New eBook Short: "Bottom of the Well"

I have a new story coming out from Echelon Press, who also released Killer Cows. The cover was sent to me last night, and I think it looks pretty cool, totally reflecting the tone of the story.


As for the story itself, “Bottom of the Well” is my take on the logical outcome of mankind’s fate if vampires actually existed. I’ve never been a huge fan of vampire stories, especially in recent year, where every vampire is not so much a nasty bloodsucker as they are a pale, misunderstood emo teenager who loves someone else while hating themselves.

And really…vampires stopped being scary a long time ago, roughly after Bela Lugosi first donned a black cape (though I must admit, 30 Days of Night was almost scary, and not half bad).

Anyway, “Bottom of the Well” de-romanticizes the whole vampire legend. The main character is a teenage vampire named Nona, hopelessly wandering a future post-apocalyptic world in a futile search for blood. The problem is that, over the centuries, as vampires increased in numbers, the human population dwindled to the point where there is no one left to feed upon. Now Nona, as well as everyone else, suffer from starvation, but are unable to die…sort of a living Hell.

The end of mankind is told in flashback scenes, mostly centered on another vampire, Casper Fairchild, a militant activist who noticed the dwindling human population before anyone else, and realized, if action wasn’t taken, the world would indeed be crawling with the starving undead. Against the wishes of the World Coven (leaders of the vampire underworld), he ‘outs’ himself to the world and offers a proposal which will save the human population while allowing vampires to continue to feed. This does not sit well with the world, and Nona discovers that most humans would rather die of their own accorded then serve themselves up as cattle. The ensuing war between humans and the undead pretty much destroys the world.

The story is also a parable about the consequences of squandering natural resources without thinking of the long term consequences. Though pretty dark, “Bottom of the Well’ is a story intended for young adults, and I’m happy with how it turned out. I hope you’ll check it out when it is finally released on Amazon, Omnilit and other eBook outlets.

In the meantime, I love the cover. Thanks to Karen Syed (my publisher) for her creative design.