Writing • B.Zedan

The Audacity Gambit

A self-published ebook, available at:

Amazon | Amazon UK | Nook | Kobo

Find all posts about The Audacity Gambit here.

Every teen hits a stretch in life where they feel like they’ve been forcefully isolated from the world. The standard fantasy trope is that it’s all for a reason—they’re the Chosen One. They’ve got to save their village, rescue a princess, find the key.

But 18-year-old Emily’s village is a trailer park and the people she’s fighting for may have performed more terrible deeds than the enemies she’ll have to confront.

With little choice in the matter, Emily plunges head-first on a quest into a fairy world that isn’t nearly as fabulous and fantastical as books would lead you to believe, though it’s a nice enough place for a vacation.

Short Fiction

(It’s Not) The End of the World

Sometimes the signs are there but you gotta keep living anyway. Also: crows are only harbingers of joy.

The sun had been veiled by a bitter haze for weeks. Fina had to wear her mask any time she ventured outside, which was getting tiring. Every summer the wildfires seemed to burn more steadily, the wind carrying smoke farther and deeper into the city on angry currents from the dry fields and doomed forests.

She didn’t like the way her mask made her all too aware of her breathing, or that her night-time facial routine now included extra steps to wipe the soot from her skin. And she especially didn’t like that her best friend Becka had to rely on grocery deliveries, hiding inside with a rescue inhaler, her air purifier purring constantly as it scrubbed air already half-cleaned by the house’s HVAC filters.

This 3k+ word short story is available on Gumroad for $0+ as mobi, epub, and pdf files.

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Before Dungeons, Dragons & Dives: Reives

Who says kenku have to be crow-like? Reives, a kea-like rogue, is round, bright green and very tired. Currently, they’re caught up in a campaign that has them cooking – not just the (edible) monsters they battle, but sweet treats and giant meals. It’s weird as heck and a nice change from everything that has come before.

This 15k+ word ebook is a collection of the character vignettes previously shared on my Patreon, freshly edited and with new framing text. Available on Gumroad for $1+ as mobi, epub, and pdf files.

Short Fiction – Older

More short fiction is available on Medium.

Straw-What other option had she beyond marrying herself off so that some other man could run her life? — **Straw**-What other option had she beyond marrying herself off so that some other man could run her life?

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Primp - “Shove over Mags, it’s a blasted mirror, not your lover, share it.” “Ah Torrie, I’d share both, you know that.” — **Primp** – “Shove over Mags, it’s a blasted mirror, not your lover, share it.”
“Ah Torrie, I’d share both, you know that.”

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The Devil's Music - The two girls, even if they’d saved their pin money for months, couldn’t have afforded box seats. — **The Devil’s Music** – The two girls, even if they’d saved their pin money for months, couldn’t have afforded box seats.

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Sleeping - This is how the story starts: There was a princess. Later, there was a prince. — **Sleeping** – This is how the story starts: There was a princess. Later, there was a prince.

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