Mystery, Comedy, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Love Stories, books for kids... I write it all. For you.

Bill Alive
Bill Alive
Writer. Thinker. Goofball.
Oct 3, 2025 3 min read

New Release! 📚 The Mace, the Wizard, and the Robot Kitten

Some stories are better left unread…

The Mace, the Wizard, and the Robot Kitten

A Fantasy Short Story (Critiqued)

From the festive mind of BILL ALIVE, author of the acclaimed steampunk comedy THE PUNCTUALITY MACHINE, comes a short, hilarious fantasy story, told as you've never heard a story told before!

…unless you've done a critique group.

So, some writers do this thing called a "critique group".

One writer submits their story, the other writers read it, and then everyone sits in a circle. Each writer gets, say, two minutes to give their critique of the story. Intimidating? Yes. Even worse than you think.

But what if you only overheard all these critiques, without ever having read the actual story?

All you'd get would be insane story fragments getting slopped around, like discarded bits during an open-heart surgery. I doubt even Shakespeare or Hemingway could survive that, much less this humble tale of a questing knight with amnesia and his faithful robot kitten.

Except… what if the original story was so bizarre, so long and convoluted and just plain bonkers, that this way sounded BETTER?

If you love funny, quirky, experimental short stories, this is one tale of lost love (and lost plots) that you won't want to miss.

đź›’ BUY IT NOW: The Mace, the Wizard, and the Robot Kitten: A Fantasy Short Story (Critiqued)

Click that link to purchase this e-book on any major online bookstore.

📚 For the paperback edition, use that link to go to Amazon.

The Mace, the Wizard, and the Robot Kitten also appears in this collection:

The Punctuality Machine

(And Other Tales of Time Dysfunction)

From BILL ALIVE, the acclaimed author of MURDER FEELS AWFUL, come five splendid short tales of science fiction and fantasy, including a finalist for the Parsec Awards…

Time travel will fix it all!

Not.

These people will be lucky to survive…

Let's face it. Why do we yearn to conquer time and space? Because we're freaking desperate.

Despite the crazy risks.

In these five stunning short stories, you'll take a wild ride on the dark side of time travel peril.

A lovestruck Victorian inventor… a fairy trapped in a rash vow… even a frustrated commuter who'll do anything to skip the daily drive…

Can all this tech and magic grant a heart's desire?

Or will Time take a terrible revenge?

If you relish science fiction and fantasy stories with exciting twists, dry wit, and love triumphant, you'll love this collection of five fun, fantastic tales.

đź›’ PREORDER NOW: The Punctuality Machine: (And Other Tales of Time Dysfunction)

Click that link to preorder this e-book on any major online bookstore.

📚 For the paperback edition, use that link to go to Amazon.

Thank you for checking out this new release! Happy reading!

[Bill Alive]

Bill Alive