Tyler wasn’t expected so many oil derricks, the immediate surroundings a sea of metal pyramids stretching north and south. They’d been hidden behind all the counterfeit storefronts.
He wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t climbed one, sitting next to Mad …
The first chapter from Sunfall:
When the sun rose in the morning, the city was awash with green; abandoned skyscrapers transformed into farming towers; microalgae facades putting the lie to the privation that defined the lives of the fringe …
It was Tyler’s first glimpse of Old City during the day, all manner of vintage cars, from Model Ts to 1960s sport coupes, wedged between lumbering trolley cars, wires humming overhead and holes on either side of the road …
Tyler awoke again, disoriented by the daylight. Vi’s face was next to his. “Come with me,” she whispered. “Quietly.”
As Grandma Vi tiptoed to the door, Tyler turned to find Carmen, her breasts in full view. He felt embarrassed …
When Tyler awoke, he expected to find himself in his bedroom. But it was someone else’s room, a girl’s room with a floral pink bedspread, magazine photos of rock stars from the early 1960s encircling a framed photo of …
For the first time, Tyler suspected he was dead. How else could he explain seeing his dead grandmother?
She looked younger than he remembered, and couldn’t have been any older than he was; perhaps even younger. His grandmother reminded …
Rex was dwarfed by his desk, his elbows resting uncomfortably on the mahogany top.
“Now I want the truth,” he said as Tyler was ushered into the room and offered a seat.
“What do you want here?” continued Rex.…
The limousine was idling outside. Morning light reflected off the shiny surfaces. It was a vintage car, grey with black trim, but well cared for.
There was a knock at the door. It was Lula.
“The car’s here,” she …
“’Suppose you’re the King of the Tramps?” asked Lula of the man with the cigarette.
“We got no kings here. But your enemies got to know you got organization … hierarchy; that you can defend yourselves. No, there’s …
It felt like rain, but the sky couldn’t have been clearer. Tyler wiped his face. It appeared a mist was rolling in.
Lula’s unrelenting pace reminded him of Faye. Where was everyone going?
“Are we following her?” Tyler asked …
Magus and Tyler appeared at the open door. It was at the back of a darkened room, people seated at tables, their faces obscured. If there were windows, they couldn’t be seen.
From all appearances, it looked like a …
“Where do you live?” asked Tyler, his back to a hedge, his legs crossed so as not to impede any foot traffic. He still expected someone to tell him to move along. He was clean-cut and neatly attired, yet …
Although Laurel never requested it of him, Tyler decided it might be a good idea to surrender his meds. He later changed his mind, concluding there was no harm to them, before changing his mind yet again, deciding he …
“You’re not the first guy walking up these steps looking for someone,” said Dr. Harrington, seated on the sofa since Tyler asked to sit in the armchair. It was his subtle attempt at role reversal, to put people …
It was the first time Tyler saw the man, sprawled inelegantly on the sidewalk. And yet, the man seemed familiar.
The man’s face was in shadow, a soiled Dodger’s cap angled low, but the direction of his gaze was …
Tyler wasn’t expecting a call from his mother, Lillian. It had been two years since she’d called him. She always preferred her privacy.
“Tyler?” she asked.
“Mom?”
“It is you. And you’re fine?”
He couldn’t remember her being so …
And so it begins …
“No one gives a shit,” said Tyler Hackett. It wasn’t a sentiment he chose to share very often, but he forgot how easy it was to inadvertently verbalize his interior monologue; although, given the …
The setting of Ozymandias … an alternative Los Angeles, as it might exist in the collective imagination. Here’s an old map of Los Angeles.
More old Los Angeles maps:
http://www.pinterest.com/baronbrady/los-angeles-maps/
…
What’s reality? It’s what most people say it is. But what if most people are wrong?
In the coming months, I plan to begin an entirely new story entitled Ozymandias about how our world cohabits with all that’s been forgotten, …
Welcome to Baron’s Books. This blog will feature discussions on the topic of writing and how to market one’s work, in addition to samples of my writings.…
