From the Gator's Mouth

By John E. Miller

A Smashwords bestseller!

In their urban fantasy series Dime Store Novel, Rachelle Reese and John E. Miller write about a world where there are unseen realms, each governed by a deity with dominion over an aspect of the natural realm. The weave between the realms is weakening, allowing the deities to interact with humans.

From the Gator's Mouth is the story of an unlikely birth, an earthbound goddess who prefers her gator form over her clumsy two-legged one, and Swampy, a guy who likes his life just the way it is -- simple.Something strange happened down in the Louisiana bayou and it didn't involve banjoes.

Nothing aggravates the earthbound goddess Agatha more than intruders in her swamp. Fortunately she's a shapeshifter and in her alligator form, she has more than one way to get rid of trespassers. Unfortunately, on February 14, 1900, she gets rid of one, only to have the girl he was with give birth right there in her swamp.
The odd thing is, the baby disappears. She has a strong suspicion that Caprice, the goddess of chaos, is involved. But why should some mortal child concern her?

Swampy knows nothing about the missing baby or any goddess, earthbound or otherwise. He's enjoying a perfectly fine April morning, when a pesky fairy shows up. Or is it a goblin? Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. Next thing he knows, he's out on the swamp, chasing after some half-sunk flat-bottom boat, when the biggest gator he's ever seen nearly sinks his own. What would the mother of all gators want with him? If you ask the goblin, the answer's dinner. If you ask Agatha, the answer's on her tongue.

From the Gator's Mouth is the Book 1 in the main story arc of the Dime Store Novel series, an urban fantasy novella about a world that appears normal unless you look close enough to see the fairies and the goblins.

To learn more about what happened leading up to this book, read the two books in the Mama Cats story arc:

Rips in the Weave
The Desert Rose

The sequel to From the Gator's Mouth is The Reunion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rachelle Reese
• Release date: Jun 23, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452389639

John E. Miller

I am a long time game master for a number of different roleplaying games. In 2007 my wife and I worked together to write Bones of the Woods, a collection of short stories. In 2009, we published our second collection of stories, Mind of a Mad Man.

Book preview

From the Gator’s Mouth

A Dime Store Novel

by John E. Miller and Rachelle Reese

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law.

Copyright © 2010 by John E. Miller and Rachelle Reese

Cover art by Rodger Francis

Copyright © 2010 by Rodger Francis

Photography by Tony Western

Copyright © 2008 by Tony Western

Forward

Well here it is, at last. We know what you're thinking. We said it would be out in 2009… Blame it on the cows.

John dreamed up the idea for our Dime Store Novel series several years ago while running a Call of Cthulhu campaign and we have been working on stories ever since. The plan is to publish each story individually in a small book, similar to the Penny Dreadfuls published back in the day. Each Dime Store Novel will revolve around a set of recurring characters.

OK, a little about this book. The swamp eats its dead. Enough said.

The main character in the story, Swampy, is a very unique person. He had his beginnings in the stories John's dad told about people who lived in the back woods. We also added a big splash of Dad in it. Lee Miller loved and respected nature and gave us a chance to fully see it through his blind eyes.

Swampy's dog Boo is Boo. He was originally inspired by a Catahoula Hound Rachelle met on Twitter (for those who don't know, Twitter is a popular hangout for dogs and cats). As Boo evolved, he became a composite of dogs we have had in our lives. We promise that you will see more of him.

We could talk more about all the other characters in the book, but we think it's better that you learn about them through their own voices. Some characters you'll meet only briefly, and since they can't talk yet, you'll have to wait for a future book to learn what they think. But as we publish more of the stories in this series, we hope you will learn to love them as much as we do.

Enjoy.

The morning of April 1st 1900

As Swampy stepped out onto his porch, the morning sun was rising; its reds, golds and silvers danced across the swamp and the buzzing of the morning insects was just starting to overtake the chirping of the night ones. He stretched his arm out as if to give the sun a hug. This was his home, his world, a world that most feared. He remembered how his great grandmother would sit on the porch at dawn and tell him how the swamp reminded her of Missouri autumn. Dawn was the only time she could see her fall Missouri day. She had not been back since she’d left there as a young girl and come to the swamps. Swampy stepped to the edge of his porch and spit like his grandpappy would do every morning. Of course, his grandpappy always had a large wad of chew in his mouth. Swampy never could get used to the taste of chew. He surveyed the mound that his great grandpappy had built to raise his house 30 feet above the swamp. Many days he had played on that mound as a child, talking to his only friends; the snakes, frogs and gators. His grandpappy told him if the swamp ever got up to the porch, that was the day the world would end.

Swampy watched as the brilliant colors faded to the subdued swamp tones and the sun had fully risen. He was in no hurry. Nothing chased him and no hurricane winds brewed. At last, he stepped out into his yard. As he did, he heard singing. Oh now the fairies are startin’ up, just what ol’ Swampy don’t need this mornin’, he muttered. Get’em, Boo. He reached down and scratched his mottled-furred dog behind the left ear. The dog thumped his back right leg.

A fairy whizzed by Swampy’s head. There is a gator waiting for lunch, Swampy, the little person laughed.

Here now, you just go back home and leave me to my business, Swampy swatted at it lightly.

Your business is to be eaten today.

Swampy looked up to see a silver-haired goblin, not