Wild-Side It took me four days to move Pemberton’s body to a location I believed would be safe for an extended period. Part of the effort required a cross-country drive. And since the first time I drifted off to sleep, I would likely end up in Wild-Side; I couldn’t risk even a brief nap. My otherworldly excursion would jeopardize Pemberton, and compromising his comatose body could also provide Breslin with the information he might use for a successful Crossing. I didn’t know if Pemberton fried …

Wild-Side Gray was overdue, and although Piper was concerned, she sensed that no one was more worried than Doctor Cormac. He and the rest of his team tried to hide it, but the Seeley were not skilled at concealing their underdeveloped emotions. While she knew less about the science behind dimensional crossing, Piper understood Gray better than anyone. If he was alive, he’d be back. They just needed to give him time and try to keep the wheels from coming off the Bus until that …

In preparation for brainstorming and outlining the next book in the Cyrus Cooper series, I've reread the series and made many notes. With six books so far, that's a lot of material to cover! Considering how each book builds on the characters and events of the previous releases, and my less-than-stellar memory, there are potentially many ways I could miss plot threads that have been developing for a long time. To address this, I've been experimenting with several AI tools designed to index the entirety …

Our-World Al Vincente waited for the mother of two to finish scolding the obnoxious six-year-old who refused to make room for him on his way to the window seat of the northbound red-eye. She literally had her hands full with the sobbing baby clutched to her chest. Vincente glanced at the narrow seat he would be forced to occupy in close quarters with the spirited family for the flight up the eastern seaboard and felt the tension headache begin to form behind his eyes. The …

Our-World Alison Springs, Maryland An hour after the attack on the lab, I was sitting at a table at The Borderline. It was the same table I’d used last time, actually. It wasn’t the weekend, so the place wasn’t packed. I had my pick of the tables. A jukebox was belting out tunes in the background. It was country. Normally, that would be enough to send me looking for another place to drink, but after the events of the evening, I had enough on my …

Our-World Alison Springs, Maryland I woke up to the familiar electric tingle rippling from head to toe and pushed the thick, overstuffed comforter from my face. The unrelenting glare of the rising sun through the east-facing window felt like an icepick to the brain. I threw back the covers to my side and collapsed with disappointment. Piper hadn’t crossed back with me. Sinking back into her bed, I pulled the covers over my head and tried to regroup. Admittedly, bringing her back this way had …

I landed the Airbike in a park near the center of Oakland. After clearing the far end of the dead zone, I was able to open a channel and communicate with the city administrator. In this case, that was Sarah Hargrave. Short and thin, she looked somehow older than the other denizens, even though I knew that wasn’t possible. It wasn’t the first time I’d encountered Sarah, but her wizened appearance and an age that, at least visually, seemed to parallel Doc Cormac made me …

Wild-Side Piper sat on the edge of the table and rubbed the spot on her arm where blood had been drawn some twenty minutes before. There wasn’t so much as a mark left to indicate the bodily invasion and she hadn’t felt the sample as it had been extracted. Some kind of device was used to pull the blood from her body without so much as breaking the surface of her skin. No needle, no puncture, not even the slightest pain. Everywhere she turned, this …

Wild-Side My ears popped with a familiar change in elevation, my stomach flip-flopped, and the Doppler effect of a low, resonant gong echoed deep within my skull. I fought the urge to vomit and rolled onto my side. That’s when I felt the long, dry blades of grass crunch beneath me. It all added up to one thing. I’m back on Wild-Side. I squinted against the sun and took a deep breath. Sunlight meant no Seeley. Well, it didn’t mean I was entirely out of …

Our-World Borderline Bar and Grill Two days passed before I saw Piper again. My stunt in the lab had the unintended consequence of prompting Doctor Fulbright to instill the fear of God in building maintenance, the University administration, and anyone willing to listen. He seemed not to appreciate being assigned a laboratory that was, as he described it, a deathtrap just waiting to claim its first victims. He insisted that all building systems and infrastructure be inspected before his project team began working in earnest. …