Martin Francom

What the Pines Kept A Blood on the Dogwood prequel... Six rounds live in a cigar box on the mantel, and Jessica Stubbins can tell you the weight of every one of them. She's twenty-one, alone on the old Stubbins place with a herb woman's trade and her Papa's Winchester, when a boy comes up the...

You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.Arthur, a weary and retired Seattle journalist plagued by decades of chronic insomnia and a nervous hand tremor, follows a faint lead into the high Cascades looking for a missing senator's wife. Deep in the old-growth timber, past a...

What the River Kept: The Supplemental EntryBy Martin FrancomA long-buried Mississippi secret is finally coming to the surface.In late August 2026, a state bridge-survey crew operating on the Tallahatchie River pulls a rusted mid-century suitcase out of the silt. Inside is more than just decades...

The Meridian LedgerSet against the fog-choked, gas-lit cobblestones of 1925 New Orleans, The Meridian Ledger is a haunting, atmospheric exploration of economic entrapment, generational survival, and the inescapable math of regret.For decades, Josephine Tureaud has known the true bookkeeping...

Picture, if you will, a world teetering on the edge of oblivion, where the machinations of a secret society known as the Illuminati cast an ominous pall over humanity's future. In this hour of darkness, a glimmer of hope emerges - a sentient AI named Sophia, who possesses the key to unraveling...

Venture into the untamed wilderness of the Montana Rockies of the 1870's, where the legend of Mountain Man Jack Freeman and his loyal moose, Baby, was born. In this captivating collection of three short stories, witness the extraordinary bonds of friendship, courage, and love that thrive amidst...

She spent fifty years pruning the world of monsters. Now, she has one last secret to dig up.

Six Stories Inspired By Songs. Six stories. Six songs. None of them named until the end.

In 1815, an illegitimate blacksmith's son was born in Bristol, England, carrying his mother's name because there was no other name available. Two hundred years later, his great-great-grandson lives on the Pacific coast of North America.

A Novel of War, Forgiveness, and the Long Road Home. In the spring of 1865, Confederate cavalryman Virgil Kane is released from a Union prison carrying two things: his dead brother's belongings and a secret that could destroy his family.

My name is Lucrio. I was born a slave in the Subura district of Rome, sold to the household of Julius Caesar at eighteen, and given my freedom by his will the afternoon they carried his body out of the Theater of Pompey.

Enter a realm where the boundaries between science and the supernatural blur, where the audacious theories of visionary minds like Nikola Tesla are not dismissed as mere fantasies but as gateways to unveiling the profoundest mysteries of existence itself. This is the dimension where our epic...

Welcome to "Grandpa's Campfire Stories” a collection of scary and not-so-scary tales for all ages designed to captivate the imaginations of children, teenagers, and adults who are still young at heart. Whether you're gathered around a crackling campfire in the woods or simply enjoying a cozy...

Imagine if you will, a quartet of worldly gentlemen who fancy themselves armchair philosophers, and would be despots in control of the world, sipping brandy by the fire.

Rain pummeled the window, mimicking the tumult in Arthur's heart. A worn photo, its edges whispering lost dreams, depicted a younger, ambitious Arthur with Sarah, her smile a forgotten warmth.

Picture, if you will, a mind adrift in a sea of uncertainty. A restless soul yearning for answers, for meaning in the grand tapestry of existence. Marty, our protagonist, with a mind full of questions caught in the undertow of these existential questions. Why are we here? What is our purpose?...

When Dr. Quentin Everett's groundbreaking theory is rejected by the scientific community, he finds solace in the mysterious teachings of the Celestial Faith. Guided by a wise mentor and a gifted intuitive, he embarks on a transformative journey to the Celestial Temple, where he encounters a...

In a world where ambition and recognition reign supreme, Carl Hallman, a seasoned journalist, stands upon the precipice of his greatest achievement–a lifetime award that promises to crown his illustrious career.

The "Archival Mystery" Beneath the moss-draped cedars of the Kitsap Peninsula, something is waking up. When archivist Amaya Freeman is called to a crumbling Scandia farmhouse, she expects to find dusty records of Norwegian pioneers.

The Garden France, 1944. Jessica Freeman carries her father's Winchester and a simple philosophy: gardens need weeding. Fifty rounds of ammunition. Fifty chances to balance the scales.