09/03/2026
The Intervention of Stephen Conrad
by Brian Wayne Hand
Stephen Conrad has written twelve novels, sold millions of books, and perfected the art of pretending everything is fine.
He is not fine.
On the final night of a book tour he no longer believes in, the bestselling horror author returns to his hotel room with a flask, a notebook, and every intention of drinking away another sleepless night. His career is fading. His inspiration is gone. The stories that once defined him have become ghosts of a life he can barely recognize.
Then Ace Jackson appears.
Ace is Stephen's greatest creation. The detective he wrote to be everything Stephen never managed to become.
Ace is only the first.
Over the course of one long, airless Arizona night, eleven more visitors find their way into Room 412 of the Saguaro Inn. Some are fictional. Some are dead. Some are people Stephen wronged so quietly he almost convinced himself it didn't matter. Among them are the father he lost to the same addiction that is slowly claiming him, the woman he loved but never deserved, a forgotten fan whose life was changed by words Stephen no longer remembers writing, a small gray elephant from a children's book no one ever read, and Death himself, dressed in a perfect tuxedo.
None of them have come for revenge.
Stephen Conrad has written twelve novels, sold millions of books, and perfected the art of pretending everything is fine. He is not fine. On the final night of a book tour he no longer believes in, the bestselling horror author returns to his hotel room with a flask, a notebook, and every in...
