Matthew Wayne Selznick

April 18, 1985-Into a world already wound tight with the desperate tensions of the Cold War comes Dr. William Donner with a startling declaration: superhumans exist, they demand autonomy, and he has the reality-bending power to enforce their status. The traditional balance of power is thrown askew by the addition of not one super-powered human, but six thousand. Before the Donner Declaration, high school sophomore Nate Charters was just an outsider and self-proclaimed freak. His unusual appearance, hair-trigger reflexes, and overactive metabolism should have made him something special, but his differences and low self-esteem have long since marked him as a target for the jocks and popular kids. Now, just as his unique nature brings him the attention of a self-assured older girl, Nate must find his place in the world. Why is he the way he is? What really happened to his long dead father? Why is his biggest rival suddenly interested in a private meeting? Is he part of a remarkable, powerful new minority... or just a misfit among misfits? Nate must discover the answers to these questions quickly, because those in power know more about him than he could ever imagine. And they're closing in...

A Novel of the Sovereign Era

Brave Men Run

Mur Lafferty

Nathan Lowell

Matt Wallace

Jared Axelrod

P.G. Holyfield

J.R. Blackwell

J.C. Hutchins

The Sovereign Era: Year One

Star, Planet, Moon

Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers, and Other Creators Volume One

It's the Sovereign Era, when the sudden appearance of men and women with remarkable powers -- Sovereigns -- changes the course of history and threatens the balance of power in the late 20th century... but not every incident involving metahumans has global significance. Some stories are more... homespun. Harrison Wheeler's folksy "The News From Bewilder Pond" public radio show ran from 1974 until 1989 as a platform for Wheeler's stories of a fictional Nebraska town (based on the host's own boyhood Minnesota home). The broad cast of characters were as gently flawed as they were charmingly human. In 1987, Wheeler revealed that some residents of Bewilder Pond had been quietly... super-human... all along. In this partial transcript from an episode that first aired on Sunday, October 4, 1987, Wheeler spins a tale of a father with a singular gift who is determined to impress his adult son's new super-powered girlfriend. Is acceptance in the cards? "The News From Bewilder Pond" is a stand-alone short story set in Matthew Wayne Selznick's ongoing Sovereign Era cycle. You don't have to have read any other Sovereign Era works to enjoy it. But you should! ABOUT THE SOVEREIGN ERA THE SOVEREIGN ERA is Matthew Wayne Selznick's ongoing alternate history series presenting a mosaic of novels and stories detailing how the presence of super-humans changed the last decades of the twentieth century and the future of humanity. THE SOVEREIGN ERA READING ORDER 0) Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: "How It All Got Started" (serial) 1) Brave Men Run 2) "The World Revolves Around You" 3) The Sovereign Era: Year One 4) "Canary In A Coal Mine" 5) Pilgrimage 6) "The News From Bewilder Pond"

A Tale of the Sovereign Era

The News From Bewilder Pond

Reggie vs. Kaiju Storm Chimera Wolf

In this stand-alone character-driven fantasy thriller debuting a brand-new, original world, desperate people vie to find a kidnapped prince before magical and political pressures threaten the stability of the entire continent and millions of lives. "The invitation was a trap..." For menial palace servants Sot and Lama, the infant prince represents a means to finally escape their disappointing, stagnant lives... and each other. The tavernkeep, Kug, is torn between duty to his family and the fate of the realm, not to mention the very real chance that all choices lead to personal ruin. The sellsong, Talen, hides paralyzing survivor's guilt beneath brash exuberance. If he can rescue the infant prince, will he find the resolve to restore his family name and his own sense of worth? Dennick, the sellsword with compromised loyalties, faces an impossible choice -- save the prince, or save the love of his life? Either way... will he lose everything that matters, not least himself? Rajen is the gifted practitioner of a forbidden magickal art, forced to keep her true self hidden. The forking future holds many paths for her... will she follow the road to her future freedom, and at what cost? And even if this disparate, desperate bunch achieve their objectives... Wresting their prize from the foul forces of a nefarious, reality-threatening plot and bringing him back alive are two different things... In LIGHT OF THE OUTSIDER... Is there magic? You bet! Crime? The whole thing's set off by a vile act. A few, in fact. Violence? Yes. Sudden, brutal, and final. Intrigue? Sure! The fates of a child, a city, an empire, and maybe an entire world are at stake. LIGHT OF THE OUTSIDER is a character-driven low fantasy with a touch of noir and just a hint of cosmic horror oozing between the cracks, as if George R. R. Martin ("Game of Thrones") and James Ellroy ("L. A. Confidential") had a literary love child and left the squawking sport on a filthy altar in the woods to be discovered... by you!

A Literary Low Fantasy Crime Thriller

Light of the Outsider

Matthew Wayne Selznick

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