by: Rick Johnson 
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com
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Return to the To Be Announced Page.
TBA means “To Be Announced” and refers to things that will be posted later.
In this case, it is where I am hiding stuff that I am not yet ready to announce to the public at large. Currently, the Ayiesha and Janice Stories which I feel are my best and most embarrassing works.
These are all stories that I’ve written. Go to Fan Fiction for details. You may notice that some of the links don’t work. This is because a) they are still on Tangor’s site or b) I’ve uploaded them but am not ready for their public reading.
These are stories listed by characters.
AS-TAN
As-Tan is the runt of the litter who desperately wants to be accepted but what he can do isn’t as valued as what he cannot. So he searches to improve the first and find acceptance for the second.
Works include: The Visitor, Homecoming.
AYIESHA PENAUT
Ayiesha is a simple Peasant girl who is torn between her love and duty for her family and her need to become something more. For reasons she herself doesn’t understand, she joined the military and found herself in the same situation all soldiers do, moments of abject terror followed by nightmares of her experiences and the eternal question “how do I deal with the horror I’ve seen?”
A Maiden on Barsoom was the first Ayiesha story and should be read first. Later I wrote Diary of Ayiesha Penaut as a pre-quil to Maiden and an attempt to explain her life. I started the third book but got bored and put it away only to return with Weir-Lu of Caspak which is vol 4, vol 3 being unwritten at this time..
Works include: A Maiden on Barsoom, Diary of Ayiesha Penaut, Weir-Lu of Caspak.
BARBARA CHIN & BARNEY HOLTZMAN
Barney is a noted professor who has found his place in the universe. He is married, has children and teaches at a job he loves. Occasionally he goes off to do field work and cannot wait to return to his home. His life is as perfect as it can be considering that he will outlive his wife by centuries. Like many professors, his life is too dull to notice so he appears only when dragged into adventure.
Barbara is still searching for her niche. She is too young to know what she really wants and is afraid of making mistakes that will ruin those expectations that people have of her.
Works include: Journey Among the Don, Collections I.
DIANE WINTERS & FIONA O’NEILL
Both come from Chicago in the 1970’s and so are products of both the Hippie movement and the Vietnam War. Both married and then their lives diverged. Diane’s husband was drafted and died in Vietnam. Grief made her miscarry and drove her into a suicidal depression. Fiona married and had children but for reasons I don’t know, divorced. Unfortunately, being pagan cost her custody of her children.
Although both adventure together, Dane enjoys the life and Fiona tags along simply because they are the best of friends.
Works include: Drying Out in a Humid World, Recovery.
GEORGE WAGNER
George is one of the far too many Vietnam Vets who were used and abandoned by society and government. With no life to live, partially his own fault and partially societies for no one is completely guilty or innocent, he took an offer to start a new life, which didn’t work out as he thought. But it did open a door to what he really wanted and so, unlike most other people, he is generally happy with what he does and is hoping that his kids join him.
Works include: Homecoming.
JANICE OBRIEN
Janice is the main character in a three year saga that describes her being cursed by a God in whom she didn’t believe and blessed by a God in which she does.
The original series was to be three works, Conversion was year one as she learned to deal with her curse. Adaption is year two when she accepted it and Recovery will be year three when she was released.
However, something went wrong and after writing Conversion and before I could start on Adaption, her daughter was kidnapped and I wrote Retreival which was vol. 4 of the Trilogy. Then when I returned and did Adaption, I realized that this would not be a single novella but a long series of maybe a dozen chapters, each one a separate incident along her path to acceptance and understanding of her curse.
Works include: Conversion, Adaption, Retreival.
JASON OBRIEN
Jason is an adventurer by accident. He really doesn’t want to travel the universe righting wrongs, he simply is very good at it, and matters happen to take him into situations that force him to bury his own needs for others. Unlike the standard hero of fiction, Jason prefers to follow the course that keeps him alive but still tries to do so in as moral a manner as he can. He’d much rather be married and live at home and never touch a sword again, but life isn’t like that sometimes.
His live is divided into groups: 1) His Early life before his abduction in Ireland and Africa. 2) The years when he was abducted and changed by the Demons. 3) The Middle years on Earth and his main marriages. 4) The Drakonan Years as he built the Barony. 5) His retirement and return to power.
Works include: Journey in Time, The Valley, Diary of Ayiesha Penaut, Drying Out in a Humid World, Retreival, Conversion, Weir-Lu of Caspak, Spy.
TEARS OF THE MOON & STARS IN THE SKY
These are Amazons in 15th Century Russia, Tears is a warrior and Stars a merchant. Tears travels and adventures to seek fathers for her children but Stars would rather remain at home to raise her daughter and avoid excitement. “Not all Amazons are gay and not all Amazons are warriors” as Stars said to Janice.
Works include: Conversion, Adaption, Retreival.
Background papers that may help you understand the stories I write.
When I first started A Maid on Barsoom, I intended this to be a short story of maybe four pages to show an alien on an alien planet. Sort of an allegory to those who felt really out-of-place. After all, doesn't most SF follow this theme? John Carter was an alien on Mars, David Innes was an alien on Pellucidar. Tarzan was an alien among the Mangani? It's the conflict between the character and his attempts to fit in that make for the story. Ayiesha was simply another such event, only taken to extreme.
added later:
You may also notice that I have added a few more stories that have a different caption. These are non-Burroughs writings, mostly old stuff that I added here after my bitter ex-wife had the original site closed down. She couldn't deny that she cheated and such, she simply didn't want anyone to know about it. To many people, image is more important then integrity.
A Very Brief and Irreverant Explanation of Royalty on Earth and Barsoom.
Amazons.
A Brief History of Al-Islam
Then Family Tree of Ayiesha Penaut.
The characters in the Drakonis series
Weir Anatomy
S'tyr Anatomy
A map of the Commomwealth
Timeline for the Commonwealth and Human Expansion into the Milky Way Galaxy
Here are links to other stories that I have written over the years that range form the sacred to satire to erotic.
Some of my early work, non Burroughs but fun to write.
Military stories.
Unfortunately the story took off onto a direction of it’s own and I was obsessed with what would happen next. The oasis scene was originally planned as a rape-murder but that’s not how Ayiesha wanted it. I felt that I wasn’t writing the story myself but simply typing what Ayiesha dictated to me. It was similar to the feeling that Robert E. Howard described when asked about how he wrote the Conan stories, Howard said that he didn’t write them, he got the impression that he was in a bar listening to this guy talk about his past adventures and he simply took notes and dressed them up later.
That’s how I felt about Ayiesha. Unlike most of my other stories where I was in control, here, I felt like she was dictating her adventures and feelings to me. Thus my original four page story turned into at least three long stories of 100+ pages and a minor character became one of my favorite people. I admit that I was surprised when she seduced the Baron as I knew that he and Myrmadon were fated to be together in a later series.
Will there be a post-quil that involves her and Tulan? Perhaps. But right now those parts she told me are kinda dull and dealing with the politics between Barsoom and Gaea and frankly, I’m too bored with that to listen and find out what will happen next. I think it has something to do with the Morgors or Kalkers but I believe that I fell asleep then.
You may have noticed that I have written the fourth Ayiesha story in her Trilogy and somehow I managed to skip part III which happened after she returned to Barsoom. I was also interested to see how Myra developed emotions as I always thought that Lanai were far too logical to feel. One thing I liked about Weir-Lu is how shocked humans were when faced with an alien race that is so like them yet so different. Jean and Kitty, however, were supposed to be characters in another Pal-ul-Don story so I was concerned to see them here. Now I have to re-do the other story. Well, life is like that sometimes. (later note: the other story worked out better without Jean and Kitty)
To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
Return to the Home Page.
Return to the Amtor Page.
Return to the Barsoom Page.
Return to the Caspak Page.
Return to the Pal-ul-Don Page.
Return to the Pellucidar Page.
Return to the Va-Nah Page.
Return to the Lost Cities Page.
Return to the To Be Announced Page.
