Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Welcome to the January 2026 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
To subscribe to this monthly newsletter, please e-mail me at MLCVamp@aol.com, and I will add you to the list.
For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
Happy New Year!
If you read romance fiction, please consider taking a few minutes to fill in the State of Romance Reader Survey here. Free books are available for respondents to download if desired. It’s offered in association with the Romance Writers of America, but anybody can participate:
My Victorian Christmas romance novella “A Ghost in the Green Bestiary” was featured in N. N. Light’s Christmas and Holiday Book Festival:
Below is an excerpt from that story, in which heroine Lucy watches the traditional Christmas mumming performance while trying to avoid a serious conversation with Walter, to whom she had almost become engaged. (Robbie is her little brother.)
My first interviewee of 2026 is multi-genre romance author Margaret Izard.
*****
Interview with Margaret Izard:
What inspired you to become a writer?
People often ask what sparked my writing journey, and the truth is—it wasn’t one big moment, but a steady pull I felt my entire life. I grew up surrounded by the performing arts, completely in love with storytelling and the escape it offered. I started writing in my thirties, took a long pause to raise and tutor my triplets through college. Then, about six years ago, I put my foot down and told my family I would start a new project.
Once I picked up the pen again, the worlds, the magic, and the romances poured out. Writing became a way to blend everything I love: history, mythology, emotion, and that sense of wonder we all chase. I chose writing, even if it took a while to find me. I’ve been happily lost in these worlds ever since.
What genres do you work in?
I primarily write paranormal romance—rich, immersive worlds filled with Fae, dragons, magic, mythology, and epic love stories. That’s where my heart lives, and it’s the foundation of the entire Stones of Iona mega verse and the upcoming Dragons of Tantallon saga.
I’ve also begun writing contemporary romance, exploring grounded, modern love stories with emotional depth and a touch of wit. But no matter the setting—historical, magical, or modern—romance is always at the center. It’s the thread that ties all my books together and the genre I’ll always return to.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I’m absolutely a plotter—a heavy one. My outlines can run more than 200 pages, complete with detailed beats, character arcs, and even snippets of dialogue. Planning the story helps me address developmental issues early, so when I sit down to draft, the writing flows much more smoothly and quickly.
That said, I always leave a little room for discovery. Even with a meticulous plan, my muse has a way of surprising me, and I love giving her space to do that. While the roadmap is solid, the journey still holds a bit of magic.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors or whatever)?
My work blends the things I love most: romance, mythology, history, and escapism. I’ve studied the performing arts my entire life, so storytelling has always come naturally to me.
Scotland itself has been one of my biggest influences—its landscapes, history, folklore, and the sense that magic that runs through the land. Those elements have shaped the heart of the Stones of Iona mega verse.
How has your background in theater and dance affected your writing?
My lifelong background in theater and dance influences my writing in more ways than I ever expected. Performing arts trained me to think in movement, emotion, and rhythm—all things that naturally slip into my storytelling. I approach scenes the way I once approached choreography/directing: every step, every gesture, every pause has purpose.
Theater taught me character motivation, how to feel a scene from the inside out, and how to create tension you can almost breathe. Dance taught me physical storytelling, the way bodies move through emotion—desire, fear, longing, heartbreak—and that translates directly into the intimate, sensory style of my romances.
Because of that background, my books often read like staged moments: visual, atmospheric, and full of emotional choreography. I don’t just write what characters say—I write how they stand, breathe, lean, hesitate, and collide.
In short, theater gave me voice, dance gave me movement, and together they make my stories feel alive on the page.
Please tell us about your “Stones of Iona” series. And how do you research your historical fiction?
The Stones of Iona series is the beating heart of my entire mega verse. It begins with Stone of Love and follows a sweeping romantic and magical journey woven between modern Scotland, ancient history, and the hidden realms of the Fae. At the center of everything are the enchanted Stones themselves—the Good Stones: Love, Hope, and Faith, forever pursued by the darker Stones: Fear, Lust, and Doubt, all of which ultimately point toward the most powerful of them all: the Stone of Destiny.
Each book follows a new couple facing a new emotional battle. Yet, all the stories connect through family ties, Fae intrigue, dragon-shifter lore, and a mythology that expands with every generation. While each book can stand alone, reading them in order reveals a detailed tapestry.
When researching history for these stories, I take a multi-layered approach. I rely on period newspapers, letters, and broadsheets, as well as academic works on Highland culture and folklore. Architectural studies and sketches of the era often ignite inspiration as strongly as a scene itself.
One of my most meaningful research moments happened during my 2023 trip to Scotland, when I stood behind Glasgow Cathedral on the hill that is now the Necropolis, Scotland’s City of the Dead. Later, I found drawings from that same spot, created long before the graveyard existed. Knowing that people centuries ago stood where I had stood, taking in the same view, shaped Alex MacDougall’s emotional landscape in my recent release, Highlander’s Holly & Ivy, and became a quiet but powerful influence on his journey.
For me, history and magic are never separate—they breathe together. The research grounds the world, and the magic Stones unlock their wonder.
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
My Next Book: Stone of Destiny, releases February 9, 2026.
Stone of Destiny is the epic conclusion to the Stones of Iona series—the final piece of the seven-book arc and the long-awaited fulfillment of the prophecy that has threaded through every story. This book follows Kat MacArthur—still grieving her brother’s loss to another time—and Ceallach, the Fae warrior she loved in secret from the start. Their connection has simmered through the series, and now, as the Gathering of the Stones approaches, their bond grows impossible to ignore.
But destiny has never been simple for the Fae. Ceallach fights the pull between duty, prophecy, and the mortal woman who has stolen his heart. His soul binds him to the Iona Stones during the Gathering, and he knows that choosing Kat could bleed her for a price she never agreed to pay. Kat refuses to stand aside—she needs to help her family, the Stones, and Ceallach himself. Even if doing so, puts her directly in the path of fate.
Stone of Destiny brings every thread together: the Good Stones—Love, Hope, Faith.
The dark Stones—Fear, Lust, Doubt, and the final, deciding power that binds them all—Destiny.
Readers can expect sweeping romance, sacrifice, high stakes, and the most emotional and magical moments of the entire series. Every choice Kat and Ceallach make echoes through both realms, and love becomes the one force strong enough to confront destiny itself.
This book is deeply meaningful to me—not only because it completes the journey I began with Stone of Love, but because it ties together years of worldbuilding, research, and the heart of the Iona mythos. It is the finale I’ve been writing toward from the very beginning.
I can’t wait for you to return to Stones of Iona mega verse one last time.
What are you working on now?
Now that Stone of Destiny is complete and preparing for its February 2026 release, my focus has shifted to my next major series: The Dragons of Tantallon. This saga spins out of the Stones of Iona mega verse and follows three dragon-shifting brothers featured in Stone of Love, Book 1 Stones of Iona. Dameon, Magnus, and Tiberius—each cursed, each powerful, and each destined for a soulmate who can break their father’s ancient spell.
Cursed by their father, Balor, the exiled Formoire king, the brothers carry a legacy of danger and desire. Their only hope lies in completing the soul-bonding ritual—seven steps that test trust, emotion, magic, and fate. Failure entombs them in Fae crystal for eternity. Succeed, and they will reclaim their freedom, their future, and a love powerful enough to challenge realms.
The series blends everything I adore writing—sweeping romance, deep emotional arcs, Scottish atmosphere, dangerous Fae magic, and the intensity of fated mates. Each book follows a different brother with a unique love story, unique wounds, and unique battles to face.
The dragons are part of a world I’ve poured my heart into for years, since I drafted the first book shortly after Stone of Love, and I’m thrilled to bring it forward as its own full series.
Expect magic, heat, heartbreak, redemption—and dragons.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Just start writing. Put the words on the page—even if they’re messy, imperfect, or not quite what you imagined. You can’t revise a blank page, but you can shape, polish, and refine words once they exist.
I always encourage new writers to read widely, write often, and don’t do this alone. Community matters—other writers, critique partners, or even one trusted friend who cheers you on. Writing can feel solitary, but storytelling thrives when shared.
And finally, feedback is a gift. I reread and edit my work many times. Each pass sharpens the emotional arc, deepens the characters, and strengthens the story’s heart. Improvement doesn’t happen in one draft—it occurs through persistence.
Start. Write. Rewrite. And keep going. The story you’re meant to tell will find you on the page.
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
SNAKE-EATER, by T. Kingfisher. The third Kingfisher novel in 2025 (with another forthcoming in March)! In her afterword, she describes the “platonic ideal” of her horror fiction as “a woman and her dog alone in a house full of creepy family secrets,” which encapsulates her first horror novel, THE TWISTED ONES. While her others don’t necessarily include dogs, the protagonists do tend to be women returning home in emotionally fraught circumstances, for a certain value of home. In the case of SNAKE-EATER, Selena flees with her black Lab, Copper, from her overbearing long-time lover, Walter – who dominates and criticizes her only for her own good, of course – to her aunt’s home in the tiny town of Quartz Creek, an arid western milieu totally different from anything Selena has known. For decades her only contact with her aunt has come through occasional postcards. Still, a vague invitation to visit sometime makes Quartz Creek Selena’s only possible refuge. The shock of learning her aunt died the year before devastates her, but she can’t consider returning to Walter. He would indulgently take her back, and her abortive escape would become one more time “Selena Had Done Something Foolish and Walter Saved Her.” Selena plans to stay in her aunt’s vacant home, “Jackrabbit Hole House,” for one night, then for a few days, then maybe for a few weeks, while she decides how to move forward. Meanwhile, she meets quirky local characters including Jenny, mayor as well as postmistress, fire chief, and police chief; Grandma Billy, who keeps a flock of chickens and a guard peacock; and Catholic priest Father Aguirre, who’s surprisingly respectful toward the local desert gods/spirits (the distinction is fuzzy). Selena, as more than one person points out to her, apologizes too much. She’s paralyzingly afraid of doing the wrong thing and certain her new neighbors, who gift her with fresh produce and (in Grandma Billy’s case) a daily bounty of eggs, will perceive her as a “moocher.” She’s even reluctant to “impose” on the weekly community potluck dinner. At first I thought her need to memorize “scripts” for every social interaction depicts her as mildly autistic, but it soon becomes clear that she simply lacks any shred of self-esteem. Over a lifetime, her confidence was systematically beaten down by a domineering mother and a gaslighting fiancé. Reluctantly getting used to life in Quartz Creek, she soon realizes she wants to stay. True, the local people’s matter-of-fact belief in supernatural entities strikes her as peculiar, and she suspects Grandma Billy of being downright crazy. Moreover, as we learn later in the story, Father Aguirre has his own secret. Selena begins to accept the truth only when she witnesses such things as a timid squash spirit in the vegetable garden – unless she’s losing her mind. But she has to accept the reality of the spirit realm when she learns of her aunt’s relationship with Snake-Eater, the roadrunner god. As both the narrative and the author’s afterword emphasize, real-world roadrunners don’t resemble the cartoon bird. They’re more like two-foot-tall dinosaurs, as Selena discovers when she balks at taking on her aunt’s former role, and Snake-Eater won’t take “no” for an answer. Similar to the heroine of THE TWISTED ONES, Selena (with the help of Grandma Billy and Father Aguirre) follows her dog through a portal into another realm, where she has to face the gods of the desert. Ultimately, she triumphs over Snake-Eater not through combat, physical or magical, but through open-mindedness, friendship, her bond with Copper, and her kindness to creatures such as the squash god in the garden and scorpions in the house. The denouement includes a delightful confrontation that sends the insufferable Walter packing. I do have one reservation about the novel, in agreement with a review I read: Its setting around or soon after 2050 seems irrelevant and unnecessary. Aside from passing allusions to near-future technology, little of which reaches Quartz Creek, we learn the approximate year only from the age of Father Aguirre’s truck. Why does the author include this pointless distraction? Her afterword doesn’t say.
BRIGANDS & BREADKNIVES, by Travis Baldree. Sequel to cozy fantasies BOOKSHOPS & BONEDUST and LEGENDS & LATTES, starring rat-person Fern, the bookstore owner in the former. The author’s afterword expresses a reluctance to write the same book over and over, as if “fantasy small-business ownership is the answer to all of life’s woes.” Thus, he acknowledges that this novel turned out less cozy than the other two, yet he still means it to be “affirming” – as, in the end, it is. Restless in her situation at the beginning of the story, Fern divests herself of the store and sets out to join retired orc mercenary Viv, from the two previous books, in Viv’s new home. Fern plans to make a fresh start by opening a new bookstore near Viv’s coffeeshop. Viv joyfully welcomes her and introduces her to friends glad to help with the project. Upon the grand opening, though, Fern finds herself let down rather than excited about the culmination of the shared work. Dismayed by her own ingratitude, she tries to work up the courage to tell Viv how she feels. Drunkenly wandering the streets by night, she accidentally stows away in a cart belonging to the legendary elven warrior Astryx Blademistress. By the time Fern wakes up, they’re far down the road. Astryx, in her role as bounty hunter, is escorting a goblin captive to the client who commissioned his capture. Fern bargains with the elf for transport to the nearest large town by offering her services as a translator of the goblin’s language, of which in fact she speaks only a few words, all of them obscenities and curses. She also makes herself useful as an entertainer, reciting the plot of an adventure novel along the way. So she ends up on a road trip with a famed swordswoman out of practice with company or conversation, a cart-pulling donkey, a goblin oddly casual about his alleged captivity, and a pair of magical Elder Blades, one in the form of a breadknife and prone to frequent complaining about its plight. Along the way, Fern makes multiple attempts to write a letter to Viv explaining her disappearance but can’t find the right words to apologize. Traveling across sparsely inhabited country, the party confronts both natural hazards and hostile attacks. This story, which would make an excellent Dungeons and Dragons campaign, also features midlife crisis character growth. Fern’s disappointment with the move into which she’d put so much effort evokes sympathy. Personally, my first reaction was to wonder what was wrong with her, since living in a bookstore near a coffee shop sounds to me like the ideal existence. She herself, however, wonders the same thing. By the time she returns where she started, to reconcile with Viv, Fern has developed insight into herself and what she really wants. While foul-mouthed characters usually put me off, I had little trouble adjusting to her verbal tic of constant obscene language; it comes across as just part of her personality. The strangely accommodating goblin prisoner and the self-aggrandizing magic breadknife provide comic relief between life-threatening crises. As in the two previous novels, I thoroughly enjoy the multi-species culture of this invented world.
LETTERS FROM AN IMAGINARY COUNTRY, by Theodora Goss. Most of the tales in this collection were new to me, but not the first, “The Mad Scientist’s Daughter,” which ultimately evolved into the enthralling Athena Club trilogy, starring the daughters (begotten or created) of the famed mad scientists of nineteenth-century fiction. To my delight, many of the other stories also expand upon characters from classic works. My favorite, naturally, is “The Secret Diary of Mina Harker,” original to this collection, not the same version of Mina as in the Athena Club series. Likewise, the title character of “Frankenstein’s Daughter” isn’t identical to Justine in those books. “Lost Girls of Oz” portrays an alternate reality in which Oz actually exists, but it’s cut off from the rest of the world, so you can’t get there – unless you’re a girl recruited for Dorothy’s army. In “Child-Empress of Mars,” the latest of many heroes from Earth arrives on a Red Planet that resembles Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Barsoom. The witch in “England Under the White Witch” isn’t explicitly identified as Jadis, but that’s obviously who she is; the protagonist, for a long time a devoted follower of the witch-queen, eventually becomes disillusioned with a world of perpetual winter. “Estella Saves the Village” takes place in a shared-world community inhabited by people from classic Victorian novels. In “Pug,” Goss brings to life a character from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE so minor she doesn’t have any dialogue, Lady Catherine’s sickly daughter. “A Letter to Merlin” revisits the Arthurian mythos through Guinevere’s multiple reincarnations. To mention a few stories on other themes, Goss pays tribute to her native Hungary in “Dora/Dora: An Autobiography” and “To Budapest with Love,” while speculation that imagined countries could become real is explored in the title story, “Cimmeria: From the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology,” and “Pellargonia: A Letter to the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology.” The collection includes an introduction by Jo Walton and the author’s notes on the backgrounds of the stories. Fascinating.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from “A Ghost in the Green Bestiary”:
About four-thirty, as twilight was falling, Aunt Eunice knocked on Lucy’s door. “The mummers are here. Will you come down to watch? I’m sure Robbie would love to see them.”
Not having spent Christmas here in many years, Lucy was eager to witness that performance herself. After bundling Robbie into his coat, cap, boots, and gloves, she and her mother donned their own wraps and followed her impatient brother downstairs. When they gathered with family and servants at the top of the driveway, the flurries had stopped, covering the earlier snowfall with a fresh, thin layer. Walter, standing beside his parents, smiled at Lucy. Pulling her cape closer, she tried to convince herself that only the brisk breeze sent a shiver rippling through her.
About a dozen local boys and men, some bearing lanterns, clustered in front of the house. They wore oversize coats or heavily padded outfits to disguise their shapes, and homemade masks fashioned with various degrees of skill concealed their faces. Sacks and pillowcases had eyeholes cut in them and grotesque features painted on. One man sported a papier-mâché horsehead, and another shrouded his head in a veil of white lace. A knight in gray trousers and jacket brandished a wooden sword and wore a helmet made of a cardboard box adorned with silver paint. His crudely carved shield bore a red cross. Beside him stood a four-legged, green dragon with two pairs of boots visible beneath its sagging costume.
Robbie shrank against his mother’s side and asked, pointing at the man with the veil, “Is that a ghost?”
“No, dear.” She patted his shoulder.
“And there’s a dragon.”
Lucy whispered, “It’s two men in disguise. Everybody’s pretending. Now, just watch.”
The mummers sang all the verses of “Deck the Halls,” while the dragon cavorted to the tune, its tail dragging on the ground. Next they belted out a couple of rowdy wassail tunes, a clear hint of the festive reward they anticipated.
After the songs, most of the men drew back to clear a circle around the monster and the knight. The warrior, who was probably meant to portray Saint George, pointed his weapon at the dragon and shouted, “Yield, foul fiend!”
With a blood-curdling roar, the dragon raised its claw-tipped forearms and charged. It slashed at the knight while the latter pounded on the monster with the flat of his sword. After several minutes of hearty combat punctuated by bestial snarls and manly vows of dire vengeance, the two foes thrashed on the ground in a climactic exchange of blows. The dragon, groaning in agony, expired in a burst of gore represented by a gush of fake blood from its chest. Saint George rose to his feet with arms raised in triumph. A second later, the dragon leaped up, too, and the pair took a bow to laughter and applause.
Uncle George’s butler and footman brought forth trays of steaming mugs, spiced cider from the aroma, which they passed around to the performers. Slices of brandy-soaked, fruit-studded Christmas cake followed. Some removed the masks to eat and drink, while others simply lifted the bottoms of their cloth face coverings. When the front half of the dragon pulled off its head, Lucy said to Robbie, “See, just men play-acting.”
Walter murmured in her ear, under the surrounding chatter, “The fellow with the veil hasn’t made a sound except to sing. He seems familiar, but he couldn’t be who I think. That person hasn’t shown up for the festivities in years.”
Lucy turned with a start. She hadn’t noticed Walter edging closer to her. She tried to answer lightly, “Well, it’s Christmas. Everyone is welcome, aren’t they?”
He nodded, holding her gaze with disturbing intensity. “Yes, everyone.” He offered his arm. “Walk with me, please.”
She hesitantly rested her fingertips on the crook of his elbow. Even through his coat and her glove, heat radiated over her skin. Their feet left faint prints on the thin layer of new-fallen snow as they strolled around the right wing of the H-shaped manor to an arbor festooned with winter-dormant climbing roses. After he used his handkerchief to wipe melted snow from a bench under the trellis, she sat there with him as many inches apart as the space allowed.
“I understand why you didn’t answer my letters at great length right after your father’s death,” he said. “But why have your replies been so brief and cool for most of the past year?”
Straight to the point, then, whether she was ready or not. She studied his profile, faintly visible in the moonlight. With his wavy, dark-chestnut hair and swoon-worthy brown eyes, he could pose for a portrait of the hero in a Gothic romance, aside from his scholarly-looking spectacles.
This is not what I should be thinking now! Nor could she bear to think about the humiliation of explaining that her less than ardent letters were connected to her family’s reduced circumstances. She didn’t have to, she decided, unless he made an explicit proposal of marriage.
-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, visit the Dropbox page below. Find information about the contents of each issue on this page of my website:
All issues are now posted on Dropbox, where you should be able to download them at this link:
All Vampire’s Crypt Issues on Dropbox
A complete list of my available works, arranged roughly by genre, with purchase links:
For anyone who would like to read previous issues of this newsletter, they’re posted on my website here (starting from January 2018):
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Carter Kindle Books
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Goodreads
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You can contact me at: MLCVamp@aol.com
“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter
Welcome to the December 2025 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
To subscribe to this monthly newsletter, please e-mail me at MLCVamp@aol.com, and I will add you to the list.
For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
Best wishes for all the winter holidays you celebrate!
Below is an excerpt from one of my early vampire novels, CHILD OF TWILIGHT (sequel to DARK CHANGELING), which takes place around the Christmas season. Although there isn’t much overt holiday content, part of the denouement occurs on Christmas Eve. In this scene, twelve-year-old vampire-human hybrid Gillian has run away from her ancient mentor. Out of nowhere, she shows up at the home of the half-human father she’s never known (Dr. Roger Darvell from DARK CHANGELING). You can read these novels in an e-book duology, TWILIGHT’S CHANGELINGS, available here:
This month’s interview presents mystery and thriller author Henry James Kaye.
*****
Interview with Henry James Kaye:
What inspired you to become a writer?
The honest to God truth is – I received an F on a writing assignment in 8th grade. We were supposed to write a five-page story. I got so involved with my story, so carried away with the assignment, that the story wound up being twenty pages. The teacher gave me an F. She told me that I didn’t follow instructions, so she didn’t even read it. I had so enjoyed writing that story, developing the plot, even putting a red herring in the story (but had no idea it had a name). I was heartbroken. For years after that, I only wrote the bare minimum. Then, about twelve years ago, I don’t recall the exact event, but something happened, and the memories, particularly the feelings, associated with that F resurfaced. My disappointment morphed into anger. Mrs. X (name deliberately withheld) wouldn’t even read my story, well, I decided to prove she made a big mistake. As they say, the rest is history. So, Mrs. X, look at the plaques I’ve won, the awards and compliments bestowed on my work products, the published stories and novels that people have paid money for the opportunity to read. I can tell a good story, but you won’t know because you refused to read mine.
What genres do you work in?
I primarily write Mystery, Thriller, Suspense. However, I’m dabbling in the Cozy world and struggling with it. It’s hard for me to kill people off the page. Just to do something different, break the monotony, I’ve even written a couple of Sci-Fi short stories, but I need a lot more practice before I enter any of them in contests.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
If I put a label on it, I suppose it would be ‘something in between’. I start a story with a crime in mind, the reason the bad guy must succeed, the reason the good guy must prevail. I then produce an outline (max of one page) of major scenes along with the obstacles the two primary characters must overcome to achieve their respective goals. From there, I let the characters drive the story, always keeping an eye on word count.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors or whatever)?
I’ve always enjoyed puzzles, figuring out how things work, and understanding why something happens. This has translated into reading a lot of mysteries. I have to admit, when reading, if there’s not much for me to figure out, if I’m not kept guessing, I normally return the book to the shelf and look for something else to read. Consequently, in my writing, I try to keep the reader wondering what’s going to happen next, how he’s going to do that, how he’s going to be stopped, etc. Every chapter needs to have tension. I suppose that’s why I like reading Jeffrey Deaver, Meg Gardiner, Declan James, Lisa Black, Debbie Baldwin, and Bruce Coffin.
How did your previous careers affect your writing (if they did)?
I started my career as a computer programmer. I wrote a lot of code. As part of my transition into supervision at the bank I was required to take a Writing For Business course. The instructor (Jim P) told us to write like we were telling a story, having a conversation, had someone sitting across the table from us. Jim made some of the most boring things sound interesting, and I admired that. Ever since then, I’ve tried to follow Jim’s advice in both my business writing and my fiction. To this day, when I’m struggling with something, I’ll remember Jim’s directive and resume writing as though I were speaking to an audience.
What are the differences (if any) between how you approach the writing of fiction and nonfiction?
To me, there’s no difference. I write as if the reader were sitting across the table from me and I’m telling them a story. Whether I’m describing an assassin placing the crosshairs of his rifle’s scope on the target, or explaining the difference between Tiered and Graduated interest rates, I use words they can relate to, and give them understanding.
Could you please tell us about your Malcolm Gee series? And what kind of research did you do to make your depiction of FBI procedures authentic?
In a nutshell, the Malcolm Gee Mystery Series is set in various Florida small towns and is based on an FBI agent who specializes in hunting serial killers. Unfortunately, Malcolm is tired of the blood, gore, and death that he encounters in his job and is thinking about leaving the Bureau. However, he recognizes he has the ability to visualize how the murders were committed as well as think like the murderer. Both of these help avenge the voiceless victims. His girlfriend refers to his ability as a God given gift, but Malcolm doesn’t believe in God or any higher power. Their on-again, off-again relationship provides comfort and consternation.
I’m fortunate to have a number of close relatives in law enforcement (deputy sheriff, police officer, retired FBI agent, and prison guard). I’m also a member of my community’s Citizens On Patrol academy, and have cultivated numerous connections in local law enforcement, emergency response, and fire departments who are always anxious to meet for lunch and bounce around ideas, share information, and often hands-on experiences in their respective training facilities.
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
The second novel in the Malcolm Gee Mystery Series, Victim’s Voice, is under contract with The Wild Rose Press. I expect it’ll hit the market in the Spring of 2026. This one starts when Malcolm, assisting his real estate agent girlfriend at a house showing, finds a severed head in a kitchen cabinet. The chase leads to government corruption and a Colombian cartel.
What are you working on now?
I’m about 20,000 words into book #3 of the Malcolm Gee Mystery Series, working title is Bonnie Isle. This novel starts with a lady being murdered while cataloguing turtle egg nests on Florida’s west coast. Malcolm’s gut tells him her death is connected to other bodies, but he struggles to find the connection. It’s all complicated by someone messing with his girlfriend’s belongings while she’s house-sitting for her mother.
I’m also gathering notes and ideas for a new cozy series featuring a businessman who becomes involved in embezzlement, kidnapping, and burglary schemes.
Simultaneously with novel writing, I enjoy short stories and entering them into competitions. I’m currently working on two that feature Malcolm and Valerie, plus two others for anthologies.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Read. Read. Read. Read other authors. Read other genres. Read novels and short stories. By reading what others have written, you’ll learn techniques, concepts, and find plot ideas. Besides, sometimes it’s good to take a break from your own writing and see what’s happening in the rest of the world, sort of like a vacation.
What is the URL of your website?
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
KILL THE BEAST, by Serra Swift. Contrary to what the title might bring to mind, this story, set in an invented world where supernatural creatures exist openly, is sort of an anti-“Beauty and the Beast” tale. The overarching quest of Lyssa’s life for the past thirteen years has been to slay the titular Beast, which slaughtered her brother, along with a crowd of other people, at a circus they visited in childhood. Estranged from her widowed father and holding most people at arm’s length, she became a professional hunter of faerie-created monsters – Hounds — as a means of support while she searches for the secret lair of the Beast, where it hibernates except when it emerges for fresh rampages only a few times per year. It’s generally assumed that good and evil faeries exist. Even the “good” ones, however, can be capricious and easily offended. As far as Lyssa is concerned, they’re all evil. The closest she has to a friend, the witch Raghild, who dwells in a between-realms Wood accessible only by magic portals, tries in vain to convince her of a more nuanced perspective. The existence of an ex-lover who’s a Hound-warden – an ally of faeries and occasional defender of Hounds – only hardens Lyssa’s hostility toward all inhuman creatures. Her cherished goal of revenge seems in sight when she’s hired by Alderic to kill the Beast, whose hiding place he claims to know. He also possesses a severed claw from the creature, a weapon that can destroy it. The cover blurb aptly describes Alberic as “a melodramatic dandy with a coin purse bigger than his brain.” His insistence on wearing ridiculously flamboyant outfits is one of his least annoying traits. Yet it soon becomes clear there’s more to him than appears on the surface. For one thing, contrary to her first impression, he can hold his own in a fight. For another, he heals with remarkable speed. She eventually learns he has suffered trauma as horrible as her own. Her attitude toward him evolves from toleration to friendship to something like love. Thus the revelation of the truth he has hidden from her comes as a bitter blow. Their path toward that black moment includes twists and narrow escapes amid the search for the various elements needed to confront the Beast with any hope of winning. Their quest would make an excellent Dungeons and Dragons campaign, but with deeper darkness and more heartrending emotion than most D&D adventures. Although Lyssa is far from likable, one can’t help sympathizing with her. The ultimate solution to the characters’ seemingly insoluble dilemma has an appropriate fairy-tale tone.
ROAD TRIP WITH A VAMPIRE, by Jenna Levine. Third novel in a loosely connected trilogy, after MY ROOMMATE IS A VAMPIRE and MY VAMPIRE PLUS ONE. Although characters from the first two novels show up in this one, ROAD TRIP WITH A VAMPIRE can be enjoyed on its own. While the title and cover illustration suggest a paranormal rom-com, and the book does include occasional moments of humor, it has a serious plot premise and ultimately gets rather grim before the heroine and hero come together at last. That said, the author takes full advantage of the humorous possibilities of forced proximity. Glimpses of heroine Zelda’s past escapades preceding some chapters also provide funny moments. Centuries-old witch Grizelda Watson, who used to delight in spreading exaggerated rumors about her own fearsomeness, now runs a yoga studio. She uses her magic as little as possible, only enough to keep it from building up to a dangerous level. Getting involved with charming vampire Peter Elliott upends her quiet life. At the beginning of the book, her main concern is her staff’s insistence on a goat yoga program, until an old friend asks her to help Peter, who has unaccountably lost his memory. With his journal in his possession, he has a record of where he’s been for the past few months, but the entries are so cryptic they aren’t much help. Zelda agrees to the titular road trip in hopes backtracking his own travels will restore his memories. The novel’s linear present-day narrative is interrupted by occasional flashbacks to scenes leading up to the incident that caused Peter’s amnesia. Thus we learn, in teasing fragments, more about his past than he currently knows. It soon becomes clear that someone threatens the lives of Peter and Zelda, but why? And why do people they encounter who’ve met him before seem so afraid of him? When the truth about his past comes to light, it shatters the closeness developing between them. The bitter break is heart-wrenching, while Peter’s earnest but inept attempt to make up with Zelda is touchingly amusing. We’re left feeling the two of them thoroughly deserve their happy ending.
MY BIG FAT VAMPIRE WEDDING, by Jessica Gadziala. Young vampire Pandora (well, young for her species, almost 125 years old) has a serious problem. To inherit her share of the family fortune, she faces a looming deadline to get married by her birthday, only three months away. Without the money, she has no hope of fulfilling her dream of owning a bookstore. The suitors her parents approve of leave her cold. Her solution – the time-honored romance trope of a marriage in name only, to end in divorce after a year. All she needs is a co-conspirator willing to go through with such a farce in exchange for half of her inheritance. At present, she works in a coffee shop with her best friend, a werewolf. At her friend’s urging, Pandora approaches Victor, a disturbingly attractive regular customer at the shop, the man of her fantasies, in fact. A PhD candidate working on his thesis, he carries a huge burden of student debt and faces the prospect of having to drop out. As crazy as Pandora’s scheme strikes him at first, she manages to persuade him. Convincingly enacting all the courtship, engagement, and wedding rituals won’t be easy, of course, especially since letting humans know vampires exist – not to mention the many other paranormal creatures living secretly among human society — is forbidden. To make matters worse, Pandora learns Victor is writing his dissertation on Victorian vampire literature, making potential missteps a constant hazard. From his first meeting with her eccentric family, when she has to explain the archaic clothing and mannerisms of some of her relatives, confusion, hilarity, and narrow escapes from discovery ensue. Dracula even shows up toward the end, although that’s not exactly his name, and he wishes those silly books and movies would get the facts straight. Meanwhile, Pandora’s brother begins acting strangely with a secret of his own, and a malicious cousin of hers is determined to sabotage the engagement. As readers will expect, the “engaged” couple’s fake attraction becomes real, with the inevitable devastating crash when the truth about Pandora’s nature comes out. The eventual reconciliations (with both Victor and her parents) and denouement are hard-won and believable. With the engaging characters, entertainingly complicated situations, and snappy dialogue, I found the story delightful. One detail early in the book, however, almost shattered my suspension of disbelief so thoroughly I struggled to get re-immersed: When Victor tells Pandora the topic of his PhD project, he says, “I don’t know if it’s been done before.” He DOESN’T KNOW? Apparently, the author doesn’t know an essential step in getting a dissertation topic approved is a review of the existing research on the subject. Even if unaware of that fact, she should have taken the basic step of fact-checking whether academic study of vampire fiction has “been done” before putting that remark in the hero’s mouth. A brief internet search would have revealed hundreds of scholarly books and articles on vampire literature. Sheesh.
A HONEYMOON OF GRAVE CONSEQUENCE, by Stephanie Burgis. Sequel to A MARRIAGE OF UNDEAD INCONVENIENCE, in which heroine Margaret reluctantly married vampire Lord Riven, who promised to ensure she always had a supply of excellent tea. Now the two share a strong bond of companionship as well as erotic passion. Interestingly, though, Margaret doesn’t yet admit to herself she’s in love with her mate. At this point, her “obscure scholarly piece on the physical aspects of vampire intimacy” has resulted in a degree of popular notoriety unfamiliar and unwelcome to an introverted researcher. Her previous articles, after all, had been noticed only in academic journals. What she intended as a serious work of scholarship was publicized as delightfully salacious by ignorant journalists. A honeymoon at an isolated inn in the Black Forest sounds to her like an excellent escape from the demands of society. She expects time to work in peace, even after discovering their host is a ghost. She hopes to possibly find the mysterious “Seed of the Forest,” a rumored magical object comparable in power to the Rose of Normandy destroyed in the previous novel. Unfortunately, all the other inhabitants are also supernatural creatures, who resent and fear the intrusion of a mortal into their refuge. Margaret’s attempt to bond with a female corpse-eating undead who loathes her own existence goes particularly badly. Margaret comes to realize she needs to surmount her social ineptitude and interact with the inn’s residents on a personal rather than an academic level. A threat to their collective safety draws them together, while she convinces them of her desire and ability to help. In order to save her new allies and rescue her husband, she has to endure a dreaded session of small talk in addition to more conventional hazards. As in A MARRIAGE OF UNDEAD INCONVENIENCE, the villain of the tale turns out to be human rather than paranormal. Awkward moments and witty repartee alternate with suspense and desperate danger to make this novel as engaging as the first. Along the way, Margaret realizes she truly loves her vampire husband. Considering the friendships she forms with the ultimately welcoming inn’s diverse tribe of supernatural denizens, I think this book merits the label of “cozy fantasy” in spite of the dire threat the characters confront.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from CHILD OF TWILIGHT:
At once Roger knew who the pale, thin girl with gleaming eyes—the eyes of a wild creature poised for flight—had to be. “Come in, Gillian.” Before she could think of disobeying, he grasped her arm, drew her inside, and bolted the door.
He felt a quiver in the cold flesh under his hand. She boldly met his stare, though. “Good evening, Dr. Darvell. Or should I call you Father?” The tone of the question verged on insolence.
Roger tried to barricade his emotions as he replied, “Since that relationship doesn’t exist in your subculture, I don’t think it would be appropriate.” The girl flinched, a reaction she quickly suppressed. Roger felt a stab of guilt.
Britt said icily, “Well, I hope you aren’t planning to make her keep calling you by your title!”
Gillian cast another apprehensive look at Britt.
“This is my associate, Dr. Britt Loren,” said Roger, maintaining his grip on the unexpected guest. “She knows about you. Now, isn’t Volnar here?” He knew better but hated to concede the fact.
“You want to talk in front of an ephemeral?” Gillian still looked prepared to dash off into the night at the faintest provocation.
Roger struggled to control his impatience with her. “I trust Dr. Loren implicitly. You may discuss anything in her presence.”
“But not standing in the middle of the kitchen,” Britt interrupted. Roger felt her pity for the child. “Can’t you make her comfortable before you start grilling her?” She lowered her voice as she turned to Gillian. “I’ll bet you ran away from Dr. Volnar, didn’t you?” Roger sensed Britt fighting the desire to touch the girl. A young vampire who knew almost nothing about ephemerals wouldn’t readily accept comfort from one.
Gillian nodded, keeping her eyes on Roger. “Are you going to send me back?”
“Not right this minute,” said Roger. He led her to the living room.
At the sight of Eloise, Gillian tensed again. “Relax,” Roger said. “My brother, Claude, and his wife, Eloise Kern.”
Surprise displaced Gillian’s fear. “You’re married to an ephemeral?” She scanned Eloise more closely. “And she’s pregnant!”
Roger strove to hide his amusement at Gillian’s shock. Claude didn’t even try. “Well, mon enfant, you must be my niece. Why does that disturb you so much? You’re a product of a similar union yourself.”
“I never asked to be!” She glared at Roger, then at Britt and Eloise. “Do you expect me to talk about myself in front of your pets?” Eloise radiated a rueful humor that echoed Britt’s.
Roger squelched his impulse to slap Gillian. “Understand, young lady—Dr. Loren and Dr. Kern are not pets. They are our lovers, friends, and equals. You will grant them the same respect you give us.”
Gillian visibly wilted. “Yes, sir.” She evaded his eyes and turned to Claude, who showed no threatening anger. “What should I call you—Uncle Claude?”
He switched off the television. “No, that title belongs to the mother’s brother. The father’s has no official status. You may as well keep things simple and address us all by our first names.”
“Very well, I suppose that’s best,” Roger said.
“If that’s settled,” said Britt with an impatient frown at Roger, “can you stop badgering her for the moment? Sit down, Gillian.”
Eloise made room on one of the love seats for Gillian, who gazed at Eloise across the foot of space separating them as if the human female were some sort of exotic beast. As if involuntarily, Eloise’s hand stretched out toward Gillian. The girl edged farther away. Projecting disappointment, Eloise backed off.
Britt said, “How long have you been running?”
“Two days and two nights. I left Dr. Volnar in Atlanta.” And she looked it. Melting snow plastered her wet hair to her head. Under the damp, mud-splashed jacket, which she had unzipped, her blouse hung in shreds. Her tennis shoes were soaked through.
“How did you get here?” Roger asked. “Did you have money?”
“Not enough.” She was beginning to relax now. “I took the bus part of the way and hitchhiked part.” A shadow of remembered fear flickered in her eyes. “It was harder than I expected. I slept in the woods today—or yesterday, I suppose.”
Britt got up from the other love seat. “Poor kid, you must be exhausted. And starving.”
“Dr. Volnar has always told me not to exaggerate,” said Gillian. “I am extremely hungry, yes.”
She made no attempt to keep from broadcasting her hunger. Roger’s stomach cramped in sympathy. Britt was already kneeling beside the couch, pushing up the sleeve of her caftan.
Roger’s hand closed on her shoulder. “Britt, no!” In response to Britt’s outraged glare, he elaborated, “She’s too young for human blood. Aren’t you, Gillian?”
Gillian nodded. “I have never tasted it. Dr. Volnar says I shouldn’t need it for another two years or more.”
“And that’s starting young,” said Claude. He perched on the arm of the couch next to Eloise, who leaned toward Gillian as if she, too, would open her veins if it were allowed.
Britt stood up, moving toward the kitchen. “Then how about a nice bloody chunk of raw dead cow?”
A flash of injured pride shot through Gillian’s exhaustion. “I’m much too old for that. I’ve had my adult teeth for over a year.” She bared them, displaying deceptively human-looking incisors and canines.
“Yes, I see,” said Britt gravely. “Do you eat vanilla ice cream? Have mine, while I whip up something more substantial.”
Since she was thoroughly familiar with the contents of Roger’s kitchen, he let her proceed with the job alone while he pulled up a straight-backed chair to Gillian’s side. He tried to study her profile unobtrusively. Did she resemble him in any way? All he could see in her so far were Juliette’s sharp features and Irish Setter red curls. “Now perhaps you’ll tell me why you ran away from your advisor.”
After taking a spoonful of ice cream, Gillian said, “He ordered me to bond with him—to exchange blood.”
“You knew that would happen eventually,” said Claude. “Aren’t you rather young for it, though?”
She licked chocolate sauce from the spoon and scooped up another bite. “Yes. I started—seeing—seeing auras, feeling emotions. It came upon me suddenly, in a theater—” She broke off, as if the memory choked her.
Roger felt an unwilling surge of sympathy. He recalled with painful vividness how terrifying his own first experience of psychic perception had been. Would knowing about it in advance make the transition much less traumatic?
Claude said in an even, soothing tone, “Most unfortunate for you, especially since you shouldn’t have begun this early. But didn’t you realize that bonding with your advisor would ease the discomfort? How else can he teach you to shield against that flood of impressions?”
“Maybe it works that way for real vampires,” she said. The bitterness in her voice surprised Roger. “I have human genes. Suppose I can’t stand the touch of his mind? Suppose I’m not strong enough?”
“Where the—” An unexpected spasm of anger momentarily silenced Roger. He forced himself to speak calmly. “Where the blazes did you get an idea like that? From Volnar?”
“Of course not. Some of the other elders—I couldn’t help overhearing them, sometimes. The ones who don’t believe I ought to exist. They think I’m contaminating the gene pool. They are waiting for my—defects—to show. And Dr. Volnar’s mind is very ancient and powerful.”
-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, visit the Dropbox page below. Find information about the contents of each issue on this page of my website:
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All Vampire’s Crypt Issues on Dropbox
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Carter Kindle Books
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“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter
Welcome to the November 2025 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
To subscribe to this monthly newsletter, please e-mail me at MLCVamp@aol.com, and I will add you to the list.
For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
Happy American Thanksgiving!
My werewolf novel SHADOW OF THE BEAST was featured in N. N. Light’s Trick or Treat Bonanza promotion:
There’s a short two-part excerpt from the novel below. The viewpoint character of the second half is Jenny, the heroine. The viewpoint character of the first half is her long-lost father.
This month’s author guest, Dan Rice, writes fantasy, science fiction, and horror.
*****
Interview with Dan Rice:
What inspired you to become a writer?
When I was 11 or 12, I read Dune by Frank Herbert for the first time. My mind was blown by how he could create such an immersive world in such a slender volume. After finishing that, I decided to give writing a try for myself.
Go back in time a bit further to third grade or so, and I attended The Young Writers’ Conference at the behest of my teacher. I wasn’t thrilled. I had to write a book and present it at the conference. I penned a memoir about building a robot with my father at a science conference. It even had detailed schematics. My fellow attendees, many of whom wrote tales about unicorns or fairies, looked at me like I was an alien.
What genres do you work in?
I mostly write YA fantasy, sci-fi, and horror.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I’ve always been a planner.
For Phantom Algebra, I knew upfront that I wanted the manuscript to be about 75,000 words, and I had a deadline. I created my most detailed outline ever and followed it assiduously while writing the rough draft. It worked precisely how I had hoped. I wrote the draft faster than ever, completing it in about three months. It was within 2,000 words of 75,000, and, to my considerable surprise, the story and prose were clean, making for an easier editing job.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors or whatever)?
Two authors who have influenced me quite a bit are Fonda Lee and Rachel Hartman. Books by both authors helped me craft conflicted characters, particularly Allison Lee, the protagonist of the eponymous series, The Allison Lee Chronicles.
In Lee’s EXO duology, the hero is caught between his loyalty to his friends, his fidelity to his alien overseers, and his desire for freedom. Lee does a fantastic job characterizing his conflicted loyalties. I learned a lot reading these books.
Hartman presents a character adrift in a world where no one will accept her in Seraphina. The protagonist is a human dragon hybrid caught between two worlds, with the denizens of both unaccepting of her. Again, fantastic characterization.
Please tell us about your Allison Lee Chronicles series. And what tips would you offer about integrating mythological and fantasy creatures into a contemporary setting?
Allison’s dreams of becoming a photojournalist are dashed when she is blinded in a brutal attack. Her vision is miraculously restored after undergoing an experimental medical procedure. There is a side effect—she can now see incorporeal dragons following some people around. She will discover that her destiny and the fate of humanity are tied to this unseen world.
When integrating fantasy creatures into a contemporary setting, ensure consistency. Unless you keep meticulous notes that are easy to dig through, this can be harder than you think, especially if the overarching story spans several books. You’ll be amazed at the inconsistencies you will discover while editing.
What sparked the plot of PHANTOM ALGEBRA? What is it like to write in a shared world?
Since the story is in a shared world, I wanted to differentiate my tale from others in the series. I gave Zuri, the protagonist, a traumatic past and an obsession with becoming a mixed martial arts champion. I think a past traumatic past is a solid horror trope, and her obsession with mixed martial arts separates her from other characters I’ve encountered in the genre.
I was very concerned that writing in a shared world would be problematic due to the numerous rules and potential continuity issues. That didn’t turn out to be the case. Zuri’s traumatic past and interest in martial arts helped prevent this.
What kinds of topics will readers find on your blog?
On my blog, you’ll mostly find my musings on speculative fiction, updates on my writing, bookish guest posts from authors obscure to well-known, and occasionally, a random topic that piqued my curiosity. Recently, I’ve started sharing my thoughts on the banned books I have read. I was inspired to do so after listening to Ta-Nehisi Coates speak about his book Between the World and Me on NPR. Some of the books that have been banned are truly astounding. I was shocked to learn A Wrinkle in Time—to my mind, an innocent YA adventure—had been banned.
Also, on my website, the curious can find free stories for their reading pleasure.
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
My latest book is Phantom Algebra. Recently, I turned in the fourth and final volume of The Allison Lee Chronicles to my publisher.
My other project is Solarflame, an epic fantasy that is Robert Jordon’s Eye of the World meets Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern. Solarflame is currently in the hands of the editors at Cloaked Press. It is the first entry in either a duology or a trilogy.
What are you working on now?
I’m starting a YA horror/thriller that is a collab with my 10-year-old son. He told me he wanted a book featuring vampire dragons. It’s still early days, but I envision the yarn as a cross between Swarm and The Last Kids on Earth. I plan to sub this book to agents once I have a polished manuscript. To that end, I’m already researching and reading comp titles, and thinking about potential hooks for the query letter.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Edit more than you think you need to. There are always words to cut, typos to correct, and plot holes to fill. If you can’t find any, you’re not looking hard enough.
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
Author Website
Bluesky
Instagram
Amazon
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
THE BEWITCHING, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This horror novel centers on Mexican folklore of “witches who drank the blood of innocents on moonless nights.” Judging from the gradual revelation of their nature herein, the perpetrators of the “bewitching,” while born human, aren’t quite human any longer. This cleverly structured story unfolds in three alternating timelines. The 1998 protagonist, Minerva, has moved from Mexico City to Massachusetts for graduate study at a small liberal arts college, Stonebridge. Fascinated by supernatural horror fiction, she has chosen for her dissertation a relatively obscure author named Beatrice Tremblay, a correspondent of H. P. Lovecraft. (Tremblay’s name, by the way, is only one of several sly allusions to contemporary horror personalities.) A strange incident in Tremblay’s life, the disappearance of her roommate when the two young women attended Stonebridge, intrigues Minerva as much as the author’s work does. Minerva feels certain Tremblay’s one novel, THE VANISHING, is based on that event. Desperate to get access to Tremblay’s private papers, Minerva becomes acquainted with an elderly, wealthy friend of Tremblay through the autocratic old woman’s bad-boy grandson. Minerva’s great-grandmother Alba, who used to tell her, “Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches,” is the protagonist of the 1908 story. Teenage Alba has an almost squicky crush on her twenty-something uncle from Mexico City, whose charming manners and supercilious attitude toward her family’s rural home make him seem irresistibly sophisticated to her. Amid family conflict, mysterious attacks occur, leading to superstitious fear of a witch stalking the ranch. The uncle-niece relationship turns out as bad as you might expect, although probably not in the expected way. The 1934 narrative, the only one told in first person, comprises Beatrice Tremblay’s memoir of the events surrounding her roommate Ginny’s disappearance. In each section, the plot gradually unfolds from the mundane through the increasingly ominous to openly supernatural horror. While I sympathized with Minerva’s introverted personality and her anxiety about her stalled dissertation but often wanted to shake some sense into Alba, I felt deeply invested in all three protagonists. Although “witches” play a role in each timeline, I wondered how the author could possibly weave the separate stories into a coherent whole. She manages that feat in an astonishing conclusion that nevertheless feels inevitable.
DEFANGED, by H. E. Edgmon. A “vampire as naturally evolved species” novel with some unusual twists. Although it’s probably technically a middle-grade book, since it starts on the protagonist’s twelfth birthday, it seems to me more like YA for its writing style and the dark plot elements. Ever since their species came “out of the coffin” in the 1990s, vampires have been regarded with suspicion by the human majority. Promptly upon reaching the age of twelve, their young are eligible for a “Defanging” treatment, administered by an organization called Vampirism Sucks, which obliterates most of their vampiric characteristics. While not legally compulsory, this procedure is strongly encouraged by social pressure. The few families who don’t subject their children to it are viewed as at best eccentric and at worst dangerous rebels – for instance, protagonist Lux Priddy’s best friend, Emma, whose family insists there’s nothing wrong with being a vampire and they don’t need to be “cured.” Moreover, there’s a law under consideration to require all vampire adolescents to undergo the procedure, with a goal of reducing their species to only the middle-aged or older and children under twelve, leading ultimately to extinction. When Lux’s parents take him to the clinic for defanging on his twelfth birthnight, he becomes progressively more conscious that the procedure will violate his essential self. He already feels not quite “normal,” and he’s certain the treatment would make things worse for him, not better. His misgivings erupt into open rejection. He sneaks out of the facility and flees in a desperate search for the rumored secret, underground vampire refuge, Nox Urbus (a misspelled attempt at Latin, by the way, that makes my teeth grind). When he stumbles upon it by a fortunate accident, he finds Nox Urbus not to be the utopia he imagined. It’s reminiscent of the tunnel community in the TV series BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, but much less comfortable both materially and socially. While Lux isn’t exactly welcomed with open arms, he soon manages to fit in with the group of tweens and teenagers. To his surprise, he meets a person who may be a shapeshifter, a subspecies whose very existence he doubted. The leader of the colony, a man known as Dog, has an unexpected connection with Lux’s mother. Secrets of both Lux’s family and Emma’s are revealed. Eventually, it becomes clear that Vampirism Sucks is much darker than the public image it projects. A daring rescue mission climaxes the novel (leaving the details vague to avoid spoilers). For me, the hopeful ending wrapped up in the epilogue feels rather abrupt, but on the whole I found the book satisfying anyway. Lux’s adventures are narrated in present tense, which didn’t bug me as much as it usually does. Either I’m getting used to it (shudder), or maybe in this case it feels like an acceptable device to generate suspense in the compressed timeline of the story. The Vampirism Sucks procedure reminded me of the “conversion therapy” forced on some homosexual youths, although the author’s afterword reveals that the primary intended real-world analogy is the treatment often inflicted on people with autism.
WHAT STALKS THE DEEP, by T. Kingfisher. The third installment in the “sworn soldier” series, set in the late nineteenth century, starring and narrated by Alex Easton. From my viewpoint, the only thing wrong with these novels is that they’re too short! As a former sworn soldier in the army of Gallacia, a mountainous Ruritanian country most of its inhabitants eagerly leave given the opportunity (according to Alex’s frequent sardonic remarks), Alex has a nonbinary identity. Gallacians speak a complicated language, featuring multiple third-person pronouns in addition to he, she, and it, including a unique word for rocks and one applied only to God (which I’d think would prevent a lot of theological controversy about the divine gender). Sworn soldiers go by ka/kan. To avoid longwinded explanations, Alex usually allows people to think of kan as a man. This novel begins with Alex’s voyage to the United States – accompanied by Angus, an older man who served as kan batman in the army, now “combination valet, groom, and voice of reason” (as described in a previous book) — in answer to an urgent plea from kan friend Dr. Denton, a fellow survivor of the horrific destruction of the house of Usher in WHAT MOVES THE DEAD. Alex is bemused by the American custom of frequent handshaking and astonished by how BIG the country is. Their train trip from Boston to West Virginia takes so long they could have traversed Gallacia several times over in the same number of days. Denton’s cousin has vanished in an abandoned coal mine after a couple of very alarming letters and a final, cryptic telegram. Could some unnatural fate have befallen him? Well, of course, as the reader immediately surmises, but Denton, Alex, and their companions grasp at natural explanations first. Descending into the mine, they cope with darkness, pockets of poisonous and/or explosive gases, precarious spaces where cave-ins seem all too likely, blockages from previous such disasters, and narrow, curvy, low-ceilinged passages (where Alex continually assures kanself ka is NOT claustrophobic). According to the author’s afterword, the story was inspired by H. P. Lovecraft’s AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS. The search party encounters labyrinthine tunnels, a vast cavern with an iridescent floor like translucent pearl, and Kingfisher’s version of shoggoths. Happily, the human characters manage to communicate with the latter more successfully than Alex did with the titular entities in WHAT MOVES THE DEAD, but still not without potentially lethal dangers. The atmospheric setting and scenes of breathless suspense are artfully balanced with interludes of lively dialogue, believable character interaction, and skillful exposition. Denton’s partner, Ingold, displays endless fascination with the weird phenomena in the mine, brightly expounding his observations and hypotheses to the others regardless of terrifying circumstances. As always in Kingfisher’s fiction, the narrative style is irresistibly engaging. I can’t get enough of Alex’s voice, with its frequent notes of wry humor. Examples from early in the book: On avoiding discussion of the Spanish-American war: “I passed our days at sea having gin and tonics and no opinions about Guam.” Alex’s reaction to Ingold’s heavy Bostonian accent: “I had an involuntary urge to snatch up the teapot and find a harbor to dump it in.” On the overwhelming mauve décor of the hotel, including the staff’s uniforms: “I wondered if the bellhops ever stood up against the walls for camouflage.” Well, I could go on for several pages about Kingfisher’s work. If you enjoy sympathetic, intelligent, three-dimensional characters and innovative twists on traditional horror, folklore, and fantasy plots, do give her a try.
THE SUMMER WAR, by Naomi Novik. A short (127 pages), standalone fantasy by the author of the Scholomance trilogy (a magical school that apparently wants to kill its students) and the Temeraire series (the Napoleonic wars with dragon-riders). The book’s title refers to the perpetual hostility between the protagonist’s homeland and the summerlings, this world’s equivalent of elves. Like most such beings in folklore, they appear to humans incomprehensible, capricious, and often cruel. Their lord blames the lineage of the human king for the death of his sister in the distant past. To his kind, however, who experience time differently from mortals, the tragedy might have happened just yesterday. The summerlings attack only in summer, retreating with the onset of autumn, and they don’t come every year. Twenty years might go by before they remember the war. A tense peace with trade between humans and summerlings currently exists, Celia’s father, Grand Duke Veric, having ended the war before she was born. Even so, only heroes and song-spinners can venture into the Summer Lands and emerge unscathed. “Celia was twelve years old on the day she cursed her brother,” the novel begins. Celia, though descended from a legendary witch-queen, has never shown any signs of sorcerous power before. She and her two brothers are half-siblings, children of the three deceased wives of the Duke. Roric, the middle child, hardly counts for Celia or anyone else. The oldest, Argent, however, has earned a reputation as the best knight in the land, celebrated in story and song. Upon what should be his triumphant return home, though, he announces he isn’t staying. Their father will never accept his homosexual identity. Argent’s attempt to slip away without even pausing to bid farewell to Celia triggers the inadvertent curse. Up to this point, Celia didn’t strike me as very nice, with her disdain for Roric and her overreaction to Argent. But, after all, she’s only twelve, and she soon improves. She’s horrified when her furious outburst condemning Argent to be unloved comes true. Over the next few years, while he rises to the fame of a living legend, he remains alone. Meanwhile, as the estate suffers from their father’s neglect, she and Roric manage it together. Roric’s true ambition, though, is to become a song-spinner. At the age of fifteen, Celia determines to travel into the Summer Lands in search of Argent. Roric plans to go with her in the guise of a wandering song-spinner. But before they can act, Celia finds herself snared in the clutches of the summer lord. The ensuing scenes immerse characters and reader in an atmosphere reminiscent of folklore, ballads, and fairy tales: Life-or-death bargains in which exact words vitally matter. A succession of ritualistic single-combat challenges drawn out over several days. A bard in disguise – Roric, of course – whose clever tales and songs offer his siblings their last, desperate hope. We see all this through Celia’s viewpoint, including a eucatastrophic resolution to both the interminable war and Argent’s plight. I found the blend of naturalistic characterization, political intrigue, and fairy-tale motifs enthralling.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from SHADOW OF THE BEAST:
With the taste of blood burning like acid in his mouth, Tim lay curled up on his side next to a dumpster behind a 7-Eleven. The cold of the ice-coated blacktop seeped into his naked flesh. Despite the shivers that racked him, he couldn’t summon the strength to move.
*It’s getting worse!*
He used to have some control over where he woke. Lately, though, he clawed his way to consciousness in strange places, perilously far from home. Damn, how was he supposed to sneak back to his apartment naked in the freezing night?
The attacks were getting worse in other ways, too. His body’s memory of raw flesh and hot blood on his tongue used to sicken him. Now it seemed normal. Indeed, he relished the heaviness of newly devoured life in his belly.
Lightning bolts of memory crashed through his skull. Bones crunching between his teeth. The pleasurable ache in his limbs from hours of running. A distant howl answering his own cry.
If only that part were true! He was alone, so alone.
He couldn’t wait much longer. He had to find an escape from this isolation before he deteriorated so far he would disintegrate at the lightest touch.
* * *
*I want to wake up. I will wake up right now.*
Well aware that she was dreaming, she crouched under the open window, poised to spring. A chilly breeze tickled her nose with smells of damp earth and Mrs. Perlman’s crocuses. An unseasonable shift toward sixty-degree days had melted the snow and beguiled the early bulbs out of dormancy.
Her nostrils twitched at the scent of some small creature, probably a squirrel, in the tree outside. With her legs bunched under her, she whined out loud, resisting the urge to leap through the window. Her whiskers and the hair on the back of her neck bristled at vagrant puffs of wind.
*This is a dream. I know who I am. I am Jennifer Cameron, and I can wake up whenever I want to.* She wrenched herself away from the window. As her body began to dissolve like an ice sculpture in the noonday sun, darkness congealed before her eyes.
When consciousness returned, she was lying naked on the bed.
-end of excerpt-
*****
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“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter