John Lewiston: Blog

I am so grateful to those of you who have read and commented on "Flight From Babylon" and "First Cruise of Lieutenant Stewart."

I have re-posted the story, including correcting some of the typos my sharp-eyed readers have found. I've also included just a few details to ret-con some stuff for later stories.

I am posting a two-part story today, I Was a Confederacy Slave, a story that occurs in Thinking Horndog's "Swarm Cycle Universe."

It's an extraction story, but in this case the story is told by a boy who is extracted as a concubine.

For those who are familiar with my previous Swarm Cycle stories, this is quite a bit different. It has less humor and is much more. . .uncomfortable. If I can make you yell at your screen, "No, you fool, not that way!" Then I think that I have accomplished what I set out to do.

Yes, the title is a very small joke ("I Was a Fugitive From a Chain Gang") and It ties into the "Stewart" series in the end.

I have been working on the next "Stewart" story. But I got stuck. So to keep my hands busy, I wrote another pickup story in the Swarm universe.

I'm dedicating the story to Mrs. Harper, my 3rd grade teacher. If you read it, you'll know why.

I love the girls, and I can't deny.

"Anne's Night" answers a question that I wondered about ever since I wrote "Stewart's Third Mission." What did happen when Ruth and Yoo Jin took Anne away, letting the sponsors alone?

I could say this advances the story, but that would be a lie. It's just a romp.

Thanks for all of those who sent me kind comments on the "Stewart" stories.

As a thank you to those of you who have been kind enough to send me feedback on my "Stewart" stories, I've posted two small vignettes.

The first is "Anne's Goodbye." It falls after the events in "Stewart's Third Mission."

In this story, Anne Henderson says a temporary goodbye to Richard Stewart before her and her sponsor leave for their orientation cruise. Anne was a very minor character in "Third Mission," but she seemed like someone who had more story to tell.

"Anne's Goodbye" doesn't advance the Clan story line much, it's just a bon-bon. Please enjoy it!