H.R. Parker
paper moon sky: a tiny cosmic poetry collection
A cosmic chapbook of 30 speculative love poems. Moons, galaxies, stars, and all the heartbeats in between. From award-winning micropoet H.R. Parker. Extraordinary, beautifully written, and strangely intriguing. This story-like poetry is so fresh and gives a sense of calmness, yet stirs something inside and lures you to want to read more. Great read. I loved this. ~Reader Review
H.R. Parker
Soul Harvest: A Novelette (Special Edition)
SPECIAL EDITION, ONLY ON WRITTEN! Includes an extra bonus story, "Syphon", not available anywhere else! Originally published in Synthetic Reality Magazine and now out of print, you can now read this psychological horror right here! “I was unmoored, untethered. Briefly. Adrift from my human body, I watched in silent horror as my body, now lifeless, was cast into the Eternal Fire, the last human on Eta Veta to feed that ever-hungry monster…” She outlived everyone. Pilfered a pod and blasted out of the atmosphere. Destination: Anywhere But Here. She escaped. Almost. Now in the grasp of a cruel tyrant named Thassos, stranded on a desolate icy planet, Phaedra still can't succumb to her fate. Even when the Soul Reapers have strapped her to the operating table, about to harvest her soul and transplant it into a Biomech to see if she retains her memories. If she does, Thassos will have succeeded in his task of attaining immortality by transplanting his soul indefinitely into Biomechs. After thousands of failed experiments, Phaedra is the last hope of helping a mad scientist become a rare Memory Retainer. Will she lose her humanity during the transplant, or will she wake up a human, trapped in a synthetic body? \*This novelette first appeared in Mythic Winter: A Science Fiction and Fantasy Anthology, Mythic Tales Publishing, Dec 2022. Join Phaedra and a ragtag crew of other scrappy survivors in this action-packed collection, which includes three bonus sci-fi stories, previously only available in literary magazines and anthologies: "The Cybermancer's Potion": Genesis Peacekeeper Ryan has enough to deal with on the Genesis Space Station. But when a rogue cybermancer's potions begin causing chaos on her ship and amongst her fellow crew members, she sets out with her squad--and one of the potion's victims--to investigate. \*Previously published in The Kraken Lore. "The Bright Rebellion": As leader of the Bright Rebellion, Ashr has the lives of many human survivors on his hands. Outnumbered against AI, and with few supplies, they are already stretched thin. But when the threat of a new BioMech surfaces, one that passes for human even in bioscans--will the Bright finally go dark? \*Previously published in The Kraken Lore. "The Pygmalion Syndrome": Ghost, along with his partner Crash, have secretly created a perfect Synth. So human, they are undetectable. So good, he and his partner will never have to work again. But when his Synth goes missing, along with his partner, his obsession to find his creation--instead of his best friend and partner--may prove to be a fatal mistake. \*Previously published in Writerly Magazine. "Syphon": When Meadow wins a fellowship to an exclusive artist enclave, she feels like she's dreaming. Escaping a doomed Earth, if only for a few months, Meadow will make her new home in the galaxy's premiere ecotopia, Fortunis. There she can leave her full-time job, polluted air and water, and write her masterpiece. Except when she arrives, she has a sinking feeling the fellowship is good to be true... \*First appeared in Synthetic Reality Magazine, Issue 4, February 2022
H.R. Parker
I’m From Wilderness Bright and Hot: A Southern Wilds Poem
After this poem went viral on Medium, I felt that I had something to share. But because it does not “fit” into my other themed poetry collections, it has been floating behind the paywall over on Medium. Until now. In October 2025, I read this poem during a reading at a local book festival. It was very warmly received, and I had many people interested in buying the book that contained the poem. The only problem? There wasn’t one. So, until this little beauty finds a themed collection to belong in, I am publishing it here on Written, so everyone can share in the beauty of where I’m from.
H.R. Parker
The Direwolf of Murkfell
Beware the Murkfell Wood. The words haunt Theodora Mourningbeam as she sets out on her journey to Murkfell village, where she will become one of the Red Cloaks—midwives and nurses with magical powers who heal the villagers and safely deliver their babies. But Theodora must journey through the dark, mysterious Murkfell Wood to get there, a forest rumored to be haunted by a ferocious dire wolf. An old coachman tells Theodora to “beware the Murkfell direwolf” before leaving her alone at the entrance to the fell wood, where darkness and gloom exist even in the middle of the day. Along with her Red Cloak sisters, she’s determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of the Murkfell Wood—and its beast, who is cursed to roam the depths of the Murkfell. She knows there is more to the beast than meets the eye—and discovers even more about herself and her own powers along the way. Lucien Brightheart is a cursed man, enchanted by an evil witch to lurk in her dark forest, the Murkfell Wood, in the form of a direwolf. He can be freed from his curse, but only by a Moonbright witch—a rare celestial coterie of sorcerers. But the clock is ticking, he's bound to the Murkfell, and his curse must be broken before the rising of the Red Moon, a rare event rapidly approaching. Will Lucien ever find a Moonbright witch who can break his curse and free him from his beastly prison? A dark fairy tale mashup of Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast.