When W.C. Lumin, an author of best-selling bodice-busters, historical potboilers, romantic tear-jerkers, crime thrillers and fantasy fiction summons his family, literary agent and publisher to his remote Gothic mansion, they are shocked to hear that he is suffering from a terminal wasting disease. But as they rub their hands at the prospect of inheriting his fortune, he drops a bombshell ? a dramatic advance in medical science offers the hope of a cure. However, despite his failing health, he must continue to publish novels to finance the operation. And so he makes his guests an offer they cannot refuse . . . each must write a short story as the basis of a new W.C. Lumin blockbuster. If they agree, they will be rewarded with a share of his fortune. If not, he will cut them out of his will without a penny.

Cover illustration by Amelie Ahern-Williams