Stranger Things Have Happened: An Adrien English Write Your Own Damn Story (The Adrien English Mysteries) (19 page)

Y
ou grab your keys, wallet, and jacket and head down the stairs. But when you reach the ground floor and try to open the side entrance, it sticks. You wiggle the handle, then tug on it, then brace your feet and haul with all your might, but it won’t budge.

You find the WD-40 in the stock room and spray it over the lock and the handle, but it’s no use. The door remains as firmly sealed as though someone had bricked over the entrance.

The phone upstairs is ringing again.

You give up and try the front entrance. To your relief, the glass door opens normally. But when you try to slide the security gate aside, it won’t move.

You grab the bars and start shaking them like James Cagney in one of those old prison flicks.

What the heck is going on?

The phone upstairs continues to ring. Destiny calling.

__________

If you choose to answer the phone, click here

If you choose to answer the phone, click here

If you choose to answer the phone, click here

If you choose to answer the phone, click here

If you choose to answer the phone, click here

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Sincere thanks to the following people: K.B. Smith, Keren, and Calathea.

Thank you also to those of you who have written through the years expressing your love for the Adrien books. There is nothing more gratifying for any author than knowing his work has touched the lives of so many. You’re very kind.

Not everyone will be delighted with the liberties taken in this book. I will simply remind you that no one has a better sense of humor than Adrien.
He
would be delighted with this book, although he would object strenuously to the lack of choices in a number of scenarios.

Some of Adrien’s dream sequence dead ends are in fact literary mash-ups of the following public domain works:

Slaves of the Dust by Sophie Wenzel Ellis, Astounding Stories, 1930.

The Sunken Empire by H. Thompson Rich, Astounding Stories, 1931.

The Gate to Xoran by Hal K. Wells, Astounding Stories, 1931.

Sign of the Spider by Bertram Mitford, 1896.

Finally, thank you, YOU, for buying this book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A distinct voice in gay fiction, multi-award-winning author JOSH LANYON has been writing gay mystery, adventure and romance for over a decade. In addition to numerous short stories, novellas, and novels, Josh is the author of the critically acclaimed Adrien English series, including
The Hell You Say
, winner of the 2006 USABookNews awards for GLBT Fiction. Josh is an Eppie Award winner and a three-time Lambda Literary Award finalist.

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