The Instant Bard

You say you want free stories?

I’ll bet you came here for the latest free stories and character sketches from The Instant Bard. Here they are! No strings attached…

Winnifred the Wise Woman

No one alive remembers Winnifred’s youth–not even her! It is said that she’s no older than the mountains. She must be younger than that, they admit, but how much so? No one has an answer. Winnifred has lived… Read More

May 9, 2025
King Ferdinand of Ferdiland

Ferdinand the First, King of the Principality of Ferdiland, was a good king–as kings go. He was a kind man, to the degree that his responsibilities allowed. He was a fair and just king, or at least that… Read More

May 9, 2025

The Instant Bard: Give him a line and he'll spin you a tale.

The Instant Bard is a new approach to The Instant Story Show, my improvisational storytelling at conventions and online. The Instant Bard is focused on shorter scenes and more audience interaction, making it easier for viewers to drop in at any point in the performance. Look for Instant Bard stories here!

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Books and More

The Last Dance
The Near-Earth Mysteries Book 1 – A Blue Collar Space novel At the heart of a mystery unfolding in space, the opposing forces make a treacherous journey between Earth and Mars. In space, mutiny means death—that’s why Inspector General Park Yerim is taking her investigation so seriously. The alleged mutineer is Captain Nicolau Aames, whose command of ...
The Last Campaign
The Near-Earth Mysteries Book 2 – A Blue Collar Space novel A colony on Mars becomes home to a killer conspiracy in a Near-Earth Mystery by the award-winning author of The Last Dance. Brazilian investigator Rosalia Morais, and her husband, revered American spacer Nicolau Aames, are building a life together in Mars’s Maxwell City, the fastest-growing settlement on ...
Today I Am Carey
Machine. Human. Carey. REMARKABLE DEBUT NOVEL FROM CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR MARTIN L. SHOEMAKER. Shoemaker proves why he has consitently been praised as one of the best story writers in SF today with this touching, thoughtful, action-packed debut novel, based on his award-winning short story Today I am Paul. TODAY Mildred has Alzheimer’s. As memories fade, she acquires the ...
Blue Collar Space
The future doesn’t just happen…Somebody has to build it. Martin L. Shoemaker, award-winning author of “Today I Am Paul”, presents stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary work. Planning, exploring, constructing… living and growing and dying… across the Solar System. Includes these award-winning stories: Scramble (second place, Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award, 2012) Unrefined (third place, Writers of the Future, 2014) Racing ...
Gunfight at Europa Station
Coming November 2, 2021! ALL-NEW STORIES TAKE THE WILD, WILD WEST TO THE FINAL FRONTIER An actual wagon train to space? Gunslinging cowpokes riding in rickety rocketships? What isn’t possible when you mix science fiction and Westerns? The final frontier ain’t so final in these 12 tales of space exploration and adventure: each a timeless yarn told around the warm ...
Today I Remember
And Other Tributes In Today I Remember, Martin L. Shoemaker—award-winning author of Today I Am Carey and The Last Dance—shares stories written as tributes to the people who inspired him in his life and his writing. A circus acrobat relives tragedy and triumph Leonardo da Vinci’s greatest creation exceeds even his vision A manager must save a space colony ...
Surviving Tomorrow
A Charity Anthology Surviving Tomorrow is a charity anthology of stories about everyday people living through extraordinary, history changing times. Facing societal collapse or personal tragedy, some may lose who they are, some will suffer greatly… all will find new ways of being, of surviving, or not as the case may be. There may be a ...
On Being a Dictator
Using Dictation to Be a Better Writer (from the Million Dollar Writing Series) – With Kevin J. Anderson Tired of being stuck in a chair behind a desk? Do you want to write more without sacrificing your health and sanity? Learn how you can get more written while Hiking or just going for a stroll Driving Watching your kids play at ...
Weird World War III
Haunted Cold War Visions! TALES OF THE WAR THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN What if the United States had gone to war with the Soviet Union? What if these rival superpowers had fought on land, sea, air, and the astral plane? What if the Soviets and Americans had struggled for dominion across parallel dimensions or on the surface ...
Year’s Best Military and Adventure SF 4
The Year’s Best Military and Adventure SF series roars into its fourth year, with more stories of derring-do, military combat, and edge of your seat suspense. Thrilling tales of grand science fiction adventure and military action. Selected from the top print and digital markets, these stories are guaranteedd to challenge, provoke, and entertain. Plus, you be ...
Writers of the Future Volume 31
The Best New Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year 2015 Best Science Fiction and alien anthology, Publisher’s Weekly Science Fiction Best Seller The future is here…the future is now! Orson Scott Card, Kevin J. Anderson and Larry Niven have seen the future. Now, you can, too. A constellation of the brightest lights in the Science Fiction and ...
Time Travel Tales
From rampaging Tyrannosauruses to an army of duplicate versions of your future self, time travel is a genre where anything is possible. This anthology contains new time travel short stories, mixed with some of the best stories published this century, including New York Times best sellers, Nebula and Hugo nominated writers and winners, as well as ...
The Future is Nigh
A treasury of science fiction & fantasy. Ten international award-winning authors. Ten fabulous stories. One must-read anthology.Lab rats on the run? Got ‘em. Alien pets? Check. Rocket borne dreams? Roger. Serlingesque kismet? Weird causality loops? All that’s here, plus two Gold Pen Award winners, a Jim Baen Memorial Award finalist, a Tangent Online Recommendation, a Nebula ...
More Human Than Human
Stories of Androids, Robots, and Manufactured Humanity The idea of creating an artificial human is an old one. One of the earliest science-fictional novels, Frankenstein, concerned itself primarily with the hubris of creation, and one’s relationship to one’s creator. Later versions of this “artificial human” story (and indeed later adaptations of Frankenstein) changed the focus to ...
Man-Kzin Wars XV
THE POPULAR MAN-KZIN WARS SERIES ROARS BACK INTO ACTION! New stories of the war between humanity and the catlike Kzin from Brad R. Torgersen, Brendan DuBois, Martin L. Shoemaker, and more! The predatory catlike warrior race known as the Kzin never had a hard time dealing with all those they encountered, conquering alien worlds with little effort. ...
Lost and Found
A Romance Anthology Romance stories from today, yesterday, and in the future; from this world and beyond. Bestselling authors Rosanne Bittner, Diana Lloyd, and friends invite you to discover love that has been lost and found again in this collection of sweet, spicy, and hot romances. Thimbleful by Diana Lloyd: When Franz Frederick Fitzjohn meets Alice Ashdown ...
Little Green Men–Attack!
From Hugo-nominated editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Nebula nominated author Robin Wayne Bailey, here are nineteen top-notch science fiction stories guaranteed to make you think –and- laugh, featuring such major writers as Robert Silverberg, Mike Resnick, Allen M. Steele, Esther Friesner, Elizabeth Moon, Seanan McGuire, Jody Lynn Nye, James Gunn, Kristine Kathryn Rusch and many ...
The Jim Baen Memorial Award: The First Decade
A DECADE OF SCIENCE FICTION EXCELLENCE Since 2007, Baen Books and The National Space Society have sponsored The Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award, to honor the legacy of Jim Baen and to promote the ideals of forward-thinking, positive science fiction. Here gathered together for the first time are the best of the best of the ...
Humanity 2.0
What will it mean to be human in the future? How will we evolve in order to reach the stars? Fifteen short stories collected in this book examine how interstellar flight might change humanity itself. Will we choose to upload our minds into a singularity? Enhance ourselves with alien DNA? Will our bodies remain the same, ...
Final Frontier
A Sci-fi Celebration of the Indomitable Spirit That Carried Humanity to the Moon Paperback Strap yourself in for the adventure of our generation! 50 years after the moon landings, the commercialization of space travel is finally here, but do we still know how to dream? Final Frontier recalls the heady thrill of the Apollo era and glimpses wonders yet to ...
Cursed Collectibles
Spend an afternoon antiquing and it’s not hard to figure out why picking has become one of America’s fondest pastimes. It’s treasure hunting while connecting with history. But what if those treasures hunt us back? From old books, to vinyl records, antique mirrors, vintage figurines, or a Bob’s Big Boy piggy bank, curses have no limits. Featuring ...
Avatar Dreams
Science Fiction Visions of Avatar Technology The development of “Avatar” technology—the fusion of human awareness consciousness with remote robotic bodies—offers breathtaking advances in medicine, culture, work, transportation, education and imagination. The Avatar project is designed to drive the exponential innovations needed to make General Purpose Avatars an everyday reality.The transformational potential of avatars is endless—and who ...
How I Got Published and What I Learned Along the Way
Twenty published authors share tips, tricks, advice, and encouragement for other writers. They talk about working through the rough times, making their first sales, and finding success in the publishing industry. Whether you’re traditional, indie, or hybrid; a journalist, novelist, or blogger, we hope their stories provide encouragement for you, wherever you are in your journey ...
Help Me Choose My Next Tie!
Now that contracts have been signed, I’m honored to announce that Analog Science Fiction and Fact will be publishing my story “Uncle Roy’s Computer Repair and Used Robot Parts”!
The Time of Miracles
“It’s Christmas, Theo. It’s the time of miracles. Russ shook his head and turned off the video. “Stupid move, Hans. You planned it all in too much detail. You had no flexibility. One New York cop with a gun, and your whole plan fell apart.”
The South Park Secret: Planning Solid Stories
Hey, all! Long time no post, eh? I’m trying to reconnect with the world after a lot of issues, including a stroke. (But I’m feeling much better now…) And today I have a good reason to reach out to the writers in my readership. This is short notice, because improv is my jazz. I have been ...