C.C. Finlay

Maybe you're not sure my books are worth your hard-earned dollars.  Maybe you think they are, but dollars of any sort, hard-earned or otherwise, are difficult to come by at the moment.  Maybe you're just looking for a free read because that's how you roll.  

Whatever your reason may be, this page is for you. Yes, you.

complete novel and novel excerpts

The Patriot Witch (Traitor to the Crown Book 1)  

These are the uncorrected galleys of the complete novel that was published by Del Rey in 2009, so it has a different cover than the final book and some errors that we corrected before it went to print. 

• Chapter 1 of The Patriot Witch - Traitor to the Crown, Book #1
  This chapter introduces Proctor Brown, a Massachussetts minute man who has a secret: he's descended from John Proctor, who was hanged for a witch in Salem, and Faith and Goodman Brown, who weren't.  
  
  
• Chapter 1 of A Spell For The Revolution - Traitor to the Crown, Book #2
  In which Proctor Brown first encounters Bootzamon, who was the creepiest and funnest villain I've ever written.
  
  
• Chapter 1 of The Demon Redcoat - Traitor to the Crown, Book #3
  Banastre Tarleton's raid on Pound Ridge, New York, uncovers dark magic that sets him on a crash course with Proctor Brown.
  
  
• Chapter 1 of The Prodigal Troll - The opening scene from my first novel, published by Pyr in 2005.
  A nursemaid and a loyal knight try to save their lord's infant heir from a beseiged castle.

 

short stories

• "Morytober" originally appeared in Daily Science Fiction, March 6, 2015
  Includes the word "squeehole.” What else do you need to know? 
  
  
• "The Infill Trait" originally appeared in Lightspeed, February 2013
  "Every time I fall asleep I wake up in a different body." One of my favorite first lines ever. 
  
  

• "Your Life Sentence" originally appeared in Futurismic, July 1, 2010
  This is a story about a United States where abortions are illegal because they're murder, and as a result, miscarriages are treated as manslaughter. I had a hard time getting it published, but it seems closer and closer to coming true all the time. 
  
  
• "The Cross-Time Accountants Fail To Kill Hitler Because Chuck Berry Does The Twist" originally appeared in Lightspeed, May 2012
  This is a story about some cross-time accountants who fail to kill Hitler because Chuck Berry does the twist. I'm not sure what else you were expecting.
  
  
• "Footnotes"  originally appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction, August 2001
  My first published story. I don't think most people knew what to make of it when it appeared, since it consists of nothing but footnotes to a history article that is missing.
  
  
• "Moons Like Great White Whales" originally published at Strange Horizons, Feb. 28, 2005
  My "Hills Like White Elephants" story, with bonus sfnal gender-fuckery.
  
  
• "The Moon is Always Full" originally published at Strange Horizons, Oct. 31, 2005
  All of my horror stories take place in small town Ohio. This one is no exception. I wrote it for an MFA level fiction class when I was in graduate school, and the genre element messed with some of my classmates' expectations. 
  
  
• "The Nursemaid's Suitor" originally published in Black Gate #8
  A fantasy story. This is a non-troll excerpt from The Prodigal Troll, but it does include sabre-tooth tigers so I think that should count for something. 
  
  
• (PDF) "The Third Brain" co-authored with James Allison, included in Subterranean #4
  This appeared in the science fiction cliche issue of Subterranean. There are three brains in jars (the cliche) in this story, but the first two aren't nearly as important as the third one.
  
  
• (PDF) "The Rapeworm", included in Noctem Aeternus #1
  Another horror story. Another small town in Ohio. WHAT?!
  
  
• "The Crystal Stair, Part 1" co-authored with Rae Carson Finlay originally appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• "The Crystal Stair, Part 2" co-authored with Rae Carson Finlay originally appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies
  "The Crystal Stair" is the first story that Rae and I co-wrote together. Epic fantasy about a tainted God, his poisoned concubines, and one chance for one of them to escape.

 

found in translation

• "Footnotes" in Chinese -- looks like a student translation exercise: how'd they do?
• "Moons Like Great White Whales" in Hebrew -- translated for (bli panika) בלי פאניקה
• "Abandon the Ruins" in Russian -- translated by V. Grishechkin for Если (Esli). 
• "Footnotes" in Spanish - translated by Eduardo J. Carletti and Silvia Angiola for Axxon. 
• "An Eye for An Eye" in Hebrew -- translated by Inbar Grinstein for (bli panika) בלי פאניקה
• "Footnotes" in Hungarian - translated by Szabó Sándor for SFmag.    

podcasts

• "Pervert" at Escape Pod 
• "Moons Like Great White Whales" at Drabblecast
• "The Cross-Time Accountants Fail To Kill Hitler Because Chuck Berry Does The Twist" at Lightspeed

essays

• "The Artful Infodump"
  This post I made to a writers mailing list years ago about skillful examples of exposition remains one of the most visited pages at my old website. 
  
  
• "The Omnicompetent Man in Speculative Fiction"
  People still link to this equally old essay too.

poetry

• "The Middle Muddle", the novelist's lament.
  A doggerel barked in the night -- Seuss beware!
  
  
• Do your Newberys hang low?
  During the Newbery Award kerfluffle a few years ago, I invited my blog readers to comment... in verse.
  
  
• snapshots (one woman) | our modern city | accidental series | the zoo
  Before I started selling short stories, I had several dozen poems published in small literary magazines.  A few of these poems are still available online.