Mark Gagnon
Bio
My life has been spent traveling here and abroad. Now it's time to write.
I have three published books: Mitigating Circumstances, Short Stories for Open Minds, and Short Stories from an Untethered Mind. Unmitigated Greed is do out soon.
Achievements (1)
Stories (465)
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When Good Luck Turns Bad
It was the lottery ticket's fault. At least that’s what he kept telling himself. If Cory hadn’t won the third-place prize, he never would have been in this situation. Winning a million dollars wasn’t a bad thing; it gave him the opportunity to fulfill his childhood dream of reaching the top of the world’s tallest buildings. Cory spent days researching, selecting which buildings made his list, and obtaining the necessary travel visas. He booked his flights, train tickets, accommodations, and he was ready to go.
By Mark Gagnonabout 23 hours ago in Horror
The Family Riches
According to family legend, our massive wealth originated from the creative genius and business acumen of my great-great-great, Grandfather Oliver Dooley. Ever since I was a young child, my parents and grandparents talked about this ancestor as though he were a cross between a conqueror and God himself. The older I got, the less believable I found these tales of his grand exploits to be. I began questioning the family lore. When I did, my elders would give me a disgusted look, point to our time- worn family bible, and exclaim, “If you don’t believe me, look it up. The family history is all in the book.”
By Mark Gagnon4 days ago in Fiction
The Guardian
Alexander had mixed emotions about reconnecting with someone he hadn’t seen since he was five. A lot had changed over the last thirteen years. Would Dr. Jason remember him, and had the doctor’s current life altered him since the last time they were together? Alexander was filled with questions for the Doctor. How had Jason managed to survive living among the Jinkinki and the Beast Masters, and was there anything left of the civilization he remembered as a boy? Probably the most important question Alexander could think of was, did the good doctor know how to destroy the evil invaders?
By Mark Gagnon14 days ago in Fiction
When Gods Die
Have you ever wondered what happens to all these deities dating back to the beginning of time when people stop acknowledging their existence? Do they simply cease to exist, evaporating into the cosmos, their immortality revoked, or are they banished to live among the mortals? If that’s how it works, imagine how a former god feels when forced to live alongside a species that once worshiped him. Life would become very complicated for the demoted celestial, having to move every ten or twenty years because your neighbors would eventually notice that you never aged while they grew older.
By Mark Gagnon21 days ago in Humans
The Barn
It’s not that I don’t like Boston; on the contrary, it’s a great city if city life is what you want. I’m just through with all the noise and inconvenience that goes along with it. I wanted quiet roads, trees, starry nights, and crickets. I wanted to build a house in Williamstown, MA. My realtor called and told me about a plot of land she felt would be perfect for me. The only extra expense I would have would be the demolition of a dilapidated barn. A fire had destroyed the house more than 100 years ago. I looked at the pictures she sent, found the location on Google Maps, and bought the plot sight unseen. The following weekend, I packed up the car and headed for Western Massachusetts.
By Mark Gagnon25 days ago in Fiction
The Guardian Chapter V . Top Story - February 2026.
Alexander left his Coming of Age ceremony with Cronos and the elders with as many new questions as he had answers for his old questions. Cronos had confirmed his suspicions were correct. Not only was there a link between the Beast Masters and the inhabitants of the Citadel, but it was the Citadel's fault that the Beast Masters existed in the first place. Instead of banishing the law breakers which allowed them to wreak havoc on the rest of humanity, the Citadel elders should have stripped them of their powers before they became too strong. Now Alexander would need to battle the Beast Masters and the Jikininki. It would be difficult for him to forgive the Citadel Elders because their poor decisions led to the deaths of his parents and more than half the planet's human population.
By Mark Gagnon27 days ago in Chapters
Salt and Sea
“Mom, how did you and Dad choose my name?” “I was wondering if you would ever ask that question, sweetie. Since your dad is a commercial fisherman and I like all things connected to the ocean, we thought we should give you a name connected to the sea. We couldn’t name you Neptune because you’re a girl, and if we named you Huixtocihuatl after the Aztec goddess of sea and salt, you’d spend the rest of your life teaching people how to pronounce your name. That’s why your dad and I settled on Maris, meaning of the sea in Latin. It’s short, easy to pronounce and spell, and pays tribute to the thing we feel a strong connection to. Maybe you’ll feel that bond someday.”
By Mark Gagnonabout a month ago in Horror
The Book
There was a time when reading bored me to tears. When I was young, my mother would call me over to her and say, “Come sit next to me and I’ll read you a story.” My standard response was either “I want to go out and play,” or “I’m building something with my Legos right now.” As you might imagine, school was twelve arduous years of reprimands, poor test grades, and detentions. Had I not been such a good athlete, I would have never graduated. At least I didn’t graduate at the very bottom of my class; that distinction belonged to Jack. I was next to last.
By Mark Gagnonabout a month ago in Fiction
The Guardian Chapter 4 Learning the Truth
It had been five years since Alexander and Leo had their encounter with the Cthulhu and thirteen years since the Beast Masters and their living dead army, known as Jikininki, killed his parents and decimated his hometown of Tranquility. Since Draco the Dragon had rescued him from a pack of hungry Dire wolves and brought him to the Citadel to live, he had grown from a five-year-old child to an eighteen-year-old on the verge of adulthood. He had studied hard and mastered every challenge Actus and the other elders had presented. Now, he was through with all the double talk, the evasive tactics, the “You’ll be told when you're older
By Mark Gagnon2 months ago in Fiction
Guardians of Knowledge
David continued to pump gas for the next three month while searching for work. The job market was tight for people without a specific trade. He learned quickly that the technology field had no interest in someone without a degree in electronics or coding. He considered looking for work at one of the paper mills in the neighboring town of Fitchburg, but that wasn’t any different than working in a plastics factory. He even considered rejoining the Army or maybe the Air Force because the living conditions are better. The one thing he was sure of was that time was continuing to surge ahead, and his life was at a standstill.
By Mark Gagnon2 months ago in Chapters
