Archive for the ‘News’ Category
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-
*****
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 January 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):
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
Happy New Year!
One of my favorites of my own novellas is “Fantasia Quest,” in which the heroine and hero get trapped inside the beta test of a hyper-realistic computer roleplaying game. Fortunately, when I wrote the story, I hadn’t viewed or read any of several anime and manga featuring “stuck in a game” premises, such as the excellent SWORD ART ONLINE. If I’d known how often that plot premise had been used already, I might not have dared to write it myself. But, then, as often pointed out, there are only so many plots in the world. I’m currently following the novels, manga, and anime of RE-ZERO, whose hero isn’t literally stuck in a game, but he’s trapped in a predicament reminiscent of game-death outcomes. So “Fantasia Quest” came to mind. It’s in the collection DAME ONYX TREASURES, which you can find here:
In the excerpt below, Rolf, Carrie’s partner, is one of the game designers; Graystreak is her flying-squirrel familiar; Zack is a rival at the game company; Rolf’s “singing sword” plays show tunes.
Our first interview of 2020 features romance and mystery author Sadira Stone.
*****
Interview with Sadira Stone:
What inspired you to begin writing?
Even as a tiny child, I entertained myself by spinning tales in my head. Most kids do, I’m sure, but mine were elaborate fan fic epics based on TV shows like Batman and Star Trek. I’d fill my school notebooks with scenes and doodle illustrations in the margins. Eventually, I started writing stories based entirely on my own characters. I wish I’d kept those early scribblings.
What genres do you work in?
I’ve published two contemporary romance novels and one horror short story. I have a couple still-unpublished cozy mysteries.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
With each project, I become more of a plotter. I’m still trying out different techniques, from sticky note collages to scene cards to beat sheets. However, I always end up revising the outline as I write, since the characters insist on having their say.
What have been the major influences on your writing (favorite authors, life experiences, or whatever)?
Joining the Romance Writers of America was the best investment I’ve made in my writing career. Romance writers are a generous bunch, and through RWA I’ve learned so much about the craft and business of writing. Of course, I read top sellers and award winners in my genre to learn what works and what readers enjoy. Also, listening to romance reader podcasts teaches me about how readers react to various tropes, styles, subgenres, etc.
How have your experiences with serving in the Army and living in Germany affected your fiction?
I wish I had some warrior-woman tales to tell, but I was an army legal clerk working in the JAG office. After my enlistment ended, I returned to the U.S. to get my teaching degree (English, French, German, theater), then went back to Germany where I taught high school to the kids of U.S. military families. Thus, I’ve travelled more than most public-school teachers simply because I was stationed there. Working with military families introduced me to people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Perhaps this helped me craft believable characters who don’t all look and sound alike.
What kinds of research do you do in writing mystery?
Poisons, car chases, how to escape when bound with duct tape, rigor mortis, firearms, arson, police department hierarchy and jurisdiction…I’ve found cops to be very generous in sharing their experiences and correcting my misperceptions.
Please tell us about your new book.
Runaway Love Story, Book Two in the Book Nirvana series, takes readers back to Clara’s bookshop in Eugene, Oregon, where we meet Laurel, her newest employee.
Chasing a big-city art gallery job, Laurel detours to Eugene, Oregon to help her spitfire great aunt. An eccentric, ninety-year-old artist with day-glo hair, Maxie is the only family member who supports Laurel’s artistic ambitions. But Maxie recognizes early signs of dementia and makes the tough choice to move into assisted living.
While on a run, Laurel is harassed by a group of teens until a tall, broad-shouldered hottie rescues her by pretending to be her boyfriend–with a kiss that makes her wish it were true, even though Doug seems to be the opposite of what she’s striving for— no flash, no glamour, just a solid, kind, generous guy who teaches high school and coaches cross country. Turns out, his mom, who suffers from dementia, lives in the same retirement village as Maxie.
Their surprise connection sizzles, but Doug can’t leave Eugene, and Laurel can’t stay without surrendering the career dreams that have sustained her for so long.
Doug’s only hope: To convince Laurel those big-city lights have nothing on her inner sparkle—a task that gets more complicated when a viral Twitter post about their love story spirals into Crazy Town.
Buy links:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Apple Books
Google Play Books
Kobo
What are you working on now?
Love, Art, and Other Obstacles is the working title of Book Three in the Book Nirvana series. This one features my youngest couple yet: Margot, twenty-two, is a senior in graphic design at the University of Oregon and has worked at Book Nirvana since the beginning of the series. In Runaway Love Story we meet Elmer, age twenty-six, a buff, tattooed, ginger-bearded ceramics artist. Great-aunt Maxie arranges for them to compete for the same art grant.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Learn your craft. No need for expensive courses if you’re a beginner—just check out the many excellent craft books and blogs available.
Read widely in your genre. Learn the rhythm of that type of story, and what readers expect.
Get other eyeballs on your work before submitting or publishing it. You’re too close to the story to see all the problem areas.
What’s the URL of your website? Your blog? Where else can we find you on the web?
Visit Sadira on All the Socials!
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
BookBub
Amazon Author Page
Pinterest
Instagram
Author Newsletter
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
THE CASE OF THE SPELLBOUND CHILD, by Mercedes Lackey. In this new installment starring psychic warriors Nan and Sarah (with their ward, Suki) Sherlock Holmes is still presumed dead. Aside from Dr. Watson and his wife, with whom Nan and Sarah continue to work on paranormal cases, they are among the very few people who know Holmes is alive. The Great Detective, however, doesn’t play a major part in this novel, in which the Watsons, Nan, and Sarah investigate the disappearances of children in Yorkshire. First, however, the book has two bait-and-switch opening episodes. In the first chapter, a sociopathic petty crook named Alf gets murdered by an accomplice. Discovering himself to be a ghost and learning his powers and limitations, he plots revenge. The two heroines don’t show up until a supposed fellow ghost, really an ally of theirs in astral projection form, tricks Alf into appearing to Sarah in her role as a medium. One of her gifts, as readers of the series know, is to help or force ghosts to cross into the next world. The next incident, which also looks as if it might be the main plot but isn’t, involves a young woman committed to a mental institution. Suspicious of the circumstances that brought her there and wondering whether she’s being mistreated, the Watsons investigate with the help of Sarah and Nan. Finally, the story proper begins with two Yorkshire siblings, Simon and Ellie, whose frazzled, enraged mother reacts to their rambunctious behavior by throwing them out on the moor with orders not to come home until they’ve collected enough food to make up for what Simon accidentally spilled. They stumble upon a tempting cottage in the middle of nowhere, like Hansel and Gretel. Along with a handful of other children, they become captives of a terrifying figure they call the Dark One. It turns out the victims have been chosen for their magical potential, and the Dark One preys on them by draining their magical energy to fuel his or her own powers. Like Gretel tricking the witch, Ellie ingeniously works toward her escape, determined to bring help and free the other children. Meanwhile, the Watsons, Nan, Sarah, and Suki, along with their preternaturally intelligent pet birds, follow a convoluted web of clues to discover the fate of the missing children. Robin, aka Puck or the Oldest Old One, lends his help, naturally. The investigation proceeds plausibly and suspensefully, and the true nature of the Dark One is piquantly surprising. The heroes are delighted to have saved a group of children while bringing to justice a slimy energy-draining magician who used stolen powers for such mundane crimes as stealing jewelry. Not every case, as they agree at the end, has to involve saving the world.
THIRTEEN DOORWAYS, WOLVES BEHIND THEM ALL, by Laura Ruby. Set in Chicago during World War II, this novel tells the story of Italian-American teenager Frankie, her sister Toni, and their brother, consigned to an orphanage for several years even though their father is alive. When he remarried, he left them there, supposedly temporarily. Although the Guardian Angels Orphanage doesn’t treat the children like Oliver Twist in the workhouse, Frankie’s day-to-day existence is dreary enough to engage the reader’s sympathy. With boys and girls segregated, the sisters see their brother only once a week. Their father moves out west with his new family, and their brother eventually joins them. The book begins with a 1946 framing scene, when Frankie has won her independence, holding a job and moving into her own place (however cramped and poor) with Toni. It then follows her life at the orphanage from 1941 through 1945. The novel’s fantasy dimension comes from the narrator, a ghost haunting the orphanage, observing the girls while unable to interact with them. Few living people sense her presence, and she has very little power to affect physical objects. For a large part of the story, it might as well be a realistic historical novel aside from the unusual narrative perspective. Later, the ghost’s own past plays an important role, as she begins to remember her earlier existence while developing the power to move things and actively haunt some individuals. After leaving the orphanage and attempting to live with her father and his second family, Frankie, with the ghost’s help, has a violent confrontation that leads to her and Toni’s climactic flight from their toxic home. This emotionally harrowing but ultimately uplifting story conveys a strong sense of its historical milieu—not surprising, in view of what the author reveals in the afterword: The book is based not only in broad outline but in many specific details upon the real-life childhood and youth of the author’s mother-in-law.
THE NEW TESTAMENT IN ITS WORLD, by N. T. Wright, with Michael F. Bird. I’d been awaiting this book for a long time. I’ve often wished Wright, a distinguished New Testament scholar, former Anglican bishop, and now a professor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, would publish his theories about the authorship and dating of the Gospels. Well, this overview does that for every book in the New Testament, along with a detailed summary and analysis of each one, accompanied by sections on the life and theology of Paul in connection with his epistles. That project, however, comprises only three parts of this nine-part volume. The book also covers how to read the New Testament, its historical Greco-Roman and Jewish background, the life and mission of Jesus, the Resurrection in its cultural as well as theological context, the making of the New Testament canon, and a final section (specifically directed to practicing Christians) on “Living the Story of the New Testament.” Although much of the content reprises material from Wright’s SURPRISED BY HOPE (on Christian teaching about the afterlife) and his monumental, four-volume “Christian Origins” series (which begins with THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD), THE NEW TESTAMENT IN ITS WORLD brings together Wright’s work on those themes in one convenient location, written in a more popular style than the weighty “Christian Origins” tomes. The present book also includes a lot of additional material that makes it definitely worthwhile for anyone interested in first-century Christianity. In short, in my opinion this is the most comprehensive, readable overview of the New Testament one could ever hope for. Unfortunately, the availability and pricing have already gone wonky since the book’s publication only a few months ago. Granted, it’s a huge volume (almost 900 pages not counting bibliography, etc.) lavishly adorned with illustrations and maps, so no wonder it originally cost over $40.00 on Amazon. Now, though, the hardcover version is available only from third-party sellers, admittedly at more affordable prices. But the cost of the Kindle, which was reasonable on release date, has risen to the $40.00 range. Still, if you’re interested in the subject matter, do get a copy if possible. There’s always the library.
*****
Excerpt from “Fantasia Quest”:
They hardly needed the map on this stage of the journey, with only one trail through the forest. The horses’ hooves left prints in the damp loam, and sparkling raindrops dripped from the leaves overhead. She felt the solid bulk of her mount’s torso under her and the leather of the reins in her grasp. To make the scene fully lifelike, the program needed only woodsy aromas, which she missed, and sore muscles from riding the whole day before, which she didn’t mind doing without. When they’d traveled two or three virtual miles, Carrie worked up the nerve to question Rolf. “You really didn’t have a clue they were canceling the beta test?”
“You said they postponed it, not canceled, right? Anyway, like I said, your message was the first I’d heard.” He stared straight ahead at the path rather than looking at her. Not that a computer-generated face would necessarily reveal a lie, anyhow.
“What if those twinges of pain were signs of an underlying problem in the code?”
“They’d have caught it at a way earlier stage.” A hint of impatience tinged his voice. “There’s nothing to worry about. If I’d thought there were, I would have canceled our session myself.”
“Fine, you’re the professional here.” Still, she mentally reserved the right to bail out if anything more serious went wrong.
After a clash with a pack of wolves, which Rolf’s bladewarden gift persuaded to accept a truce, Carrie’s acid darts made quick work of clearing a cluster of bushes that fired thorns. While the adventurers paused to pluck out the handful of thorns that had lodged in their clothes, Carrie said, “Would it be tempting fate too much to point out we’re getting challenges way below our level?”
“Yeah, it would. Trying to throw us off guard for something tougher, I’d say.”
Something tougher confronted them shortly afterward. The path narrowed, funneling them toward a rocky outcropping with a jagged hole opening into it.
“Another cave?” she said. “Or tunnel? Do we have go in?”
“What do you have in mind?”
She unrolled the map. “It seems the path continues in the same linear mode on the far side of this patch of forest. Is there anything in the program that would stop us from cutting through the trees?”
He arched his slanted eyebrows. “Sneaky. I like it. With luck, nobody thought of preventing that move.”
They turned toward the area where the gaps between trunks looked widest and the undergrowth thinnest. No more than five of the horses’ paces into the forest, the wooded landscape morphed into a solid barrier.
“Obviously somebody did think of it,” he said. “I should have figured they wouldn’t waste code on the chance players might wander off the path.”
“Big surprise. I guess it’s the hole in the rock or turn back.”
“Which isn’t an option.” When they faced the dark entrance again, he said, “We’ll need your mage light.”
She conjured the usual floating globe. They dismounted and led the horses. Just beyond the cave’s maw, the space opened up enough to let them walk side by side. “Looks like a tunnel,” Carrie said. “Would have been nice if the map had told us about it.”
Several paces on, a gossamer veil shimmered across the span. A web. Desiccated corpses of two birds and a bat hung in the network.
Rolf’s fist clenched on the hilt of his sheathed sword. “Damn. If the spider that spun this is hanging around, I don’t want to meet it. This has to be a surprise Zack planted for me.”
The tension in his voice reminded her of the arachnophobia he’d confessed. “I’ll get rid of the web.” Surrounded by rock, the strands could burn without endangering nearby plant life. At her arcane word, flame shot from her wand and engulfed the web. It blazed for a second, then crumbled to ash.
Graystreak volunteered to scout to the end of the cleft. When he glided back to Carrie’s shoulder, he said, “It’s a tunnel, and there’s a spider guarding the other end, all right. A big one.”
His face set in a strained mask, Rolf glanced at her, then back at the web. “How big?”
“You don’t want to know,” the squirrel muttered.
“I’ll find out in a second anyway. It’s not like we have an alternative.” Rolf whispered to the horses, patting their necks and commanding them to stay put. He drew his sword and strode forward.
At his side, Carrie flourished her wand to the sword’s lyrics of a spy thriller title song about a villain with a spider’s touch. Fifty paces in, they glimpsed a multi-legged lump silhouetted against a patch of daylight at the far mouth of the tunnel. It shambled toward them with a scrabbling of claws on rock. Once inside the passage, its eight eyes glinted scarlet in the dimness.
Rolf halted, a visible tremor in his upraised sword arm. The shaggy thing in front of him looked like a tarantula the size of a pony. Venom dripped from its fangs. It headed for the bladewarden, who only stared as if paralyzed.
Carrie cast an acid dart at the spider. It shuddered when the dart sizzled in its bristle-covered torso but turned toward her only for a second before looming over Rolf. He still didn’t move.
It’ll bite his head off for all I know!
“Rolf, do something!”
He took a step backward, his sword arm frozen. Shouting his name again, she charged between him and the spider. She flung a spray of rainbow dazzle at the monster’s head, blinding it. It staggered in confusion, but not before its mandibles nipped her arm. Pain stung her, brief but sharp.
She stumbled and fell to one knee.
“Crystal, no!” Rolf surged into action with a yell of rage. He sliced off two of the spider’s legs before she managed to struggle to her feet. Though he hadn’t stopped shaking, he brandished his sword between her and the monster. In spite of its temporary blindness, it scored a glancing bite on Rolf. With his mouth twisted in revulsion, he cut off a third limb.
She aimed her next acid dart at the thing’s slavering mandibles. In these close quarters, she couldn’t deploy fire or ice without hurting herself and her partner. The half-lamed spider lurched sideways.
Scuttling noises diverted her attention. A quick glance to left and right revealed a pair of four-foot-long centipedes, one on each side. Their pincers looked as lethal as the spider’s fangs. The sight made her skin prickle and her stomach turn queasy. Rolf whirled around to hack at one, then renewed his assault on the spider. Carrie launched a barrage of shadow bolts at the other centipede. The wounds oozed white fluid but didn’t slow down the crawling things.
She switched the wand to her left hand, drew her dagger with her right, and invoked a spell that converted the blade into a rapier that shone with an azure glow. The transformation wouldn’t last long, but long enough to deal with the centipedes and possibly maim the spider. She stabbed one centipede just behind its head. Sparks scintillated and the creature convulsed before shriveling up. With a shout of triumph, she dispatched the other one the same way.
-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