Two-Five’s Adventure, Part 2

      “Hey now, what are you doing here, little guy?”       Two-Five’s inner eyelids snapped down as he turned his back on the grate. Looming over him was a large and hairy male in the uniform of a warrior for Earth...

Two-Five’s Adventure, Part 1

Curious about the Kekrax? Here begins the tale of one particularly adventurous specimen of this reptilian race, whose territory abuts Tolari space.       Two-Five of Four-Seven Slash Second scurried down the corridor of the station, tails held...

From the Cutting Room Floor, Part 4

As promised, the rest of the original opening to First Contact: Tolar was a patchwork quilt of independent provinces, a pastoral world of technologically-backward people, a pre-industrial culture of scholars and artisans. Earth’s partners in the Trade Alliance had at...

From the Cutting Room Floor, Part 3

First Contact, the first of the two stories in Into Tolari Space, didn’t originally start with the words, “And now, the Tolari were calling.” At the suggestion of a member of my critique group, I cut the first almost-600 words and redistributed much...

Snippet Sunday

At an undisclosed time, Storaas lies musing after his heart nearly fails him. Click below and find out a little more about the Sural’s history. A heart attack, the humans call it. I experienced a heart attack. The apothecaries say the shock of seeing a man I had...

Kirkus Review!

Kirkus Reviews gave me a Valentine’s Day gift in the form of a wonderful review, quoted in full below: “In the first in a series, Meierz’s debut, a rich sci-fi love story about a female teacher sent to a foreign planet to tutor the daughter of its rulers...

From the Cutting Room Floor, Part 2

And here’s the rest of the scene posted yesterday. “He was a good friend for many years,” the Sural continued. “But I knew he might someday move against me. I knew he would blunder when he tried and be caught.” A good friend? Marianne shook her head; that...

From the Cutting Room Floor, Part 1

Here’s a scene that got cut and never made it back into the story. I’m posting half today and half tomorrow. “You recall the Detral, beloved?” the Sural said. “How could I possibly forget him? He put a poisoned arrow in you.” “Do you recall how easily he...