Bringing you stories, book and game reviews, writing tips, and updates from author S.G. Baker.
White surf hissed against a pebbly black shore, curling around my toes in a wash of cold spray. Secrets from distant lands washed onto this ancient beach, catching on pebbles and snagging within tide pools. Collected and kept here where few knew to seek them. The older secrets rested further up the beach, but the … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Pebble Prophecies
Blood on the dirt path ahead of me. So fresh it glistened bright red in the noonday sunlight, still puddling around bits of gravel. Just a moment ago, a hare had hopped down this turn, tall sunflower stalks obscuring it from my line of sight. Now it was gone. Now, the blood. Sunflowers. Though the … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Warning Signs
A thick cloud came to rest over farmland and countryside, shading the afternoon in sepia tones and muffling the distant sounds of highway traffic. To avoid a wide, unnecessary loop of interstate, I was cutting across an open field, boots squishing in mud from overnight rainfall. Yellowing grass swished against my knees, soaking my pants … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – A Ghostly Guardian
While I don't quite agree that 'Thunderhead' beats 'Scythe,' they're absolutely comparable in terms of quality.
A study in edges, where Faerieland meets big city, where drug addiction meets magic, where homelessness meets whimsy.
Between one town and the next, I spied in the distance twin lanterns casting steady, white light into the night, throwing tree limbs and grass blades into sharp, black relief. One lamp hung above the other, appearing like the eyes in a face cocked sideways. Perhaps in curiosity, perhaps madness. No matter how close my … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Artificial Illumination
An ornate greenhouse existed not only far from civilization, but smack in the middle of an already existing forest. Enormous, though in height rather than breadth. Craning my head back to gaze upward at its towering, clear walls, I wondered what must grow within. So I went inside. Warmth blanketed my face like an unpleasant … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Unrooted
The room was a disaster of notes pinned to cork boards, diagrams on white boards, stacks of notebooks, piles of crumpled paper, pens scattered everywhere. Every time I walked into the home of the Scribbler, I wondered if she would have begun plotting on the ceiling itself. A glance upward confirmed things hadn't quite progressed … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – The Scribbler
On some hot summer nights, gunpowder creatures came out to play in the sky. Pops and cracks split the air as they soared and dove, collided and exploded. Trailing sparks cascaded toward the ground, only to gather and rise again in bursts of white magnesium, blue copper, red strontium, and green barium. Their fiery wings … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Sparkler
I recommend this book. I just do. But it's especially appropriate for lovers of faerie fantasy, political intrigue, brutal, bloody struggles, and powerful women.
Word Nerd Scribbles 