Trails: Short Paths into Bigger Worlds
You followed the breadcrumbs and they have led you here.
Welcome to Trails! A series of standalone short fiction offering glimpses into bigger stories in progress.
Each story is self-contained, with no backstory to catch up on and no required reading before you dive in. Think of them as vignettes: small moments plucked from bigger worlds still waiting for their turn in the sun. The series spans multiple fantasy subgenres—epic, romance, dark, urban, contemporary, etc.—so whether you gravitate toward one or want to dabble somewhere new, there's something here for you. (Look at that, I rhymed. A real poet, I am).
Many of these stories were written for contests, then refined and workshopped before finding a home here. What started as a creative outlet between larger projects became something I didn't expect:.
Trails, Volume 1 is on Substack. You can read and subscribe here.
Volume 1: Kindling
1. The Siren Shack
Contemporary Coastal Fantasy. Trapped in a hurricane-isolated Gulf town with no way out, a young man pulls a siren from a fishing net and strikes a bargain that might get them both home.
2. A Door, A Kiss, A Stone
Epic/High Romantic Fantasy. A king's mage and her knight are twenty years and one last quest away from the life they never let themselves want, until a door that feeds on grief forces a question neither of them has been brave enough to ask.
3. All The Time in Her World
Contemporary Romantic Fantasy. Watching her wife slip further away each day, a woman makes a deal with the God of Time that gives her dying wife back to the world—and six minutes to say goodbye.
4. The Will of the Huntress
Dark Romantic Fantasy. A monster hunter tracking the beast responsible for a trail of destruction sneaks away from her squad to confront him alone. Because the beast used to be the man she loved. Part 1 of a connected 3-part series, The Huntress & The Beast.
5. The Remains of the Squad
Gothic Fantasy. With a village to defend and only five soldiers left, a captain and her squad take their positions on the wall and wait for the beast to come. Part 2 of The Huntress & The Beast.
6. The Heart of the Beast
Gothic Fantasy. The village is burning and her squad fracturing around her. The captain faces the beast one final time—and every choice she has deferred until now. Part 3 of The Huntress & The Beast.