a GHOST EXILE fix-up?

A confession: I was looking at putting together a GHOST EXILE fix-up from the GHOST EXILE short stories like CHAMPION OF THE GHOSTS, and in hindsight I really like the GHOST EXILE short stories.

I’ve enjoyed writing and reading short stories for a long time. If you think about, two of the most famous characters in literature – Sherlock Holmes and Conan of Cimmeria – got their start as recurring short story characters. Robert E. Howard, in fact, only wrote one actual novel with Conan, THE HOUR OF THE DRAGON, though some of the longer Conan stories like RED NAILS and THE SCARLET CITADEL got up to novella length. The novel is the dominant form of written fiction nowadays, but I’m pleased I’ve found a commercially viable niche for short stories in my new-release newsletter and the eventual fix-up novels.

But I think the GHOST EXILE short stories are my favorites in hindsight. I really like GHOST PRICE, GHOST RELICS, GHOST NAILS, GHOST KEEPER, and GHOST ARTS. I enjoyed the scene in GHOST ARTS when Caina and Morgant go to the art gallery, and Caina pretends to be Morgant’s empty-headed girlfriend (to Morgant’s great annoyance). Or the band of hapless thieves in GHOST RELICS, and Damla wincing at the hakim’s atrocious table manners in GHOST NAILS.

The question becomes, though – what stories to include in the fix-up? Right now GHOST RELICS is part of GHOST EXILE OMNIBUS ONE, and any short story that’s in the fix-up couldn’t be in the omnibus because of Kindle Unlimited’s terms.

On the other hand, maybe I could write a short GHOST EXILE prequel in the vein of BLADE OF THE GHOSTS, like a short novel or a really long short story, or do that instead.

Decisions, decisions. 🙂

-JM