These two pieces began life as writing warm-up exercises for me during the early years of my novel-writing adventure. They're presented here to provide a small taste of what the novels have in store.

• I Daresay: The backstory from the Red Chicken Rising spaceship miniature wargame rules. This piece started out in July 2000 as a writing exercise shortly after I decided to start writing a series of novels. This piece includes the first appearances of Jake, Agrippa, and Emily. The scene described herein is retold, from a different viewpoint, in Chapter 17 of the first novel.
• Grappling Hook: Another writing exercise featuring Jake, this one from July 2002.