Category: Tap and Die — an action story in a fantasy world
Tap and Die is a 90’s action story full of characters who use wands and staves instead of guns on the set of an epic fantasy world. I’m releasing it serially over the course of 6 months — the first 25% is FREE and the rest requires a subscription: if you subscribe for at least 3 months, I will send you a hard copy before the book releases even if you don’t finish the story.
You can find the archive of chapters below. If you’re a subscriber, thank you so much. If you are enjoying Tap and Die and would like to share it with a friend, please share this page. You can also gift them a subscription. Subscribers for at least a three month period will also receive a free hard copy of the book when the book releases.
Email me back to let me know what you think of the story as it progresses. It’s basically a speculative fiction love letter to an action hero my late father enjoyed. If you haven’t encountered The Vale Megacosm, or Gergia, you can start with the Vale Short stories. Black Jack, the action story hero of Tap and Die, recurs as a side character in several of the Vale novels and short stories. Tap and Die is therefore the first, not the last, you’ll see of him.
There are eight ways you can help Tap and Die flourish and continue:
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Black Jack — Tap and Die 011
The main attendant scrolled through. And scrolled through. “No Dawes other than a young girl.” Jack’s daughter. And his wife?
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Fiftieth Floor — Tap and Die 010
The main attendant scrolled through. And scrolled through. “No Dawes other than a young girl.” Jack’s daughter. And his wife?
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Slugs in the Fountain — Tap and Die 009
The main attendant scrolled through. And scrolled through. “No Dawes other than a young girl.” Jack’s daughter. And his wife?
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Fellow Dogs — Tap and Die 008
The main attendant scrolled through. And scrolled through. “No Dawes other than a young girl.” Jack’s daughter. And his wife?
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Lava gloves — Tap and Die 007
The main attendant scrolled through. And scrolled through. “No Dawes other than a young girl.” Jack’s daughter. And his wife?
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Redcrown — Tap and Die 006
The main attendant scrolled through. And scrolled through. “No Dawes other than a young girl.” Jack’s daughter. And his wife?
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Jack — Tap and Die 005
The main attendant scrolled through. And scrolled through. “No Dawes other than a young girl.” Jack’s daughter. And his wife?
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Dövë — Tap and Die 004
The main attendant scrolled through. And scrolled through. “No Dawes other than a young girl.” Jack’s daughter. And his wife?
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For Luck — Tap and Die 003
Frey didn’t think Jack would show. Jack hadn’t shown for nine months now: she could have been pregnant and had a baby in this time. He was always helping everyone else but her and Dövë. Or it felt that way. She saw the painting of the three of them surrounded by grandparents and cousins, and…
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Hollow Needle — Tap and Die 002
The Hollow Needle did not rise above the horizon, but sank into the great peak of Weststool, steam and smoke heralding it in a great circular halo. One of five new taps in Gergia, the opposite of towers, it drilled down into a too-wide hole. Seven carriage bridges—long stone pathways lit by gas lamps—led from…
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Honorifics — Tap and Die 001
The driver looked cockeyed at Black Jack Dawes’s half-frozen hands that held the other reins. The driver took kings and nobles all over the Ivrian side of the world, not crusty old tradesmen in khaki dusters, range hats, knee-high boots slathered in mud, and that black cloak with those unfixed stars on it. And no…