Gary W Shockley Audiobooks

Excerpt: Lord Kran peered at the woman.  "Are you the daughter of God?" "Let's just say I am the daughter of a man who used to be God."  She pulled back her hood and undid her hair, so that it sproinged out into a mad tangle that somehow spelled the truth. "She is!" everyone cried. "Then you're the logical successor to the throne!" said Samantha, suddenly cowed.  "Listen, I'm awfully sorry about those lashes--" "The illogical successor," she corrected.  "And I'll not be it.  You'll have to choose another." "This is starting to sound like a game of tag," said Lady Dusk. "Do we even need a God?" Helga asked. "Yeah," said Stella.  "Why not coast along as we are right now?" "Why not indeed?" others said. Murmurs and mumblings rumbled through the crowd, the consensus growing that they did not need a God. "Just one question," said the priest, hopping to the forefront.  "If we don't have a God, who do we blame when things go wrong?" Everyone looked at one another. "We need a God," said Lord Kran. The adventure at last concludes… Subscribe to Gary W Shockley Audiobooks in iTunes, or go to garywshockley.com to see more options.

Excerpt: Kato knew something had to be done.  Something drastic.  He climbed from the trench and hurried to the serpent's side. "Let me take your place," he said, shivering with the absurdity of the idea. The serpent crimped its neck and assured him with scaly images that it was fine, just pretending to be otherwise.  Kato didn't buy it for an instant.  Meanwhile, the eel beached another whale. "The eel tricked you into fighting the tarantula," Kato said.  "Now you're too battered and bruised to proceed.  You've got more wounds than coils.  You're despondent over the tarantula's rejection.  You're worried sick over the tarantula's whereabouts and well-being. "To be blunt," Kato summed it up, "you're not fit to fight an earthworm." As if summoned, an earthworm crawled close by.  The serpent crushed it in its many coils, though it took many tries, as kinks and spasms befuddled its technique. The adventure continues… Subscribe to Gary W Shockley Audiobooks in iTunes, or go to garywshockley.com to see more options.

Excerpt: Kato descended on foot with the minions, listening to their complaints about sand in their shoes, sun in their eyes, the stench of the sea.  At least they didn't complain about their loads anymore, having discarded (much to Kato's dismay) most of what they carried on the journey out.  Hunched under the full load of a dozen quivers of arrows, several spears, and an ungainly battle ax, Kato inched down the dune.  Suddenly his knees buckled and he fell, rolling end over end all the way to the beach, where he decided to lay for a spell.  As his head slowly unspun, he watched the bulk of the company descend towards him. Children appropriated shields and slid down the sandy slope, bowling people over.  Several horses bolted, tossing their riders.  Of twenty-seven wagons, three overturned, and one of the four catapults simply fell apart.  Hard as it was to believe, the company seeped onto the beach in greater disarray than before. The adventure continues… Subscribe to Gary W Shockley Audiobooks in iTunes, or go to garywshockley.com to see more options.

Excerpt: "Look, Kato!  A kitten!" It was a big-eyed tabby less than a month old.  Lady Dusk scooped it up and hugged it tight to her breast.  "He likes me, Kato.  I can tell." Indeed, the kitten had begun to purr.  Then quite suddenly it vanished down the front of her gown. "Oh dear," she said.  "He's slipped inside.  Could you grab him, Kato?  My hands are busy keeping him from slipping down further."  She stepped close to him, and the low cut of her gown gave him a clear view of an immaculate white ravine of reckless abandon. "You could just let him fall through," he said. "Oh no!  He should come out the same way he went in.  That's only proper.  Reach in, Kato.  Oh dear, he's licking me.  It tickles!"  She jumped about.  "Kato, he's licking me!  Make him stop.  Oh please, make him stop." The adventure continues… Subscribe to Gary W Shockley Audiobooks in iTunes, or go to garywshockley.com to see more options.

Excerpt: "Do you have a name?" "Kato.  Kato Whip."  It occurred to him to ask the same.  "And you?" "The Diaphanous Woman." He slapped himself hard.  He did so again.  She still stood before him, moonlit and leaf-dappled. "That must hurt," she remarked. He nodded, his cheek afire.  "Your name--  It's a nice name." "It's very peculiar, I think, and I'm not certain I like it at all.  Though it does fit what I wear."  She grabbed a corner of the fabric between her fingertips.  "It's strange.  I've been wearing this for as long as I can remember, and it never seems to get dirty.  Of course, right now it's causing me a bit of a problem.  Watch this."  She unsnagged her gown from the log only to have it snag again.  "See?  I'm afraid this log doesn't like me at all." He slapped himself twice more, harder still. "Must you keep doing that?" "Sorry," he said.  "It keeps me awake." "Well, you might try coffee.  It's harder on the stomach, but at least you'd save some skin cells." The adventure continues… Subscribe to Gary W Shockley Audiobooks in iTunes, or go to garywshockley.com to see more options.

Excerpt: Kato pressed closer to the grated window and peeked within.  There was the bed all right, moonlit through the massive hole in the roof.  And now he could make out two forms in the bed, one to the right and all twisted up, the other to the left and even more pretzeled.  Good heavens!  Were they okay? Then he heard the faintest laughter that came from Lady Dusk, followed by her words, "Oh, Lord Kran, it hurts so to laugh.  I must get out of this position." "The next may be worse!" Lord Kran whispered, and then he, too, laughed, and groaned. "Here goes," said Lady Dusk. Kato saw her fingers claw outward at a lever, and suddenly the whole bed flip-flopped around and about, cushions and pillows swinging on fulcrums, sections of mattress wobbling into new configurations; and when all was once more still, it took Kato several seconds to locate Lord Kran and Lady Dusk again, guided by their giggles. The adventure continues… Subscribe to Gary W Shockley Audiobooks in iTunes, or go to garywshockley.com to see more options.

Excerpt: "Run your fingers through my hair, Kato," the daughter of God said. That seemed patently impossible.  Nonetheless he gave it a try.  His fingers snagged immediately, which drew a snicker from Lady Dusk.  "I can't!" he said. "Try harder." With misgivings he tugged harder, feeling the daughter of God's head jerk.  He was bound to pull out some hairs by the root.  And then suddenly it all gave way, and his fingers glided freely through silken forests, tickled and caressed by the tenderest of blossoms and leaves.  When he had finished a pass, he was puzzled to see it all spring back in place, once more a wild tangle.  He passed his fingers through it again, and again, determined to undo it.  And now he began to feel the subtle guidance imparted to his fingers, instructing them in subtle ways through complex equations that tugged at the very roots of his brain.  There was a message being spoken here, heavily coded, buried beneath layers of subterfuge, but a message most definitely, that each pass of his fingertips further unraveled, so that he began to understand the hidden beauty of this woman, one based on logic and reason, a mathematical artistry that flirted dangerously close to truth but was too enigmatic and too mystical to fully embrace it. The adventure continues… Subscribe to Gary W Shockley Audiobooks in iTunes, or go to garywshockley.com to see more options.

Excerpt: In the distance, Lord Kran delivered one toast after another, each taking the form of a poem. He honored his wife -- or wife-to-be -- all those in attendance, the food and drink, the castle, the kingdom, expanding ever outward to cover everything imaginable. "To the enemy!" Lord Kran now shouted, launching into a new poem: "Killing the Enemy" The enemy makes me mad as hell. I punch and sock and kick his mail And bludgeon down his head. The enemy looks good dead. Especially without a head. Long live the killing of the enemy. May they die most thoroughly. O. J. barfed beneath his stool, hitting his head on the side of the barrel. Kato steadied him. "Are you okay?" He nodded, his mouth working like a carp's. "He is a wonderful sap, isn't he. Almost likable in his feeble attempts at impersonating a poet. Do not let him learn of this, but I toast him." O. J. poured another shot, clinked it to Kato's glass, and emptied it down his throat. Then he froze, staring past Kato, his face bleaker than Kato had ever seen it. "Hi, Ogden," came a female voice too full of testiness. The adventure continues… Subscribe to Gary W Shockley Audiobooks in iTunes, or go to garywshockley.com to see more options.