J C Bruce

The Alvarium Experiment authors are back with ten more amusing science fiction and fantasy tales. Or should we say "tails" as these stories feature some truly amazing pets created by some really wild imaginations. Parker Francis brings us a more than capable chimp in "Monkey Business". Bria Burton channels an out-of-control AI avatar who has lions and tigers and bears, oh my, in "Cricket the Wicked and Her Little Pets, Too". In "Versipellis Nemora", Scott Michael Powers's exasperated caretaker has his hands full with an unusual pack of wolves. Long-lived and laser-packing hamsters may, or may not, save the day in John Hope's and Kristin Durfee's touching stories, "Laser Hamsters Strike Back" and "Meet Cute". A dwarf guinea pig finds itself on a planet that may or may not be Earth in Greg Stanina's fairytale twist, "In the Land of Pigs, the Butcher is King". J.C. Bruce's Bluetick Hound hires OTs instead of personal assistants. Yep, you'll have to read "Scribbles from Space" to find out what that means Elle Andrews Patt's "Linked" has a German Shepherd and gorilla going AWOL for ice cream. A canine deity with a kitten for a companion suffers through a Zodiac social on the high seas in Jade Kerrion's "A Tail of Two Deities". And Lord Byron tangles with a very strange cat in Ken Pelham's "Mary Shelley's Nasty Cat". From the surreal to the ridiculous, and every star-date in-between, these authors honor the great speculative fiction humorists such as Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett in this collection of ten wild and weird tales sure to once again put a smile on your face.

Alexander Strange, America's only full-time weird-news reporter, is on the trail of the elusive Florida vigilante known as Mister Manners.Mister Manners has been on a rampage, gluing grocery carts to car roofs, hiding pythons in tourists' beds, and now the cops believe he dumped a load of horse manure on a naked mob bagman.He's become a social media phenomenon, a kind of modern Robin Hood, striking out against stupidity and rudeness.Who is this guy? Alexander Strange is determined to score the first interview with him. But first he must dodge a hired gun, a crazed narc who think's he's Hunter S. Thompson reincarnated, the Queen of Murder and Mayhem, and a deadly toad--all during a raging pandemic.And Mister Manners, himself, could be tricky to deal with--he's a trained killer, after all.

Alexander Strange, America's only full-time weird-news reporter, is on the trail of the elusive Florida vigilante known as Mister Manners.Mister Manners has been on a rampage, gluing grocery carts to car roofs, hiding pythons in tourists' beds, and now the cops believe he dumped a load of horse manure on a naked mob bagman.He's become a social media phenomenon, a kind of modern Robin Hood, striking out against stupidity and rudeness.Who is this guy? Alexander Strange is determined to score the first interview with him. But first he must dodge a hired gun, a crazed narc who think's he's Hunter S. Thompson reincarnated, the Queen of Murder and Mayhem, and a deadly toad--all during a raging pandemic.And Mister Manners, himself, could be tricky to deal with--he's a trained killer, after all.

Phoenix newspaper columnist Alexander Strange enjoys his job writing about news of the weird, but his own life becomes bizarre when shots riddle his uncle's Scottsdale, Arizona home.Who would want Superior Court Judge Leonard D. Strano dead? And why? Strange has twenty-four hours to find the answers or he'll have a death on his hands. Maybe his own.To solve the mystery, he must cobble together an unlikely alliance of newspaper and television reporters, a sketchy bailiff, and a retired madam--all the while dodging the intrusive eyes of a pair of dubious FBI agents, packs of wild dogs, a freeway shooter, and an uncontrolled forest fie.And how in the world did he end up in those high heels?

Weird news columnist Alexander Strange's day began when someone poisoned his fried okra. Bad enough, but, worse, it was meant for his dog, Fred. Now he's being framed for the hanging death of a colleague. Who's behind this and why is he in their sights?When the going gets weird, Strange gets going. He starts by corralling some allies--a retired urinal mat salesman turned private eye and a gorgeous public defender who wants him to abandon his "catch and release" love life. She also wants him to get rid of his shippmate, Mona, the mannequin.This unlikely crew must get to the bottom of who is behind the mayhem or they, too, may find themselves at the end of a rope. Along the way, they journey to the hottest new tourist attraction in Florida, a religious theme park where dinosaurs are vegetarians, and yacht with a Jell-O filled swimming pool where the Boogie Barbies are scheduled to perform. And they must dodge Stalin's Hangmen, Miami-based thugs for hire, who want Strange dead.And what's with the chicken feathers?