Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Welcome to the September 2023 issue of my newsletter, “News from the Crypt,” and please visit Carter’s Crypt, devoted to my horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance work, especially focusing on vampires and shapeshifting beasties. If you have a particular fondness for vampires, check out the chronology of my series in the link labeled “Vanishing Breed Vampire Universe.”
Also, check out the multi-author Alien Romances Blog
You can subscribe to this monthly newsletter here:
For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
My Lovecraftian erotic dark paranormal romance novella “Song from the Abyss” (formerly from Ellora’s Cave and unavailable for several years) was published on July 26:
My lighthearted erotic ghost romance “Sweeter Than Wine” appeared earlier in the same month:
Both of these e-books have been slightly revised from their Ellora’s Cave versions but without substantive changes.
Barbara Custer, editor of NIGHT TO DAWN magazine, gave “Sweeter Than Wine” a lovely 5-star review on Amazon:
I have a story, “In Mountain Mist,” in the charity anthology DARK CORNERS OF THE OLD DOMINION, an anthology of horror stories written by Virginia-connected authors and set in Virginia. (I was born in that state and graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.) The protagonist of my tale gets stranded at night on the Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Information about the book, to be released on September 8, here:
You can read the beginning of my story below.
Here’s a follow-up interview with multi-genre author Babs Mountjoy, who also appeared in Newsletter 203.
*****
Interview with Babs Mountjoy:
Why do you choose to write under two different pen names? What genres does each of them specialize in?
At the time I started getting novel contracts, I was a full-time practicing attorney. Writing fantasies about elves in Montana was…well…you know. Not very lawyerish. So I used Lyndi Alexander for that. When I was later inspired to write romance and suspense, I wanted a different name so readers would know this was not with my sci-fi and fantasy novels.
Do you have some favorite research resources you’d recommend to other writers of fantasy and science fiction?
Fantasy Whenever I need a detail—a name, a place, and I’m stuck—this is a fun site. But much of the time I just take it that these are lands of the imagination, and just let ‘er rip. 😊
With so many works on the market, how do you handle promotion? Any particularly useful tips to pass on to other authors?
I think different promotion works for different people. I’m not huge on social media, and shy about being on camera, so Instagram and Tiktok aren’t on my radar. I seek out review sites and trade reviews with other authors. I’m sure I don’t serve each work what it deserves, with 25 books out there, but I try to pass the spotlight around equally.
Your website shows books in multiple series. Please tell us about some of those series.
My romance series features the Pittsburgh Lady Lawyers, a triad of suspenseful books with each heroine practicing law in Pittsburgh. For those who love the city, there are plenty of local settings and details that put the stories right in place.
I also have the aforementioned series about elves in modern-day Montana, an urban fantasy in four books, with an anthology of short stories and novellas joining next year.
The series that are the books of my heart is the Color of Fear YA post-apocalyptic series that follow a world where a plague has attacked the Caucasian race and the minorities become the majority. In addition to the hard conditions the young girl from Hong Kong and her friends find challenging, they are also up against a white supremacist cult leader and have a Chinese assassin on their trail. Very exciting!
How about a few examples of stand-alone works?
I have a YA fantasy novel with an autistic heroine called THE LOST CHORD.
The Lost Chord
Bee, the heroine, is based on my own daughter on the spectrum. The story also has a fair amount of gamer experience, as the boys in the story use their gaming skills in their hunt.
One of my favorites is ENCOUNTER: When a group of lawyers go on a retreat to a remote ranch in northern New Mexico, they have no idea their lives are about to intersect with those of a truckload of illegal immigrants stranded in a freak March snowstorm. The intersection of these people, the collision of their cultures, the revelation of their secrets — all these things lead to violence, death, and even redemption in their New Mexico ENCOUNTER.
Encounter
I also have an historical romance, PROPHECIES AND PROMISES, set in turn of the century Key West amid the Spanish-American War—with pirates!
Please tell us about your recently published novel.
REMNANTS OF FIRE is a supernatural thriller, set in the recent past, and a heroine based on my seven years as a small-town newspaper reporter.
In her mad rush to escape a failed marriage, Sara Woods takes the first job available and lands in the middle of a mystery. Her first assignment as a news reporter for the Ralston Courier is the investigation of a string of deaths, all young women, all her age.
She becomes a patient at the Goldstone Clinic, a local healing center, to deal with chronic pain from her past. But all is not as it seems at the Goldstone, its doctors and nurses all the picture of perfect beauty and health. Patients at the clinic first seem to get better and then deteriorate.
Sara enlists the help of Dr. Rick Paulsen, who teaches her how to access her internal power, skills she never knew she had, revealing secrets from her past. Police officer Brendon Zale also takes an interest in Sara, but he acts like a stalker, watching her every move, and he won’t leave her alone.
As she digs deeper into the story, she tries to choose allies wisely, but not until the last confrontation does she discover the identity of her true enemy.
By then, it’s too late.
What are you working on now?
A rewrite of a science fiction romance novel I got my rights back on, where our hero is a shapeshifting lizard, and our heroine a spunky young scientist-agent investigating the serial deaths of mutated women.
Where can we find the primary websites and Facebook pages of your two author identities?
Website Alana Lorens
Facebook Alana Lorens Facebook
Website and Blog Lyndi Alexander
Facebook Lyndi Alexander Facebook
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
PATHOGENESIS, by Jonathan Kennedy. Subtitled “A History of the World in Eight Plagues,” this historical survey of the impact of infectious diseases though the ages brings to mind Arno Karlen’s fascinating MAN AND MICROBES (1996). The two books differ significantly in their major emphases, however. Karlen’s history focuses on biological, medical, and epidemiological developments. PATHOGENESIS, as hinted by its subtitle, mainly explores anthropological and geopolitical results of epidemics and pandemics. Kennedy explains and analyzes how infectious disease has shaped major turning points in human evolution and history. Contrary to the phrase “eight plagues,” almost every chapter delves into the background and outcome of more than one disease, aside from “Medieval Plagues,” an in-depth explanation of the far-reaching consequences of history’s best-known pandemic, the Black Death. Other chapters, arranged in chronological order: Paleolithic Plagues (did diseases play a major role in the survival of modern Homo sapiens versus the extinction of Neanderthals?); Neolithic Plagues (the development of agriculture); Ancient Plagues (epidemics and pandemics in Greek and Roman antiquity); Colonial Plagues (European diseases devastating native populations and European colonizers struck down by unfamiliar microbes and parasites in the colonies); Revolutionary Plagues (the transatlantic slave trade and various uprisings); Industrial Plagues (the Industrial Revolution, of course, and urbanization, mainly the nineteenth century); Plagues of Poverty (contemporary inequities between rich and poor nations). I do have a few complaints: One teeth-grinding turnoff for me is the author’s habit of writing “literally decimated” when he means “almost obliterated,” two oft-abused words misused in a single phrase. The book contains exhaustive footnotes, yet inconveniently no bibliography. More importantly, in my opinion the chapter on Medieval Plagues over-generalizes to the extent of rehashing discredited stereotypes about the “dark” aspects of that period in contrast to the self-styled “Enlightenment.” But that kind of thing probably can’t be completely avoided in a work whose subject spans millennia and attempts a global scope. The contemporary chapter interested me the least; it strikes me as too polemical. However, most of the book abounds in meaty facts and unexpected connections. While I probably won’t reread it, unlike MAN AND MICROBES, which I’ve read several times, I found PATHOGENESIS absorbing and recommend it to anyone intrigued by its theme of “the humble microbe that wins wars and topples empires” (to quote the cover blurb).
GRYPHON IN LIGHT, by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon. This Valdemar novel begins a new sub-series, set after the chronologically latest books in the overarching series. Therefore, anyone who has read any of the previous installments set in this world can pick up this one with little or no difficulty in understanding the background (although, of course, more familiarity with the history of Valdemar, would enhance the reader’s appreciation). Following a battle against violent would-be secessionists, Valdemaran officer Hallock Stavern and gryphon warrior Kevren, both near-fatally wounded, share convalescent quarters and become friends. To heal Hallock, Kevren drains himself of the last of his magic. An experimental last-ditch attempt to restore it by means of a Heartstone renders Kevren not only healed and rejuvenated but supernaturally glowing. After a stunning battlefield display, he flies back to his home. To his shock and dismay, he doesn’t receive a hero’s welcome with the glory he expects, but instead faces suspicion. Rather than a heroic savior, he’s regarded by most observers as a Scary Monster. The caution turns out to be somewhat justified, for his overflowing magic and literally flammable emotional state pose a danger to those around him. Meanwhile, Valdemar faces a delicate political situation, with traditional enemy nations Hardorn and Karse no longer hostile but not exactly friends. Hallock has to readjust to his military unit, thrust into a leadership position he doesn’t feel comfortable with. The third principal character, Healer Firesong, who’s training Kevren to control his wild magic, copes with a midlife crisis, supported by his same-sex Hawkbrother partner, Silverfox. We also get introduced to several well-developed secondary characters, as well as a host of interesting minor ones of various species. Unlike most Valdemar novels, GRYPHON IN LIGHT doesn’t focus primarily on Heralds and their Companions, who stay mostly in the background of the story. An expedition is organized to investigate the mysteries of Lake Evendim, which seems to have some connection with the recently ended Mage Storms. The trek involves traveling through the preternaturally dangerous Pelagirs Forest. Partly to get Kevren out of Valdemar until he masters his involuntary flame power and partly because his abilities may actually be useful, he’s invited to go along, as are Firesong, Hallock, and their mates. This journey is no Dungeons & Dragons or Lord of the Rings quest undertaken by a small band of comrades. It requires complicated planning, elaborate transportation and supply logistics, and dozens of humans and other people. Kevren begins to transform from his earlier vainglorious, overconfident persona into a more modest and thoughtful gryphon. Hallock and Firesong are also sympathetic, multi-dimensional characters whose development will rivet most readers’ interest. And devotees of typical high fantasy as well as D&D will find much to enjoy in terms of adventurous encounters, including a message from the gods. Long-time fans of the Valdemar universe will delight in references to creatures and events from throughout the series. Caution: By starting this book, you’re making a multi-volume commitment. At the end of this one, the heroes are still far from their ultimate goal.
SHAKESPEARE UNLEASHED, edited by James Aquilone. An all-original anthology of horror stories, plus a few dark sonnets, based on the works of Shakespeare. The reader gets a lot for the price in this trade paperback, over forty separate works. A pair of brief introductions sets the stage (so to speak). Distinguished authors include Joe R. Lansdale, Steve Rasnic Tem, Gemma Files, Seanan McGuire, Jonathan Maberry, JG Faherty, and many others. Variations on the anthology’s theme include twisted retellings of the plays; sequels and spinoffs, often from the viewpoints of secondary or even minor characters; and modern stories updating or inspired by the originals. One of my favorites, “Nothing Like the Sun,” by Donna J. W. Munro, presents first-person narrator Rosaline (Romeo’s quickly forgotten first love) as a witch manipulating the entire plot behind the scenes. Ian Doescher’s “Thirteenth Night, or What You Kill,” a short verse drama in the style of the Bard, portrays Malvolio implementing the revenge he had promised in TWELFTH NIGHT; the final couplet has an unexpected sting in its tail. Jonathan Maberry’s “When I Waked I Cried to Dream Again,” a sequel to THE TEMPEST, undercuts the happy ending with dark terrors on the voyage home from Prospero’s island. Some of the stories don’t exactly fit into my idea of horror; for instance, “The Case of the Bitter Witch,” by Kasey Lansdale and Joe R. Lansdale, a paranormal mystery, doesn’t have a horror “feel” at all. I was mildly surprised to find only one vampire story (“The Hungry Wives of Windsor,” by Zachary Rosenberg, in which Falstaff meets a bloody end). One would think ROMEO AND JULIET, for instance, would lend itself to that treatment. Overall, this book is a don’t-miss read for crossover fans of Shakespeare and the dark fantastic. As a bonus, it has creepy black-and-white illustrations. The same editor has also compiled CLASSIC MONSTERS UNLEASHED, an anthology inspired by vintage horror movies, mainly the ones filmed by Universal. In that book, naturally, you’ll find quite a few vampires, as well as a variety of other creatures.
THORNHEDGE, by T. Kingfisher. A unique, emotionally stirring re-vision of “Sleeping Beauty” from the viewpoint of the fairy who casts the sleep spell. Suppose there’s a very good reason why the princess shouldn’t be allowed to wake up? The protagonist, Toadling, a were-toad (it makes sense in context), has spent countless years lurking outside the deserted keep within its nearly impenetrable barrier of thorns and brambles, guarding the magic that keeps the princess in suspended animation. Meanwhile, the outside world rolls on through catastrophic historical events, such as a devastating plague, of which Toadling knows nothing until a curious knight arrives on the scene. At first she only wants him to go away, but loneliness and the intriguing novelty of having someone to talk with overcome her reluctance to interact with the stranger. We gradually learn her background and the truth of the princess in the tower in a series of flashbacks as Toadling reveals her story to the knight. Born human, daughter of a minor king and queen, she was snatched from her cradle and replaced by a changeling. Since the fairies’ sole purpose for this action is to place the changeling with an unwitting family, they usually abandon the human child. The protagonist was found by greenteeth, marsh-dwelling faerie creatures; instead of eating her, as they often do with children, they lovingly raised her as one of their own. Growing up more fay than human, she learned water magic and shapeshifting into a toad. Later, she got instruction in spellcasting to prepare her for her destined mission—to save her real parents from impending danger. Time in faerie unfolds at a different speed from mortal time; in this case, many years pass in faerie during mere hours or days in the mundane world (the reverse of the more common lore). So Toadling arrives in the royal court on the day of her substitute’s christening. A slip of the tongue makes her prepared spell go disastrously wrong. She’s barred from faerie and stuck with watching over the little changeling princess. Halim, a Muslim knight who’s far from distinguished or wealthy, has little or no interest in tourneys or fighting in general. Instead, he has an insatiable drive to investigate mysteries and an open-minded, compassionate nature. When Toadling gives up trying to drive him away, they become friends of a sort as he attempts to break her “curse” by every method he can think of. Once he accepts her insistence that she herself is not cursed, he decides to enter the keep and convinces her to help him. Maybe they can find a way to free Toadling from her centuries-long vigil and exile from her home. In Toadling and Halim, Kingfisher has created two more of her typically thoughtful, quick-witted characters who don’t fit into the patterns of the roles they would play in most traditional fantasies or fairy tales. Their dialogues are delightful and the bond that grows between them deeply moving in a quiet way. Kingfisher’s afterword labels this book a “sweet” story, and I agree. Though there’s no hint of a potential sequel, I’d love to read the further adventures of these characters. In my opinion, THORNHEDGE is practically perfect, except that it’s too short.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from “In Mountain Mist”:
In the fog, or possibly a low-lying cloud, the headlights illuminated only a yard or two of pavement in front of the car. Otherwise, mere spectral silhouettes of roadside trees stood out from the backdrop of featureless gray-white.
“Slow down, for heaven’s sake.” Judith gritted her teeth to keep from yelling when Don cruised around another curve as if driving in clear daylight.
Grumbling under his breath, he eased off the accelerator. “At this rate it’ll be midnight when we get back to the campsite.”
“If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have to go through this in the first place.”
“How is it my fault? This afternoon the weather app didn’t say a thing about fog.”
“We wouldn’t be out here if you hadn’t insisted on camping instead of spending the night at the lodge.” After a meal in the lodge dining room and an interview with a desk clerk for an article Judith was working on, they’d hung around for two more hours to listen to an Appalachian folk singer in the bar. “It’ll be fun, you said. Just like a second honeymoon, you said.” She heard the sarcastic edge in her own voice but was too annoyed to soften it.
He relaxed and glanced at her with a fleeting smile. “Well, that is literally how we spent our honeymoon.”
“Yeah, twenty-six years ago. And, in case you’ve forgotten after all this time, we camped out because we couldn’t afford a week in a hotel. We’re not young, energetic, or broke anymore.” Her back already twinged in anticipation of a night in a sleeping bag on a thin air mattress—if they managed to reach the campsite safely in the first place. “Not to mention that you didn’t have a-fib and high blood pressure then.”
“You’ll notice I didn’t drop dead from assembling a tent.”
At least they couldn’t possibly get lost, even without a functioning GPS. Although wireless reception at this altitude in the Blue Ridge Mountains was erratic at best, all they had to do was drive directly along the Skyline Drive back to the campground where they’d set up their tent. The main hazard they had to worry about, as long as they didn’t slip off the shoulder or crash into a car heading the opposite direction, was overshooting the turnoff into the woods. She kept an eye on the mileage indicator, ready to alert Don if he seemed about to miss the narrow side road.
-end of excerpt-
*****
The long-time distributor of THE VAMPIRE’S CRYPT has closed its website. If you would like to read any issue of this fanzine, which contains fiction, interviews, and a detailed book review column, e-mail me to request the desired issue, and I’ll send you a free PDF of it. My e-mail address is at the end of this newsletter. Find information about the contents of each issue on this page of my website:
A complete list of my available works, arranged roughly by genre, with purchase links (gradually being updated as the Amber Quill and Ellora’s Cave works are being republished):
For anyone who would like to read previous issues of this newsletter, they’re posted on my website here (starting from January 2018):
This is my Facebook author page. Please visit!
Facebook
Here’s my page in Barnes and Noble’s Nook store:
Barnes and Noble
Here’s the list of my Kindle books on Amazon. (The final page, however, includes some Ellora’s Cave anthologies in which I don’t have stories):
Carter Kindle Books
Here’s a shortcut URL to my author page on Amazon:
Amazon
The Fiction Database displays a comprehensive list of my books (although with a handful of fairy tales by a different Margaret Carter near the end):
My Goodreads page:
Goodreads
Please “Like” my author Facebook page (cited above) to see reminders when each monthly newsletter is uploaded. I’ve also noticed that I’m more likely to be shown posts from liked or friended sources in my Facebook feed when I’ve “Liked” some of their individual posts, so you might want to do that, too. Thanks!
My Publishers:
Writers Exchange E-Publishing: Writers Exchange
Harlequin: Harlequin
Wild Rose Press: Wild Rose Press
You can contact me at: MLCVamp@aol.com
“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter
Welcome to the August 2023 issue of my newsletter, “News from the Crypt,” and please visit Carter’s Crypt, devoted to my horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance work, especially focusing on vampires and shapeshifting beasties. If you have a particular fondness for vampires, check out the chronology of my series in the link labeled “Vanishing Breed Vampire Universe.”
Also, check out the multi-author Alien Romances Blog
You can subscribe to this monthly newsletter here:
For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
My lighthearted erotic paranormal romance novella “Sweeter Than Wine,” featuring the lusty ghost of a Revolutionary War smuggler, was released on July 3:
Lovecraftian erotic romance novella “Song from the Abyss” came out on July 26:
An excerpt appears below.
This month’s interview spotlights thriller and romance author Michelle Godard-Richer.
*****
Interview with Michelle Godard-Richer:
What inspired you to begin writing?
From the moment I learned to read as a child I wanted to write my own stories.
What genres do you work in?
I write thrillers, romance, and horror. I often blend and bend genres together.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I’ve been working with loose outlines and mostly winging it. Lately, I’m trying to change my process and outline in more detail.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors, life experiences, or whatever)?
My interests fuel what I write. I’ve always been a true crime buff, and my educational background helps. When writing romance, I think I draw more on life experience and what I see in the world around me. I’m also an avid reader, and I admire many different authors.
Since you have a degree in Criminology, how do you draw upon that background in writing mystery/suspense?
The thing with crime that I find most fascinating is the impact it has on all of us as a society. We all alter our behavior in simple ways like locking doors, installing security systems, and being aware of our surroundings. For those directly impacted, and those closest to them, sadly the effects are much greater and longer lasting. And I think understanding human behavior is the key to creating realistic characters that readers can identify with.
Please tell us about your time-travel-with-jellybeans duology. How did you come up with that plot? What kinds of research did you need to do?
The jellybean duology was a lot of fun to write. The idea for the first book spawned from the announcement in the Wild Rose chat room of the new line. Our President Rhonda mentioned liking time travel romance and I connected that to magic jellybeans and was off to the races. I spent as much time researching as I did writing to try and capture the mood and setting of small-town Illinois in the 1920s and 1930s. I looked into simple details like what cars existed at that time. When was the doorbell invented? Did they have handheld hair dryers? What did they wear? How did men view women’s role in society?
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
My latest book is Forward in Time with Jelly Beans, and my next book will be a horror novella releasing in the Friday the 13th Collection on October 13, 2023
What are you working on now?
I have three books on the go. The final book in the Fatal Series, a standalone domestic thriller, and the upcoming horror novella.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Write what you love, embrace the writing community and all it has to offer, and have a thick skin for feedback that will help you improve your craft.
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
My website is Michelle Godard-Richer and my favorite social media platform is Instagram where I enjoy sharing books I’ve read with the bookish community. Instagram
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
THE ROAD TO ROSWELL, by Connie Willis. Romantic comedy, road trip, and zany first-contact SF all in one novel. Willis discusses the background and writing of this book in her recent LOCUS interview:
Protagonist Francie, a levelheaded skeptic, arrives in Roswell, New Mexico, as maid of honor for a friend’s wedding. She hopes she can influence the bride to break off her engagement to a flying-saucer true believer before it’s too late. The wild and crazy atmosphere of the annual UFO festival is a pleasure in itself. Wearing her bridesmaid dress (which, she later finds, inconveniently glows in the dark) and driving the bride’s SUV, Francie gets carjacked by a bona fide alien. “He” (although his actual gender remains unknown) resembles an animated tumbleweed with multiple elongated, flexible tentacles. He eventually gets named Indy, after Indiana Jones, because of his whiplike appendages. It soon becomes clear that he doesn’t intend to hurt her, only force her to drive him—somewhere. For most of the story, she has no clue where he wants to go, and he doesn’t seem certain, either. Along the way, they pick up a hitchhiking self-styled con man named Wade, a UFO conspiracy theorist even more fanatical than Francie’s friend’s fiancé, a sweet little old lady devoted to casino gambling, and—after Francie casually remarks that they need a bigger vehicle—an elderly man with a luxurious RV (or, as he insists, a Western trail wagon) and a collection that apparently includes every classic Western movie ever filmed. Pop culture references abound; Indy learns English, after a fashion, through exposure to endless hours of movies. None of Francie’s companions turns out to be exactly what he or she appears, aside from the UFO fanatic, who’s every bit as nutty as he seems, unquestionably believing every alien conspiracy theory in existence, including those that originate from movies. A stop in Las Vegas includes a side trip to a wedding chapel with an Elvis-themed mock ceremony. Francie and Wade begin to fall in love, insistently encouraged by Indy. Men in Black appear on the scene. The romantic plot arc includes the typical black moment followed by a comic (in both the classic and modern senses) reversal. A thoroughly delightful story with a satisfying conclusion in both the romance and the science-fiction dimensions. The SF plot brings to mind Willis’s novella “All Seated on the Ground,” whose heroine also has to learn to communicate with extraterrestrials and figure out what they want. Although THE ROAD TO ROSWELL doesn’t attain the heights of TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG or BLACKOUT / ALL CLEAR, a second-tier novel by Willis matches or surpasses the best work of most other authors.
HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE, by Grady Hendrix. Having heard so much about this horror novel, I finally decided to read it because of the author’s outstanding vampire novel, THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB’S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES. One noticeable difference between the two is that the reader of the latter book knows early in the story that the vampire really exists; in HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE, we’re invited to hesitate between a supernatural explanation and the idea that the house is haunted only by toxic memories. In fact, we don’t get a definitive answer until the halfway point. Louise, a single mother with a little girl, gets a phone call from her brother, Mark, telling her their parents have died in a car accident. Right away, the siblings’ interaction demonstrates the longstanding resentment between them. Louise, who has made an outward success of her life, considers Mark a slacker as well as a drunk, unable to keep a job and spoiled by their over-indulgent (to him, not to her) parents. We gradually learn Mark has his own reasons for hostility to Louise. In a series of confrontations painful to read, the text explores the way brother and sister cling to opposite impressions of their shared childhood. Planning the funeral incites only the first and least of the explosive clashes between them. As much as we sympathize with Louise, little by little we start to realize Mark has some justification for his attitude, too. They fight over what to do with the house and its hoard of artwork and puppets created by their mother, who also collected dolls, I was initially disappointed to discover the haunting consists of apparently demon-possessed or poltergeist-animated dolls and puppets, a trope I consider more dull and annoying than scary. But a puppet that possesses its handlers? And holds the key to decades of buried family trauma? Wow. Their mother’s first and always favorite puppet, Pupkin, gradually develops from unsettling to profoundly creepy, spouting childish dialogue that sounds almost obscene without ever including words formerly labeled “unprintable.” The creature’s physical threat culminates in two violent, gory combat scenes, the first of which goes on far too long for my taste, becoming more tedious than horrific until its shocking outcome. But that isn’t the end by any means. The siblings’ eccentric relatives unite to help defeat the supernatural menace, while Louise’s daughter also plays a vital role. All the characters, minor as well as major, are compellingly vivid. Discoveries and revelations lead to fresh mysteries, including the question of whether even their parents’ ostensibly straightforward death means more than it appears. Aside from containing more physical violence than I like (an element that, for me, distracts from rather than enhancing the horror), HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE impressed me as gripping and ultimately satisfying.
THE SALT GROWS HEAVY, by Cassandra Khaw. Narrated by a mermaid married to a king—in present tense, perhaps justified by the way the story places her survival in doubt—this short novel deconstructs the familiar plot of “The Little Mermaid.” At the beginning of the story, the mermaid’s many half-human daughters have devastated the kingdom and devoured most of its people, including their royal father. This mermaid didn’t marry the king out of love; he captured her and took her by force. She didn’t sacrifice her voice for a chance to win him; she can’t speak because he cut out her tongue. Still, the former queen remains powerful, inhuman, cold (by human standards), and virtually immortal. Nevertheless, Khaw makes her a sympathetic character. She travels with a “plague doctor,” clothed in a black robe and masked by the skull of a vulture. The doctor, a quiet, gently sardonic presence, is nameless and apparently genderless. The mermaid shares a bond with “him” that she’s reluctant to define, even to herself. They stumble upon a village of children who make a game of killing each other under the guardianship of three “saints,” who bring the dead back to life. The three surgeons, as the mermaid thinks of them, perform gruesome experiments of human vivisection and reconstruction. The surgeons turn out to be the makers of the plague doctor, revealed as a patchwork of organs and skin like Frankenstein’s creature. At first treated like honored guests or privileged prisoners, the mermaid and her companion attempt to help the children—most of whom unquestioningly worship the “saints”—and suffer ghastly punishment for their interference. The often lyrical prose softens the scenes of extreme body horror. The mermaid’s love for the plague doctor ultimately reveals itself in both violence and self-abandoning devotion. The book includes a bonus in the form of a 2016 short story, “And in Our Daughters, We Find a Voice,” to which the longer work is a sequel. I have only one complaint about the book (aside from paying full-length-novel price for a slim volume comprising a novella and a short story, hardly the author’s fault): I want to know a lot more about the biology and life cycle of merfolk, of which we get only passing hints.
NIGHT’S EDGE, by Liz Kerin. A grippingly unusual treatment of the “vampirism as disease” trope. It takes place in a slightly altered history of our current timeline; the disease, labeled Saratov’s syndrome, surfaced in 2010, when the protagonist, Mia, was ten years old. Her first-person narrative alternates between then and now. (With both threads in present tense—why? Why not use past tense for the flashbacks?) Devon, one of the earliest carriers, turned Mia’s mother into a “Sara” in 2010. The dysfunctional dynamic among the three of them resembles a family with an abusive stepparent. Mia and her mother eventually break away from Devon, who, however, finds them again in the present. Occasional reminiscences about their pre-Sara life allow the reader to understand and sympathize with Mia’s desperate love for her mother, combined with a resentful sense of being trapped. In the present, her mother holds a night job, while Mia works by day at a bookstore. She also serves as her mother’s blood donor. Fortunately, Sara victims need to drink only about a quarter of a cup of blood in each twenty-four hour period; however, it has to be human and fresh. These sufferers display some traits of popular-culture vampires, highly vulnerable to sunlight, dormant during the day, fast and strong, with preternatural healing capacities. There’s nothing romantic or glamorous about them, though. They struggle to survive while avoiding the notice of the general population. Exposure would mean consignment to a “Sara center,” allegedly a sanctuary where they can live in safety without hurting other people, or, according to Devon, a prison under another name. At age twenty-three, Mia yearns for freedom from her constricted, secretive existence but feels guilt at the very thought of deserting her mother. Her life changes when she meets a free-spirited female musician named Jade, a barista at a coffee shop near the bookstore. For the first time in her life, Mia becomes fully aware of her attraction to other women. How can she get involved in a relationship while hiding her mother’s condition? Although Mia admits to herself she’s falling in love, is the feeling requited, or is she only a fling to Jade? When the danger of her mother’s being exposed becomes acute, does Mia dare to elope and start a life of her own? The early stages of the Sara epidemic recall the initial discovery of AIDS, including the terror inspired by victims infected with the new, mysterious illness. The present-tense chapters resonate with echoes of the COVID-19 pandemic years. Instead of universal masking as a precaution, almost all public venues require mandatory scanning upon entry to keep out Sara carriers. I found this a depressing book, for which it’s hard to imagine any kind of happy ending. Mia is a sympathetic character whose narrative voice holds the reader’s attention even though her plight is almost too heart-rending to dwell upon. Yet the final scene does offer a glimmer of hope for her future.
CLAWS AND CONTRIVANCES, by Stephanie Burgis. This fantasy Regency romance, although technically a sequel to SCALES AND SENSIBILITY, can be read on its own. A family of sisters, after the sudden loss of their parents, has been split among households of different relatives. Unlike Elinor, heroine of SCALES AND SENSIBILITY, in this new novel her sister Rose has gained a pleasant home with an affectionate aunt, uncle, and three girl cousins. Her uncle, who studies the legends and natural history of dragons, awaits the arrival of a fellow scholar, the event that helps to trigger the whole plot tangle. In this alternate version of the early nineteenth century, the real existence of dragons has recently been discovered. About the size of cats, the rare, expensive creatures have become highly valued pets, fashion accessories, and status symbols for upper-class young ladies. Unlike their counterparts in myth and legend, they don’t fly, breathe fire, or, as far as anyone knows, have magical powers. Rather than devouring hapless victims and ravaging the countryside, they’re typically docile and timid. Although a passionate aficionado of dragon lore, Rose’s uncle can’t afford one of the creatures himself. Therefore, she’s baffled when a dragon shows up in the house. Conjecturing that it may belong to their nearest neighbor, the wealthy, reclusive Sir Gareth, who has recently bought a decaying medieval mansion, she sets out for his home on foot to investigate. In the process, she’s nearly run down by a carriage transporting Mr. Aubrey, her uncle’s anticipated dragon specialist visitor. The kinds of mishaps expected in a madcap love story force Rose and Mr. Aubrey to pretend they’re betrothed. They run across and clash with Sir Gareth, whom Rose distrusts on sight. Her romantic-minded cousin Serena, on the other hand, sees him as a character from a Gothic novel. He does turn out to be a villain, but not the brooding, Bryonic type in need of redemption through the love of a good woman. Shortly, a second dragon appears almost literally out of nowhere. It seems these dragons may actually possess magic—or, as Mr. Aubrey insists, hitherto unknown abilities that must have some scientific explanation. Zany complications abound as Rose struggles to keep the creatures’ presence secret. Meanwhile, of course she and Mr. Aubrey begin to fall in love,while trying to deny their feelings, and sapphic sparks ignite between Rose’s cousin Georgianna and Sir Gareth’s mistreated niece. Aside from Sir Gareth’s truly evil schemes, CLAWS AND CONTRIVANCES is a delightful romp of suspense, romantic tension, inconvenient secrets, and misfortunes serious to the characters but funny to the reader. A happy ending, of course, bestows just rewards on all participants even when their plight seems impossibly desperate. I’m looking forward to the next installment, which will doubtless introduce us to Rose’s remaining sister.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from “Song from the Abyss:
Under the sound of surf wafting in through the open window, a voice seemed to whisper. It hissed words in a language Alyce didn’t recognize, yet it sounded all too familiar. Almost as if she’d heard those sounds before, maybe at the age of twenty, on the night before she’d left her Aunt Cora’s house for the last time.
Until today. Furthermore, it was her house now. It wasn’t a monster that would swallow Alyce whole and trap her like Pinocchio inside the giant fish. The waves did not sound like the hoarse breathing of a creature from an alien world.
“Shut up,” she ordered the imaginary voice. The phantom whispers fell silent. What was wrong with her, getting spooked in such a mundane setting? Sure, she was alone in a run-down oceanfront house built in the 1880s, but nothing could look less haunted than her late aunt’s cluttered office. Books overflowed shelves and tottered in precarious towers on the floor. File drawers gaped half open. Papers heaped on the desk almost hid the polished wood surface. The humid air smelled like mundane dust, not the mold of ancient tomes. Yes, some of those volumes might almost qualify, but Aunt Cora wouldn’t think of letting her tomes molder.
If she had magically foreseen dropping dead and leaving Alyce to rummage through the house, she would probably have tidied up the place and hidden or destroyed her most esoteric materials. Although much older than Alyce’s mother, Aunt Cora had seemed in excellent health, so the fatal stroke must have surprised her as much as it had her family. Actually, it was a wonder she hadn’t changed her will long ago. Why had she bequeathed her estate to the niece who’d fled from this house four years previously and refused to answer so much as a Christmas card ever since?
Most likely because I’m her only relative except for Mom, and at least Aunt Cora and I used to be close. She and Mom hadn’t spoken face-to-face in a lot longer than four years. Emails, phone calls, and holiday cards between the sisters hardly counted.
So she’d had a choice between leaving the house to Alyce, as originally planned, or willing it to some flaky cult. I’m almost surprised she didn’t do that. Such a choice would have been typical of the woman Alyce’s mother always referred to as “my crazy sister.” For the hundredth time in the past few weeks, Alyce tried to dredge up a proper portion of sadness. She felt she’d long ago lost the aunt she’d loved, the one who’d treated her like a younger colleague instead of an airheaded kid, the one who’d taken her on excursions to historic sites off the well-traveled tourist track and taught her to delve into research many layers deeper than the top page of a search engine. Alyce had lost that relative four years earlier, when she’d dragged Alyce into some kind of arcane ritual.
Shaking her head and raking fingers through her hair, she forced herself to focus on the immediate chore. Beside the desk, empty cardboard boxes and a giant trash bin waited to be filled. Got to plunge into this mess sometime. Might as well get started.
Rustling the papers, she sneezed at the dust they raised. Her hand brushed the edge of a half-open desk drawer.
Alyce!
She jumped. Now I’m hearing voices inside my head. One voice, more accurately, and it sounded like Dean’s.
He’s gone. He’s been gone for seven years.
Seven years since he’d vanished, four years since she’d fled from this house like the monster she imagined it to be. Maybe returning had triggered some kind of flashback. All along, she’d suspected Aunt Cora of secretly dosing her with a mind-altering drug on that last night. Why else would she have forgotten almost everything about those hours?
-end of excerpt-
*****
The long-time distributor of THE VAMPIRE’S CRYPT has closed its website. If you would like to read any issue of this fanzine, which contains fiction, interviews, and a detailed book review column, e-mail me to request the desired issue, and I’ll send you a free PDF of it. My e-mail address is at the end of this newsletter. Find information about the contents of each issue on this page of my website:
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“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter
Welcome to the July 2023 issue of my newsletter, “News from the Crypt,” and please visit Carter’s Crypt, devoted to my horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance work, especially focusing on vampires and shapeshifting beasties. If you have a particular fondness for vampires, check out the chronology of my series in the link labeled “Vanishing Breed Vampire Universe.”
Also, check out the multi-author Alien Romances Blog
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Barbara Custer, editor of NIGHT TO DAWN magazine, gave “Bunny Hunt” a five-star review on Amazon:
“I loved reading this. It was perfect for Easter. I especially enjoyed the use of the amulet and setting. Margaret Carter has worked her magic with her characters again. This is a must-read.”
The Wild Rose Press is releasing two of my former Ellora’s Cave erotic paranormal romance novellas this month, “Sweeter Than Wine” (July 3) and the quasi-Lovecraftian “Song from the Abyss” (July 26), very different in tone from each other.
“Sweeter Than Wine”: Maybe an amorous Revolutionary War ghost is just what Marie, widowed for a year and a half, needs to attract tourists to her historic bed-and-breakfast inn. “Song from the Abyss”: A recording of an eerie song summons Alyce’s old boyfriend from the alien dimension into which he vanished during an arcane ritual many years ago.
Below is an excerpt from “Sweeter Than Wine.”
This month I’m interviewing paranormal romance author Terry Newman (another writer in the “Jelly Beans and Spring Things” line).
*****
Interview with Terry Newman:
What inspired you to begin writing?
I’m not sure there is one thing I can point to that was inspirational. I’ve wanted to write fiction since I was in grade school (sounds so cliché, I know). My earliest memory of my decision to be a writer was when I read The Happy Hollisters, a typical 1960s series for elementary and middle grade students. I fell in love with the characters and the places they went and the things they did. And I wanted to create a world of my own. At the time, I thought I would write my own books and illustrate them, too. You should be thankful I don’t illustrate my novels today.
What genres do you work in?
I write paranormal romance. But I’m laying out the characters and the plot for a cozy mystery. It’s about murders in an assisted living facility. The idea came to me when I was writing a scene for Heartquest, which will be a companion volume to Heartquake.
In the scene, several older women sit talking about a local television personality who they believe is good looking. When they talk about the assisted living facility, Lily of the Valley, one lady says it should be called Death Valley, since someone is killing of the residents. “Yes,” I said, rubbing my hands together. “Yes, they are.”
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I pretty much wing it. I write romance, so I know the ending will be a happily-ever-after, but I don’t know much else. I usually have an opening scene in mind that sets the tone for the story and a few other scenes. I also have an idea of some of the points I want to make in the story. I try to let the characters take me where they want to go. I know that may sound crazy, but once I start writing the action, options I hadn’t thought of come to mind. That’s the thrill of the creative process.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors, life experiences, or whatever)?
My books reflect the author I admired most at the time of the writing. When I originally wrote the story that would become Rewrites of the Heart, I had been reading Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. I admired her humor and sometimes just bizarre circumstances she put Stephanie in.
Heartquake’s style was inspired by the romance novels of Jessica Bird. You probably know her better as J.R. Ward, the author of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I was unsure if I pulled the story off well, but it’s a finalist for a RONE award, sponsored by Ind’tale Magazine.
My favorite-authors-of-the-moment are Ali Hazelwood and Alexis Hall. Their words keep me glued to the page. And Hall especially creates quirky characters that make his stories shine. Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis is a great take on the fake dating trope. It inspired me to write one myself. Its working title is Hearts on the Rocks.
It’s often said that humor is hard. Any tips on writing romantic comedy? For instance, how do you keep the stakes high for the characters while creating fluffy fun for the reader?
When I was a senior in high school, I had the role of Karen Nash in Act I of the play Plaza Suite, by Neil Simon. I fell in love with how he interjected humor in the midst of a tragic moment.
Timing is the key to good humor and that comes with practice. Once you’ve written something that makes you laugh, read it to someone else and gauge their reaction. If they don’t laugh, go back to the drawing board.
Many of the high stakes moments in a story can be defused with humor from the quirky secondary characters. Every great romantic comedy needs an offbeat character or two. Alexis Hall mastered this in Boyfriend Material. Don’t be afraid to make outrageous characters. You can always tone them down.
Finally, create characters who have a sense of humor. In this way, when something tragic strikes them they can naturally see the humor in it. And the comic relief will not be forced.
What inspired your story in the “Jelly Beans and Spring Things” line, THE WIZARD OF HER HEART?
I created a character who was a wizard, because I felt there were too few of them and too many witches in literature. That’s how Wyatt Ginn was born. It seemed only proper that a wizard in the real world would have a paranormal publishing house. And, of course, his new employee—and love interest—had to be a skeptic of magic. I thought the idea of casting love spells over jelly beans set the tone for a romantic comedy.
I enjoyed their meet-cute in front of the post office.
Once I began thinking of paranormal activity, I thought of UFOs and Bigfoot. I’ve attended many paranormal meetings and all the topics I use in the story, I’ve experienced in real meetings. And yes, I have attended a Bigfoot conference.
I enjoyed your trailer for that book. Can you tell us a bit about the process of creating a book trailer?
I’m still new to the process of making book trailers. Some individuals make trailers from still photos. I prefer short clips of videos. I use the blurb for the book, and edit it some. Then I look for clips that give me the feel of the description. I deliberately chose videos that were close to specific scenes and situations in the book.
Then it’s a matter of mastering the technology to get the length you want. I use Canva Pro. It has so many choices of text and options for transitions from one clip to another.
What is your latest or next-forthcoming work?
The Wizard of Her Heart is my latest book. Nothing is scheduled for release at the moment because, well, I’m still writing them.
What are you working on now?
I have two works-in-progress. The one I’m actively writing is Hearts on the Rocks. It’s a fake dating trope inspired by some of the romantic comedies I’ve read. The second, Heartquest, is a companion to Heartquake. I give the secondary characters, Jared Sparrow and Mel Milan, their own love story while they’re raising funds for an aviary for the local natural museum of history. I’m about three-quarters of the way done with that.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Make sure you really want to write. Determine whether it’s just a whim or “writer” is something you just want to call yourself. Once you know writing is your driving desire, then write. Write anything. Write often. You don’t have to write every day. But you write.
One of the habits I’ve found that has helped me is to keep Morning Pages. Julie Cameron, in The Artist’s Way, described them. I write 20 minutes every morning, pen and paper. Often I find myself creating scenes for stories I’m working on. Write anything during that time. The intent is to create a stream of consciousness-like writing flow.
If you’re serious about writing, don’t ever give up. Don’t let people say you’re not good enough. The only way to become good enough, to become great, is by writing. Writing. Writing.
And believe in yourself.
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
Social media links
Website
Terry Newman
Facebook: Terry Newman
Twitter: @tnewmanwrites
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Goodreads
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
THE GRACE OF WILD THINGS, by Heather Fawcett. When I discovered that the author of EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAERIES (reviewed in the June newsletter) had written numerous children’s fantasy novels, I immediately decided to read a few of them. THE GRACE OF WILD THINGS, partly inspired by ANNE OF GREEN GABLES and also set on Prince Edward Island, features a preteen orphan girl who, like Anne, becomes the ward of a crotchety older woman who at first doesn’t want her. Grace, realizing she has some innate magic, runs away from an orphanage with the dream of becoming apprenticed to the woman rumored to be a child-eating witch. Learning from a witch has to be preferable to her dreary life so far. The witch, having no desire for an apprentice, shoves Grace into an oven littered with bones of former victims. Grace manages to make a deal: Within a designated time period, if she masters all 100 (and a half, the hardest challenge) spells in the witch’s grimoire, she’ll be accepted as a pupil. If not, the witch can take all her magical power. Like Anne, Grace loves poetry and longs for a home and friends. She soon comes to regard the witch’s cottage as home, and she makes a best friend. As in ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, Grace gets into trouble with her friend’s mother but wins acceptance by intervening in a crisis. Meanwhile, with her friend’s help Grace works through the grimoire, one spell at a time. Children have no trouble believing in magic, although most adults forget and/or rationalize such phenomena. It gradually becomes clear that the witch has actually come to like and depend on Grace, although the old woman maintains her curmudgeonly façade and constantly grumbles about what a nuisance the girl is. As Grace develops her magical gift, gains confidence, and wins other friends (even the school’s mean girl), the witch’s health declines, and a threat from her past looms. To save their home, Grace must draw upon her newfound power and the help of her friends. Her quirks and her warmhearted impulsiveness make her delightful. The old woman proves to have hidden depths beneath the outer layer of wicked-witch stereotypes she displays to the world, and the bond between her and Grace grows in a natural, believable way.
THE SCHOOL BETWEEN WINTER AND FAIRYLAND, by Heather Fawcett. In this novel’s magic-school setting, the protagonist isn’t one of the star pupils. Rather than a wizard in training, she’s a servant among many in and around Inglenook School, housed in a vast castle with the requisite secret passages and towers. Like her grandmother (her parents are dead), her brothers, and their ancestors before them, Autumn works as a beastkeeper, with the gift of animal communication. She and her family tend the monsters kept at the castle for student magicians to practice on. She gets along well with most monsters and has a boggart (a shapeshifting creature, amorphous and essentially invisible in its true form) as a loyal companion. Her twin brother, Winter, has disappeared, presumed dead by everyone except Autumn. She can sense his presence and spends most of her spare time vainly searching for him. A breakthrough occurs when she glimpses him in a reflecting surface. Is he trapped in a mirror dimension? This book does include a Chosen One, but it subverts that trope as well. Twelve-year-old Cai, handsome, intelligent, kind, and universally admired, lives under the shadow of a prophecy: Before he reaches the age of thirteen, he’s destined to slay the terrible Hollow Dragon that lurks in the forest, ironically called Gentlewood, adjacent to the school. Cai, however, has a severe dragon phobia. Whenever he gets near one, he becomes so paralyzed with fear he often passes out. Dragons come in many shapes, sizes, and degrees of danger or harmlessness, and although they guard hoards like classic dragons, their hoarding takes the form of cultivating gardens. Cai makes a deal with Autumn that she will help him overcome his phobia while he helps her look for Winter. Being treated like a human being by a magician, even a student, instead of being ignored or regarded as a lesser life form, is a new experience of which she’s suspicious. In the course of their shared quests, they become friends. Meanwhile, scenes from Winter’s viewpoint reveal what has happened to him, at least as far as he can remember, and raise the stakes of the timeline for his rescue. Eventually dire secrets about Cai’s background and destiny come to light, along with the truth about the prophecy and his link to the Hollow Dragon. Moreover, Autumn learns a mind-boggling fact about her own family line. Her fiercely single-minded focus on saving Winter makes her a sympathetic as well as compelling protagonist, although prone to rushing into frightful predicaments. The monsters, while resonating with familiar fictional and legendary portrayals of the same or similar creatures, have intriguing quirks to distinguish them from the typical beasts of fantastic tales, such as the gardening dragons. The revelation of the true nature of the Hollow Dragon is chillingly gruesome. The overall happy ending nevertheless includes irrevocable loss. One element of the story strains my suspension of disbelief, however: Autumn’s grandmother turns out to know much more about Winter’s fate than she has told Autumn, for reasons I don’t find totally convincing. Not quite an “idiot plot,” but still a bit hard to accept. On the whole, though, I highly recommend this novel for its characters and its fresh approach to the tropes it engages with. Fawcett seems to have a special interest in the theme of people who aren’t what they seem to be, e.g., Cai in this novel, the male lead in EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAERIES, the witch in THE GRACE OF WILD THINGS, and a boy in a book I haven’t reviewed, EMBER AND THE ICE DRAGONS (set at an Antarctic research station in an alternate-world nineteenth century), who’s a mystery to himself as well as others.
OUR HIDEOUS PROGENY, by C. E. McGill. The author’s afterword confesses a dislike for FRANKENSTEIN upon first reading. Later rereadings altered McGill’s attitude toward the classic book, aside from an unchanged conviction that Victor Frankenstein is a “wimp,” and this novel, set in the 1850s, is the result. The protagonist, Mary, is the granddaughter of Victor Frankenstein’s only surviving brother, but she knows nothing about her great-uncle except that he vanished in mysterious circumstances. She doesn’t stumble upon the letters that reveal his secret until about a quarter of the way through the book. Part I introduces us to Mary and her husband and lays out the background of her determination to recreate Victor’s discovery. She and her scientist husband, Henry, have recently lost a baby girl, who died within an hour of birth. The parallel with Mary Shelley, who also suffered the death of a very young baby, is obvious. The novel’s title quotes Shelley’s description of the book that won her fame. However, it’s also clearly meant to refer to the life Mary and Henry aspire to create. Later in the story, Mary indignantly repudiates the suggestion that this project serves as an outlet for her thwarted maternal drive, as if a woman existed only to produce children and couldn’t have any other ambition. Although she works as an equal research partner with her geologist and paleontologist husband, his scientist colleagues view her (if they think of her at all) as a mere secretary and illustrator. His unconventional theories about dinosaurs and his readiness to get into fights over them make him unpopular, while he’s determined to prove his correctness and his rivals’ wrongheadedness. This attitude doesn’t help the couple’s desperate financial straits. When Henry’s father’s death summons them to his ancestral home in Inverness, Mary meets the sister Henry labels “the dreaded Margaret.” To her surprise, Margaret (nicknamed Maisie) turns out to be a sickly but cheerful and affectionate girl younger than Mary herself. Disappointed by the provisions of his father’s will, Henry returns home depressed and embittered. While the loss of a child sometimes brings a couple closer together, it has done the opposite to Henry and Mary. Her discovery of his gambling debts makes matters worse. They need something to mend their relationship as well as vindicate Henry’s theories. In her great-uncle’s secret, Mary finds that “something.” Rather than attempting to build an artificial man, they plan to recreate one of the extinct aquatic saurians. They decide to complete their work at the family estate in Inverness, where Mary and Maisie form a close bond. Mary’s gradually worsening estrangement from her husband is believable and heart-wrenching. Meanwhile, an obnoxious professional rival forces himself on them and tries to take over. Mary finds her cherished creature in danger and herself robbed of any credit for the grand achievement that was her idea in the first place. The story draws the reader deeply into the plight of women in the mid-nineteenth century, especially intelligent women frustrated by society’s limitations. Mary stands for the many female scientists of that period whom mainstream history has virtually erased. The science-fiction dimension of the novel is equally fascinating. The experiment apparently succeeds, but are the wide-ranging applications of it imagined by the villain possible, or have the experimenters merely animated dead flesh rather than creating life?
THE GOD OF ENDINGS, by Jacqueline Holland. An unusual vampire novel in the first-person voice of a woman transformed as a child of ten. In this author’s mythos, undead children grow to adulthood; they “bloom but do not decay.” Therefore, the horror and pathos of Anne Rice’s child vampire Claudia play no part in Holland’s story. Other features of her novel more than make up for this difference, though. The horror and pathos of protagonist Anna’s afterlife spring from the many losses she suffers through her unnaturally prolonged life, her loneliness and estrangement from ordinary mortals despite her repeated (and increasingly reluctant) efforts to make connections. I especially like the way Holland embeds Anna’s pre-change life in the actual nineteenth-century American “vampire” panics associated with tuberculosis epidemics. After her parents and brother die in a tuberculosis outbreak suspected of being caused by vampire attacks, and she’s also on the verge of death, her Hungarian grandfather appears out of nowhere, whisks her away, and ironically transforms her into what her neighbors feared. Far from a doting grandparent, he believes in strength through self-reliance and eventually ships her off to Europe in the care of his trusted minion. Frightened and repulsed by the man, Anna soon finds a loving home with a mysterious but benign witch-like woman and a pair of brothers, one vampire, one mortal. Sadly, that interlude ends in the first of Anna’s multiple bereavements. Chapters recalling her two and a half centuries of existence alternate with chapters set in the novel’s present, the 1980s, when she runs an exclusive preschool in her grandfather’s former home in upstate New York. Although I normally dislike present-tense narration, its use for the current story in contrast to the flashbacks works for me in this book. Immortally young and apparently indestructible, Anna doesn’t share many other conventional traits of fictional vampires. She sleeps at night, isn’t bothered by the sun, and has no special powers such as transformation or mesmerism. Feeding only on animals except in exceptional circumstances, she ordinarily needs only modest amounts of blood. Recently, however, her craving for it has increased beyond her control. Furthermore, she starts to suffer blackouts and fugue states resulting in evidence of violent rampages she can’t remember. Having little contact with her grandfather and none with others of her kind, she has nowhere to turn for an explanation. Meanwhile, although she has resolved to stay aloof from mortals rather than risk fresh heartbreak, she reluctantly gets entangled in the problems of a little boy with precocious artistic talent, trapped in what may be an abusive family situation. The bittersweet ending promises hope in the midst of sorrow.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from “Sweeter Than Wine.”
When the bedroom door closed, Marie let her shoulders slump with fatigue, glad for a couple of hours to rest before her dinner reservation at the restaurant attached to the winery. She hadn’t taken a weekend off since Frank’s death. She’d poured all her energy into the bed-and-breakfast because running it had been a dream they’d shared. She suspected he’d succumbed to a premature heart attack mainly from juggling innkeeper’s chores with his day job. Frank’s insurance had paid off the mortgage, but if she wanted the inn to thrive, she’d have to do more than pass out brochures. She needed an angle to set it apart from all the other B&Bs in the historic district of the colonial capital.
Today would have marked their thirtieth anniversary, as good a time as any to wake up and get on with her life. To include a new man? Not likely. She smiled wryly at the idea. Having enjoyed a long marriage of solid happiness, she didn’t expect to hit that jackpot twice. As for a passionate fling, her fantasies ran along the lines of somebody like Gordon MacBain, probably an extinct breed.
What she needed right now was a snack, not a fantasy lover. She chose a peach from the fruit basket and started to peel it with a paring knife. “You can be my inspiration, Mr. MacBain,” she said to the portrait. If the son of Scottish immigrants could transform himself into a rich landowner, surely she could transform herself into the hostess of a flourishing historic inn. Too bad she couldn’t find the hidden stash of the smuggler’s lost treasure, which tradition claimed was hidden somewhere in the Williamsburg house.
A masculine chuckle sounded in her ear. At the same instant, a gust of wind ruffled her shoulder-length hair and blew her denim skirt up to her waist.
The knife in her hand slipped and nicked her left index finger. Blood dripped on the brick hearth at her feet. With a muttered curse, she sucked the wound. She’d either picked up a stray sound from outside or started hearing imaginary voices. And where had the wind come from? The half-open window let in the mild air of a late afternoon in September, but no breeze stirred the lightweight, ruffled curtains.
Shaking her head, she set aside the knife and fruit, then took the wineglass from the mantel in both hands. The cut on her finger smeared a drop of blood on the rim. Before she could raise the glass to her lips, something pinched her bottom.
With a yelp, she spun around. Nobody there. At the same instant, the goblet slipped from her hand.
Instead of hitting the floor, it hung suspended in midair.
“Okay, no reason to freak out. This is a dream. I must have lain down and dozed off.” She glanced at the canopied bed, half expecting to see herself asleep on top of the quilt.
She scented a vagrant aroma of pipe tobacco. “Nay, Mistress, you are awake.” The rich bass voice, tinged with humor, vibrated under her breastbone. The glass tilted, and the ruby wine began to drain into nothingness.
-end of excerpt-
*****
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“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret