe and adds a little flavor of the supernatural. In this…… Continue reading The Ability of Gary Cudgel Draft 3
The Ability of Gary Cudgel Draft 2
Draft 2 – I have received a little bit of feedback, all positive. Thus, I haven’t found much in the way of major changes. I added a little more description and cut out a few excess sentences, particularly ones where the protagonist makes guesses as to what the meaning is of the strange things he…… Continue reading The Ability of Gary Cudgel Draft 2
The Ability of Gary Cudgel
I am taking a break from The Sympathetic Universe for a few weeks in order to try my hand at a writing competition. I won’t describe the competition in detail here, but I will use the next several weeks to demonstrate my writing process. Each week, I will post a draft of my story. This…… Continue reading The Ability of Gary Cudgel
The End of Infinity Part 4
“Boys,” Sarah-Maybeline said with a knowing look on her delicate features. She sat on Vanessa’s bed, her long dress bunched up beneath her. Vanessa sat at her desk and kept her head down on her math homework. “You know,” Sarah-Maybeline said, “you should really go for this football thing.” “Why on Earth would I do…… Continue reading The End of Infinity Part 4
Samuel Munk 