G. K. Masterson 
The latest chapter of The Search for the Seven Scepters is now available for your reading pleasure! So, head over and check it out. Also, remember that you can totally support my writing habit by backing me on Patreon or purchasing a membership subscription here at the site. If I get paid more, I can write more so it’s win-win all the way around!
Go on and get your read on!
— G.K.
The latest chapter of The Masterminds is up for your reading pleasure! Learn a bit more about Jim and the rest of the team as well as seeing a little bit more about the case itself. And, if all goes well, there will be another chapter for Search for the Seven Scepters up later today as well!
Don’t forget, you can support my writing habit over at Patreon or by purchasing a subscription here!
— G.K.
So, those of you who like a good zombie apocalypse fic, there’s a new chapter of Risen Ash up for your perusal. We meet some new people in this chapter and plans get made to go to the CDC. We also find out exactly how long Josiah was out of commission and a bit more about how the world has unraveled in that time frame. Now, go, get your read on!
And, remember, if you’re loving these stories and want to support my writing habit, you can do so via PayPal or Patreon!
— G.K.
I’ve been working on this one for a while — it’s one of my secret back-burner projects. I’m ridiculously proud of how it’s turning out. So, for your reading pleasure, check out the first chapter of In the Shadow of Yggdrasil!
I am a mythology nut and, yes, when I was in elementary school, I checked out Bulfinch’s Mythology every week and Hamilton’s Mythology whenever I could. I did raid the mythology section of the county library and I even did a puppet-play where I retold the story of Perseus and Medusa. I’m also an Avengers fan (though this is *not* a fanfic) and decided that if Stan Lee and Marvel could re-imagine the Nordic myths and legends, well, so could I.
As always, feedback is very muchly loved, thanks!
— G.K.
So, the second chapter of The Search for the Seven Scepters is up. We get to meet Sokan’s brother in this chapter and learn a little bit more about their pasts as well as get some insight into the world from a non-bards-eye view (see what I did there?) Also, for those of you who love to hate my cliff-hangers, there’s another one for you to enjoy here!
What are you still doing reading this post? Go on, get to the story!
— G.K.
Okay, for all of you detective serial fans, Chapter Two of the Masterminds is up and waiting for your perusal. In this chapter, we learn a little bit more about the Patterson case and we meet the mysterious Alex referenced in Chapter One. We also get to see a little bit more about how this unusual team thinks and works as well as getting a bit more of an insight into the dynamics at play.
I meant to post this Monday but that didn’t work out so well so here it is. As always, I love feedback so feel free to leave some. 🙂
— G.K.
The latest chapters for Risen Ash, The Masterminds, and The Search for the Seven Scepters have all been posted. I’m working hard on all of these serials and will be adding chapters fairly frequently. If you enjoy them, consider backing me on Patreon. And, to those of you who have asked, I am setting up a PayPal subscription option for people who would rather pay a once-monthly flat rate for various levels of access. However, PayPal has been giving me nightmares over the weekend so I’m waiting on them to fix whatever is messed up in their system.
And now, I have to run! I’ve got meetings to go to, yo.
— G.K.
*taps microphone* Is this thing on?
So, as you can see, I’ve been a bit busy in the background completely redesigning this site from the ground up. Don’t get me wrong — I liked the old theme and all but it was getting a little dated and I wanted something more mobile friendly. Also, I decided to tackle a new venture: Patreon.
That’s right. I’m going to be posting my short stories and serials here and over there as well. You can get them here for free (as you have always been able to do with any of my non-published short-form work or my fanfics). But, if you want to go there and back me, you’ll get some pretty cool rewards for doing so. It’s a bit like Kickstarter…only, different.
And, as you can also see, I’ve been working on a lot of new writing projects. I’m just tweaking some layout bugs tonight but tomorrow you guys are going to see some of the stuff I’ve been writing in the background. If I can get enough support via Patreon, I’ll be able to write more frequently and provide more updates. Other writers, comic artists, and musicians have made it work for them so I figure I might as well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
— G.K.
Yeah, I know. I fell off the face of the Earth. In my defense — shit happened. Good shit, but shit nonetheless. Back on New Year’s Eve, my former employer pretty much told me that I could either go 1099 or be fired. I went 1099 and I’ve been setting up my business and trying to line up additional clients so that my current primary client (my former employer) isn’t such a dominant factor any longer. I’ve also been completely tied up with two other projects: The Watching Dead and Rooster and Pig. However, I’ve managed to get both of those whittled down to “acceptable levels of no longer having complete control over my life” and I’m making more money now that I’m on 1099 status (the getting to set my own hours helps beaucoup as well) which means that I might be able to actually start maintaining a presence here again.
Shocking, I know.
I do have some other pretty big announcements that will be coming out soon so stay tuned. Good news incoming, guys.
— G.K.
I have not been this sucker-punched since the first time I watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. If I were anymore floored, you could put carpeting on me. So, all I have to say is…
Well done, guys. Very, very well done. I haven’t been this emotionally traumatized over the death of a fictional character in a while. I thought the death of Sturm Brightblade in Dragonlance Chronicles was harsh but at least there had been some serious foreshadowing for that event. No, this is up there with losing Aeris in Final Fantasy VII right after you get her Ultimate Limit Break and spend over 20 hours leveling her so she can learn it. Even watching the Doctor lose Rose in Doomsday wasn’t this gut-wrenching.
I may need to join a support group for this.
It’s not just that Beth and Daryl were my OTP ever since “30 Days Without An Incident.” It’s not just that she brought something that no one else could to the group — hope, idealism, and a little ray of sunshine. Yes, she started out in a bad place but that was just an aberration. She grew so much and was such an important but constantly taken for granted part of the prison gang that knowing that there is no chance we’re going to see her grow further is really, really depressing. But that is not the worst.
No, the worst is that her death was completely her own fault. Beth Greene practically committed suicide and she had to have known it. As soon as she put those scissors in her cast, I knew that there was no way this was going to end well. And I was right.
Now, before you jump on me with “well, she wasn’t just going to let Noah go back and let Dawn keep being Queen Bitch,” I get that. I know that she couldn’t do that. But, Cthulhu help me, she could have stopped and thought it out a little bit better. Rick can be a pretty silver-tongued fellow. He’s talked them out of some pretty bad situations when he was dealing with people who had at least some rationality left in them (so the Governor does not count because he was bat-crap crazy). She also knew that Dawn’s days of running Grady Memorial were well and truly numbered. Chances are that if Beth had just stepped back, one of the other cops would have taken Dawn down and then everyone (who wanted to) could have walked out of that hospital which is what Daryl wanted.
I’m both dreading and anticipating the second half of the season in February. I know it’s going to be tough watching the rest of the characters deal with the aftermath just when all of us in the fandom will have begun to move into the “Acceptance” stage of grief. However, gut-wrenching as this is, it must be necessary to the plot. It will give the characters who still live a chance to grow…or to be paralyzed. Watching them decide which way to go will be interesting even as it may wind up being heartbreaking.
And no, I’m not pissed at the writers. The only way they’re going to piss me off is if they take a page from Captain Kirk’s Kobayashi Maru playbook and throw us “The Search for Speth” or some other kind of deus ex machina maneuver. Beth’s death is a tragedy. I feel horrible for Maggie* because I know exactly what must be going through her mind. I feel terrible for Daryl* because I know how this has to have hollowed him out completely. But she died. Nothing’s going to change that. And if the fandoms turn against the writers and the show because they’re not going to magic up a solution to this relentless and remorseless fact of life, then they can vote me right off the island, too.
Still…hardest sucker-punch since Wrath of Khan. That’s a badge of honor, Kirkman. A badge of frickin’ honor.
— G.K.
*I do mean the characters and not the actors. I’m sure it must be difficult for them to lose a coworker in what must be a very emotionally-charged environment. But, I do respect that the actors and the characters are separate people so no, I’m not spending a lot of time wondering what Lauren Cohen or Norman Reedus is thinking. It’d be a bit creepy if I did since they probably already have half the fandoms sending them sympathy cards or the like. I’ll just continue my respectful “not ever interacting with them because the 30 seconds I don’t take from them is 30 seconds they can do something they’d rather do” policy. So far, it’s working great! 😉