Alternate History Western

The time: the 1840s. The place: California during the gold rush. As the white settlers begin penetrating the remote mountain canyons, they discover an ancient race, the Tenanken, who date back at least 60,000 years. Some members retain the genetic memories of their distant past, while others project mystical visions of comfort and joy. All flee the coming of the white man, and appear to be doomed to extinction. Only the genius Pegre finds a possible solution: integrate and intermarry with their distant white "cousins", the Hinchai, and form a new entity.

Tom McCay's expert story telling envelops you like the embrace of a warm fireside on a cold winter's night. In fact, this novelette was conceived in the hemlock and hardwood-filled Sipsey Wilderness of Bankhead Forest in North Alabama. Tom's clever and distinctly southern idiomatic language makes each sentence crackle with imagery and artifice. Equal parts Stephen King and Shelby Foote, he transports us from the present to the past in seconds.

In 1903 Kenneth’s life was transformed. He could see our Auras. We can’t see anything different about him. But even he did not realise the full extent of the changes he had endured. Then he discovered the Lightning People. Although not immortal, they have lifespans vastly greater than ours. But amongst the Lightning People are Rouges who are selfish, cunning, and dangerous.

David fell off a stepladder and broke a coffee cup. It was not just a coffee cup that experienced change that day. The fall somehow linked David to a telepathic alien race, far across the Universe. From that day on, not only was David’s life changed, but so were the aliens.