DEATH AND THE DEVIL hardcover

The hardcover edition is now available

A brilliantly dark and witty collection that reimagines cosmic forces with heart, humor, and humanity.

What happens when Death decides to take up haiku? When the Devil’s carefully laid plans go awry? When the Incarnation of War discovers that the only thing worse than war is when the dead don’t die?

In this delightfully inventive collection of short stories about Death, ancient cosmic entities find themselves navigating the absurdities of existence with the same confusion, determination, and occasional incompetence as the mortals they oversee. From poetry workshops to World War II, from speed dating disasters to bureaucratic nightmares that span millennia, these stories blend philosophical depth with unexpected humor.

Written in the tradition of Ingmar Bergman and Terry Pratchett, Death and the Devil offers a fresh and deeply human take on the forces we fear most. Each story is a clever exploration of mortality, duty, and identity as well as a genuinely touching reminder that even in a universe governed by cosmic constants, there’s always room for compassion, love, and the occasional well-crafted haiku.

The hardcover edition of DEATH AND THE DEVIL is now available at Amazon, at Barnes and Noble, and your local bookstore.

In honor of this event, I took the liberty of translating the text of one of the anthology’s stories into verse and music using Claude and Suno, which should suffice to demonstrate how the force-multiplication of AI enhancement can be utilized and combined for great effect.

WHEN THE MAIDEN MEETS THE REAPER

Beneath Avignon’s ancient stones where mortals drink and dance,
A maiden stood inside of time, well-suited for romance
She glimpsed beyond the darkest veil where certainty takes form
The reaper in his fearsome grace, his presence strangely warm.
While others feared the final dark, she met his eyeless gaze,
And smiled upon that paradox: the end of numbered days.

Time and again, Death returned though duty didn’t call,
Compelled by something strange to gods both great and small
An immortal incarnation beyond mortality
She questioned him with humble words: “What troubles such as thee?”
No fear adorned her countenance, no reverence, no prayer—
Just a woman’s heart with a capacity to care

What strange communion finds the heart that sees its own eclipse?
What bride would seek eternity upon those bony lips?
The universe conspires in Creation’s cruel design
When the maiden meets the reaper, the last of the summer wine

The hourglass holds finite sand, each grain in the tide
Yet in acknowledgment of time, the mortal must abide
What endless eons cannot know—the weight of moments spent,
The consciousness of ending that gives life its intent.
The maiden stood before the harvester, fearless to see,
She showed Death what he’d never known, a generosity

He learned the mortal art of verse, the sonnet’s measured breath,
While she observed the cosmic truth: that Life dances with Death.
In transience they found the truth that permanence conceals
That endings grant significance to all that life reveals

What strange communion finds the heart that sees its own eclipse?
What bride would seek eternity upon those cold, fleshless lips?
The universe conspires in creations cruel design
When the maiden meets the reaper, the last of the summer wine

The universe is stranger than we can comprehend
But sooner or later, we all come to the end
And not even the wisest man knows what you’re gonna find
When the maiden meets the reaper, the last of the summer wine