Author: geekwitharun

I'm an IT networking professional with a running addiction. This blog is about the running addiction!

I Finished the Rough Draft of Corporals

I finished the rough draft of ‘Corporals’ the other day, and thought you all might enjoy a snippet of the story. In this story, Burn and Bad Karma are recruited into Rangers due to some issues that come up with Karma’s past.

Enjoy!

“Training under an identity we’re building for you. Makes it more complicated for politicians. Tossing people with no numbers under tank treads is easy. Soldiers and Department team members get ugly for them fast,” the sergeant major explained.

“We haven’t been a country long enough for politicians to be voted out,” Burn faced the soldier.

“Three politicians had tragic accidents,” the general noted, “And the investigations came up to purely accidental causes. Clearly.”

“Wasn’t me,” Bad Karma said.

“It wasn’t,” the sergeant major smiled, her cheeks rising as she spoke, “We checked.”

“What, exactly, are you trying to say?” Burn’s fingers pressed against the table, turning white.

“That it appears that trying to use the Ranger Department for political advantage can be detrimental to one’s health. Many veterans of the war are outspoken about using individuals as trading chips. The Department, of course, is absolutely loyal to the elected leaders of our nation and our constitution,” the sergeant major said.

Silence settled across the room. Burn noted the buzz of the white noise generator and that her comm systems were showing no signal.

“It appears we can trust you. So, why HALO jumping?”

“It’s the nearest start date we have for any training,” the general shrugged, “And I doubt you two would do well in Ranger School.”

“Why’s that?” Bad Karma asked.

“Ranger School lasts for three months. Freefall school is three weeks, and you don’t have to go in knowing military tactics,” the sergeant major noted, “First, you don’t want to be out of the loop in the dropped numbers world for three months. Second, you don’t need to go through the usual military training program. We just need you in a school to have your new core IDs solid. Third, the training will be useful to you and to us, as it opens some options when situations needing your skills come up.”

“New skills don’t hurt,” Karma shrugged.

Tales of the E4 Mafia and the Curiosity Shop!

For those who are local to Pella, Iowa, we have copies at The Curiosity Shop on Franklin! And someone out there bought a copy!

So, here’s to the brave soul who bought a copy, and thanks to the folks at The Curiosity Shop for carrying our fun collection of stories! This gets the names of a lot of really great authors out in the hands of people who haven’t heard of them, and provides some great reading to anyone!

Who Am I?

For those who don’t know me, or only know me from my fiction, I thought I’d introduce myself and let you know a bit more about me and my life, both in writing and outside of it.

First, I’ve been married for almost three decades to a wonderful woman named Terri, who puts up with my writing, day job, fitness and workouts and shares my love of adventure, enjoying food and finding new things. I’ve also got a daughter and three amazing grandkids who live near enough to us that we get to share a lot of fun, life and good time together.

Many years ago, after being largely sedentary after I got out of the Army, I was going through a bit of a mental mess, and that let to me getting back into fitness. At the time, it was specifically running and over time, the farther the better. It got to the point that I’ve completed 54 marathons and ultramarathons, the longest being a 100 mile race (The Long Haul 100 Miler). This led into me getting coaching and fitness training certifications which I use for my own fitness as well as helping and coaching others for their fitness. Unfortunately, I’ve got a messed up knee, so really long runs are largely off the table, but biking, swimming, lifting and other exercise forms are still in my wheel house!

As part of moving back to Iowa, I intended to get back into hunting and fishing, since I hadn’t done much of that when we lived in Georgia and didn’t make time. Now, if I’m not at a family event, a fiction event or working on a project, I’m likely to be in one of the local public hunting areas, or somewhere around Lake Red Rock hoping to catch a fish or two.

I’m also a beer and whiskey guy, which, like most things in my life has lead to me seeking out local breweries wherever I go, and learning about cocktail making techniques. I’ve now got a beer fridge with a nice variety of different beers, and I’ve put together a nice bar station to make cocktails of many varieties. Check out the recipe for the first cocktail I’ve created, the Iowa Twilight (Thanks to Green Frog Distillery for the excellent corn whiskey. I bought the glass ware from Ranger Up.)

Iowa Twilight

0.5 oz Pom juice

0.5 oz orange juice

teaspoon of simple syrup

splash of grenadine syrup

two dashes of orange bitters

2 oz of corn whiskey (4 year barrel aged Green Frog Corn Whiskey works very well)

maraschino cherry (fork and garnish)

orange peel twist for essence of orange and garis

Speculative Fiction Call: E4 Mafia & Junior Officers

I’m at it again. I’m doing edits and story selection for two anthologies with Henchman Press!

Tales of The E4 Mafia 2

We’re looking for more stories about those corporals, specials, lance corporals and petty officers!

Give us your best speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, and urban fantasy) stories about those experience young soldiers, marines and sailors getting tough tasks handled, dodging overbearing leadership, show how and when to ignore their unit’s stodgy processes, and skirting the regulations and rules with the grace of a ballet dancer. A ballet dancer who happens to have access to a ridiculous amount of equipment and weaponry!

Please send your submissions to keith@keithhedger.com with a subject line of “Tales of the E4 Mafia 2”. Submissions are due by 31 March 2025. Please format your story in Times New Roman in 12 point font, and should be between 4000 and 12,000 words total.

Butterbars! Large and (Not So) In Charge

No one starts a job or career knowing everything. Junior officers, whether they’re 2nd Lieutenants or Ensigns, in any military bring some nuance to their position. They have education and are provided with training, taught to lead and make decisions in tough situation. What they don’t have is experience at their job, an understanding of how their unit operates, or the personalities and capabilities of their people. Combined with directives to make decisions, give orders and direct efforts, this can lead to, err, interesting results, to say the least.

What we’re looking are speculative fiction tales centered around these most junior officers and the situations they create or impact. We expect to see absurd outcomes, courses of action that are other than optimal, or humor as these leaders’ directives and orders create chaos, their troops adjust to avoid negative consequences, and somehow they still get the job done!

Please send your submissions to keith@keithhedger.com with a subject line of “Butter Bars!”. Submissions are due by 31 March 2025. Please format your story in Times New Roman in 12 point font, and should be between 4000 and 12,000 words total.

So, if you write military fiction, speculative fiction, or any brand of fantasy or science fiction, send me a story!

Why Do I Write in a Cyberpunk Setting?

If you’re new to my writing, most of my stories is set in the world of Burn and Bad Karma. This setting is a somewhat near future version of our world, where cyberware is common, nations have been fragmented or rebuilt in new ways, and everyone is looking for a way up to the top or at least get out of the squalor of the level they’re at.

They could be a gang member looking to move up so they can quit pulling watch on their turf at the the most dangerous times or a corporate wage earner who’s looking to move up to the team lead position for the perks and the bigger paycheck, no matter who they have to step over or step on. Grunts on the front lines of militaries, police forces or corporate security offices who want to get the better gear, implants and equipment, as well as sergeant’s stripes to show the world they can lead people and get work done. Politicians and their flunkies cut deals to bring them power and position, without a thought to the consequences their moves inflict on the common people of their city, state or nation.

Now that we see that, the question is why would I write in such a setting? I mean, it can be depressing to think about all the ways people can and (in setting) do burn through those around them, toss away those below and back stab their peers and those above them in the food chain.

The truth is that I’ve been reading cyberpunk since the 1980’s and it’s milieu that intrigues. Everything in it creates conflict at every level. Trust between characters is hard earned and can be burned away with a single action. People in these stories can be driven by anything from greed to a simple need to help others, but even at their best most don’t limit their options in how to deal with a problem.

It’s fun to write characters who are both desperate and empowered. They’ve done what they had too so they could get the tech, weapons and experience to scratch their way to a better life. Back them into a corner, and they’re going to fight, and they don’t care about rules, fair play or whether their actions are far beyond the threat posed to them. And afterward, no matter how beaten or bloodied they got, they’ll stand up again to deal with the next threat.

Burn is motivated by greed, a need to prove herself, and a growing love of Bad Karma. Meanwhile, Bad Karma doesn’t count people are particularly important, but the small number that are important to her, she’ll fight all hell for. And she’ll move first, because she’s going to let them know she’s one of the best they’ll ever fight.

To be far, while I write in a cyberpunk, dystopian setting, the actual stories are pulled from other genres’. Moving Target is a thriller and tells about Bad Karma’s origin. California Chaos is a spy novel set in the fragmented cyberpunk environs of San Luis Obispo, California. Sandblaster is a military science fiction story that combines two heist stories, a mercenary team and a sentient tank. Easy Jobs is an action thriller with cyberpunk characters and an 80’s movie sensibility toward violence as a problem solving tool. And in short fiction, I’ve written a zombie story, an earth based war story, a Christmas story and even a true military science fiction story.

So the answer, really, is that the setting is fun and creates opportunities to explore many other story types in the back drop of the broken world my characters are in. Also, anywhere less dangerous would just be boring for Burn and Bad Karma 🙂

I hope you enjoy my stories! Feel free to leave a review or email me at Keith@keithhedger.com if you’d like to discuss any of this or ask questions about any of my stories!

Playlist for Sandblaster

Like many authors, I listen to music when I write and edit. Some of that is to distract my inner editor, some of it is to inspire scenes or characters. A song specific to a character helps me keep their voice more consistent through the story, and when you have a large cast and a lot of different plot lines working in the story, having specific songs can help keep me on track and focused.

So, here’s the playlist that helped me get Sandblaster written!

Jack – Treetop Flyer (Jimmy Buffett)

Gabriella – Smart woman in a short skirt, Last mango in paris (Jimmy Buffett)

Bad Karma – Heretic Anthem (Slipknot), When Legends Rise (Godsmack)

Jaya – Rearview Town (Jason Aldean)

Burn and Karma – Natural Born Killers (Ice Cube, Dr. Dre)

Ximena Valentin’s theme – Diamante’s Haunted

Team main theme – An American Band (Rob Zombie cover), Machinehead (Bush), Houston We Got a Problem (Luke Combs)

Phoebe the Tank – Mexico (The Refreshments), Machinehead (Bush)

Martin – The Devil in I (Slipknot), Duality (Slipknot)

Burn – Nightmare (Halsey), Savior (Rise Against)

General – NIN Head Like a Hole (Miley Cyrus cover)

Soundtrack – Mexico (Alestorm), Copperhead Road (Steve Earle)

Wheels – Drunk on a Plane (Deirks Bentley)

Krystal – Adrenaline (Gavin Rossdale), Ca in July (The Bombpops)

Jess – New College (The Dollyrots)

If you haven’t picked up Sandblaster yet, click the link and get it!

And here’s a link to my Spotify playlist if you want to check it out!

Spooky Season Is Here! How About a Little Cyberpunk Zombie Action?

As Halloween approaches, I thought I’d share some about how my story “A Simple Escort” got started and how I managed to write a cyberpunk horror story.

Shortly after I’d sold a ‘Santa Claus kicks ass’ story to JR Handley (https://jrhandley.com/) for his Slay Bells Ring anthology, JR reached out to me about the zombie anthology he was putting together, saying that ‘You write dark stories’. While I didn’t think my stories were that dark, even accounting for the cyberpunk and dystopian elements, I sat down and thought about it for a minute. Obviously, I had an idea 🙂

A Simple Escort combined three elements. The first was that Burn and Bad Karma would be involved in a classic cyberpunk data theft job. They would go into a corporate facility to get data on a biotech project for whoever their mysterious employer was. That required them to escort a hacker (Cat, who you may have met in California Chaos), and biotech expert to confirm and vet the data.

The second element was incorporating an ‘uncanny valley’ aspect. This is a term that describes how people react when they see something that is close to human but not quite right. If you’ve walked past a store front at night and seen a manakin in a window and your stomach tightened in a fear response, that’s the uncanny valley response. Because of their levels of implants, Bad Karma and Burn can cause that in unmodded people. I wanted to cause that response to Bad Karma.

For the final, third, element, I wanted Burn and Bad Karma to end up with a house pet, as part of their relationship developing. So, yes, there’s a cyberware implanted cat in the story. And, yes, the cat lives.

If you’re interested in my stories or good zombie stories, hit the link and check out Zombies! Patient Zero.

What’s Going On?

Now that Tales of the E4 Mafia out in the world (and even selling copies!), it’s time to give an update on what’s going on in my life.

For anyone who doesn’t know, I’ve spent a lot of years running long distances. Like crazy long distances. 5k, 10k, half-marathons, marathons, and ultra-marathons. And a lot of them. Of course, I’ve a bad knee for a longer time, and periodically it’s come back to trouble me. After 15 years, I’ve finally accepted that I’m probably not going to be doing a lot of long distance running. So I switched over to cycling. We’ll see what kind of adventures that leads too!

In the writing world, I’m editing a new Burn and Bad Karma novel, with a working title of Chicago Cycle Book 1. Bad Karma goes to Chicago, with no adult supervision. Burn is kidnapped. And Micky is trying to solve the Burn kidnapping before Bad Karma finds out.

I’m also working on two more anthologies for Henchman Press. Butter Bars! Large and (Not So) In Charge! followed by Tales of the E4 Mafia 2: Specialist Bugaloo. These are both working titles, and have not been approved by the publisher 🙂

So, thanks for keeping up! Feel free to reach out and let me know what you think and how things are going for you!

Keith