Now Available on Amazon: "Starchild"


Maria Smith has spent her life hunting a brilliant man named ‘Walker’. Her career as a spy began at the end of the Second World War, when she saw something nobody would ever believe. Often overlooked by her superiors, and her enemies, her missions take her across the world, hunting Secrets, Scientists, and creatures from another world.

As Covert Intelligence Agencies fight their way secretly through the Cold War, Maria becomes a pivotal player in a Game that has everyone seeking an advantage over their enemies, either through secrets or technology… No matter who offers it, or what planet it comes from.

‘Starchild’ is a Cold War Spy Thriller, set against an X-Files backdrop. 


*****

Now Available on Amazon 

*****


A Note From The Author: Something that interests me about all the true spy stories (Not the James Bond stories, but the things that really happened) is that most agents are given one mission. But when they finish it, or get caught, they're finished as secret agents. 

The reason for this is simple: Spy Agencies have long memories. Someone seen in the background of a picture in the 50's, gets noticed by spies when they show up again in the 70's. Spycraft is a long term game.

As a lifelong sci-fi fan, I know that the biggest weakness in space travel stories is the enormous distances between planets. Space is a long term game too. Add one thought to the other, and what you get is this story.

Now Available On Amazon: Shinkei


In a frighteningly realistic future, Identity Theft has become the most common form of crime there is. Banks, businesses, and Law Enforcement all fight a constant war with the omnipresent grifters and hackers, each trying to keep ahead of the other.


In the middle of this ongoing struggle, is Marcus Doyle. A low-level Identity Thief, just trying to get by in a world where the legitimate options grow fewer and fewer, for himself and his family. When he's approached by a Client that offers him a huge, final score; he can't help but think this might just be his final job.

From the Author of 'The Lostkind' and 'The Welcome Back Diner' comes a novelized, "Expanded Edition" of a full cast Audio Drama from Decoder Ring Theatre.


NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON: SHINKEI


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"Are there any two phrases in the English language that offer as much delight as 'mildly dystopian' and 'not-too-distant future'? If there are, they can only be 'career criminal' and 'one last big score'. And yet for all those comfortable tropes, expect the unexpected from 'Shinkei'!" -- Decoder Ring Theatre


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I self-published my first novel in 2013. At the time, I was also a big fan of an Audio Drama Series called ‘Black Jack Justice’; produced by an outfit called ‘Decoder Ring Theatre’. They’re still active, putting out audiobooks, with a back catalogue of hundreds of episodes of audio drama; mostly in two long-running shows. Between these two shows, they would put on more ‘variety’ shows, and one day back in 2009, they put a call out on the message boards for people to submit audio scripts.

Well, I did so. The result was my first legit ‘credit’, for a full cast Audio Drama called ‘Shinkei’, available for free download now on Decoder Ring Theatre’s website.

About six months ago, I was cleaning out my computer, and came across a folder of (mostly unproduced) audio scripts. I decided it was time to do something with them; and started adapting them into novellas.


I have to admit, going back and seeing the way I wrote more than ten years ago is a bizarre learning experience. I’ve cleaned up some of the dialogue, added several scenes to make the plot clearer, and removed the ‘length limit’ that I had to keep in mind when writing a twenty minute script.


You may consider this the ‘Improved Director’s Cut’ of one of my very first original stories.

"Miles Past Xanadu" A Solarpunk Story


(Currently as cheap as I can make it. Amazon won't allow it to go up for free on a permanent basis.)

Solarpunk is a relatively new branch of sci-fi. It's a hopeful counterpoint to the constant dystopia we see in fiction now. It's a sci-fi subculture that envisions a world where not only do we survive Climate Collapse, but build something beautiful in the process. Something that focuses less on controlling resources, and more on creating them, in ways that are personal, creative, and good for the whole world.

I knew I wanted my next novel to be Solarpunk, but I had never written anything like it before. As a result, I created this novella. It's something of a prototype for a future novel-length story; where a young woman is forced to leave a mass produced dystopian city, and instead embrace creativity, community, and joy. Three things that are running all too low, both in her world, and her own.

The big question in any speculative sci-fi is: How far to take it? When Star Trek TNG came out in 1987, they bragged that a 24th Century Starship had a Two Terabyte computer. I have something five times that size sitting on my desk right now. So for this story; I elected to use technology that’s already available. You will find links in the story that reference what's already being used.

As it is set in the future; you can assume that there have been improvements and innovations in all of them. What’s experimental today can be commercially available a generation later; and successfully homemade by skilled amateurs a generation after that. But the technology involved has already gone beyond the ‘proof of concept’ stage; and I have provided links to demonstrate.

The point of this story is to demonstrate what could be done.

(Copyright Matt Stephens 2020. Cover Image By Canva)