Author Archive
Welcome to the April 2020 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
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, now that the Yahoo group is useless for that purpose, 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
My Goodreads page:
Goodreads
The Wild Rose Press has accepted my lighthearted contemporary ghost story “Spooky Tutti Frutti” for a summer e-book series called “One Scoop or Two.” All stories or novellas must involve ice cream as a major plot element, take place in a waterfront tourist setting, and have an ice cream flavor in the title. It will be published on May 25. Here’s the colorful, upbeat cover:
The opening scene is below.
This month’s interviewee is mystery and paranormal romance author Tena Stetler.
*****
Interview with Tena Stetler:
What inspired you to begin writing?
I’ve written stories since I learned to read and write. I have an overactive imagination and putting it on paper or computer quiets the voices in my head for a short while.
What genres do you work in?
Paranormal Romance/mystery, Cozy Mystery,
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I’m a panster, I wing it. I tried doing an outline and after the first bullet point, my characters took off in an entirely different direction. Waste of time outlining in my world with my characters. LOL.
What have been the major influences on your writing (favorite authors, life experiences, or whatever)?
Authors: Molly Harper, Nancy Atherton, Deborah Harkness, Nora Roberts (JD Robb), J K Rowling, and Linda Howard
Life experiences, camping and relaxing away from the hub bub of daily life revitalizes my muse.
As I stated above, I have an over-active imagination so that influences my writing and sometimes gives me nightmares, so I’m not allowed to watch scary movies less I leave every light on in the house all night. LOL
Please tell us about your “Demon’s Witch” series.
What started out as a series of three has grown to five published and I’m working on the sixth.
A Demon’s Witch, the first novel in the series, was born in a hair salon from a song. What if the hairdresser is really a ruggedly handsome demon overlord. What if a powerful witch breezed into his salon and the attraction was undeniable? What if the salon is multi-species catering to mortals and paranormal creatures alike is located in Washington DC? Adds a new dimension to our concept of DC, doesn’t it? Bruce’s world spins out of control when Angelique, a pint size, gorgeous witch, with an attitude breezes through the doors of his salon. She is the younger sister of Tristian, Bruce’s long time trusted enforcer, whose professional skills are second to none. Tristian is furious at the relationship between Bruce and Angelique, a dangerous situation, but something darker awaits them all.
A Warlocks Secrets, Years ago, a sacred ceremony at the Dragon’s Moon Coven turned deadly. Son of the high priestess, Tristian Shandie’s life changed forever. With a price on his head and revenge in his heart, he has no choice but to follow in his father’s footsteps to a profession shrouded in secrets. Now his skills as an enforcer for the Demon Overlord are second to none. But dangerous secrets he harbors are a liability he can no longer afford.
A chance meeting with a woman he finds irresistible flips Tristian’s world upside down. Hannah is a cyber security specialist with secrets of her own.
A Vampire’s Unlikely Alliance -Join Stefan and Brandy on an exciting romantic fantasy adventure where vampires and gryphons, warlocks and demons, witches and faeries walk among us. Some creatures are willing to put aside their differences to work together for the good of man and magic kind, other’s will stand in the way. Is a trip to Ireland the key to unraveling secrets and returning the magic?
An Angel’s Unintentional Entanglement – Where Warrior Angel, Caden goes, trouble follows until he discovers a badly beaten woman barely clinging to life. Unprepared for the entanglement she brings to his doorstep, will he move heaven and earth to save her?
A Magic Redemption – Synn, a demon, carries extraordinary magic and power, but there is more within her than she dreams. Gavin Shaughnessy is the publican at his family’s Irish pub. When her past comes calling for revenge, will their love survive the raging inferno she brings down upon them? Or will the searing path of destruction destroy all they hold dear?
Sixth book in A Demon’s Witch Series no title yet.( 2021) Secrets abound in this book. It will take powerful magic to unravel the mysteries of a Scottish Law Firm owned by witches.
What are Eclectus Parrots, and how did you become involved with them?
Eclectus Parrots are a species from the Solomon Islands. They are a fairly large bird with a grand talking ability. They have a specialized diet of mostly fruits and veggies. The female is Red and Blue, the male is green. I’ had small parrots most of my life, and decided to adopt a larger parrot due to their life span and companionship. Check out my website for heartwarming stories about our eclectus Taco. (https://www.tenastetler.com/eclectus-articles/)
What is your Authors’ Secrets Blog about?
I host fellow authors with new releases, interviews, character interviews and basically talk about books.
What is your latest-released or soon-forthcoming work?
I’ve just turned in two manuscripts to my editor and am awaiting edits. One is the third book in my Witch’s Journey Series, the other a novella for the One Scoop or Two Series coming this spring. My latest release was December 2019, Charm Me Again, sequel to Charm Me (2016) – Two families long divided brought together through love, understanding and an adventure of a life time. Braking the curse is only the first step to forever.
What are you working on now?
I am now working on the sixth book in A Demon’s Witch Series. This one revolves around a couple from A Magic Redemption – Gale, a powerful Irish witch/Fae and a Warlock from a powerful family of lawyers in Scotland. But he’s not that enamored with the practice of law and especially at his family’s law firm. Quite a magical adventure they enjoy.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Write from the heart. Never give up. Attend conferences and workshops to better your craft.
What’s the URL of your website? Your blog? Where else can we find you on the web?
Tena Stetler Website
Authors’ Secrets
My Say What Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/tenastetler
Newsletter Signup: https://www.tenastetler.com/newsletter-signup/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tenastetler
Tribber – http://triberr.com/TenaStetler
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tena-stetler
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tenastetler/
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/tenajean2014
BookGorilla – https://www.bookgorilla.com/author/B014E0PEPM/tena-stetler
Tena Stetler
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
BEHOLD THE UNDEAD OF DRACULA, edited by Jonathan Raab. This anthology, subtitled “Lurid Tales of Cinematic Gothic Horror,” consists of stories inspired by the vintage Hammer horror films. There’s no introduction, to my disappointment, but each story is followed by a few paragraphs about the author’s memories of enjoying Hammer movies and what inspired the particular tale. Despite the title, the volume includes only two vampire stories. I suspect authors may have assumed everybody would think of vampires first and wanted to do something different. Several of them created metafictional pieces about the making of horror movies with ghastly outcomes for actors and other participants. Of the two vampire tales, I prefer “Vengeance of the Blood Princess,” by Dominique Lamssies, which inserts a new installment into the Carmilla Karnstein film trilogy and allows the vampires to triumph for a change. In “Mina’s Castle,” by Sean M. Thompson, the reader immediately knows Mina and her lustful female companions are vampires. Waiting for the clueless, unlikable narrator to catch on takes too long for my taste; there is, however, a mildly entertaining twist at the end. Other stories feature such elements as demon-summoning, cults, witches, dark family secrets, and numerous scary women. No mummies, no werewolves—I was really hoping for werewolves. I consider “The Filthy Creation of Frankenstein,” by Gemma Files, one of the highlights of the volume. This proposed addition to the Hammer Frankenstein cycle is told from the viewpoint of Elizabeth Frankenstein and presents her as a coolly intelligent behind-the-scenes manipulator of events rather than a naïve damsel in distress. While I don’t think any of these tales will become classics, the anthology would make a fun read for any fan of those delightfully bloody and sensual productions starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.
STRANGE LOVE, by Ann Aguirre. A clever, suspenseful, sensual, and sometimes humorous alien abduction romance. On Zylar’s world, overpopulation has led to stringent restrictions on mating and reproduction. Adults seeking mates have to participate in the Choosing, a rigorous series of trials. Having failed in four Choosings, Zylar has one more chance, or he’ll be sentenced to life as a drone, neutered and relegated to menial tasks. (That last detail struck me as unrealistic. Surely this technologically advanced society has robots for such functions. And being disqualified from reproducing doesn’t reflect on the candidate’s intelligence or skills in areas unrelated to the Choosing trials.) As the novel begins, he is traveling to a distant planet to meet the potential mate with whom he has been corresponding. It’s not unusual for members of his species to mate with aliens, since actual production of offspring occurs by high-tech gene manipulation. However, a solar flare storm damages his ship’s AI; as a result, he unwittingly ends up on Earth. He finds the female he thinks is his prospective mate in the middle of a devastated landscape, actually the aftermath of a battlefield reenactment. He scoops up Beryl Bowman and her dog, Snaps. Zylar applies a language comprehension treatment to both woman and dog, not realizing Snaps belongs to a lesser species, so for the rest of the story the dog can talk, contributing an additional layer of fun and humor. Zylar’s people, as far as I can tell from the descriptions, resemble human-size insects. Beryl, though, makes a surprisingly fast adjustment to her strange new circumstances. Zylar, for his part, considers her a highly desirable mate because of her vocation, working in a day care facility; she’ll make a wonderful nest guardian for their offspring. Also, since he mistakes her smile for a threat display at first, he considers her a tough fighter, another important trait for a nest guardian, should a situation arise in which her duties might become more than ceremonial. Although Zylar belongs to a high-status family, they look down upon him as barely worthy of his place among them, especially an older, higher-ranking sibling who displays an unaccountable detestation for Zylar. A further complication arises when the technicians repairing the ship’s sentient AI report that they won’t be able to recover the data about the location of Earth. Beryl, therefore, is stranded. As she and Zylar confront the multiple physical and mental challenges of the Choosing, they make friends with another prospective couple, and Beryl begins to fall in love with Zylar. While the narrative doesn’t go into great depth about the alien world’s science and technology, what’s there seems ingenious and believable. Genuine suspense develops as Zylar and Beryl strive to win the right to become mates against not only the difficulties of the various contests but the underhanded tactics of Zylar’s malicious brother. Of course, as romance readers we know the hero and heroine will wind up together, but how will they manage to attain that goal? The dog Snaps makes a delightful secondary character, and the AI Helix, when it/he becomes fully functional, introduces an unexpected twist. The erotic scenes between Zylar and Beryl are amazingly sensual, considering the differences between their biology. Moreover, because of those differences, they have to achieve an emotional bond before they advance to sexual interaction. The author’s note hints that she may write a sequel starring Helix. One odd glitch: She refers to an article from which she derived her research for alien sexuality, but somehow the title and location of the article got omitted. Frustrating! Fortunately, googling “gynosomes” brings up information on that real-life, decidedly strange reproductive technique.
WAKENHYRST, by Michelle Paver. This outstanding novel of Gothic horror has no supernatural elements—probably. A fleeting hint that actual demonic forces may lurk in the background isn’t developed or confirmed. This atmospheric story has a wild setting in the fen country of East Anglia, an ancient manor house, and dark family secrets. The framing materials set in 1966 consist of newspaper articles and letters centered upon 69-year-old, reclusive spinster Maud Stearne, whose father, Edward, committed a violent, apparently unmotivated murder in 1913. Nobody except Maud knows exactly what happened that night. Edward Stearne spent the rest of his life in an asylum for the insane, painting bizarre pictures. The main body of the narrative tells the story through Maud’s viewpoint, skillfully developing her personality and her perception of events from childhood to young adulthood. Maud’s father, an antiquarian scholar who subjects his household to rigid dominance, is more of a Victorian than Edwardian character. He disdains newfangled theories such as those of Darwin. Although a man of stern morality (pun probably intended by the author), who considers “self-pollution” sinful, Edward justifies his illicit relations with a housemaid as necessary for his health. His wife remains almost constantly pregnant, sometimes having more than one miscarriage or stillbirth in a single year. Only Maud and a younger brother survive. It becomes clear that her father has little interest in his wife except as a sexual object and the potential incubator of additional sons. Meanwhile, Maud rescues a magpie (although her father detests birds), sneaks away to run wild in the fens, and otherwise subverts her father’s rigid rules whenever possible. In her teens, she develops an infatuation with the under-gardener. When her intelligence becomes obvious, Edward trains her to help with his research and writing. She imagines becoming his trusted colleague and sharing in the credit for his work, an ambition bitterly crushed when she realizes he’s only using her and doesn’t even like her. Throughout her youth, she secretly reads his journals, excerpts from which reveal his goals and obsessions. Thereby the reader learns along with her that Edward has become fixated on an antique painting of the final judgment that’s been unearthed from a rubbish heap, restored, and displayed in the village church. He comes to believe that a demon depicted in the mural is persecuting him. His abhorrence of vegetation in general escalates to the point of having all the trees and shrubbery around the house cut down, to Maud’s distress. He also plans to drain the fen, a plan she thwarts by taking advantage of her role as manager of his correspondence. The story climaxes with the murder mentioned at the beginning. The denouement returns to the 1960s and Maud’s decision about whether to reveal her story to the public after fifty years of silence. The gradual revelations of her family’s past, her father’s delving into the medieval background of the grotesque church painting, and the wild landscape surrounding the old house combine to create a highly effective Gothic atmosphere. One Amazon reviewer dislikes the character of Maud. I found her interesting, sympathetic, and no more warped than one would expect from her odd upbringing.
SHADOWS OF ANNIHILATION, by S. M. Stirling. Third novel in the “Black Chamber” series, an alternate history with a departure point of Theodore Roosevelt’s return to the White House after the 1912 election. Secret agent Luz O’Malley and her lover and professional partner, Ciara Whelan, are assigned to Mexico this time. While they check on an American factory duplicating the German “horror-gas” and subtly feel out members of the local population, they’re guests in the home of Luz’s old friend and sometime lover, Julie, local Black Chamber station head. Meanwhile, German officer Horst von Duckler, obsessed with vengeance on Luz because she shot out one of his eyes and almost killed him, has come to the same area to sabotage the American gas plant in a particularly horrific manner. For most of the novel, they remain unaware of each other’s proximity, but of course they clash in the climactic battle. To my satisfaction (not being much of an “action” fan), however, the combat scenes take up a relatively small percentage of the book. Most of the story (to borrow a word from the LOCUS review) is “domestic.” I delighted in the witty dialogue, the exploration of Luz and Ciara’s relationship, and the scenes that showcase Ciara’s self-taught scientific and technical brilliance. Horst, although unquestionably the bad guy, has a three-dimensional personality; he isn’t a mustache-twirling melodrama villain and even elicits our reluctant sympathy at some moments. As always, Stirling’s lively descriptions of setting, architecture, cultural nuances, clothing, and (of course) food fascinated me. Readers who wish for more fight scenes will doubtless appreciate the minutiae of weapons and other engines of war. I enjoyed learning more about North America as reshaped by the dominance of Teddy Roosevelt’s Progressive program. Somewhat chilling, from a post-World-War-II vantage point, is the universal enthusiasm for eugenics and the duty of superior individuals to pass on their “germ plasm.” Although this isn’t the final volume in the series (yay!), it comes to a conclusion that would be appropriate for such a book, a sort of resting place. I want to see more of Luz, Ciara, and their brave new world, not to mention learning the ultimate outcome of this world’s Great War.
*****
Excerpt from “Spooky Tutti Frutti”:
Just as Celia Rossi turned the placard on the door of Sugar and Ice from “Open” to “Closed,” Blair O’Neill strolled up the brick-paved sidewalk. She held the door ajar to let him in.
After a light kiss on the cheek, a gesture still new enough to make her pulse flutter, he asked, “What’s with the Temporary Help Wanted sign in the window?”
She sighed. “Tanya had her baby early. Oh, they’ll be fine, but I was hoping she’d be around until after the sailboat race. I could manage without her on any normal weekend, but on race day I’ll need enough people to hold down the fort here and help at our booth.” Tanya’s absence left the shop with only two part-time employees instead of three. Having owned the ice cream parlor for less than a year, Celia counted on strong sales at the climax of the coming weekend’s race to augment her fledgling reputation as well as her bank account. Contestants would sail from Delaware down the Chesapeake Bay to the Severn River, then up Spa Creek into the Annapolis harbor. After taking off her apron and hanging it behind the counter, she locked the door and followed Blair onto the brick-paved sidewalk. “I can break for dinner the way we planned, but I have to come back right afterward to finish cleaning up and prepping for tomorrow.”
Blair shook his head in commiseration. “Okay, but at least stop and take a breath. I’m glad I decided to be a vet, not a retail businessperson. Except for random emergencies, when the clinic closes we go home on time every day.”
At seven p.m. in late June, the sun hadn’t set, and the downtown historic district was still thronged with tourists. The two of them strolled from the dead-end side street where Sugar and Ice was located to the foot of Main Street, also surfaced with red brick. Walking past the traffic circle adjacent to City Dock, Celia noticed a young mother and her two small children tossing bread crusts to the seagulls and mallard ducks, despite the sign sternly admonishing people not to feed the birds. Cars crawled around the circle trying to push their way into the stream heading one way on the narrow, half-mile Main Street. In other words, a totally normal summer evening.
A gentle breeze off the water relieved the humid heat and ruffled Blair’s thick shock of sandy hair. “Crabs okay with you?”
“Sure.” Celia absently replied, her mind on the upcoming event rather than dinner. She lifted the French-twist braid off the back of her neck to cool her damp skin. “We’ve got less than a week until the celebration. I have the permits, and I’ve rented the booth and equipment for the day, but I’m still trying to come up with a new flavor to make us stand out from the other downtown ice cream parlors.” Her store’s location away from the principal tourist magnets of Main Street and Maryland Avenue allowed her to pay less exorbitant rent, but with the drawback of less foot traffic. Well, the former owner, her employer for almost a decade, had warned her of the pitfalls, so she just had to deal with them.
She and Blair reached the entrance of the crab restaurant across from the traffic circle, and he held the door for her. “How about Rossi’s Rocky Road? Rossi’s Regatta Raspberry Sherbet?”
She laughed. “We already have a rocky road, I don’t do sherbet, and anyway I have no intention of tacking my name onto a product. That sounds a little too egocentric.” Like most ice cream shops, Sugar and Ice mainly stocked varieties of a national brand, aside from four flavors of her own creation. She wanted to add another in honor of the occasion, but so far inspiration hadn’t struck. The few ideas she’d tried hadn’t worked out.
On a Monday evening, she and Blair had no trouble getting seated in the restaurant’s second-floor dining room. Their window-side table gave them a panoramic view of the inlet known as Ego Alley, crowded with sailboats and motor craft. That coming Saturday, at the culmination of the race from Delaware to Maryland, the dockside parking lot would be roped off for speeches, awards, food stalls, and a local band. Sharing a platter of steamed crabs, Celia and Blair continued their conversation about her part in the event. “Summer’s make or break time for this kind of business,” she fretted. “If it doesn’t turn out make, I’ll be letting down Dan, not just myself.” Her cousin Dan, an accountant who served as silent partner in charge of the partnership’s finances, had pooled his share of their late grandmother’s legacy with Celia’s to buy out the retiring previous owner of Sugar and Ice.
“Not to mention your parents,” Blair said.
She’d discussed the situation with him multiple times, grateful for his continued patience in listening to her worries. “Yeah. They think Dan and I were crazy to pour our inheritance into what they call a black hole, and they say so every chance they get.” She pounded a claw with her wooden mallet for emphasis.
“You’ll prove them wrong. I have faith in you.” He raised his beer glass in salute.
After dinner, he walked her back to her shop. At the door, they shared a hug and lingering kiss that made her tingle all over. Before leaving, he patted the brick façade of the building. “Take good care of my ancestral estate.” The joke had become a ritual between them. The century-old house had belonged to his great-grandparents before being sold and converted to commercial space, long before Blair’s birth. Now offices occupied the top floor, while the ice cream parlor shared the street level with a greeting card shop. The previous summer, Blair had dropped by on impulse to check out the new owner of Sugar and Ice. He’d kept visiting after he and Celia had immediately connected.
Inside, the chill of the air conditioner sent a delightful shiver over her bare arms. She surveyed the interior with satisfaction despite her worries. She’d lavished money on redecorating in a vintage 1950s style dominated by chrome and fire-engine red. Linoleum in a black-and-white checkerboard pattern covered the floor. Six high stools at the counter and four small, round tables provided seating for customers who didn’t want their cones or cups to go. She sold bottled soft drinks from a refrigerated case next to the cash register. Posters of singers and movie stars from the period adorned the walls. To coordinate with the décor, Celia wore bright red slacks and a red-and-white blouse on the job. Fortunately, the color scheme vividly set off her dark hair and olive complexion. Tying on her apron, she waved up at the iconic photo of a blonde star’s skirt billowing in the draft from a sidewalk grate. “Time to get back to work.”
She laughed at herself as she headed for the kitchen. Maybe Blair has a point that I’m working too hard. I’m talking to movie posters. Humming a rock ballad stuck in her head from the fifties playlist she ran on a continuous loop all day, she loaded and switched on the dishwasher. After cleaning the ice-cream makers and doing other routine chores in the kitchen, she began scrubbing the counter and tables in the front room.
She started at a rapid clicking behind her. Turning toward the entrance, she came face-to-face with the source of the noise. A huge, black, hairy dog—a Newfoundland. He panted and wagged his tail at the sight of her.
“What the heck are you doing in here?” She glanced at the door—securely shut, of course.
The dog sat in the middle of the floor and stared up at her with a goofy, tongue-lolling expression. When she offered her hand, he sniffed it. “Wherever you came from, you can’t stay.”
As she leaned over to look at his collar, a feminine voice said, “Oh, neat, you found Nigel.”
-end of excerpt-
*****
My Publishers:
Writers Exchange E-Publishing: Writers Exchange
Harlequin: Harlequin
Whiskey Creek: Whiskey Creek
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 March 2020 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
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, now that the Yahoo group is useless for that purpose, 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. These items include some of the short stories that used to be on Fictionwise:
Barnes and Noble
Go here and scroll down to “Available Short Fiction” for a list of those stories with their Amazon links:
Kindle Works
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
My Goodreads page:
Goodreads
I forgot to mention last month that my 2020 annual vampire fiction bibliography update is available. Each year’s issue compiles titles of novels and stories from the previous calendar year, plus some older ones I might have missed in earlier years. Please e-mail me if you’d like a copy of the file:
MLCVamp@aol.com
One of my publishers, the Wild Rose Press, has released three anthologies to raise funds for victims of the fires in Australia. Here’s the publisher’s link for AUSTRALIA BURNS, Volume One. It can also be purchased in Kindle format from Amazon. Please consider buying one or more of these volumes:
My story “Werewolf Watch” appears in NIGHT TO DAWN 37. Vampire psychiatrist Roger Darvell and his partner, Dr. Britt Loren, counsel a werewolf who fears he has been involuntarily transforming and rampaging by night. An excerpt appears below. You can find this vampire and horror zine here:
This month I’m featuring a follow-up interview with multi-genre, award-winning author Karen Wiesner to get an update on her latest projects and releases.
*****
Interview with Karen Wiesner:
Karen Wiesner
Website
Facebook
Blurb Service
Writers Exchange Book Page
Please tell us about your science fiction series currently in progress.
I write in nearly every genre of fiction you can imagine, along with nonfiction and writing reference, children’s books and poetry. Science fiction horror is my favorite genre to read. I’m the biggest fan of the Alien movie franchise, and that’s not being done as often as I’d like to see in fiction, whether in books or movies. I’ve always wanted to write a story that combined those two genres. I’ve written horror but never science fiction before.
The premise I started Arrow of Time Chronicles with was a sci-fi story set not too far in the future when mankind has finally begun traveling the stars, mainly in desperate and dire need of finding new homes for displaced Earthers. What if Humans built habitations for their people in orbit of a planet that’s in a nuclear winter, initially believing there are no survivors? What if they found out in the process of building these new homes that there are survivors? And what if there are others originally from the planet (who achieved space travel before the war that destroyed their planet) who return to find Humans “squatting” in orbit of their homeworld–a blatant claim of ownership…and the grounds for war? That catalyst is what led me to writing this series, but another thing that compelled me was the idea of having alien cultures spread across the galaxy that, genetically, are so similar, it begs a billion scientific, cosmological, and theological questions. The horror angle I wanted to develop in this series turned mild with phantom energy, an unconscious force of dark energy, dominating and “expanding” the universe.
Because I don’t have anything like a science background, I didn’t want to “invent the wheel” when it came to science fiction standard operating procedures (like folding space and time with wormholes and space corridors and faster-than-light travel and communication, orbital habitations, dark energy, and even what forced Humans to leave Earth to begin looking for homes in space, which was Global Warming). So I used scientific speculations that are already being talked about these days to provide the train tracks to get this story rolling. In other words, I didn’t want any of those things to be the focus of this series. I wanted to set them down as SOP and then unfold the story I wanted to tell over the course of four volumes.
Of note concerning the people populating this series, one of the main characters–Astoria “Tori” Bertoletti–is a descendant of my original Clumsy Girl Zoë Rossdale and her husband Curt Bertoletti, who were in my Family and Friendship Heirlooms series’. Specifically, Zoë and Curt were the main characters in Clumsy Girl’s Guide to Falling in Love, Book 1, and Clumsy Girl’s Guide to Having a Baby, Book 6: Friendship Heirlooms Series (though also featured in many other books in these two series’).
While I believe this series is unlike any other science fiction one out there (no comparisons in books or movies come to mind), I hope readers find it a compelling snapshot into a potential future. As hard as it was, I enjoyed the journey that certainly felt like my magnum opus as I was writing it.
Please tell us about your writing reference titles, especially the most recent ones.
My last book with Writer’s Digest Books was Bring Your Fiction to Life and is all about three-dimensional writing. My newest writing reference is Writing Blurbs That Sizzle–And Sell!, which is probably self-explanatory
I’m shopping around another title that I hope to announce the sale of soon: CPR for Dead or Lifeless Fiction: A Writer’s Guide to Deep and Multifaceted Development and Progression of Characters, Plots, and Relationships differs from my previous books in how in-depth it goes in identifying dead or lifeless Characters, Plots, and Relationships (CPR), establishing the proper setup that plants the seeds of CPR early with in-depth sketches so each element can be developed and advanced organically, steadily, and logically. It also pinpoints weak areas in a story with two evaluation techniques that ensure solid CPR evolution and steady progression from beginning to end.
What else are you working on now?
Now that I’ve finished Arrow of Time Chronicles, which has been my main project for the last two years, I’m focusing on finishing up a bunch of other series that have been left lagging a bit because of the sci-fi project.
My Adventures in Amethyst Series will conclude with An Adventures in Amethyst Series Trio of Holiday Romances, which has three short novels that are utterly interconnected and flow into one another, moving in a linear way through the holidays Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with three amazing couples. It was a fun experience writing entwined stories. That should be published in June this year.
In March, I’m outlining what I expect may be the last Woodcutter’s Grim Series story, a fantasy novel. Bridge of Fire, Book 9, fits into the series after The Deep, Book 8, and before Hunter’s Blues, A Woodcutter’s Grim Series Futuristic Story and “The Amethyst Tower”, The Final Chapter. If all goes well, that book will be available by Halloween of this year.
Also on deck this year, I’ll be outlining and writing the next two Bloodmoon Cove Spirits Series titles. I’ve outlined Hidden, Book 6, and this one is outright horror. I’m both terrified and excited about writing that story in April for release later this year. I expect this series to have quite a few more offerings.
I’m also working on a few more novels in my Peaceful Pilgrim unofficial series of romantic fiction.
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
GOLDEN IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb. I always read each Eve Dallas futuristic police procedural mystery by J. D. Robb (Nora Roberts) as soon as it comes out, although I haven’t reviewed most of them. They’re always well-crafted, a delight for fans of the character and her ravishing, multi-millionaire Irish husband, Roarke. GOLDEN IN DEATH maintains the high level of the series, though I don’t count it among my top favorites. Apparently unrelated people die when they receive packages containing gold-toned plastic eggs that release an instantly fatal, fast-dissipating toxic gas. The victims turn out to be connected through an epidemic of corruption, delinquency, cheating, and bullying at a private school many years previously. In some of the “In Death” mysteries, the criminal’s identity is disclosed or obvious early in the book. This case keeps the reader guessing through most of the story. In an interesting twist, the real targets of the revenge killings aren’t the victims themselves, but their spouses and other loved ones. GOLDEN IN DEATH checks off most of the features expected by loyal readers: Near the beginning, there’s a tender, intense sex scene between Eve and Roarke. Roarke always owns at least one building where Eve has to seek information. Eve and Summerset, the omnicompetent butler, trade snarky remarks (although their relationship seems to have mellowed a bit, as it should after they’ve been through so many crises together with Roarke). Eve’s partner, Peabody, frets about her diet and admires Eve’s wardrobe, while she and Eve engage in affectionate bickering. At the end, Eve rips apart the murder suspect in the post-arrest interrogation. However, Mavis, star reporter Nadine, and dreaded hairdresser Trina are mentioned but don’t appear. I was disappointed not to find a scene with Mavis and Leonardo’s toddler, Bella, one of my favorite secondary characters. A particularly touching incident shows Eve and Roarke planting a tree together next to their new pond, illustrating how far Eve has come since the two of them met in the first book of the series. One thing that has bugged me for a long time, though—why don’t we ever see the fleet of droids (or perhaps crew of housecleaning and gardening minions) who maintain that castle-like mansion and its extensive grounds? Summerset can’t possibly do it all.
BREAKING SILENCE, by Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin. I’ve been eagerly awaiting the sequel to SILENCE, in which teenage Staci, exiled to a dreary little town in Maine to live with her alcoholic mother, discovers magic and elves. Now the mansion previously owned by the Blackthornes, dark elves who fed off the energy of Silence, lies in ruins, and the town gradually comes alive. Staci’s mother even starts to get her life together. Mentored by Tim, the cranky, reclusive bookstore owner revealed in SILENCE as a powerful mage, Staci and her friends are training for hypothetical future threats. While she practices spellcraft, her D and D partners Seth and Wanda perfect their skills in setting traps and wielding weapons, respectively. Later in the story, their seemingly mundane friend Beth turns out to possess previously unsuspected powers. Meanwhile, Fairgrove Industries, a custom car and motorcycle company we know from other “Serrated Edge” novels to be owned and operated by elves, establishes a branch in Silence. The town welcomes the boost to the economy, and David, Staci’s potential boyfriend, takes a job there. Staci and Tim, however, are suspicious of elves on principle. Clashes with creatures of darkness in the forest reveal that the Blackthorne mansion may still harbor danger. Wanda’s family forces her to attend a church overseen by a fanatical preacher who develops supernatural healing power that may come from an ominous source. Eventually Staci and her friends have to make an alliance with the Fairgrove elves to protect the mortal community and wipe out the forces of evil (or at least their local manifestations) once and for all. The mastermind behind the resurgent threat will come as a surprise; the issue of good and evil isn’t quite so straightforward as the heroes (and the reader) assume. The character relationships and dialogue are entertaining, Tim in particular impresses me as an interesting character, and the changes in the town of Silence evolve believably from the conclusion of the first novel. I like the way the unfolding story demonstrates that elves can’t be relied on to save the day and magic doesn’t solve everything. In general, I enjoyed BREAKING SILENCE very much, but I do have a couple of complaints. Some readers may see a problem with the opening scene, which I can describe without a significant spoiler because it reveals itself a few pages into the book: The novel seems to begin with a life-or-death combat scene, which turns out to be only a training simulation, a rather disappointing cliché. Then there’s a small but very annoying recurrent flaw, the constant substitution of “anyways” for “anyway.” Yes, the younger generations nowadays talk that way, so it’s realistic for the teenage heroes to make that error. It’s jarring to see the word attributed to middle-aged Tim and an immortal elf. Moreover, when the third-person narrator uses it, readers could get the impression that the authors themselves don’t know any better.
MOONTANGLED, by Stephanie Burgis. This novella in the “Harwood Spellbook” universe can be enjoyed without the reader’s having read any of the earlier novels or stories, although familiarity with the background does help. In an alternate nineteenth-century Britain (unrelated to the author’s Kat Incorrigible alternate Regency fantasy series) called Angland, women are the politicians and leaders, serving on the Boudiccatte (the ruling council), while only men can be magicians. Typically, any woman hoping to rise to power has the help of a magician husband. These gender restrictions have recently been overturned by the grudging acceptance of female magic-users and the founding of the Thornfell College of Magic to train them. Heroine Juliana, a student at the college, is secretly betrothed to an aspiring politician, Caroline. They plan to reveal their relationship only after Caroline’s position becomes secure enough that they can enter their planned scandalous marriage with impunity. (As far as I can tell, same-sex unions aren’t strictly forbidden but are considered outrageous.) At a ball at the college, they meet for the first time in a long while. Caroline has decided to break up with Juliana for her own good. Their brief, strained conversation ends in their both declaring they understand the necessity of the breakup, while in fact each woman understands the situation differently. Juliana flees into the faerie-haunted woods rather than return to the ballroom. Upon discovering her absence, Caroline goes after her. Naturally they both stray from the designated safe path into the forbidden, dangerous forest. As punishment for their trespass, a faerie imposes a test upon them for her own enigmatic purposes. Powerful characters who reject their beloveds “for their own good” (like Superman with Lois Lane) have always annoyed me. To Burgis’s credit, Caroline emerges from the ordeal fully aware of how wrong she was. This novella might also be charged with making a crisis out of a misunderstanding that could be cleared up if only the heroines actually talked with each other; however, the danger Juliana almost immediately stumbles into plausibly prevents such a conversation from taking place until the two of them confront the faerie’s challenge. Both women learn better as they move their relationship to a deeper level. I enjoyed this fast-moving, fun story for its intense character interaction as well as the magical atmosphere. As a plus, it has an enchanting cover illustration.
STOKER ON STOKER, by Dacre Stoker. This book edited by Bram Stoker’s great-grandnephew compiles some materials not easily found elsewhere, including a collection of obituaries and contemporary reviews (supplementing those reprinted in John Edgar Browning’s DRACULA: THE CRITICAL FEAST), an essay titled “The Cholera Horror” by Bram Stoker’s mother (a reminiscence from her childhood written at her son’s request), and an interview with Bram Stoker about the background of DRACULA. The volume begins with Dacre Stoker’s introduction, a detailed timeline of Bram Stoker’s life, and about twelve pages of miscellany labeled “Notes and Nuggets” (such as a letter from Stoker to William Gladstone, one to Stoker from Arthur Conan Doyle, a discussion of Cruden Bay and Slains Castle, and Winston Churchill’s comments about Stoker, among other items). The collection concludes with four of Stoker’s short stories. “The Squaw” and “The Judge’s House” have been reprinted in horror anthologies, but “The Crystal Cup” (his first published story) and “The Seer” (actually an excerpt from a novel, but also published separately in the author’s lifetime) are new to me. Although not radically groundbreaking, STOKER ON STOKER would be a worthwhile addition to any DRACULA fan’s library. As a nice-looking, modestly priced trade paperback with several illustrations, it’s definitely worth buying if the subject interests you.
*****
Excerpt from “Werewolf Watch”:
Two days later, they met to “tag-team the werewolf,” as Britt put it. The patient, Carlos Reye, offered his hand as Roger strode into his partner’s office. The young man, apparently in his early twenties, had olive skin, curly, black hair, and the characteristic lycanthropic trait of bushy eyebrows that met over the nose. Unlike Roger, who as a vampire had the same feature, Carlos didn’t minimize that anomaly by shaving between his brows. Darker crimson streaks in the rose-pink of his aura hinted at his nonhuman heritage, as did a wild tinge in his scent. His nostrils flared, as if he’d noticed the metallic aroma that signaled Roger’s hybrid nature. Since he had no idea vampires existed, of course, that oddity would puzzle him. When they shook hands, Roger noticed the other inescapable sign of lycanthropy, index and middle fingers of the same length.
“Thanks in advance for your help,” Carlos said as Britt waved him to a seat on the couch. His pulse, audible to Roger’s superhuman hearing, raced with tension. “You don’t have any trouble believing I’m a werewolf?”
“I trust Dr. Loren’s judgment.” He rolled the desk chair over to sit facing the patient, while Britt positioned herself on the other end of the couch. “She’s given me a summary of your problem, but please tell me about it in your own words.”
The young man knotted his fingers together. “I’m afraid I might be changing at night without knowing it and hurting people.”
With a light touch on Carlos’ wrist, Roger applied a subtle psychic nudge to calm him. “What makes you think that?”
“Reports of animal attacks the day after I’ve had nightmares about turning into a wolf against my will. I haven’t seen any evidence that I’ve left the house, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, does it?”
“Up until now, have you had control over your transformations?” Contrary to popular culture clichés, werewolf shifting had no connection to the phases of the moon. If a subject believed that superstition, though, the belief might have psychosomatic consequences.
Carlos shrugged. “As far as I know. When I’m awake, I can still turn from human to wolf and back at will. I go hunting in the woods—just animals like rabbits, deer, raccoons—two or three nights a week to get the urge out of my system.”
“Alone?” Britt asked.
“Yeah, except when I first started and Mom was training me. She doesn’t belong to a pack, so I’ve never wanted to get into that scene.” From what little Roger and Britt knew about werewolf packs, they might object to associating with human-werewolf hybrids.
“How can I be sure I’m not transforming in sleep?” A dimming of Carlos’ aura mirrored the strain in his voice.
“How many times has this happened?” Roger asked.
“Four over the past few weeks.”
“Have you asked your mother for advice?”
The patient shook his head with a sheepish expression. “I don’t want to worry her. Plus, I’m kind of ashamed to admit I might be losing control, after she tried so hard to teach me how to handle my condition. That’s why I decided to go to a psychiatrist instead. I dropped some hints about my trouble to Jenny.” That was Britt’s former werewolf patient. “She recommended Dr. Loren, so here I am.” He nodded at Britt. “She said maybe you could find out what’s going on by hypnotizing me.”
-end of excerpt-
*****
My Publishers:
Writers Exchange E-Publishing: Writers Exchange
Harlequin: Harlequin
Whiskey Creek: Whiskey Creek
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 February 2020 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
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, now that the Yahoo group is useless for that purpose, 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. These items include some of the short stories that used to be on Fictionwise:
Barnes and Noble
Go here and scroll down to “Available Short Fiction” for a list of those stories with their Amazon links:
Kindle Works
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
My Goodreads page:
Goodreads
Below is an excerpt from “Harvest Maidens,” my unicorn story, which appears in my collection HARVEST OF MAGIC:
This month’s interviewee is thriller author C. J. Zahner.
*****
Interview with C. J. Zahner:
What inspired you to begin writing?
My only sibling was eleven years older than me, and my parents were hard workers who often held multiple jobs. Frequently alone in the summer months when school let out, I began writing on rainy days when I couldn’t get outside to play with the neighborhood kids.
What genres do you work in?
While I’m comfortable writing any type of thriller, I recently wrote a women’s fiction novel on friendship. I am also writing a historical romance about the underground railroad. But psychological, crime, and paranormal thrillers are my passion.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I’ve winged four and outlined one. A fellow author recently recommended a book Save the Cat Writes a Novel. With the suggestions from this, I outlined my soon-to-be-published Friends Who Move Couches. I found Save the Cat invaluable.
What have been the major influences on your writing (favorite authors, life experiences, or whatever)?
My wild imagination drives my storylines. For detail, I write what I know in locations I’m familiar with.
I never read a Sydney Sheldon book I could put down, and l love Gillian Flynn, Liane Moriarty, and of course, Margaret Michell. (See the familiarity? Thrillers, women’s fiction, and historical romance.)
My life experiences also drive my writing. Readers learn much about my hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. Other similar features in my novels are characters who run, suffer from epilepsy, or have family members with Alzheimer’s, all of which I know a little about.
My grandfather was the inspiration for my psychological thriller, The Suicide Gene. He was a genius who suffered from depression and attempted suicide. The hero in that story is an attorney, Giff Johnson. I based this character after my son Zak who is an attorney.
The tagline for my current book, Friends Who Move Couches, is Almost a Memoir. I explain this novel “could have been my life” if I hadn’t married my wonderful husband. The book tells the story of a gangly-charming, suburban housewife/mother who is frivolously addicted to friendship and experiences a devastating friendship loss—which, sadly, has happened in my own life.
What my readers most inquire about, however, are my premonitions. My dream-series novels, Dream Wide Awake and Project Dream, center around teenagers who were placed into a government program in Area 51 to develop their sixth sense. They grow up to help protect America through remote viewing. Lots of readers have asked if Project Dream is a real government program.
What kind of research do you do for your fiction?
Mostly, I write what I know. For example, my dream series explores people who have a sixth sense. I, myself, have had several premonitions in my life, including one major vision of 9/11.
For the historical romance, I researched the 1830 American era and the Pennsylvania underground railroads.
For my psychological thriller, The Suicide Gene, I read books on heredity and genes.
Your website mentions real-life paranormal experiences that have influenced your writing. Please tell us a bit about that.
There’s no better way to say this. I have premonitions that come to me as movies in my head. I’ve had several throughout my lifetime, but the one most people are interested in is my 9/11 premonition.
Beginning in July of 2001 and continuing until September, I had two visions (movies in my head). They occurred a few days a week and always between 10 o’clock and 10:30 in the morning while I was sitting at my desk at work. They came suddenly and without warning. In the first vision, I was in a building that was collapsing. I could see the gray floor boulders buckling beneath me. The second was from a plane’s eye view where I approached a city with tall buildings in Northeastern America.
Readers may read about that vision on my website (Website), watch an interview on AfterBuzz TV (AfterBuzz), hear an interview on Beyond Reality Radio (Beyond Reality), or listen to a book discussion about it on Writer’s Block (Writer’s Block). That 9/11 premonition is the basis of my series about Project Dream—the school set in Area 51 where teenagers develop their clairvoyant abilities.
What is your latest or soon-forthcoming work?
Friends Who Move Couches, Almost a Memoir, is the story of suburban wife and mother, Nikki Grey, whose addiction to friendship leads her through various comical situations. Nikki never learns. She is her own nemesis. She also suffers from epilepsy. When she experiences a seizure then shortly afterward realizes her husband has been cheating on her, she’s forced to dig deep inside herself and muster the courage to stand on her own.
What are you working on now?
Friends Who Move Couches is in the hands of my proofreader, and I am preparing for publication. I’m also editing my historical romance, Within the Setting Sun, and hoping to submit to a publisher soon. Finally, I’m debating whether to write the sequel to my friend or dream series, or begin a new thriller. All this as I plan a major life move from Pennsylvania to North Carolina.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Read, read, and read more. Listen to your editors, take as many free writing classes as you can fit into your schedule, and don’t turn your nose up to criticism. People encouraged me to write when I was young, but I was hesitant to take the suggestions of editors for fear I’d lose my voice. When I finally heeded their words, my writing took a turn for the better. I promise, young writers, you won’t lose your voice. You’ll simply clean it up.
What’s the URL of your website? Your blog? Where else can we find you on the web?
Readers may find me as follows:
Website/blog:
Social Media links:
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cjzahner/
Twitter https://twitter.com/TweetyZ
Facebook http://bit.ly/FBcjzahner
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyndiezahner/
Goodreads http://bit.ly/gProjectDream
BookBub http://bit.ly/BBProjectDream
Book Gorilla http://bit.ly/CJZahnerBookGorilla
Book Circle Online interview: http://bit.ly/CJZinterview
Beyond Reality Radio 9/11 Interview: http://bit.ly/BRRCJZinterview
Buy Link:
Amazon Amazon
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
COME TUMBLING DOWN, by Seanan McGuire. This new installment in the Wayward Children series reveals the fate of twins Jack and Jill after the climax of EVERY HEART A DOORWAY. Spoiler: Jack slew her serial-killer sister and took Jill’s body through the doorway to the home of their hearts, the Moors—a Gothic landscape reminiscent of a Hammer horror film—to be resurrected. A person once dead and revived can’t become a vampire, so even if restored to her status as the adopted daughter of the undead Master, Jill couldn’t attain her ambition of becoming a vampire princess. As COME TUMBLING DOWN begins, it’s immediately obvious that Jack’s hope of resuming her contented life as assistant to her beloved mentor, mad scientist Dr. Bleak (who maintains the balance of power on the Moors in opposition to the Master) while regaining her sister’s love didn’t come to pass. A supernatural bolt of lightning opens a dimensional rift in the cellar of Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children, and Jack’s girlfriend, Alexis, emerges carrying an unconscious body. It’s Jill’s body but inhabited by the mind of Jack, forced to magically exchange bodies with Jill, who desperately wants to be transformed into a vampire, as the Master has promised, at the next full moon. In a physical form that has never been killed and resurrected, she can fulfill her dream. Recognizing Jill as an irredeemable psychopath, Jack realizes she must not only reclaim her own body but then kill her twin permanently. She embarks on this quest by crossing over to the Moors with Alexis (rendered mute by her second death and revival), Kade (Miss Eleanor’s nephew and designated heir to take over the school when she eventually returns to her Nonsense world), Cora (who visited an ocean world to which she longs to return as a mermaid), Christopher (who communicates with skeletons by means of his bone flute), and Sumi (formerly dead heroine of the realm of Confectionary). With Dr. Bleak slain (at least for the present), Jack expects to assume his role as mad scientist of the Moors. On the way to confronting Jill and the Master, she and her allies also have to deal with the Drowned Gods of that world’s sea. After dire peril and near-tragedy, the novel comes to a satisfying conclusion. I hope it won’t be the last in the series. With a theoretically infinite number of doorways and worlds, there are surely more stories to tell.
THE POWER OF BABEL, by John McWhorter. Subtitled “A Natural History of Language,” this nonfiction work shouldn’t be missed by anyone interested in linguistics and the development of languages. Although I don’t know much about the technicalities of linguistics, I had no trouble following most of the author’s explanations; he has a lucid, highly readable prose style with lots of humorous touches. He explores how the hypothetical original language morphed into the six thousand or so on Earth today. He explains at length why it’s less accurate to speak of “languages” than of dialects, which we conventionally group into larger entities we call languages, often for political, ethnic, and geographical reasons rather than strictly scientific ones. He gives extensive examples of the different ways languages change and why, while devoting a chapter to the plight of languages that have become extinct or are moving toward that fate. In conclusion, he discusses why it’s almost certainly impossible to retrieve any words from the first language that evolved into all the others. I’ve also recently read one of his later books, OUR MAGNIFICENT BASTARD TONGUE, which focuses on how and why the grammar of English has changed over the centuries. There he devotes special attention to what he calls the “meaningless do” (i.e,, the fact that we have to say “Did you finish your homework?” or “I didn’t finish my homework,” yet we don’t say “I did finish my homework” unless for special emphasis) and the present participle ending in -ing (many languages get along with a single verb form for both habitual action and ongoing action). Anyone who enjoys reading about the way languages work would love this author’s books.
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT, by Harriet Reisen. I seldom read biographies, but with the release of the new movie adaptation of LITTLE WOMEN, one of my favorite books in my teens, I became curious about the life of its author. I chose the most recent biography I noticed on Amazon (published in 2010), on the grounds that the latest account would build on earlier books and explore her life and times in the greatest depth. I also read a few Amazon reviews and found Reisen’s book highly recommended. As everyone knows, Alcott based the main characters in the March family novels (LITTLE WOMEN, first published as two separate books, LITTLE MEN, and JO’S BOYS) on her own family. The trouble with biographies of authors, often, is that most writers’ lives contain little excitement outside the pages of their works. Therefore, biographers tend to hunt for connections to the works throughout the events of the subjects’ lives (e.g., Bram Stoker’s biographers trying to identify a real-life model, such as Sir Henry Irving, for Count Dracula). Alcott, however, had a fascinating life in its own right, even though not one of action-packed adventure. The biographer has the advantage of copious documentation, since Louisa kept journals throughout her life, almost from the time she first learned to write. Many of her letters are also preserved, as well as reminiscences by people who knew her. Her father, Bronson Alcott, was a leading figure in the Transcendentalist movement, so that Louisa grew up surrounded by venerable intellectuals such as Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne. Bronson, however, consistently failed in worldly terms, especially after he decided his principles didn’t permit him to work for wages. He tried to support his family by lecturing, teaching, and writing, with little success until late in life. His utopian experiment in communal living, Fruitlands, also ended in failure. Unlike the fictional March family’s genteel “poverty” (with a large house, abundant food, and a faithful housekeeper), the Alcott family often fell into real poverty. During Louisa’s first decade or so of life, they moved approximately every year, sometimes more than once in a year. Her mother was pregnant more or less annually for over a decade, on at least one occasion twice in a year. Aside from the births of the four daughters immortalized in LITTLE WOMEN, all her pregnancies ended in miscarriage or stillbirth, to the obvious detriment of her health—an exemplary case study for the importance of reliable contraception! When Louisa finally achieved fame and prosperity after the release of LITTLE WOMEN, she was able to give her family financial security and essentially supported them until she died. Unlike Jo, her literary counterpart, Louisa remained an independent spinster, although because of her family obligations she never achieved the kind of free life she really wanted. Reisen’s book told me much I hadn’t known about Louisa, such as her stint as a hospital nurse during the Civil War, her travels in Europe, and the fact that she wrote other things besides children’s books and (under a pen name) lurid Gothic thrillers. Fans of Alcott’s work should enjoy this detail-packed, lively account of her career and relationships.
*****
Excerpt from “Harvest Maidens”:
The second bell rang just as Mali finished washing up and scrambling into her shapeless, sand-colored smock. She glanced out her room’s narrow window at the rose-tinted sky, then hurried from the dormitory to the field next to the stable, where she took her place in line with the other couple of dozen maidens. The air felt comfortably warm, even this early, and the dewy grass tickled her bare feet.
On her left stood a girl about her own age, thirteen, and on the right a blonde child no more than seven or eight. Mali remembered seeing her brought in two days earlier but hadn’t learned her name yet. The little one glanced from side to side, fidgeting and biting her lip. This must be her first day at horn harvesting. Mali squeezed her hand and gave her an encouraging smile.
The little girl’s mouth dropped open when a stable hand unlatched the broad doors and the unicorns trotted out. Mali smiled wider, recalling how thrilled she’d been at her first sight of the creatures, when she’d been not much older than her new companion. Though they had the bodies of horses, as common lore claimed, they didn’t look very horse-like otherwise. They had cloven hooves, sapphire eyes, short, wiry manes, and tufted tails. Their heads resembled those of stags except for the single horn, as long as one of Mali’s arms. In the early morning sun, their white and silver hides shone, and their horns gleamed with iridescent swirls of rainbow hues.
The herd milled around, puffing and snorting, until each animal halted next to a girl or young woman. Girls, mostly, with very few past twenty years and only two older than that. As usual, the herd slightly outnumbered the maidens so that a few had a pair of unicorns sidling up to them. Only one each chose Mali and the girls on either side of her. The floral aroma of her unicorn’s breath filled her nose. She stroked his silken coat, relishing her favorite moment of the day. If only time could stop here.
Once the animals settled down, the wizards, eleven of them today, strode into the field. Four lived in the manor at the center of the ranch, while others came in from town each morning. Mali kept her eyes facing forward instead of watching the men work their way down the row. It was bad enough to have to see the process when a wizard reached her spot in line. A gasp drew her gaze to the little girl beside her, who had obviously been watching.
“What are they doing?” the girl asked, her brow furrowing.
Mali clasped her hand again and whispered, “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt the unicorns.” Or so she’d been told, and she’d seen no indication otherwise. “That’s our job, to keep them calm so the wizards can do their work. Hush, now, so you won’t upset them.” She patted her unicorn, which was shifting his feet restlessly in response to the disturbance. “I’m Mali. What’s your name?”
Tears trickled down the girl’s face, but she answered softly, “Nessa.” The animal that loomed over her, a mare, bobbed her head up and down and stamped her feet.
“Pet her and make her feel better,” Mali told the child.
Nessa splayed her hand on the unicorn’s leg. “I don’t know how.”
At that moment the nearest wizard, Master Tegvan, finished with the maiden on Mali’s left side and stopped in front of her. He didn’t wear star-spangled robes or a long, white beard like mages in storybooks. Not at all ancient, probably in his thirties, he wore emerald green trousers and tunic and a neatly trimmed, auburn beard. Though he didn’t quite smile at Mali, as usual he had a less forbidding manner than most of the wizards.
After four years at the ranch, she knew her role without prompting. Stroking the unicorn’s flank, she murmured to him until he sank into a waking trance. Without the maidens’ influence, the unicorns would never allow men, even mages, this close to them. Master Tegvan lightly clasped the unicorn’s horn and muttered the cryptic words of the spell. Silver light flashed from his fingers.
The horn came off cleanly in his hand. Its glowing colors faded.
The unicorn’s head drooped. His blue eyes grew dull, and his coat turned pale gray. Though his mutilated forehead didn’t bleed and he showed no sign of pain, Mali hated this moment. As always, she could barely blink away the tears that threatened to fall.
-end of excerpt-
*****
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“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter