The Chain Story is a cooperative effort, conceived by Michael A. Stackpole, where a whole group of authors share new work with their audiences and each other’s. Each author provides a story for free for a limited time, which everyone else shares with their own readers, highlighting new and exciting work by authors those readers may have missed. Each story becomes part of the chain by using bits and pieces of a central plot, which will expand as the project continues. The more you read, the more you will come to understand what’s going on between the world.

If you like this idea, please let the authors know and support them in their work. The easiest way to do that, aside from buying stories, is to share news about The Chain Story on social media.

To learn more, go to The Chain Story project.

Aaron Rosenberg and Robert Greenberger, two of Crazy 8’s co-founders, were already planning to do Sword & Sorcery stories again for the forthcoming Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2026, so they decided to join in on the Chain Story fun. Their efforts are now available as individual PDFs below. (And yes, they will also be included in TAY 2026).

Aaron’s tale, “The Cursed Cuff,” follows barbarian Birr Blackjaw and his friends as they seek to aid a damsel in distress by retrieving an ancient artifact from a mad cultist.

Both their contributions are follow-ups to their stories from Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025, so if you already liked those characters you’re in for another treat. And if you didn’t read those stories, enjoy meeting them for the first time!