Author Archive
Welcome to the March 2023 issue of my newsletter, “News from the Crypt,” and please visit Carter’s Crypt, devoted to my horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance work, especially focusing on vampires and shapeshifting beasties. If you have a particular fondness for vampires, check out the chronology of my series in the link labeled “Vanishing Breed Vampire Universe.”
Also, check out the multi-author Alien Romances Blog
You can subscribe to this monthly newsletter here:
For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
My erotic paranormal romance novella “Romantic Retreat” was published by the Wild Rose Press on February 22. When Gail’s husband, Matt, retires from the Navy, she looks forward to romantic interludes and long-postponed travels to rekindle the spark in their marriage. But Matt is fixated on finding a high-paid—and high-stress—civilian job. If only she could get him alone long enough to seduce him into listening to her concerns. Then she acquires a curious antique, a miniature house with the magical power to transport its owner into an enchanted space, the perfect setting for a romantic getaway. Cloistered there together, Gail and Matt have twenty-four hours to settle their differences:
Amazon page: Romantic Retreat on Amazon
The Wild Rose Press page, with links to all major retailers:
Another excerpt appears below. Gail doesn’t believe the “magic spell” on the model house, created by her favorite obscure Edwardian author of fantasy novels, will really work, until. . . .
Also, I’ve self-published TENTACLES AND WEDDING BELLS, comprising two linked stories originally released by Ellora’s Cave, “In the Tentacles of Love” and “Weird Wedding Guest.” These steamy, humorous paranormal romances feature a pair of half-alien hybrid twins, one of them mostly human, the other looking a lot more like their father. The duology contains many allusions to Lovecraft’s fiction, which I had a lot of fun with.
The Amazon Kindle page:
Tentacles and Wedding Bells on Amazon
The Draft2Digital page, for links to other vendors:
Tentacles and Wedding Bells on Draft2Digital
In this issue I’m interviewing mystery author Jo A. Hiestand.
*****
Interview with Jo A. Hiestand:
What inspired you to begin writing?
As a teenager and a young adult, I wanted to replicate the books I read and loved – The Hound of the Baskervilles, Jane Eyre, Scales of Justice, Message From Hong Kong… I was engulfed by the books’ locations and the feelings of mystery and emotions they produced. But I wanted to fill them with my own characters and storylines, yet retain the overall mood of those authors’ novels. I always had that in my mind as something I needed to do, but I didn’t attempt it until later in life.
What genres do you work in?
I write mysteries, of which I have two current series. The McLaren Mysteries are a British “classic” series in that there is a main protagonist (a former police detective) who investigates cold cases on his own. I also write The Cookies & Kilts Mysteries, which are a US-based cozy mystery series in the amateur sleuth vein.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
Oh no, I have to outline. I begin by building a mind map of the characters. First, I create a victim and plop him in the center of the map. For example, he’s a 21-year-old musician, wanting to turn pro, but his father is against it and says the lad needs to spend his time working on the farm, not singing, and should take over the farm when it’s time. But the victim loves music more than farm work. He has a slightly older female singing partner. They get local gigs but want to branch out and appear at larger venues. Okay, that’s his basic info. Then I figure out friends and associates and family who he would have in his life: a girlfriend, his singing partner and her husband, a rival musician, a former school mate, a parent, etc. Right here with the mind map I have set up possible friction between the girlfriend and the singing partner, between the victim and the husband, between the victim and his father. There will be more, of course. This is good because these character personalities drive the plot instead of the plot driving what the characters should do. I like this! I give them all personalities and names. Then I figure out who among the group has reason to hate the victim and hate him enough to kill him. This makes the people “alive”, and I create the story around this: jealousy between the two women, the rival musician’s envy of the victim, anger between the father and victim, etc. I write the plot in chunks of paragraphs and mark them into days on a timeline. A lot of ideas come to me after this initial flurry of brain activity – sometimes wakes me up at night – so I add the thoughts to the outline. The whole plotting process is very fluid; I can change ideas and delete things and add/delete/change characters. Basically, just tweak it all. I have to have it written down so the timeline makes sense, and I can refer to what happened at what point in the storyline.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors, life experiences, or whatever)? Who are your role models as writers of mystery fiction?
Well, Ngaio Marsh, one of the four queens of the Golden Age of Mystery writing, is my absolute favorite mystery author. Her characters are marvelous, and her plots are also excellent! Other authors I like include Daphne du Maurier, P.D. James, Josephine Tey, Mary Stewart, and Mignon Eberhart, to name a few. The moods and landscapes are great, adding to the feel of the books.
I don’t know if I have a role model. I think I write in my own style, although I have read so many books by the aforementioned authors that some of them may have influenced my voice.
What kinds of background research do you do for your novels?
I do a LOT of research. Having lived in and vacationed in Britain, I am familiar with a great portion of Derbyshire and Lancashire. And a bit of Scotland, although not as much as the two places in England. Many of those places appear in my novels. But unfamiliar spots need research. I look on YouTube for videos of the villages or surrounding countryside. I consult maps to see nearby villages and especially roads and motorways. I look up moon phases and sunrise/sunset times for the dates of my story, so I don’t say it was still sunny at 6:30 pm during the winter in Edinburgh when the sun actually sets at 4:30! If someone in the story is fishing, I need to check if the fishing season is open or closed, the types of fish found in that river, are permits needed or is it strictly fishing via a fishing club. I have a book on British wildlife (birds, mammals, trees, plants) and I see what’s growing where my story is set so I don’t say McLaren pulled some burdock from his shoelaces when burdock doesn’t grow on the moor, or state that a certain bird is seen in the summer when it only frequents that section of Britain in the winter. In my book Related By Murder I had to research the beginning age restriction for serving in the British Army, what medals were given out for a specific conflict, and why these medals would be given to the recipient. I also needed another conflict or war that was going on near the same time as the Falkland Islands War and those dates and what regiments were involved in that. I’ve looked up what school badges for school uniforms look like and the equivalent school grades for various pupils’ ages, what sorts of ranks and jobs exist for cooks on submarines in the Royal Navy, police terminology and differences between the English and Scottish police. I research just about everything. I hate mistakes and try to avoid them. If some author does write that the sun was shining at 6:30 pm in Edinburgh in December, for example, that’s a sign of a lazy writer, in my opinion. It’s easily looked up. Many readers won’t know about summer/winter birds or ranks of seamen in the Royal Navy, but if I have it wrong and if a reader does know, the mistake pulls him out of my story, and he wonders what else is incorrect in the book. Of course, I will still make mistakes, despite my best efforts, but I try to whittle down the possible faux pas for my novels by looking in reference books or online, or asking questions of my English police friends.
Please tell us about your various series.
Well, the McLaren Mystery series takes place in Britain and features Michael McLaren, a former Detective Inspector with the Staffordshire Constabulary. He’s now residing in Derbyshire, England and repairing dry stone walls for his living. He quit his job due to a great injustice and he now investigates cold cases on his own – usually when a friend or family member of the victim asks him for help, because he has a great passion for justice (stemming from his own experience). To date, the books have been set in Derbyshire, Cumbria, Cheshire, and Scotland. In a few books, however, McLaren is asked to solve current mysteries (such as in Hide and Seek, when a murder occurs during a party at the home of his best friend), but the bulk of the stories deal with cold case mysteries. That’s the main focus of the books in that series, of which I have seventeen at the moment.
I have a second series that is amateur sleuth cozy mysteries. These are set in a fictitious town in Missouri. This is the Cookies & Kilts Mysteries and revolves around Kate Dunbar, who owns a pet bakery. She, of course, gets involved in solving mysteries. There is either a dog or cat in each book. For instance, the second book (A Trifling Murder, revolving around Robert Burns’ birthday celebration) features a Scottie dog who gives Kate some clues to solve the mystery. The third book (A Drizzle of Trouble) features two cats; a Scottish Fold and a Siberian Forest provide the solution help. These aren’t “talking animal” books, nor are they cutesy. They are a bit edgier than the usual cozies, but they aren’t blood and gore. The murders, as in the McLaren series, happen off stage. The Cookies & Kilts are lighter than McLaren but hopefully as entertaining, although there are light scenes in McLaren when he and his best mate, Jamie, kid around during their chats, for instance.
How did you come to design a mystery-solving game, and what’s it like?
Wow, I can’t believe you know about that! Years ago (more than I will relate), a friend and I got the idea, but I can’t recall how (my memory doesn’t stretch that far back). We both loved to read mystery novels. Pirates and treasure hunting were really big at the time, so we devised a game where players would hunt for treasure by reading a short account based on an actual pirate or event from the pirate’s life. We fictionalized a segment of the account in order to develop our mystery story. We named the game P.I.R.A.T.E.S., which stands for People In Research and Treasure Exploration Society. Game players are “members” of this society whose goal is to rescue historical treasures for placement in museums and to keep them out of the hands of private collectors. The players have resource people they can go to for information – a librarian, an archaeologist, a diver, a lighthouse keeper, etc. – but not every person will have information for that particular case, so the players have to choose the resource people wisely because they are allowed only so many people to help. There is a wealth of actual physical objects they can look at: song lyrics, poems, maps, scraps of fabric, photographs, etc. Again, not every object pertains to that case which the players are working. From the information gleaned from the one-page story, the resource people, and the physical objects, the players must discern what the treasure is and where it is located. Each of these little pirate stories is a “case” that players get from the Society and must interpret and solve. There are six cases in this first series, each one based on a real pirate.
We then developed a second series of the game – still called P.I.R.A.T.E.S., due to the Society, but it centers around real British things such as the history behind a nursery rhyme, Mary Queen of Scots’ casket letters, a medieval musical instrument, the architecture of an old castle, and so on. There are different resource people and different physical objects to consult, and eight cases in the second series.
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
I just completed book #17 of the McLaren Mysteries, Overdue. It came out at the end of January. It’s a slight departure from the norm in that McLaren is asked to help solve a string of current on-going murders happening in Derbyshire. All the crime scenes look very similar, and the murders occur a month apart. Time to nab the killer is running out if they want to stop him (or her) from the presumed next murder — unless he’s overdue with his normal schedule. So, McLaren’s trying to solve three murders that have happened (not really cold cases, but they haven’t been solved yet) as well as hoping to uncover the killer’s identity in order to prevent a fourth murder. And of course, some personal problems are thrown in to cause more tension!
What are you working on now?
Since I’ve finished Overdue, I’m in the midst of plotting the next McLaren mystery, most likely titled The Cottage. McLaren drives up to Cumbria, to the home of Melanie, his lady love, to help her pack for her move down to his village in Derbyshire. He’s asked by one of her friends to look into a cold case involving a relative who was found at a deserted cottage – what was the person doing there? He reluctantly agrees to look into it, and is busy with that investigation while helping Melanie pack up her belongings and get the house on the market. Of course, other things happen to throw a wrench into the timeline, but that’s the gist of it at the moment.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
About the best thing I can tell anyone is to keep trying. Be in this for the long haul. Don’t get discouraged by rejections or lackluster sales. It takes time to get your name known. Very few authors are overnight successes, so please keep writing and getting your books out.
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
I have a website: Jo Hiestand and it shows short summations of all my books, gives lists of my audiobooks with actual audio samples so you can hear a portion of the book prior to purchase, and has a section of links to my book trailers on YouTube. I’m rather fond of the trailers!
I’m also on Facebook,
Instagram,
and on Pinterest.
I post regularly to all three of these sites, as well as have a bi-quarterly newsletter that I email to subscribers. You can sign up for that on my website, if interested.
I have a YouTube channel. I think it’s fun because it not only has book trailers of all my books but also has short videos of the five main characters of the McLaren Mysteries: Mystery Author on YouTube. Those are great to watch, I think, because you get to learn a bit about the characters and how they interact. I also think it gives them greater depth and you might enjoy the series more by knowing about Melanie or Charlie Harvester, for example.
I guess that’s it. Thank you for giving me this interview time, Margaret. It’s been fun. I hope your readers find my ramblings interesting. Jo
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
THE HOUSE AT THE END OF THE WORLD, by Dean Koontz. I like this book more than some of Koontz’s other recent novels. Although his obsession with the theme of society going to perdition because it’s dominated by a cabal of narcissistic sociopaths is present, that preoccupation doesn’t dominate the story. The widowed heroine, Katie, lives alone on a private island, meeting nobody except on her rare trips into the nearest town. Keeping her promise to her late husband that she’ll go on living, she’s content with her books, the gourmet meals she cooks for herself, and the artwork she creates. So far, she hasn’t needed the protection of her fortress-like house or the guns she owns. Her illusion of safety shatters when drones fly over her home and an explosion, possibly a depth charge, roils the river. She knows these developments must have something to do with the nearby larger island, Ringrock, site of a shadowy government installation. But why do two men from an agency she’s never heard of come around to question her? Who or what are they searching for? Meanwhile, we meet the other viewpoint character, fourteen-year-old Libby, whose parents hold high positions in the secret lab on Ringrock. Bright and athletic, she’s aware they don’t love her; she and they share only mutual respect. Unlike Katie, she knows a bit about the Ringrock project, since she has sneaked looks at her father’s journal. Flashbacks skillfully reveal, little by little, the heartbreaking events that drove Katie to become a recluse and the truth about the entity confined on Ringrock. An alien organism brought back from the International Space Station, if not eliminated (as the scientists and military personnel in on the secret are trying to do, although with scant consideration for civilians who might be endangered in the process) it may place the entire world at risk. After a terrifying home invasion, Libby, left alone on her parents’ island, courageously makes her way by boat to Katie’s island. They flee together, pursued by a government agent, and bond over their shared danger. They’re accompanied not by a golden retriever, as one would usually expect in a Dean Koontz novel, but by an inexplicably tame fox who tags along everywhere Katie goes. The suspense is absorbing, the balance between down time and acute danger well structured, the body horror scenes gruesome, and the warm connection between the two main characters emotionally strong. The antagonists, a rarity in a Dean Koontz book, have believable motives instead of aspiring to destroy the universe for their own gain (like the villains in a certain vintage cartoon). Libby’s father sincerely believes the quasi-Lovecraftian, protean creature code-named Moloch has incomprehensible but possibly benign purposes. The other bad guys are either obeying orders or trying to save their own lives. A fast-paced but not frenetic thriller with a satisfying conclusion for Katie and Libby’s “found family.” One complaint: For no apparent reason, the whole thing is narrated in present tense, including the flashbacks. One of the few legitimate uses for that device (in my opinion) is to distinguish present action from flashbacks, so Koontz is pointlessly confusing the reader.
DIREWOOD, by Catherine Yu. This YA novel elegantly deconstructs the tropes of teenage vampire romance. Yes, the vampire is seductive, but he’s also clearly dangerous. Even in full awareness of that truth, the narrator, Aja, has trouble resisting his blandishments. As a child of the only ethnically Asian family in their upscale suburban neighborhood, she feels she doesn’t fit and can never quite measure up. Her older sister, Fiona, on the other hand, assimilates smoothly and excels at everything. Bizarre signs portend the advent of evil in their town—ominous fog, parasitic caterpillars, and flocks of strange butterflies. Teenagers disappear. A hypnotic voice calls to Aja in the night. However, it’s Fiona, the “perfect” daughter, who vanishes. Surely she can’t have run away from home, so the adults assume she’s been kidnapped or murdered. Deciding the vampire, Padraic, must have ensnared her, Aja decides to let him lure her to his lair, where she hopes to find and save her sister before it’s too late. Deep in the forbidden forest outside of town, he takes her to an abandoned, decaying church. There he dwells with a cruel female vampire, Kate, and the missing kids, who adore the monsters and compete for their attention. The flesh-eating caterpillars infest the site with an atmosphere of skin-crawling body horror that serves as a concrete symbol of undead corruption. The enthralled victims claim they haven’t seen Fiona, but Aja finds evidence that suggests they’re lying. And does something that horrifies even the vampires lurk in the cellar below the church? Amid the darkly Gothic atmosphere, Aja struggles to maintain her perspective, tempted to believe the often charming Padraic retains some trace of humanity but aware she mustn’t let down her guard. An unexpected ally joins her, opening her eyes to the nature of true friendship. She also discovers she never really understood Fiona. In the end, Aja survives, as implied by her first-person narrative perspective, but far from unscathed or unchanged. Although the forest and the clearing where the church now stands as a crime scene soon heal from the supernatural infestation, the town must grieve and the survivors deal with the aftereffects of the trauma.
THE SCARLET CIRCUS, by Jane Yolen. This story collection follows her earlier volumes THE EMERALD CIRCUS and THE MIDNIGHT CIRCUS, this time with an overall theme of “love,” although, as Yolen’s introduction acknowledges, the contents may stretch our familiar concepts of that term, and it’s not always romantic love. Some highlights: “Dusty Loves,” the woes of a faerie man who keeps falling in love with mortal women, as told by his long-suffering sibling. “Unicorn Tapestry,” embroidery and magic used to save a hunted unicorn. “A Ghost of an Affair,” a fresh take on time-crossed lovers. “The Sword and the Stone,” an Arthurian tale with the variation that Merlin presents the sword in the stone as a challenge for Arthur after he has already become king, along with a twist on the trope of the aspiring young knight in disguise. “The Sea Man,” in which a seventeenth-century Dutch ship captures a merman. “The Erotic in Faerie: The Footnotes,” exactly what it says, consisting entirely of a list of footnotes, from which the reader must infer the contents of the “lost” document; I love this kind of meta-fiction. As a delightful bonus feature, the book ends with author’s notes on the writing of each story, accompanied by a poem associated with the subject of each one.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
For other reviews of older vampire fiction, posted on the fifteenth of each month, visit the VampChix blog: VampChix
*****
Excerpt from “Romantic Retreat”:
As soon as she heard Matt’s car pull into the driveway, she hurried downstairs to meet him at the door. His rib-squeezing hug sent the usual pleasant sparks along her nerves. She ordered herself to ignore the potential distraction. If his interview had produced positive results, they’d have serious matters to discuss.
Even before asking, she could tell from his relaxed smile that the day had gone well. “Everything’s great,” he confirmed as he strode up to the bedroom, shedding coat and tie on the way.
She trailed after him. “So they want to hire you?”
“Ninety-nine percent sure.” He retreated into the bathroom and emerged a couple of minutes later with his shirt off. He tossed it into the hamper, replaced it with a polo shirt and changed his black leather shoes for loafers. “They said they’d call next Monday with the final decision. If they make an offer, of course I’ll accept.”
“Of course?” Leaning against her dresser, she folded her arms. “Did I miss the part where we talked this over first?”
Seated on his side of the bed, he glanced up at her, his eyebrows arching. “What’s to talk about? Didn’t we decide this was the logical next step?”
“What’s this ‘we’? You decided. Maybe I’m not thrilled with the idea of moving to D.C. Or moving at all, for that matter.”
His faint frown looked honestly puzzled. “All the other moves have turned out fine. You’ve always been okay with each new place after we’ve adjusted, haven’t you?”
“That’s different. I signed up for the military moves when I married you. This time we have a choice.”
“What’s to choose? You want me to turn down a good job with a great salary?”
She unfolded her arms and forced her hunched shoulders to relax. “Salary isn’t everything. At least let’s think it over instead of jumping right in. I bet they’d want you to start immediately, wouldn’t they?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Don’t you want to relax a little before you plunge into a new career? What about that trip to Scotland and Ireland we’ve talked about?”
“There’s plenty of time for that later.”
“Time? What if ‘later’ never gets here?” Catching herself almost screaming, she lowered her voice. “When was the last trip we took that wasn’t a change-of-station move or going to see relatives?” Their most recent “vacation” had been a visit to the final surviving member of the older generation in her family, her aunt in Baltimore, who had died the previous year. Gail picked up the miniature cottage, reminded of the romantic getaway fantasy that didn’t seem likely to materialize anytime soon.
He walked over to her and placed a tentative hand on her shoulder as if soothing a restless pet. “Well—I don’t exactly remember.”
“Imagine that. Neither do I.”
“Hey, what’s this?” He ran his fingers over the model in her hand. “Amazing craftsmanship.”
“It’s a replica of a house in one of my favorite books, a retirement gift from Javonne. As if you’re retiring in any real sense of the word.”
The sarcastic edge in her voice provoked him to another frown. “Be reasonable. We’re nowhere near Social Security age. You knew we wouldn’t be embarking on a life of leisure.”
“And you know I don’t expect that. Don’t twist my words. I just want you to consider the options.” Hopeless—he’d made up his mind. If only she could whisk him away to that magical retreat where he’d have no alternative but to listen. Seized by a mad impulse, she picked up the slip of paper she’d left on the dresser. She curled the fingers of her other hand over his. With both of them grasping the model, she read aloud: “Aperio, ineo, ingressio, remaneo, fruor.”
“Say what?”
Just as she opened her mouth to answer him, the floor shuddered. Her fingers went limp, dropping the paper and the miniature. The walls and furniture faded to mist. She threw her arms around Matt. A shriek escaped her as everything went gray. She closed her eyes while the house rocked as if hit by an earthquake.
“What the hell?” He hugged her tightly to his chest, his heart pounding under her ear.
Seconds later, the dizzying motion stopped. She ventured a peek. Their bedroom had disappeared. They stood in the middle of a parlor with wood-paneled walls, a bearskin rug on the floor, and the antlered head of a deer over the fireplace.
“Oh, my God, it worked!”
-end of excerpt-
*****
The long-time distributor of THE VAMPIRE’S CRYPT has closed its website. If you would like to read any issue of this fanzine, which contains fiction, interviews, and a detailed book review column, e-mail me to request the desired issue, and I’ll send you a free PDF of it. My e-mail address is at the end of this newsletter. Find information about the contents of each issue on this page of my website:
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Carter Kindle Books
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“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter
Welcome to the February 2023 issue of my newsletter, “News from the Crypt,” and please visit Carter’s Crypt, devoted to my horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance work, especially focusing on vampires and shapeshifting beasties. If you have a particular fondness for vampires, check out the chronology of my series in the link labeled “Vanishing Breed Vampire Universe.” For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
For other reviews of older vampire fiction, posted on the fifteenth of each month, visit the VampChix blog.
Also, check out the multi-author Alien Romances Blog
You can subscribe to this monthly newsletter here:
For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
My annual vampire fiction bibliography update, covering mostly titles from 2022, is now available. If you’d like a copy of this file, please contact me at: MLCVamp@aol.com
Later this month, my erotic paranormal romance novella “Romantic Retreat” will be re-released. As Gail and her husband prepare for his retirement from the Navy, she’s desperate to have a long, serious talk about their future. To make that happen, she resorts to trapping him in an enchanted cottage in a pocket dimension for a day and a night. An excerpt appears below.
In this month of Valentine’s Day, I’m interviewing Stella Grae, author of erotic romance as well as other genres.
*****
Interview with Stella Grae:
What inspired you to begin writing?
My inspiration for writing came from reading great books from authors like Steinbeck, Hemingway, Agatha Christie, and there are so many others. An excellent story can suck in its reader and evoke a strong response to the character, the presence of place. That’s what made me want to write—the power and influence words can have on my readers.
What genres do you work in?
I work in all genres—erotica, nonfiction, poetry, suspense, contemporary works—I’m even a copywriter. I’ve been writing for a long time and have had some success. At some point, I remember being frustrated with lack of success in mainstream writing and turned to erotica, as this was before it got really popular with the 50 Shades brand. As it turns out, I was pretty good at it, and I love how I can really dig into a character through sexual expression. I really enjoy writing and switching genres to suit my mood. I try not to pigeonhole myself too much because creativity (for me) has to also include diversity.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I’m definitely a “wing it” sort of writer. I like and seem to thrive getting caught in the moment with my characters. It sounds very bohemian, but I tend to immerse myself in the character. I like the authenticity that I get in my writing by just going with the flow. And it’s not that I don’t think about the story arc, but I don’t always commit it to paper. A lot of my planning to write is done in my head.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors, life experiences, or whatever)?
I’m definitely drawn to the classics—Steinbeck, Hemingway, and I studied Russian and French writers—the works of authors from the French Theater of the Absurd had a huge impact on my impression of writing, and on the aesthetic I wanted to create in my stories. With erotica, life experience has definitely played a great role; in fact, there’s very little that I’ve written that hasn’t been touched in some way by my experiences. I write in my blog about JUST CALL ME CONFIDENCE and how I wrote it to keep my desires in check—I wanted to remain faithful to my partner at the time and writing was a better choice than doing!
How have your careers as an English professor and an editor affected your fiction writing?
My careers as a professor and editor have broadened my reading horizons; I’ve read and enjoyed writing that I otherwise wouldn’t have picked up. I am also more aware of story arcs, conflict, character development (because I teach it), and I’m definitely a stickler for grammar! I hope that’s garnered a “favorite author” status with editors—or at least I’m not known as a needy pain in the proverbial ass.
What would you say are the main challenges in writing erotic romance?
My biggest challenge is writing sex scenes that are not too choreographed, or even too graphic. Love and sex are organic in the real world; most people want to read erotica that can let them sample another life without actually having to live that life. Writing scenes in between that are not too stilted, and that progress the plot, is challenging, too. I like to think that the story in erotica is just as important as the sex that it leads to.
Please tell us about your blog.
Bone Up is my blog and it’s going to be a fun, flirty collection of ideas about love and sex. Some things will be based on experience and some things will be based on what’s popular, what my readers want me to discuss. I hope that it’s a place where my readers, or anyone for that matter, will be free to express thoughts about the ever-changing landscape of love and sexuality.
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
My next book finds my heroine of JUST CALL ME CONFIDENCE, Jenna Craig, in hot water after turning down an invitation to join a naughty group of ladies who have created a sort of cheating club. Fans of Jenna’s friend, Fielding, will be happy to see that she plays a starring role as well.
I’m also writing some poetry and nonfiction. I have a couple short stories that will be appearing in anthologies. There will be a lot of creative endeavors in 2023.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on an erotic anthology of my short stories and plugging away on the sequel to JUST CALL ME CONFIDENCE. Of course…marketing—always marketing. Gotta up my IG and Twitter game!
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
I think the most important piece of advice I would give would be this: keep writing. Write anything. Write everything. Just write, write, write. You will produce things that are bad, things that are good, and a few things that are great. If you don’t write, you produce nothing. Practice is the path to success.
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
Website: Stella Grae
Instagram
Twitter
AllAuthor
Goodreads
Email: stellagrae@proton.me
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
CONAN: BLOOD OF THE SERPENT, by S. M. Stirling. A prequel to the Robert E. Howard novella “Red Nails,” which this volume includes as a bonus. Stirling’s novel recounts how Conan the Barbarian first meets Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, the warrior woman of “Red Nails.” While the two of them are serving together in a mercenary company, Valeria falls afoul of a priest of Set, the serpent god. After she flees for her life, the villain pursues her into the wilderness, and Conan follows in an attempt to warn her (he wouldn’t dare say “rescue” to her face). Many desperate fights, visits to exotic locales, and encounters with strange creatures ensue. Fans of Howard’s original series will enjoy the highly convincing Conan pastiche (as far as I can remember from reading a few of Howard’s stories in the distant past). As one would expect, Conan disparages the softness and corruption of cities in contrast to his barbarian homeland, rejoices in the company of willing women, respects strong, honest fighters whether friend or foe, and prefers action over contemplation. Contemporary readers will appreciate, as comparison of BLOOD OF THE SERPENT to “Red Nails” demonstrates, Stirling’s portrayal of Valeria as a stronger character than her vintage prototype. Of course, she’s already a fierce fighter in Howard’s novella, but she and Conan appear more as equals in Stirling’s tale. Lovers of fast-paced action, elaborate pulp-fantasy worldbuilding, and evil sorcery will doubtless relish BLOOD OF THE SERPENT. I enjoyed it but probably won’t reread it. Even the most ardent fan of Conan must acknowledge that he doesn’t have much of an inner life. Therefore, my main interests in fiction, character development and relationships, don’t feature prominently in this novel. The push-pull of rivalry and attraction between Conan and Valeria is fun to watch, though.
LOST IN THE MOMENT AND FOUND, by Seanan McGuire. The latest annual installment in McGuire’s “Wayward Children” series. I have two complaints about these books: They come out only once a year, and they’re too short. The novels alternate between stories located mostly in Miss Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children (or, in one case, its grim counterpart for inter-world travelers who want to forget about their adventures) and those that explore other settings. LOST IN THE MOMENT AND FOUND, one of the latter, doesn’t begin with the usual prologue about children who step through doors into other realms and come back changed. Instead, after a brief trigger-warning Author’s Note, the novel dives straight into the story. It also differs from previous volumes in that a long beginning section of the book dwells on the protagonist’s mundane life before she stumbles upon a Door. In the first scene, Antoinette, nicknamed Antsy for her irrepressible energy and introduced in an earlier novel as a girl who can find anything, is five years old when her father drops dead of a heart attack before her eyes in a Target store. Too soon, her mother remarries. Although Antsy can’t articulate exactly what bothers her, she feels uncomfortable with her stepfather from the start. As the Author’s Note says, the worst monsters can be those in someone’s own home. When she’s almost eight years old, he does something that raises instinctive alarm in Antsy. Without waiting to consider, she runs away that very night, determined to appeal to her mother’s parents for refuge. Instead, she stumbles into a mysterious “thrift store” that turns out to be something much stranger. This variation on the trope of “the little shop that wasn’t there yesterday” is run by a peculiar old woman and an opinionated magpie. The woman welcomes Antsy for her ability to find and open Doors on the premises that access multiple dimensions. The shop owner needs this help to visit other worlds in search of treasures for her collection, for a reason we don’t learn until much later. Although planning to return home as soon as it’s possible to open the Door through which she arrived, Antsy enjoys her adventures in other worlds and her exploration of the labyrinthine space of this place, bigger inside than it appeared from outside. She realizes only after a long time that she’s aging faster than her chronological years can account for. An encounter with an unexpected visitor finally awakens her to the full truth about the shop. As always, there’s more to magic than appears on the surface, and there is always a price to pay. Another enthralling addition to the series, with a fresh variation on the overarching theme of “be careful what you wish for, and Be Sure.”
DAY BOY, by Trent Jamieson. An intriguingly unusual development of the “world ruled by vampires” premise. After a war, probably global, about which we learn very little, vampires, or Masters as they’re called, dominate the human population—at least in the region where the protagonist lives, apparently somewhere in Australia, and maybe worldwide. One thing I like about this novel’s worldbuilding is the attention to viable predator-prey ratios. In the protagonist’s village, there are only five or six Masters. Also, additions to the ranks of Masters are strictly controlled. Day Boys are the human servants of vampires. The most privileged Day Boys are chosen to become Masters themselves. Others move on to adult lives in occupations such as farming. It’s never explained why they have to age out of Day Boy status when they grow up. Also, while it’s rumored there may be Mistresses and Day Girls elsewhere, we never see them. Vampire hunters exist, feared and vilified. Late in the story one tries to recruit Mark, the narrator. He’s content with his life as a Day Boy, with a Master who doesn’t abuse him and in fact seems to care about him in a way. He has friends and enemies among the other Day Boys, as well as a potential girlfriend. He himself has no family, having been bred specifically for his servant role. (The other principal sources of Day Boys, apparently, are orphans and children purchased from their parents.) As he learns more about the larger world and even visits the regional equivalent of the big city, where he encounters a subversive, illicit band of humans in revolt against the vampires, he begins to question the choices available to him. DAY BOY is an absorbing story even though set in a grim world. I hardly noticed the present-tense narrative voice after a while. In this case, the choice makes sense, because if Mark were telling his story in retrospect, suspense about whether he eventually becomes a vampire couldn’t be maintained. His perspective as a Master would be so different from how he views the world while immersed in the life of a Day Boy that the change could hardly be concealed. Although I didn’t find him particularly likable at first, the author’s skill made me fully sympathize with him.
THE DOGS OF CHRISTMAS, by W. Bruce Cameron. Although narrated in the third person from the human protagonist’s viewpoint, this novel, like the similarly structured A DOG’S PERFECT CHRISTMAS, focuses heavily on the canine characters. (Conversely, Cameron’s latest work, LOVE, CLANCY, although narrated in the first-person voice of a dog, has a strongly human-centered plot.) Josh, the protagonist, lives alone on a mountaintop in Colorado and works from home in the computer field. (I gather he writes code and creates apps, but I’m vague on that sort of thing.) He has a slightly tense relationship with his remaining family members. His girlfriend has recently broken up with him, and he has no real friends. Nevertheless, he comes across as a sympathetic character from the beginning. As we find throughout the book, he’s the type of person who accommodates others and always tries to smooth things over. His life changes instantly when an obnoxious neighbor he hardly knows sticks him with a pregnant dog, Lucy, whom the neighbor claims to be “watching” for his ex-girlfriend. Josh’s innate kindness immediately becomes obvious as he reluctantly accepts the dog in response to a far-from-subtle threat that otherwise she’ll be abandoned when the neighbor rushes off to Europe for a family emergency. Although Josh knows nothing about dogs, never having owned one, overnight he finds himself the guardian of Lucy and a litter of newborn puppies. In desperation, he phones an animal shelter and gets a scathing retort from the female volunteer on duty when he proposes dropping them off. When the woman, Kerri, realizes he’s cluelessly begging for help, not deliberately trying to consign the puppies to certain death, she softens toward him and gives him in-person coaching on how to care for his canine housemates. As we’d expect, he falls in love with Lucy and the puppies. I particularly like the scene, revelatory of his personality and rather touching, when he creates a spreadsheet to record the dogs’ names, physical appearances, and behavioral traits. Unfortunately, local law forbids anyone who’s not a registered breeder from keeping more than three adult dogs. Kerri tries to prepare him for the necessity of giving up most or all of the puppies. Meanwhile, he also falls in love with Kerri. Their relationship has ups and downs as the shelter’s “Dogs of Christmas” event looms ever nearer, when the puppies must go to new homes. To complicate Josh’s life further, his ex-girlfriend appears on the scene, hinting at reconciliation. And what happens when Lucy’s true owner shows up? Both moving and funny without being sappy, the story has a perfectly satisfying conclusion. However, I’d be surprised if any pet lover could read the novel without at least one or two tearful moments along the way.
*****
Excerpt from “Romantic Retreat”:
“Since he switched to full-time shore duty, it’s gone smoother, of course, but yes—I really do want some ‘me time’ with my husband after all these years. No, that’s not too much to ask.” Gail giggled at the emphatic sound of her own voice. “Now, if only I could arrange for that kidnapping.” She set down the teacup with a brisk thump. “Enough of my whining. What’s the mysterious thing you wanted to show me?”
“You’re not going to believe this.” Javonne stood, turning toward the stockroom entrance. At the same instant, the bell over the front door jingled. “Oops, hold that thought.” She walked to the counter to greet the new customer.
While waiting, Gail scanned the bookshelves. Sometimes she stumbled across century-old children’s books at bargain prices here. She was leafing through a lavishly illustrated fairy tale collection whose price exceeded her usual limit when Javonne reappeared.
“I know you’re a fan of Adrian Averil,” she said.
Never reprinted and mostly forgotten, Averil had been an Edwardian artist and author known in his day for fairy tales more suited to adults than children. For his work, Gail would always find a way to stretch her budget. “Don’t tell me you’ve got another one of his books?”
“Even better.” Javonne popped into the stockroom and came out holding a package about half the size of a shoebox, wrapped in brown paper. “I picked this up at an estate sale last weekend.”
“Whose? Averil died in the 1920s.”
“His granddaughter’s. Bet you didn’t know she lived in the Shenandoah Valley.”
“No, I had no idea. It’s not like I made an in-depth study of his family. So what is it?” Gail could hardly resist grabbing the object out of her friend’s hands.
Javonne sat on one of the love seats and unwrapped the package. The layers of paper unfolded to reveal a miniature house carved from wood.
Sitting beside her, Gail took the artifact for a closer look. “No way! This is the hunting lodge from Lucinda and the Wolf Lord. It looks just like the illustration in the book. There’s the wolf’s head carved on the front door.” Her favorite of Averil’s tales, that story told of a lady imprisoned in the middle of a wintry forest in a nameless Ruritanian principality in central Europe. The house belonged to a man who wooed her ardently every night but vanished all day. At first he seduced her with a love potion, but when the potion wore off, they fell genuinely in love. Lucinda eventually discovered he was trapped in the form of a wolf by day, and of course she had to find a way to break the curse. “I knew he’d built models of places in his books, but I never expected to see one.” She fingered the doors and window shutters, which opened to reveal glimpses of the interior. “I wonder how he managed all this incredible detail.”
“He’d probably say it was magic,” Javonne said. “The man was pretty crazy, wasn’t he?”
“Eccentric, but I don’t know if he was crazy.”
“Didn’t he claim he’d met fairies and borrowed magic from them? QED—nuts.”
“Not necessarily,” Gail said, unable to resist running her fingers over the polished surface of the model. Painted snow covered the peaked roof and drifted around the perimeter of the house. French doors at the back displayed a sunken indoor bathing pool from which, in the story, the lovers had a view of distant, ice-capped mountains. “Fairies were a big fad in the early twentieth century. Even Arthur Conan Doyle believed in them.” She lowered the model to her lap, her hands cupped around it. “I’ve got to have this. How much?” She didn’t care how big a dent the price made in her mad money budget for the next couple of months.
“It’s yours. A retirement gift.”
-end-
*****
The long-time distributor of THE VAMPIRE’S CRYPT has closed its website. If you would like to read any issue of this fanzine, which contains fiction, interviews, and a detailed book review column, e-mail me to request the desired issue, and I’ll send you a free PDF of it. My e-mail address is at the end of this newsletter. Find information about the contents of each issue on this page of my website:
A complete list of my available works, arranged roughly by genre, with purchase links (gradually being updated as the Amber Quill and Ellora’s Cave works are being republished):
For anyone who would like to read previous issues of this newsletter, they’re posted on my website here (starting from January 2018):
This is my Facebook author page. Please visit!
Facebook
Here’s my page in Barnes and Noble’s Nook store:
Barnes and Noble
Here’s the list of my Kindle books on Amazon. (The final page, however, includes some Ellora’s Cave anthologies in which I don’t have stories):
Carter Kindle Books
Here’s a shortcut URL to my author page on Amazon:
Amazon
The Fiction Database displays a comprehensive list of my books (although with a handful of fairy tales by a different Margaret Carter near the end):
My Goodreads page:
Goodreads
Please “Like” my author Facebook page (cited above) to see reminders when each monthly newsletter is uploaded. I’ve also noticed that I’m more likely to be shown posts from liked or friended sources in my Facebook feed when I’ve “Liked” some of their individual posts, so you might want to do that, too. Thanks!
My Publishers:
Writers Exchange E-Publishing: Writers Exchange
Harlequin: Harlequin
Wild Rose Press: Wild Rose Press
You can contact me at: MLCVamp@aol.com
“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter
Welcome to the January 2023 issue of my newsletter, “News from the Crypt,” and please visit Carter’s Crypt, devoted to my horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance work, especially focusing on vampires and shapeshifting beasties. If you have a particular fondness for vampires, check out the chronology of my series in the link labeled “Vanishing Breed Vampire Universe.” For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
Also, check out the multi-author Alien Romances Blog
You can subscribe to this monthly newsletter here:
The long-time distributor of THE VAMPIRE’S CRYPT has closed its website. If you would like to read any issue of this fanzine, which contains fiction, interviews, and a detailed book review column, e-mail me to request the desired issue, and I’ll send you a free PDF of it. My e-mail address is at the end of this newsletter. Find information about the contents of each issue on this page of my website:
A complete list of my available works, arranged roughly by genre, with purchase links (gradually being updated as the Amber Quill and Ellora’s Cave works are being republished):
For anyone who would like to read previous issues of this newsletter, they’re posted on my website here (starting from January 2018):
This is my Facebook author page. Please visit!
Facebook
Here’s my page in Barnes and Noble’s Nook store:
Barnes and Noble
Here’s the list of my Kindle books on Amazon. (The final page, however, includes some Ellora’s Cave anthologies in which I don’t have stories):
Carter Kindle Books
Here’s a shortcut URL to my author page on Amazon:
Amazon
The Fiction Database displays a comprehensive list of my books (although with a handful of fairy tales by a different Margaret Carter near the end):
My Goodreads page:
Goodreads
Please “Like” my author Facebook page (cited above) to see reminders when each monthly newsletter is uploaded. I’ve also noticed that I’m more likely to be shown posts from liked or friended sources in my Facebook feed when I’ve “Liked” some of their individual posts, so you might want to do that, too. Thanks!
Happy New Year!
My erotic paranormal romance “New Flame” was re-released in December. Judy, owner of a struggling bookstore, considers giving up the business after a frightening confrontation with a burglar. Then she receives a strange Christmas present, an antique oil lamp, inherited from her deceased great-aunt. An excerpt appears below.
Our first guest of 2023 is mystery and romance author Laura Freeman, writer of the Wild Rose Press Christmas Cookies story “Tackling Molasses Crinkles.”
*****
Interview with Laura Freeman:
What inspired you to begin writing?
When I was twelve, I read “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings” and wanted to create stories about friendship and adventure, especially for girls. I had four brothers, and they always seemed to do the “fun” stuff.
What genres do you work in?
I have written a six-book historical romance series, a holiday supernatural romance novella, and a female detective mystery scheduled for release Jan. 30. I like to mix two genres like a romance within a mystery or a mystery within a romance.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I begin with my main characters’ names and keep a character list going. Then I write a rough draft of the action and dialogue to form a series of events broken into chapters that make up the story which is around 100 pages. I create a formal outline from those chapters and adjust it as I add details or move scenes around. To help build tension, I’ll edit the last chapter and move backwards through my story so I know where the story is heading. This allows me to reveal clues later in the story and remove them from the beginning or replace a clue with a subtle hint. This is a must for me because I initially reveal too much too soon and this forces me to move important details to a later chapter and create suspense.
What have been the major influences on your work?
My favorite authors have been J.D. Robb, Sue Grafton, and Janet Evanovich, who have strong female characters. I was a reporter for 16 years and covered events, politics, and crime which I draw from for ideas. I also worked in a hospital and use that setting in “Raining Tears.”
What effect did your journalism career have on your fiction writing? And what would you say are the principal differences between those two types of writing?”
Reporting requires research and interviewing others which helps with background and historical data for my fictional writing. News writing also limits how long a story can be which makes me choose my words wisely. Fictional writing allows more flexibility to convey meanings and share the thoughts of a character to explain behavior or the why of a crime.
Please tell us about your Impending Love Series. Also, how did you research the historical background?
Each book is about a different Beecher sister and begins in 1860 with a runaway slave and ends in 1866 with the last villain stalking the youngest sister. I researched my family tree and used family names but placed them in different time periods. I made Sterling Beecher the father of the six sisters in the books. He was my great-great-grandfather with a long family history back to New Haven, Connecticut. Set during the Civil War, I read books, visited battlefields, and interviewed reenactors. I used real historical figures sparingly but researched them to make sure they would act the way they did in my books.
What inspired your Christmas Cookies novella “Tackling Molasses Crinkles”?
I wrote a column under Freeman of the Press, “The unopened gift on Christmas morning” about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings on Dec. 14, 2012, in which parents had bought presents for their six-year-old children, but they would never be opened. The gifts represented a child’s unfulfilled life and inspired this story. I wanted to give hope to those who have lost a child and imagine their angel watching over them.
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
My next book is “Raining Tears” due out Jan. 30, 2023. It is a female detective mystery that is told from the viewpoints of four women connected by the death of an innocent man. I attended a Citizens Police Academy, and my brother was a police officer and detective which helped with the technical information. I enjoyed writing the villain because she could say and do outrageous things.
What are you working on now?
I am working on two stories. One is a cozy mystery where a woman finds a body in the park and discovers later that her co-worker’s husband was having an affair with the victim. She tries to help her friend and uncovers important clues that put her life in danger and angers the handsome police officer investigating the case. The other story I’m working on is a historical romance set in 1774 where the heroine tries to figure a way out of a forced marriage and uncovers the hidden reasons for the union.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
You can have lots of ideas in your head but until you put them in print, you aren’t a writer. And your writing requires a goal, problems, and resolution to be a story. Learn the basics of writing, the expectations of a genre, such as a happily ever after in a romance, and study other authors. Writing can be time consuming and challenging, but if you love creating characters and putting them in danger, you need to write. It makes you happy. At times developing a story will drive you crazy, but don’t quit.
Author Website
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*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
THE LARAN GAMBIT, by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross. The first new Darkover novel in quite a while (mainly by Ross, of course, unless a séance was involved). Even though it’s set in my least favorite period of the planet’s history, the post-WORLD WRECKERS era, I enjoyed it very much. This novel has one unusual aspect: The protagonist, a Terran woman, doesn’t even get to Darkover until at least one-third of the way through the book. Nevertheless, her plight engaged me and kept my attention riveted throughout. Bryn, a child psychologist, specializes in treating children traumatized by the Star Alliance’s wars aimed at subjugating other human-inhabited planets. Her father leads the party that opposes the authoritarian policies of the current regime. When he broadcasts a speech endorsing a position counter to everything he believes, then vanishes soon afterward, Bryn knows the government must have done something to him. After rescuing him, she finds his mind radically damaged. He fights against the domination of the implanted thoughts, but no technique known to Terran psychology can permanently fix him. Bryn’s research introduces her to the rumored telepathic powers of certain people on Darkover, a world that has broken off relations with the Terran hegemony and withdrawn into voluntary isolation. This information isn’t a spoiler; it’s all in the cover copy. After a desperate race to elude government agents, involving the murder of someone dear to Bryn, she, her father, and her former mentor wrangle transportation to the world of the Bloody Sun. The plot from that point hits all the familiar Darkover highlights—a trek across the rugged landscape of the snow-covered Hellers, an encounter with Free Amazons, Towers and learning about laran, and Bryn’s discovery that the premonitions she’s had all her life hint at latent laran. (Of course they do; as a humorous filk song puts it, “Every Terran who comes to Darkover, as anyone plainly can see, develops the power called laran. . . .”) Some high-status Darkovans are opposed to any cooperation with Terrans, even on a personal level, but the leroni of the Tower in the capital recognize the importance of training Bryn’s newly discovered powers. In the process, a close friendship grows between her and the man designated to shepherd the visitors through the intricacies of Darkovan culture. Can Bryn’s father be healed? And if they return to Terra, is there any way she can ethically use laran to take down the would-be dictator? The incident that explains the book’s title doesn’t appear until the climax. Although the ending feels a little rushed to me, I found it satisfying anyway. Bryn’s ultimate life path makes sense, and her potential new love interest develops gradually and believably in the context of her recent loss.
INTO THE WEST, by Mercedes Lackey. Volume Two of the new “Founding of Valdemar” series. In the first book, Kordas, Baron Valdemar, led 15,000 people through a magical Gate to escape the tyrannical Empire, leaving the capital devastated behind them. At the beginning of INTO THE WEST, however, they know they’ve found only a temporary refuge, not far enough out of the Empire’s reach for safety. Moreover, they need to make a long-term home somewhere they won’t encroach on already inhabited lands. The third-person narrative features two viewpoint characters, Kordas and his wife’s younger sister, Delia, who has a crush on him. While Kordas, plagued by a fear of never getting everything right and a reluctance to delegate, grapples with the burdens of shepherding his horde of refugees, Delia valiantly struggles against her infatuation and seeks useful tasks to perform. Therefore, she’s more pleased than not when assigned to a small party scouting ahead of the main body, even though she suspects Kordas made that decision more to give her time to outgrow her feelings toward him than from a belief that she’ll be a true asset. Of course, she discovers previously latent abilities within herself and realizes her value to the group. Meanwhile, the main community travels by barge through lands still marred by the Mage Wars of a thousand years in the past. They narrowly escape disaster in a warped, quasi-sentient forest and face suspicious locals as well as creatures mutated by Change Circles. Lackey keeps the logistical details and social problems of a mass migration fascinating even during lulls from natural and magical threats. The advantages and limitations of Gates also become clear as the journey proceeds. The Valdemarans receive unexpected help when needed most, always foreshadowed skillfully enough to keep it from feeling like deus-ex-machina intervention. They meet the Hawkbrothers and hertasi (who answer the question many readers have doubtless pondered, why those clever lizard-folk willingly act as apparent servants to the Hawkbrothers). Alas, however, no inkling of Companions yet. I suppose we’ll see them sometime after the Valdemarans settle in a permanent homeland. The book isn’t perfect; in several places, I mentally screamed, “Where was the copy editor?” In at least one instance, two passages a few pages apart relate exactly the same information in almost the same words. And Lackey seems inordinately fond of the word “literally,” which she uses correctly (of course) but often enough to become obtrusive. Regardless, this novel, like the first in the series, is a must-read for Valdemar fans.
ILLUMINATIONS, by T. Kingfisher. Not a horror novel like the books that made her one of my new favorite authors, but an alternate-world fantasy for preteens (judging by the age of the protagonist, although readers of any age can enjoy it). It takes place in an alternate nineteenth-century Europe in which the French Revolution, or its local equivalent, seems to have succeeded better than in our history, for the whole continent uses the Revolutionary calendar with its renamed months and days. The heroine, Rosa, dwells in a city resembling Venice, with canals, a Dynast instead of a king, and mostly Italian-sounding names. An orphan, she lives with her eccentric but endearing extended family, one of the most distinguished lineages of illuminators. She’s practicing the art but so far hasn’t graduated to producing actual illuminations. Her favorite things to draw are radishes with fangs. Unfortunately, that image serves no useful purpose. There’s a massive reference tome listing all known illuminations, each of which must be drawn in precise, unvarying detail to be effective. Fanged radishes aren’t among them. Against the background of a major civic project using illuminations to fix a long-term problem with the city’s sewage disposal, Rosa’s own trouble begins when she finds a mysterious box in the basement. She accidentally releases a creature imprisoned in the box, and a crow painted on the lid comes to life. His information about the history of the box and its connection to one of Rosa’s ancestors seems a bit shady, and he’s easily distracted by the urge to pilfer shiny objects. His insistence that she not tell the rest of the family about him gets her into trouble when the diminutive monster starts vandalizing their home workshop and the illuminations themselves. After the nuisance escalates into danger, though, the crow does come clean with the full truth at last. I don’t want to go into spoilery detail about the family’s fight against the creature and its minions, so I’ll only mention that Rosa’s radishes play a surprising role. Meanwhile, the story nicely balances Rosa’s magical woes with her preteen-girl difficult relationship with her best friend, daughter of another important illuminator family, who’s just enough older than Rosa to start making real illuminations for clients. Like Kingfisher’s A WIZARD’S GUIDE TO DEFENSIVE BAKING, ILLUMINATIONS portrays a young heroine whose odd magical talent turns out to be of vital importance. As usual, Kingfisher writes the protagonist’s viewpoint in an irresistibly witty style.
YULETIDE FRIGHTS, edited by William P. Simmons, subtitled “Victorian Ghost Stories for Christmas.” Telling scary tales during the Christmas season was, of course, a longstanding British tradition that peaked in the nineteenth century, with A CHRISTMAS CAROL being only the most famous of such works. This anthology collects over twenty of them by classic authors such as Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Algernon Blackwood, M. R. James, Sir Walter Scott, and many writers less known to modern readers. To the editor’s credit, he includes mainly stories not often anthologized, if ever. The vast majority of them were new to me and probably would be unfamiliar even to most fans of Victorian horror other than specialists in the field. For instance, I’d never read the Le Fanu, Blackwood, and Hawthorne pieces before, despite being (I thought) quite familiar with those authors. Of the two Dickens stories, only “The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton,” sort of a trial run for A CHRISTMAS CAROL, is likely to be widely known. The other best-known tale, Elizabeth Gaskell’s “The Old Nurse’s Story,” also strikes me as one of the few that’s truly scary. Most of the works are, to me, more cozy with a touch of pleasant eeriness than terrifying. Also, the protagonists more often serve as passive observers than take any action in response to the apparitions, so one doesn’t usually feel they’re in real danger. But, then, classic ghost stories have always been a form of literary comfort food for me. Aside from Simmons’s atmospheric and informative general introduction, there’s no editorial material such as introductions to the individual stories and authors. That omission, however, doesn’t lessen the anthology’s fitness for picking up and dipping into whenever one feels in the mood for a ghostly angle on the holiday season. YULETIDE FRIGHTS is an ideal volume for a fan of vintage horror to curl up with on a cold night.
*****
Excerpt from “New Flame”:
Judy lifted the lamp out of its box. The base felt too heavy for brass—bronze, maybe?
She ran her fingertips over the smooth curve of the chimney. It looked like an antique, probably brought from the old country. Old enough to be worth money? Could she sell it for enough to cover one of those pesky bills?
Marta, her mother’s aunt who’d died recently at the age of ninety-nine, had emigrated from Eastern Europe as a girl. Judy remembered her only as a tall, slim woman with steel-wool-colored hair. She’d met her great-aunt at infrequent family reunions. Their unmarried status was likely all the two of them had in common.
Experimentally turning up the wick, she felt a sudden impulse to light the lamp. Why not? Its parts seemed in working order.
She had a bottle of bayberry-scented oil stored with the hurricane lamp she kept for earthquake-related power outages. It took only a minute, rummaging through a cabinet next to the desk, to find the bottle. After pouring a small portion into the lamp, she set a match to the wick. On first try, it blossomed into a clear glow, flooding the room with the sweetish scent.
At the same moment, a bright streak flared at the edge of her vision.
She spun around in the swivel chair, ready to climb the wall. Or run out screaming if the thug had come back for seconds.
In the corner of the room loomed a pillar of fire. A six-foot column of orange-red flame, fading to indigo and violet at the edges. It undulated slowly like a candle in a light breeze.
Oh, Lord, she had set the place on fire! Her books! She leaped to her feet.
The apparition radiated none of the fierce heat expected from a blaze that size. And how could a spark have jumped from the desk to the center of the room without igniting anything in between?
While she stared, the flame’s outline shifted, growing curves and appendages. It took a few seconds for her to recognize the emerging shape as the figure of a man. The fire had all but died away. She saw an apparently solid body, although it still emitted a faint glow.
The naked man, lean and graceful, stood about a foot taller than Judy. He had tawny-bronze skin and an angular, striking face. Coppery hair growing to his shoulders floated as if stirred by a phantom wind. With his every move, his muscles appeared to flow like molten gold.
*****
My Publishers:
Writers Exchange E-Publishing: Writers Exchange
Harlequin: Harlequin
Wild Rose Press: Wild Rose Press
You can contact me at: MLCVamp@aol.com
“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter