3 Takes

Ark Press Authors

Apr 28, 2026

1. If Harry Potter Didn’t Exist

2. The Underwater Room

3. Flags on Mars

1. Larry Correia

If Harry Potter Didn’t Exist

When I was starting out, what author-jealous petty people whined about was J. K. Rowling, because she was the one making piles of money. They acted like if only the absolute sales juggernaut of Harry Potter didn’t exist, then all those millions of Harry Potter fans would go to them instead. What utter fucking bullshit. If Harry Potter didn’t exist, then odds are they still wouldn’t buy your book, because why would they? They’d buy something else they’d actually heard of, or for many of them, they wouldn’t read anything at all. In reality, all those kids who bought Harry Potter and stayed reading, continued buying books from lots of different people for the next couple decades, expanding in taste and genre. . .

If you want to be successful, take that whole jealousy based concept of fairness and throw it in the trash, because it is defeatist garbage that will only weigh you down. Every single author in the world can name another author who they think is talentless garbage, but who makes far more money than we do. “Ugh. Why does it have to be that idiot and not me?” we whine, and nobody cares. That’s pretty normal for artists, regardless of art form. Whining about some other creator because you think it’s unfair they won the lottery and you didn’t, don’t accomplish shit.

Source. Pre-order American Paladin by Larry Correia.

2. Andrew M. Dare

The Underwater Room

He couldn’t quite see. The opening between the door and the safe was narrow. But it might just be wide enough to get his hand inside.

Ben suddenly remembered his dad’s advice about sharks. There could be a shark inside there. More likely, an eel. Probably not a great idea to stick your hands in strange, dark holes in general.

But this place has been closed off for decades, Ben thought. I just broke a hatch to get down here. There can’t be anything living down here. I don’t think.

Despite this, it was creepy reaching inside the safe. He pulled on the safe door. It wouldn’t budge, so he put his hand through the opening, then squeezed more of his arm through and felt around. His hand landed on something soft and slimy.

He yanked his hand free with a shiver of disgust. What could that be?

Steeling his nerves, he forced himself to reach back inside.

Excerpt from American Treasure Hunters: The Hunt for Confederate Gold. Pre-order The Hunt for Confederate Gold by Andrew M. Dare.

3. Travis J. I. Corcoran

Flags on Mars

“The band began again, and “The Star-Spangled Banner” rang out across the field. The halyard snapped as it was hoisted with a sturdy and solemn hand. The American flag went up first. Then, following it, a new flag. It hung vertically, and for a moment the design was unclear—then it resolved itself into the blue field, white star, and one red and one white stripe of the Texas ‘Lone Star’ flag . . . but then a third flag was clipped to the rope and was raised. A cheer broke out from those closest to the flagpole, but there was quiet from those further away, who couldn’t yet make out the design. As the flag rose, the cheering rippled outward. Only after it was halfway up the pole did the wind from the dome weather fans catch it, causing it to snap and reveal itself. The third flag looked, at first, like the banner of the Martian Republic, but it had been refashioned.”