J R Kruze

A Second Collection of the Dark Humor Satire of R. L. SaundersLife in our dystopian near-futures has never been funnier. Sauders gets inspiration from our daily news, and these stories are therapy for us as well. Skewering what is accepted as conventional wisdom, Saunders explores concepts which are more easily delivered with entertainment than op-eds or tweet-storms.Always taking the "what if" of current controversies to their slippery-slope results, Saunders reminds us constantly to not take the world around us seriously.This anthology contains: Smart Home Revenge by R. L. Saunders and S. H. MarpelFor the Love of 'Cagga by C. C. Brower & R. L. SaundersSynco (TM) by J. R. Kruze & R. L. SaundersThe Lonely Witness by R. L. SaundersBeltway Gremlin by R. L. SaundersExcerpt from "Smart Home Revenge" "What do you mean we can't get back in to my own house? What about cutting the power?""I can't get the power company to send any more people here. They keep getting shocked even before they touch the disconnect.""At their own pole? ?""Yes. Their own power pole is shocking them.""What about cutting off the whole block?""Not that simple. There are a lot of lawyers who live in this neighborhood of yours and they already know about your haunted 'smart home'. They've let us know that it will be costly if we try. Besides, the next closest substation takes out dozens of blocks around here. We aren't going to turn everyone off just because you lost the password to your own smart home.""It's not the password, I tell you..." The owner was fuming by now, fists clenched. "Oh, just never mind." Then the smartphone was pocketed.The windows on the house pulsed red and green. And no, they didn't leave their Christmas decorations up.The last technician who was willing to come out and have a look at their house said that it reminded him of breathing. And after we fired him, no other company would agree to take it on - but would schedule us their "next possible opening" - some months from now.The owner, his wife, and two kids were just standing on their sidewalk. With their pets on leashes. Even their cars were locked inside the garage. All they had been able to take with them were their smartphones, a game controller, and a tablet. But accessing their smart home control panel only gave them a PAC-man-era pixelated sad face.Worse than sad - angry.Calls to the company who made the programs and installed them went unanswered, or were refused. And after that, their phone went dead. All like some horrible prank-turned-harassment.At last, one of the neighbor's wives came over and called a cab for the family on her own phone. The cab arrived, the family left. And the on-looking neighbors went back inside - or got in their own cars to leave and stay elsewhere until that spooky house was resolved. Or at least knew their house wasn't going to be next.It was close to sunset now. And while all the houses had power, the streetlights on that street and the others near them failed to come on.Police sent patrol cars to manage traffic in those streets, but wouldn't come down to that vacant house.The one that breathed red and green - and looked far more ominous in the dark...Scroll Up and Get Your Copy Now

If laughter is the best medicine, then reading humorous short stories should be the best practice to maintain your health.These three authors with their six stories have written stories that both poke fun at the sacrosanct and also skewer them for dissection as both pompous and ripe.From the ranks of Voltaire, Twain, and Vonnegut, these new voices have something to say about how our current culture and what they consider serious. You may find yourself irritated, incensed, or having a laugh outloud moment as you read along into the imaginative worlds these authors create.You may find yourself expecting to see someone just waiting in the shadows for you to get the punchline - expect that author's spirit as you read their works. PS. You have their permission to roll on the floor with delight, in private, of course...A Short Story Anthology Containing: - Cats Typing Romance by R. L. Saunders- Voices by J. R. Kruze- Rise & Fall of President Frump by R. L. Saunders- Keyboard in the Sky by R. L. Saunders- The Autists by J. R. Kruze- Becoming Michelle by R. L. Saunders & C. C. Brower- plus bonus: four more short stories...Scroll Up and Get Your Copy Now.

An unforseen bi-product of terrorists bombing a children's hospital, the Lazurai could kill a person without touching them. The government made it worse by their experiments. All the children wanted was to feel love like any child. When they grew older, their powers increased. And they found they couldn't be stopped. By anything. Then they escaped Chuck hears a rumor of one coming his way, to his remote way station on the highway. But he can't leave his wife, who's dying. So he waits. And sees the hooded Lazurai walking the long miles on a hot desert day toward him. All he can do is wait. What he doesn't know is that this one is different from all the rumors. And his life is going to change forever... These collected tales explore the universe of the Lazarai, their own growth as a super-species of human, and their unique outlook on life and living. Get Your Copy Now.

Have you ever thought some very dangeous thoughts? Ones that could destroy all life as you knew it? In these six stories by three authors, they do just that. Of course, fiction is safer than real life, so it's much easier to test things here. ...Or so we've been told. In these stories are ideas that will captivate, and excite you to new thoughts and ideas of your own. Because the universe we live in is just a hair's-breadth away from the fictional ones we create. If history is any judge, these authors may be writing are things that will be in our own present any time now. Of course, that's only if you think their thoughts through... Get Your Copy Now.

Writers don't often write about their own worlds - but when they do, expect them to be every bit as imaginative as their other fiction. We've found a common theme in these six short stories. Where these new authors, not only explore their own thoughts, ideas, and angst through their own fiction, but also take apart their own ideas about how writers write. Here you'll see writer's block, the solitary writer's romances, the revenge of stalking stories, being transported by another writer into one of their worlds, and even examining the idea of your pet cat being responsible for a writer's output - or lack of it. Nothing is sacred to these authors as they turn their fiction microscope on themselves and their own profession. Get Your Copy Today.

I was sent here to keep me safe. From horrors I wasn't supposed to know about. But they didn't understand the first thing about arriving in a female body with raging hormones and a genius beyond understanding of myself and anyone around us. Of course, they wiped my memory. That didn't mean I couldn't figure out that I didn't belong. Then I met someone that I could almost trust. Not to give me away. Because if anyone really found out who I was - including me - then the universe would literally collapse on itself. Seriously. Not just another teen-angst romance. This was deadly serious. Deadly for everyone, including me. And somehow, he seemed to actually care... Get Your Copy Now.

I died every night. And learned to live forever. Dreams were important, because those told you your past lives. And like the old guy said somewhere, if you didn't learn from your past, you were just condemned to repeat it. I wanted to live each day to my fullest. Because I knew it was over when I closed my eyes to sleep. Each day, I had to learn everything all over again. Because I wanted to make each day last, to do something with my life, to have some satisfaction. To find love became my final goal. Somehow, it's escaped me most of my life. When she finally found me, we both were now writers. Before long, there was something else between us, a romantic mystery that had to be solved. Together, our combined genius might be able to solve it. Maybe. Is it true that ""To deeply love is to laugh at death.""? Get Your Copy Now.

An Epic Road Trip and Fantastical Semi-Memoir Living life is nothing that any moron or better couldn't accomplish, even without setting one's mind to it. The trick is to do something with that life. Or live several at once, so that one could at least be a success in one of them. Herbert, having endured his mid-life crisis with all the aplomb possibly available to him, now was set on making a new life for himself. This is his book. Such a book has parallels with our own. That is life for you - it sneaks up on you and drops some odd segue or link into some other person's scene and then just nips away, as if it was mainlining pixie dust or some super-quantum Dune drug. Blue eyes and all. You see, Herbert does live more than one life at once. Shackled to the mundane world of the Midwest warehouse laborer, he yet lives in worlds of extreme science, wild fantasy environments and incredibly sensuous surroundings... Get Your Copy Now.

(Short read - 30 minutes - 21 pages) Her closest friends didn't know she was dead. Until they saw the full page ad in the paper advertising her funeral. They mystery was in how she died. No corpse, just an urn filled with ashes that was distributed over the harbor without any witnesses. Shown by a slick video played at her funeral. No motive. Just a disappearance. The coroner's report from an upstate, rural county stated natural causes. For a young 20-something advertising executive. But there were no details left unaccounted for. Funeral arrangements paid for inadvance. Even the police chief said it was a closed case. That didn't stop Detective Johnson from being curious. He stopped in to see her partner to answer his many questions. On his own time. The day after the funeral. Get Your Copy Now. - - - - J. R. Kruze is an upcoming author in the Urban and Fantasy genres. More short stories coming every month. Make sure you don't miss them...

What You Don't Remember Can Get You Killed. He looked into her eyes - and forgot everything about himself. He'd done something that night, but couldn't remember. And she had left him like that. Until she returned as a Homeland Security agent to save him from two cops who wanted him for questioning. Now on the run, in disguise, his memory wasn't returning very fast. Josh depended on this mysterious Rosa to get and keep him out of harm's way as they travelled out of L.A. and into remote backroads of Southern California. There's something about her Josh doesn't understand, or just doesn't remember. Yet. A paranormal action-mystery with empaths, government agencies, and psi-powers. To solve their situation, Josh will have to recover his lost memories. The secret is in her eyes... - - - - From a breakthrough new author, J. R. Kruze, this short fiction explores the lives of psychic empaths working for government agencies... Get Your Copy Now.

Carol and Reggie were different. They thought different.Reggie could talk "the ears off a corn stalk." He was an expert on history, like a walking Wikipedia on ancient times (if people could stand to listen to him.)Carol hardly talked, but her hugs could tell you the world. She could solve quintic polynomial equations. And a 4x4 Rubic's cube with one hand.They were autists. "Special needs" people. Savants, kind of.They were perfect for each other. Or maybe not. So different.Between them, they understood the universe.It was no small surprise that they were part of the next stage in human evolution. The one that's already here. Of course they knew it. But most of humanity didn't... Excerpt: Reggie could talk until tomorrow came. Gawd that guy liked to talk.When he couldn't talk, he'd write.Me, I liked to hug.And children. I love children.And what most people think are "difficult" math problems.They just don't try to understand what that equation wants. How it smells right when it's accomplished what it wants.So they use math to solve really dumb things like how a rocket jerks in flight. Instead of looking for things that want to fly, they have to build something truly inefficient that makes a big sound and blows up with a louder one. Because they don't feel when it's right.I moved into Reggie's apartment after we danced that one time. His room mate swapped apartments with me, since I lived near a bunch of other girls and he was tired of listening to Reggie. (But I don't think so, it's probably that he'd rather listen to girls giggle while they co-flirted.) Is "co-flirted" a word? Too bad if it's not. Bag and Cat are now disjointed from mutual proxmity.]So I'd come back in from work to find Reggie tapping out yet another over-long essay on his computer.I'd hug him and he'd pause. And his heartbeat would slow to match mine.Then I'd let him go and move into the kitchenette to make a couple of sandwiches for us. I knew he probably hadn't eaten. Or he would eat a sandwich I made just to make me happy.And he would finish up whatever he was blogging about. I'd have the sandwiches on a plate and a big mug of sweet tea or something cold (or hot, depending on the season) with two straws. Then I'd come out of the kitchen and bring them all out into the great room. (Why people call it a "living" room is non-sequitur. Living is an action. But they sit and watch do-less TV in it, which is couch-potato logic.)Our big screen was set to a live feed from one of Cal-Tech's telescopes. (No commercials. No fake news.)We'd sit and cuddle the night away watching stars without having to be uncomfortable outside.Sometimes we'd have sex or make love.Felt good either way... Anthology containing: The Autists by J. R. KruzeIdylls of a Lazurai by S. H. Marpel, J. R. KruzeThe Autists: Jenna by J. R. Kruze, S. H. MarpelThe Autists: Brigitte by J. R. KruzeMind Timing by R. L. Saunders, C. C. BrowerThe Girl Who Saved Tomorrow by J. R. KruzeNaN by J. R. Kruze Scroll Up and Get Your Copy Now.

2020 was a year none of us will soon forget, but we'd rather...At least we have some decent fiction - fantasies and mysteries in exotic surroundings as well as the ordinary.Our latest anthology of this year's works has all of these in a single volume. And we collect the last of this election year's artistic output into this single volume.Of course, we also have a little satire, with a president making his appearance in two of our stories. And while his opponent didn't appear, the riots did. Even our authors are not immune to being inspired by the reported events, though I can assure you none of them were ever in personal danger from these or that pesky virus which only spread worse the more you tried to lock it down...And that sounds like some editor should put a bug in one of their ears with a new idea for a story.For now, I'll leave you to this marvelous collection of these New Voices stories.Excerpt: THE SMALL TWIN-ENGINE plane rocked in the sudden thunder storm, lightning flashed outside. Cabin lights flickered on and off. Along with the sky flashes exposing the passenger's drawn faces to alternate pitch black and brilliant white.Besides the pilot and the stewardess, the only occupants in the rocking craft were a man, his very pregnant wife, and an attending doctor.In the midst of the thunder and whining engines, A cry rang out, then another.Two young children entered this world inside that small airplane.In the next minute, that craft pitched forward, pushing all the occupants against their seats. The husband and wife each holding tight onto one child each, while the doctor grasped his black medical bag to his chest with one hand, and the arm of his chair with the other - both hands white from a straining grip.Seconds turned into eternity as the plane plummeted through the flashing clouds.In the cockpit, the pilot was furiously working to level out the plane at least into a gliding pattern. All by brute force of his straining arms, legs, and back. At his side, strapped into the co-pilot seat, the stewardess was working through the re-start sequence to get the engines powered again, to get the hydraulics and electrical working once more.With her practiced moves, any observer could see they had been through similar scenes before. Their quick, sure actions coming from repetitive training and sheer muscle-memory - despite the steep angle of descent and the continual rocking that shook the craft.At last, the engines caught again, and lights flickered back on in the cabin. Thrusting the throttle full forward, the young woman in the co-pilot seat then helped the straining pilot pull back on the shared yoke of that plane, using the controls on her half of the small cockpit.They got their too-rapid descent back under control only a few thousand feet above the storm-whipped waves. There the clouds left them as a retreating ceiling, and they were now below the cloud-to-cloud lightning. As the pilot pulled the throttle back to a more normal speed for the new conditions, the stewardess patted his shoulder. "I'd give you a kiss, lover, but I need to check on our guests."Anthology containing: The Autists: Jenna by J. R. Kruze, S. H. MarpelIdylls of a Lazurai by S. H. Marpel, J. R. KruzeRiot Wall by S. H. Marpel, R. L. SaundersThe Eye In Team by J. R. Kruze, S. H. MarpelThe Case of the Tenacious Typist by S. H. Marpel, J. R. KruzeThe Girl Who Believed Tomorrow by J. R. KruzeThe Projector by S. H. Marpel, R. L. SaundersThe Panic of 2020 by S. H. Marpel, R. L. SaundersDoppel by S. H. Marpel, R. L. SaundersScroll Up and Get Your Copy Now.

"Something's not right here," I stated the obvious."Looks like a trap," Sal returned.Bernie heard it first and ran toward John.That courageous dog knocked John down just as the incoming explosion hit.Sal got her shield up and I returned fire, giving them what they gave.Then it got quiet, too quiet.I turned around. Sal had tears coming down her face, and she didn't dare to let go of her shield. Bernie and John were both down, twisted on the ground and blood showed on both Bernie's fur coat and John's jacket. Who's blood, I couldn't tell from here.Only a split-second look. Because more incoming explosives filled the air around that dome."Jude?""Yes, Sal?""I've got to get these two out of here.""Go ahead. I'll be with you shortly."I felt them phase out.And then I let my anger out for real.This anthology contains: - When Death Died by S. H. Marpel- When Death Lives Twice by S. H. Marpel- The Case of the Time Bent Beau by S. H. Marpel- The Case of the Walkaway Diner Redoux by J. R. Kruze, S. H. Marpel- Walkaway Redemption by S. H. Marpel- Felicity by S. H. Marpel- NaN by J. R. Kruze- Wolver's Village by C. C. Brower, S. H. Marpel- The Healers Chronicles: Birthdays - 01 by S. H. Marpel- The Healers Chronicles: Origins - 02 by S. H. MarpelExcerpt: John felt something out there. But he didn't worry about it. With Bernie standing guard, he knew any human soul approaching would be sensed before they could get within a hundred yards of his cabin.But what he felt wasn't human - or wasn't recently. And that is what got him up, out of his comfortable writing chair.Two steps and he was at the door. By reflex, he grabbed his ball-cap off the row of hooks near it.The summer moon shone brightly. And showed a reflective glint off all light-colored surfaces. The black-and-white border collie Bernie opened his eyes at the silent opening of that cabin door.John just nodded at him. So Bernie rose on his four legs and sniffed the air. His ears perked to detect any sound out of the ordinary hoo-hoo's of owls and scurrying feet of night creatures."What do you sense, Bernie?" John's thoughts sent clearly to the dog, a talent he'd been refining with someone nearby who could help him master it."Nothing. What did you feel?" The black-white collie still was at alert, all senses tracking anything out of the ordinary."A once-human. Someone I've met before." John looked first down the overgrown driveway and then to the cow-path trail some visitors liked to frequent.Bernie started, pointing his hears and eyes down that path. Then he relaxed, and smiled as he began panting. "Yes, they seem familiar. Not that we've met, but they know you."John relaxed, and came over to Bernie to scratch his back. And wait.Soon the moonlight showed two female forms coming down that wide cow-path. One tall and dark, the other shorter and dressed in a white, long gown. It would be some time before they got into enough light to make out their faces...Scroll Up and Get Your Copy Now.