"Dis" Live Today

So my first self-published short story, "Dis", should be live on Amazon sometime late this afternoon. It's not the first short of mine to see the light of day, but my previous publication credits (yes, paid ones, in periodicals) have been epic fantasy. "Dis" is my first work of urban fantasy.

In case anyone was unaware, you don't actually need to own a Kindle ereader to read ebooks and estories published through Amazon. You can get the Kindle app to download onto a PC or ipad or cell phone. I think there's one for the Blackberry as well (though I might be thinking of the Nook app).

Anyway, here's the product description for "Dis":


Colbie Moss has bigger concerns than being one of the dísir, the undead avatars of the Norse spirits of fate known as Norns. She has lost a mythic blade entrusted to her by her uptight yuppie mentor, no less than a Norse god of old. Now the blade is in the middle of a gang war that has left a beloved friend on the brink of death. Colbie will have to decide how far she is willing to go to recover the blade, save her friend’s soul, and keep gods and Norns alike from getting wind of the collateral damage.

“Dis” is an Urban Midgard short story, approximately 8,900 words (or roughly 30 pages) of urban fantasy with a noir sensibility that will appeal to fans of Jim Butcher, Seanan McGuire, and Laurell K. Hamilton.


To be more specific, of course, not all dísir are norns. Valkyries are also dísir. A dís is a female spirit associated with fate, a once-living female with bloodlines that went back to the gods, dwarves, or elves. It's interesting that giant blood isn't mentioned, since the Norns, the first among all norns, the Big Three, are most likely giantesses themselves, though they do not align themselves with either giants or gods. There's an indication the dísir were honored as ancestor spirits at blots and that blood sacrifices were made to them. So you know I'm going to be having some fun with this character.

There's more I could say about norns and this story and some of the creative choices I made, but I'll leave that for later, when a few people have had a chance to read it.

Sometime over the next few days, I will try to get the story up on Barnes & Noble and on Smashwords. I've tussled a little with these two, and I anticipate another long formatting battle. Cross your fingers for me.

And happy Friday.