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Author: markrigney

Mark Rigney is the author of numerous plays, including Ten Red Kings and Acts of God (both from Playscripts, Inc.), as well as Bears, winner of the 2012 Panowski Playwriting Competition (during its off Broadway run, Theatre Mania called Bears “the best play of the year”). His short fiction appears in Witness, Ascent, Unlikely Story, Betwixt, The Best of the Bellevue Literary Review, Realms Of Fantasy, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and Black Static, among many others. “The Skates,” a comic (and ghostly) novella, is now available as an ebook from Samhain Publishing, with two sequels forthcoming, “Sleeping Bear” (Feb. 2014) and the novel Check-Out Time (autumn, 2014). In non-fiction, Deaf Side Story: Deaf Sharks, Hearing Jets and a Classic American Musical (Gallaudet University Press) remains happily in print one decade on. Two collections of his stories are available through Amazon, Flights of Fantasy, and Reality Checks. His website is www.markrigney.net.
In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Eleven

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Eleven

In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the eleventh installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. These pages keep the focus on Maer, with plenty of violence and unexpected encounters to leaven the story-telling. Chapter Twelve will follow in two weeks’ time, so stay tuned –– and for those who fear I’m writing a doorstop, be reassured. This will be Book One of a pair (but no, not an ongoing, endless cycle) and the Great Divide between the two is rapidly approaching.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles (or perhaps my unexpectedly popular D&D-related post, “Youth In a Box,”) I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. Oh, and if you’re only now discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning? The Spur awaits…

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the eleventh and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

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In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Ten

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Ten

In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the tenth installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. The struggle for control over Vagen continues under the cover of darkness, with plenty of scheming and plotting. Chapter Eleven will follow in two weeks’ time, so stay tuned –– and for those who fear I’m writing a doorstop, be reassured. I expect to draw the curtain somewhere in the neighborhood of Chapter Fifteen.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles (or perhaps my unexpectedly popular D&D-related post, “Youth In a Box,”) I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. Oh, and if you’re only now discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning? The Spur awaits…

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the tenth and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read More Read More

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Nine

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Nine

In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the ninth installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. The battle for Vagen continues, with jeopardy enough for all and chaos stretching as far as the eye can see. Chapter Ten will follow in two weeks’ time, so stay tuned: same bat time, same bat channel.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles (or perhaps my unexpectedly popular D&D-related post, “Youth In a Box,”) I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. Oh, and if you’re only now discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning? The Spur awaits…

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the ninth and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read More Read More

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Eight

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Eight

In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the eighth installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. The battle for Vagen commences, but this ain’t your usual invasion, since just about nobody in this book knows how to fight. The desperation and derring-do come thick and fast regardless, with Chapter Nine to follow in two weeks.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles (or perhaps my unexpectedly popular D&D-related post, “Youth In a Box,”) I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. Oh, and if you’re only now discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning? The Spur awaits…

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the eighth and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read More Read More

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Seven

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Seven

In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the seventh installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. A preview: following the bombing in Chapter Six, Mother Sand goes into hiding, while Karai and Vashear set sail for Vagen. Desperate times and choppy seas ahead, with Chapter Eight to follow in two weeks.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles, I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture.

As I’ve said before, this is a true serial, and it’s still unspooling, story-line by story-line. My one rule is to recall what my (then) five-year-old once said when asked to explain fiction: “It goes on and the bad decisions just keep coming.” That’s Sister Blue in a nutshell! Oh, and if you’re only now discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning? The Spur awaits…

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the seventh and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

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In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Six

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Six

In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the sixth installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. In this latest batch of adventures and misadventures, Karai meets Vashear, we tour the Sindarin market (where disaster awaits), and Maer bargains for the lives of Doss and Cullen with –– well, I’d better keep that a secret until you get there, eh? Chapter Seven will follow in two weeks’ time, by hook or by crook.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles, I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture.

Bear in mind that this is a true serial. I haven’t written to the end; I couldn’t publish all at once even if I wished to do so. I do have the overall arc of the piece ever more firmly in mind, but as to how exactly I’ll write navigate the roads from here to there? I predict it’ll be one complication at a time –– minimum. I do promise this: I’ll dole out the breadcrumbs of story just as fast as I can tear them from the fictive loaf, and when we reach the end, we’ll get there simultaneously. Welcome to adventure, In the Wake Of Sister Blue.

Tell your friends. Sharing and linking are the highest of compliments. Off we go –– and if you’re just discovering this portal, may I suggest you begin at the beginning?

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the sixth and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read More Read More

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Five

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Five

In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the fifth installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue. In this latest dice-roll of adventures and misadventures, Maer takes steps to learn self-defense, we re-visit the Spur, and we spend some quality time with my favorite villain, Mother Sand –– if villain she truly is. I do love a complex character…

Oh, and a bonus! We meet, at last, a Sindarin. Face-to-face. Yes, the hooks are baited for Chapter Six, to follow in two weeks’ time.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles, I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture.

Bear in mind that this is a true serial. I haven’t written to the end; I couldn’t publish all at once even if I wished to do so. I do have the overall arc of the piece ever more firmly in mind, but as to how exactly I’ll write from Point A to Point Z? I predict it’ll be one complication at a time – minimum. I do promise this: I’ll dole out the breadcrumbs of story just as fast as I can tear them from the fictive loaf, and when we reach the end, we’ll get there simultaneously.

Welcome to adventure, In the Wake Of Sister Blue.

Read More Read More

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Four

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Four

In The Wake of Sister Blue Mark Rigney-medium

Linked below, you’ll find the fourth installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles, I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. In this latest installment, Maer decides on her next steps while Vashear suffers through the aftermath of an extrication. As for Belner, whom we’d met before but not by name, well he’s nothing if not on the run. Things are heating up, with Chapter Five to follow in two weeks’ time.

Bear in mind that this is a true serial. I haven’t written to the end; I couldn’t publish all at once even if I wished to do so. I do have the overall arc of the piece in mind, but as to how we get there? I predict it’ll be one complication at a time – minimum. I do promise this: I’ll dole out the breadcrumbs of story just as fast as I can tear them from the fictive loaf, and when we reach the end, we’ll get there simultaneously.

Welcome to adventure, In the Wake Of Sister Blue.

Tell your friends. Off we go — and if you’re just discovering this portal, don’t forget to begin at the beginning.

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the fourth and latest installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue HERE.

Read More Read More

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Three

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Three

Sister Blue TitleLinked below, you’ll find the third installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles, I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. In this sequence, we keep pace with Maer and Doss, but we also expand our horizons via Mother Coal and a visit to the capital city. Their entwined fates, and those of Vashear, all lead inexorably to the slam-bang opening of Chapter Four, which I’ll post in two weeks’ time.

As I’ve said before, bear in mind that this as an experiment, an experiment performed in the most chaotic of laboratory environments (which is to say, my basement). I haven’t written to the end. I’m not offering you something that’s already complete. Instead, I’ll be doling out the breadcrumbs of story just as fast as I can tear them from the fictive loaf, and when we reach the end, we’ll get there simultaneously.

Welcome to adventure, In the Wake Of Sister Blue.

Tell your friends. Off we go — and if you’re just discovering this portal, don’t forget to begin at the beginning.

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the third installment here.

Read More Read More

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Two

In the Wake Of Sister Blue: Chapter Two

Sister Blue TitleAs I mentioned two weeks back, I’ve been contributing blog posts here at Black Gate since 2006, and it’s time for a change. Linked below, you’ll find the second installment of a brand-new serialized novel, In the Wake Of Sister Blue.

A number of you will already be familiar with my Tales Of Gemen (“The Trade,” “The Find,” and “The Keystone“), and if you enjoyed those titles, I think you’ll also find much to like in this latest venture. The pace picks up in this latest installment (Maer’s in serious trouble), with action aplenty and a wider world beckoning just around the corner.

Remember: this as an experiment, a kind of in-process tight-rope walking, sans safety net. I haven’t written to the end. I’m not offering you something that’s already complete. Instead, I’ll be doling out the breadcrumbs of story just as fast as I can tear them from the fictive loaf, and when we reach the end, we’ll get there simultaneously.

Welcome to adventure, In the Wake Of Sister Blue.

Tell your friends. Off we go — and if you’re just discovering this portal, don’t forget to begin at the beginning.

Read the first installment of In the Wake Of Sister Blue here.

Read the second installment here.

Read More Read More