Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: tired
  • Music: Pistol Annies, "I Feel a Sin Coming On."

New InCryptid short, just for you! "The First Fall."

Thanks to the efforts of my covers-and-conversion squad (Tara and Will), I have a new InCryptid short available on my website.

This one was...difficult to write. Those of you who know the family history may have noticed that the child born between "Married in Green" and "Sweet Poison Wine," Daniel Healy, was never mentioned by any of the modern members of the Price family. That's because he only lived three years. Losing him set the stage for a lot of what went wrong from there. That didn't make it a pleasant tale to tell. So consider this your trigger warning: the story opens with his funeral.

You can download "The First Fall," and earlier free stories, here:

http://seananmcguire.com/icshorts.php

Please download and read locally, for the sake of my server.

This post will also serve as the discussion post, if anyone wants to talk about the story once they're done. Thanks again to everyone for reading. This is the second story prioritized on my word count list by the recent tip jar, with two more to go!
Tags: incryptid, short fiction
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  • 56 comments

mpoetess

June 11 2013, 15:16:20 UTC 4 years ago

I believe I have something in my eye. I believe I blame you.

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 16:01:30 UTC 4 years ago

I believe that is valid.

dewline

June 11 2013, 15:30:48 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you.

I'll leave it at that.

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 16:01:40 UTC 4 years ago

Very welcome.

ebartley

June 11 2013, 15:38:57 UTC 4 years ago

Ouch.

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 16:01:48 UTC 4 years ago

Yes.

cirakaite

June 11 2013, 15:51:10 UTC 4 years ago

Ow. A good hurt, but ow.

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 16:02:04 UTC 4 years ago

They have sewn the seeds of their own destruction la la la.

tinchen

June 11 2013, 15:54:00 UTC 4 years ago

Ooooh thank you! After having just finished Midnight Blue-Light Special yesterday and realizing today that I have to wait for moar this is very, very welcome :D

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 16:02:18 UTC 4 years ago

Had you seen the short fiction page before?

tinchen

4 years ago

  • New comment

groblek

June 11 2013, 15:57:22 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you. Also, ouch. I'm going to need to give Josh extra hugs tonight after reading that.

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 16:02:41 UTC 4 years ago

Yeah, Josh and Greggy were part of why the story really needed a "look, a small boy dies" warning.

groblek

4 years ago

  • New comment

ohari

June 11 2013, 16:23:03 UTC 4 years ago

Thank You!

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 19:46:03 UTC 4 years ago

Very welcome.

TinaBellVance

June 11 2013, 16:35:50 UTC 4 years ago

You made me cry over my lunch. That's both a very good thing and a not-so-good thing.

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 19:46:22 UTC 4 years ago

Aw, I'm sorry.

janetmiles

June 11 2013, 17:24:11 UTC 4 years ago

Oh, Seanan. Oh, Fran and Jonathan. Oh, Junie.

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 19:46:59 UTC 4 years ago

Yes. :(

jenfullmoon

June 11 2013, 17:41:20 UTC 4 years ago

Awwww.

The ending....I guess Juniper's future kid and Fran's meet up, but Fran and Juniper never do again? Ouch.

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 19:47:09 UTC 4 years ago

Yes, exactly.

ironed_orchid

3 years ago

  • New comment

seanan_mcguire

3 years ago

  • New comment

anne_d

June 11 2013, 18:34:31 UTC 4 years ago

My heart is breaking for them.

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 19:47:15 UTC 4 years ago

Mine, too.

weds

June 11 2013, 19:16:47 UTC 4 years ago

Is this a story where those of us the trigger warning affects should get a dispassionate spoiler dump, or just skip over and roll with the data gap?

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 19:49:55 UTC 4 years ago

It depends on the severity of the trigger. Daniel doesn't die on-screen, although there is some description; there's no gore. If you tell me what the specific trigger is, I can definitely say either "read it" or "here's what happens."

herewiss13

June 11 2013, 19:20:39 UTC 4 years ago

We've just buried my father (too soon), an experience both identical and extremely different, so this was extra heart-rending. And then you decide to bury the knife deep _again_ at the very end! I am convinced you are a devil in human form.

Thank you very much.

seanan_mcguire

June 11 2013, 19:50:06 UTC 4 years ago

You are very welcome.

vettecat

June 11 2013, 20:54:22 UTC 4 years ago

I want to know whether the perpetrator escaped. That was unclear.

Also, not thinking about this in too much depth until after I can go home and hug my son, or I will break.

seanan_mcguire

June 24 2013, 15:36:47 UTC 3 years ago

That was intentionally unclear, but will be made clear later.

dragonsally

June 12 2013, 01:35:45 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you so much.

seanan_mcguire

June 24 2013, 15:36:54 UTC 3 years ago

Very welcome.

batyatoon

June 12 2013, 01:56:55 UTC 4 years ago

This made me cry. A lot.

*curls up in your lap and clings*

seanan_mcguire

June 24 2013, 15:37:01 UTC 3 years ago

*hugs much*

idancewithlife

June 12 2013, 03:47:03 UTC 4 years ago

Thank you. And sniff.

seanan_mcguire

June 24 2013, 15:37:10 UTC 3 years ago

Very welcome.

isabelknight

June 12 2013, 09:20:25 UTC 4 years ago

Damn it, I have something in my eye. That was amazing, as all the Incryptid stories are. If you ever publish a short-story volume/omnibus of all the Francis/Johnathan stories, I will buy it in a heartbeat. Augh, augh, augh, poor Frannie (and Johnathan, but augh, my heart is always with Francis).

Also, because I am a glutton for punishment, I cannot wait for the next modern-day Incryptid novel. I've even gotten my husband hooked on them (I'm still working on getting him to read the Mira Grant stuff on my nook, but I think he's caving).

jenfullmoon

June 13 2013, 17:01:33 UTC 4 years ago

Seconding this.

seanan_mcguire

3 years ago

  • New comment

wendyzski

June 13 2013, 18:20:35 UTC 4 years ago

Not even finished, but the simple faith of the mice makes me weep.

"to the place beyond the attic, where the cheese and cake are bountiful, and where will all one day go"
and that they are so distressed at the idea that he will go into darkness with no one to witness or remember for him....

I should know better than to read these at lunch - I'm going to be snivelly all afternoon

seanan_mcguire

June 24 2013, 15:37:49 UTC 3 years ago

The mice are very serious in their beliefs. It's not their fault we think they're adorable.

joyce

June 13 2013, 20:01:37 UTC 4 years ago

I started crying at "the God of Early Arrivals and Earlier Departures" and pretty much didn't stop. Thank you.

setauuta

June 19 2013, 18:12:32 UTC 4 years ago

Ditto. Seeing the mice this forlorn just hits me right in the gut.

seanan_mcguire

3 years ago

  • New comment

arglefraster

June 13 2013, 23:30:13 UTC 4 years ago

I have a 4 and 2 year old, and am 34 weeks pregnant. Clearly, I should not read this story.

Hah, yeah right y'all, I of course read it during nap time because I am addicted to the InCryptid universe and also am a big dummy.

Holy smokes, that hurt.

I was sure that it would be an accident or something normal that took him, and then you just went as bad as could be... Lesson is, of course, never think you know where Seanan is going with something. Oh, look, tearing up for Fran and Jonathan again. Ouch.

seanan_mcguire

June 24 2013, 15:38:15 UTC 3 years ago

They paid more than their share.

arcaneblades

June 14 2013, 03:12:34 UTC 4 years ago

Beautiful, and soft, and sad. Thank you for this, even though it made me cry.

seanan_mcguire

June 24 2013, 15:38:23 UTC 3 years ago

Very welcome.

Michael Scheuerman

June 15 2013, 13:38:24 UTC 4 years ago

Evil, painful, amazing story...so of course I have to ask something inane to combat some of the feels.

Regarding Holy Ground, the Alexander insists that David be buried in hallowed ground. Is there an actual measure of what makes certain ground holy or not? By this I mean do humans, Aeslin Mice or any other being that has religious rituals cause an area or object to become "holy" through pheromone signatures or some such that certain cryptids can sense? Or is it a learned behavior, i.e. "the humans etc put their dead here, let us not disturb them because their sticks are sharp and pointy?"

Thank you

seanan_mcguire

June 24 2013, 15:39:11 UTC 3 years ago

There are multiple answers, most having to do with the kind of ghosts you get on hallowed ground vs. unhallowed ground. Ghosts can help or hinder the dead, depending on what you've got.

stormerider

June 24 2013, 03:53:35 UTC 3 years ago

As a quick note, the PDF link for "Married in Green" is labelled as "No Place Like Home".

Thank you for all that you do, and thank you for sharing these remarkable shorts with us for free :)

seanan_mcguire

June 24 2013, 15:39:27 UTC 3 years ago

Huh. Okay, I'll look into that.

ironed_orchid

June 24 2013, 04:09:21 UTC 3 years ago

Now I'm all caught up on Johnny and Fran, and oh my heart.

seanan_mcguire

June 24 2013, 15:39:38 UTC 3 years ago

But you're all caught up!