The Dim Beneath the Lights: introducing the pictureword illustrated novella series
I love collaborating with illustrators and working with Tom Bagley, one of Calgary’s coolest, has been on my to-do list for a long time. Tom does weird-west creepiness exceptionally well and this book, the first of many that one can read in a single evening, is full of eye-popping, ghoulish pics that fit this story to a “T.” This kicks off my new pictureword illustrated novella series and more are a-comin’!
Mysterious orbs are falling from the sky and this is Hiram’s big chance. If everything goes according to plan, the aging, hard-gambling trailhand is going to become famous, get rich and win the girl of his dreams.
It will be available on Amazon soon but you can buy a limited-edition signed copy, accompanied by a free bonus 11×17 Tom Bagley print, from this website right now for $15! Postage not included.
Email rick@overwater.ca – subject: Novella
Note: This story first appeared, unillustrated, in the Burnt anthology from Analemma Books.
Vestigial Organs: new short story in Abyss & Apex Magazine
I was most pleased to be accepted into the Q3, 2021 edition of Abyss & Apex Magazine, a US publication that is quite well known in sci-fi circles.
This time, I have a horror/alt-history/sci-fi novel entitled Vestigial Organs. It was inspired by the steam-punk-iest thing I’ve ever seen,the Kimball Organ in Canada’s National Music Centre (Studio Bell), a documentary I saw on mustard gas warfare, and Holst’s The Planets. Nice normal stuff!
You can read it here: Vestigial Organs | Abyss & Apex (abyssapexzine.com)
The Black City Beneath
A full-on adventure novel, published by my good pals at the Seventh Terrace! Here’s how they describe it:
In the final days of steam and airships, a mysterious woman is eliminating the world’s great scientific minds using unrecognizable technology. A salvage diver from a notorious family is nearly killed when he discovers a scuttled Russian submarine fabricated from an unidentified black material. And a whiskey-soaked engineer narrowly survives an attack on Britain’s most luxurious civilian airship.
Flying under the radar of military authority, the diver and engineer must follow the woman’s electric trail of espionage into the wasteland of a parallel world, to prevent the destruction of their own.
“The Black City Beneath” is filled with engaging—and sometimes terrifying—characters and pulse-pounding action. Drawing strongly on both steampunk and science fiction tropes, R. Overwater produces an original, thoughtful, and highly entertaining tale.
Hayden Trenholm – Aurora Award winning author and editor
Look for it on Amazon or, better yet, order it here: https://the-seventh-terrace.com/the-black-city-beneath/
By the Light of Camelot
I don’t write fantasy very often but couldn’t say no when Calgary editors Jeff Campbell and Shannon Allen hit me up to contribute a short story to this excellent anthology. It’s also a departure in that I don’t write young adult fiction as a rule, and I think this qualifies. My gender-role defying heroine saves King Arthur and her older brother and unintentionally changes future warfare.
Put out by Edge publishing, full of brand new tales of King Arthur and his court, you can find it on Amazon here: By the Light of Camelot: Campbell, J. R. R., Allen, Shannon: 9781770531574: Books – Amazon.ca
All Hail our Robot Conquerors
Put out by Zombie Needs Brains, this one contains Schematic Diagram of a Murder Bot, a little bit of dystopian robot-noir that certainly won’t be my last. You can find it here on Amazon.
Enigma Front: Burnt
From elemental wizardry gone wickedly wrong to devilish deeds and futures up in flames, these twenty one stories set the pages ablaze exploring the myriad ways of getting singed, fried and outright incinerated. Read stories by established, award-winning authors, as well as newly ignited lights in the creative universe. Published by Analemma Books, it contains my story The Dim Beneath the Lights where I not only fall into the sci-fi category, it scratches the Weird West itch too. You can find it here on Amazon.
Tall Tales of the Weird West
Featuring some full-on noir by your ‘ol buddy Rick, this little gem features some bestselling authors and is helmed by my good friend Axel Howerton. It is put out by Coffin Hop Press , available on Amazon and a wealth of other places. I had the pleasure of
co-editing this and doing layout for the cover. Western themes mashed up with horror and sci-fi: If you know me, you know this is right up my alley!
AB Negative
“14 tawdry tales that turn Alberta into a hotspot of murder, mafia hitmen, gumshoes, biker gangs, femme fatales and sexpots.” Eric Volmers, Calgary Herald
Good intentions are no match for good people with bad ideas. My own story Butch’s Last Lesson drives this home with more than a little bloodshed and depravity. Available from Coffin Hop Press and right here at Amazon.