After a round of edits at the publisher’s request, BEWILDERING STORIES accepted my story for posting on their website. It is a science fiction novella titled CASTLES IN THE SKY, and part one (chapter one) is out now.

It is the story of a diplomat from Earth on assignment, Jose Luis Espejo-Alatriste, who travels to the world of Alebrije on a mission of coercive diplomacy, as well as to claim the body of his deceased son, Amado Alatriste, who has died in a work-related accident. But wires get crossed, and the son, Amado, thinks that it’s his visiting father, and not himself, who has in fact met an untimely end. To complicate matters, each one wants, for the moment, to keep the stored consciousness of the other from realizing that they are in fact dead. Who can solve this split in reality, this misunderstanding? Between the two of them stands Eta Alatriste-Greschoff, Amado’s wife and Jose Luis’ daughter-in-law. And as if things were not complicated enough, Alebrije is on the cusp of being invaded by Earth, and there is the specter of imminent war.

Chapter one of the novella can be found at  http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue914/blurb.html The tale will continue in upcoming issues.