Adam Andrews Johnson

Ilya often made trips into the forested mountains around Teshon City. “I’ll see you three in a few days,” she said to Dozi, Harakin, and Sumi. “Have fun!” Harakin replied. “Yeah,” Sumi agreed, “I hope you have a great time.” “Be safe,” Dozi added with a warm smile. Ilya’s feet lifted off the ground, and she soared high into the sky above the city. She always left after nightfall, when the streets were empty and it was unlikely for someone to see her flying. Every flig

hahaha glad that surprised you! 😆

the pieces are all coming together...

Thank you so much for your encouragement! Can't wait to share more

my editor is a 70yo English teacher, and while going through this scene with me, he confirmed that this was pretty authentic of the lying skills of the average 17yo 😂

I'm particularly excited to share of few of the chapters featuring these lads 💗

I like to think that I was better at lying when I was 17, but I was probably an idiot too 😆 when I was writing Kosephaji as he stumbled over his words, it felt very real to me 😅

“I found Relliduna’s body on the street,” Kosephaji said. He was talking to Ogomo. The giant’s ship was approaching the mouth of the Ru River, where its waters emptied into the sea, and the morning sun was climbing in the clear sky. Ogomo was in a massive chair at the boat’s stern, and even seated, he still towered over Kosephaji. The captain was curious about the few new people onboard, and he had asked about Relliduna. “Someone beat him within an inch of his life,” Kosephaji ex

Relliduna fluttered his eyes open. “Kos… Koseph…” he started to say. “I’m right here, Duna,” Kosephaji said quietly. He wanted his hurt friend to hear a voice he would recognize. Relliduna tried to reach up and rub his head, but he could not. His body would not obey the commands he was giving it. He could not move. Kosephaji took Relliduna’s hand. “You’ve been injured.” Relliduna groaned. His body felt wrong. “Duna, try not to move,” Kosephaji said, barely able to ho

your second sentence literally choked me up... they are some of my favorites, and you're right, they are so strong 😍

Lonklam’s eyes fell on four life forms, and he honed in on the two photonova glands that were present. The bearded man with the tray of cookies looked shocked, and Lonklam thought he smelled most enticing. However, those wicked senses that allowed the monster to target his prey were not able to focus on the second photonova gland; he could only pinpoint one. Lonklam’s powers of deduction were much weaker than they once were, and two things drew his attention. He did not comprehend what he saw.

THE MANTIS CONTINUUM leaves behind the grimdark style of the previous story, and it morphs into an eldritch tale of psychic confrontation. Two weird children, Jzuna and Thech, go through a significant upheaval in their happy lives. A unique trio of gay 17 year old lads embark on a buccaneer adventure. A man living alone in isolation is found and helped, but with very unexpected consequences. All of them suffer loss. All of them go through grief. All of them end up in Teshon City. There is a cursed village, a trip to paradise, and a painting party. There are giants, multiple alternate dimensions, and ice cream!

“Come on inside, you two!” called Thech and Jzuna’s mother from the old sun-scorched front deck of their family home. “It’s time for supper!” The cozy little cottage was positioned just outside of town and upstream from where the Hazel Cove Creek emptied into the sea. Thech and Jzuna were building a sandcastle close to the water’s edge. The woman smiled at her children, strange though they were, as they left their play and headed up the path that led them home. Thech and Jzuna each moved in

*** Upon the hillside of Gunge, surrounded by the severed body parts and ruined corpses of the many slain monstrosities, Ronging approached the creature with the mechanical crown. The two naked former-humans were similar in many ways. Their skin tones were close, as were their hair and eye color. They also each possessed far too much body for a human. The extra arms and legs and fleshy bulges may have been unique to each monster, but both of them looked like an entire group of people that h

hahaha thank you!

In the sliver of existence between one reality and another lies the twisted realm of Grumbeld. Its inhabitants view decency as a character flaw, and they hold madness in the highest regard. Under their wretched king, all the inhuman folk practice the most beautiful wickedness. King Mergwil is their ruler, second-named the Crazed, and he is cruel indeed. Those who dwell in Grumbeld are without conscience, their minds full of eldritch thoughts the age of Time. They are beings from outside any univ

This short story is a classic fairytale retold from the other side.

Olona jumped up when the bell to the front door of her shop rang, and she greeted her guest. “Good morning, Sumi,” she said. “Thanks so much for coming by, and thanks again for loaning me your file for the past week. It was a fascinating read! I’m excited to see what we can find out.” Sumi looked unsure. “You read it? You mean, you actually understood it? What do you want me to do?” she asked. Olona smiled. “Come in and we can try a few things. Let’s go into the back room where I

From the front door of the mystic’s house came a cheery knock. “That must be Olona and Tisa!” Tchama declared to the others in a bright voice. The sash she was wearing around her neck, draped over the stump of her shoulder, made of shimmering gold and silver fabric. Tchama turned the handle, and sure enough, the two women were on the other side of the door. “Hello!” the mystic called to them with a wave. “Everyone, let’s head outside.” He and Tchama stepped out into the morning

A monster was approaching Ronging, and though he recognized it, he did not know what name it called itself. The existence of mutated Messiahs did not include a need for them to remember the details of their kind, but Ronging inherently knew the other creature was one of them. It spoke in a strange voice and knew his name. “Ronging, I have returned from Teshon City.” Ronging looked over the gory hillside, covered in the many corpses and body part. “They’re all dead?” the other mon

I appreciate that you think this chapter could be more detailed... that's something i struggled with... the amount of gore and violence vs the characters' thoughts and feelings went back and forth for me during the process... i considered just making it a total action sequence, but it felt like i really needed to add a little of their personalities and some thoughts, but maybe the chapter needs even more... thanks again for your input and reading my crazy story!

Wow, thank you all so much for this feedback! You hit on exactly the issue one of my early readers had... Does Lahari reverting them back to humans, suddenly garner sympathy in readers for the monsters? Would their subsequent deaths raise different feelings if I were to change the story so that the monsters have been reverted to NOT humans, but back to their initial empowered Messiah selves? And what if I add that as soon as they are released from her grip, they lash out and attack Lahari? Or, does this chapter need a previous scene to occur in an earlier chapter, in which Tisa and Olona explain to the Bio-Shifts about the monsters of Gunge? I decided that I didn't need the extra scene, but would this chapter have given some of you less pause if you were aware of the plan and their reasoning in advance? I worry I'm too close to the story, so I'd really appreciate input from any of you wonderful readers! Do you have another recommendation for how this scene could be? And yes, a meteor or a horrible disease would certainly wipe out the ruthless world 😆 but then there'd be no more stories for me to write! Book Four might surprise some of you 💗

The sun was beaming down and a sea breeze was blowing across the valley home of the twisted monsters that used to be human, and the creatures of Gunge stirred en masse. “Food,” one of them murmured. “Smell it,” another hissed. “Look!” screeched a multi-mouthed mutated Messiah, and it pointed with all five of its arms toward the ridge above the ravine. Limbs flexed, and the beasts began to propel themselves up the hill. Each monster moved in its own unique manner. Too many a

Ronging’s slow trudge led him away from Tuilii la Ru and out across the rolling grasslands of Xin. It took him many long days of travel, but they were uneventful, and he eventually arrived at the edge of Gunge. On those rare occurrences over the years when his addiction flared up and he left the familiarity of Gunge to hunt, Ronging missed neither his home nor any of the other inhabitants. Happiness, contentment, peace, joy, these were all former emotions that were no longer entertained by

While Olona and Tisa were alone at home and eating a late supper, the Biological Shift machine appeared in their kitchen. “Tualu!” Tisa said in an excited voice. “Olona, it’s Tualu!” His unusual geometric form was limbless and headless. Made of unnatural metallic components and devices constructed by no human hand, Tualu was a sight to behold. Olona, the organic mechanic, was amazed. Tualu made no sound, but different pieces shifted and adjusted, creating the outline of a hu