Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Welcome to the May 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.
My contemporary fantasy novella “Bunny Hunt” was featured in N. N. Light’s Heaven’s Spring into Books event:
There’s another short excerpt below. Melanie’s nephew Scott’s dog escapes at an Easter egg hunt and chases a rabbit into the woods.
This month I’m interviewing another “Haunting of Pinedale High” author, Celaine Charles.
*****
Interview with Celaine Charles:
What inspired you to become a writer?
I have always loved the smell and feel of bookstores since I was very young. Having ADHD, finishing a book was tricky for me. But once I found my genre…fantasy…I was enveloped into the world of stories and fell in love with reading. Soon after, I heard the quote, “If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ~ Toni Morrison. That’s exactly what I did. A year later, I ran into a woman at my son’s karate class. She introduced herself as a writer, and I blurted out that I was a want-to-be-writer. What she said next changed my life. “If you’re a want-to-be-writer, then you are a writer.” From that moment on, I called myself a writer and dug in to do the work. As of this coming June, I will have published nine books. I will forever be grateful to that amazing human for saying the right thing at the right time. And with all the noise in the world these days, I also thank God I was able to pay attention and listen.
What genres do you work in?
I am a multi-genre author, writing contemporary poetry, young adult fantasy, young adult paranormal, and even contemporary romance short stories. I’m also looking into the world of children’s picture books. I’ve won two awards via unpublished children’s literature contests, but I am still seeking out an agent for this genre. Ultimately, my goals are to shine a little light into the dark corners of life. For me, reading is an escape from all the horrors of the real world. I guess I love writing all kinds of books…so I go wherever my imagination leads me.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I call myself a recovering pantser, so in these terms, a recovering winger (haha). I used to write by the seat of my pants, letting the story unfold how it may, but now, after publishing my first book and experiencing real deadlines, I have become more of a loose planner. I tend to use the tricks I teach my third graders (I’m a teacher during the daytime). I think about all the parts of my story now, before I begin, but once I start writing, I give my characters permission to change course when needed. And to be honest, it’s needed (for the better) a lot of the time. When all else fails, go back to those school writing templates…they’re perfect when you’re not sure how to start or when you get stuck in the middle.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors or whatever)?
I am a huge fan of VE Schwab, Maggie Stiefvater, and Cassandra Clare. I guess with that you can see I am a huge supporter of character-driven stories. I write in close-third-person, all the while pretending it’s first person. I want my characters to tell my stories from their perspectives, meaning I want my readers to think, feel, and breathe my stories with all their senses.
How has your teaching career affected your writing (if it has)?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been stuck as a writer, and I go back to the tips I teach my third-grade students. SWBST—somebody wanted but so then. Whenever I write myself into a pickle (which happens a lot), I have to pull back and ask myself the same questions I pose to my student writers: Who is the somebody in your story? What do they want? But what happens to them that rocks their world? So, what must they do to then arrive at this amazing ending?
All the stages of writing are true: plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish! We just need to make sure we hit each one with all our hearts…trust the writing process because it works when you let it!
Please tell us about your poetry workshops.
For the last five years, every April for National Poetry Month, I’ve led my school (K-5th grade) in some kind of poetry project. We’ve done form poetry, like elfchens, haiku, and tanka, as well as free verse poetry where we engage our senses. I always start by sharing master poets to become our mentor texts, and then I slide into their actual experiences (whatever age they are) to help them realize they have lots to say and in poetry, there’s no wrong way to say it. My goal is to free students up from having to follow a lot of rules. I want them to open up and realize they can break every rule if they want to because poetry is freedom. And all their voices deserve to be heard.
What will we find on your blog?
My writing blog, Steps in Between, is all about my writing journey. I started sharing my road to authoring in 2017, when I hadn’t published a single book, and simply shared all the steps I was taking to get to a published book. I love my blog because it’s my true author heart. Readers can learn tips and tricks and hopefully share in the l-o-n-g process that goes into planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing, and then finally marketing a book. It’s so much! And to be honest, as soon as I actually published a book, I started writing less on my blog. The reality was, I had no time. Soon after you publish a book for the first time, deadlines begin to appear out of nowhere! Your time is eaten away by simply writing more, and for me, I neglected my blog. I’m just now getting back to it because honestly, it keeps me grounded and real and alive. So, watch for more to come on Steps In Between!
Concerning “The Haunting of Pinedale High,” what was it like to write in a shared world? How did you ensure the consistency of your book with other stories in the series?
I love writing challenges, and when The Wild Rose Press announced The Haunting of Pinedale High series, I knew I would be participating in some way. The scary part? Ghost stories terrify me! I don’t read scary books. At all! But a few characters stirred in my belly, and I knew I needed to figure out a way to give them a voice in a ghost story…of my own. So, I decided to write a cozy ghost story! Once I realized I could write a ghost story that wasn’t exactly scary (don’t get me wrong there is spook and danger in my book), I realized I could create something special! I enjoyed the Netflix shows, Girl Haunts Boy and School Spirits, and so I took vibes from those stories and voila! My story fit right in the middle!
I read several other Pinedale High stories and modeled some of the teachers and setting of the school into my own tale, and suddenly everything fell into place. I haven’t read, Her Death was Doubtful, by YOU—but I will very soon! I love that we’ve written stories in the same stand-alone series!
Just for fun: Do you believe in ghosts?
NO! I mean, maybe I just don’t want to because I want to sleep at night. Like I said above, the thought of actual ghosts scare me!
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
I am working on book three from my Keepers Series. Seam Keepers (book 1) and Dream Keepers (book 2) are young adult portal fantasy stories that have all the good tropes like teens training to become world saviors, good versus evil, shapeshifting, friends to lovers (sweet-style), family drama, high stakes, adventure, demon battles, girl power, other realms, and more! I love these stories and the team camaraderie that grows across the series. The third book, I’m writing now, completes everything with a lovely bow on top…or does it?! 😊
I’m also publishing my third romance short in a collection, Caught a Spark, Fourth of July Romance Shorts. This book is the third book in a holiday romance series, The Holiday Chronicles. My story in the anthology is called, Written in the Sky. Our first book for Halloween was called, Midnight Meet-Ups (my story titled, Masquerade Meet-Cute). Our second book for Valentine’s Day, Sweet Chaos, came out in January 2025 (my story entitled, Drawn to You). I’m so excited for this third book to release, and I’m already planning the fourth book about New Years Eve!
What are you working on now?
I’m working on the stories mentioned above. Written in the Sky is in the final editing stages. My third Keeper Series book is in a drafting stage. Finally, I’m working on a couple children’s picture books. I am querying one with agents right now, and the others I continue to work on. I swear breaking into the children’s picture book genre is tougher than writing a full novel! Consider me humbled! Finally, I have several new book ideas I’ve been planning for a long time, once these current projects are completed.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
I would say to anyone who has an inkling to write—just write! Do it! Write now and think later. The art of revision is always there. But you can’t edit a blank page, so if you’re reading this right now, and have the slightest idea of writing a book, please just do it! Somebody out there is waiting for your story.
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
Newsletter
Author Website
Instagram
Facebook
Linktree
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
THE FRIEND OF THE FAMILY, by Dean Koontz. I like this much better than most of Koontz’s recent novels. THE FRIEND OF THE FAMILY includes no sociopathic geniuses bent on destroying the universe for their own gain (thank goodness) and very little of the author’s typical ranting along the lines of “it’s getting awfully hot, and why are we in this handbasket?” The antagonists operate on a personal level with believable motivations. I also enjoyed the historical setting. The narrator, Adiel (originally named Alida but renamed by her foster parents) tells her story in the form of a memoir from 1930 into the 1940s. The detailed memories preserved in her journal, along with the mature language in which she writes even at the age of seventeen, are credibly explained by her precocious, voluminous reading from early childhood and especially by her photographic retention of everything she reads and hears. Her foster parents’ amazement at her ability to recall the full texts of books with no effort surprises her, since she’s had little exposure to normal human interaction. Ignorant of her birth parents’ identity, she has grown up in a freak show owned by a con man known as the Captain. He essentially owns her, too, treating her like a circus animal, although he doesn’t physically abuse her. His one indulgence consists of stealing books for her to keep her docile. At age seventeen only five feet tall and about ninety pounds, Alida/Adiel never grows any further. I found it frustrating that her alleged shocking deformities aren’t described until the end, in her foster mother’s epilogue, and even then not in detail. The reticence to preserve her dignity as a human being makes sense, but how can we believe she’s horribly grotesque if we’re told but not shown? We know only that she has a beautiful face but a monstrous though petite body. Wealthy, eccentric, warmhearted filmmakers Frankin and Loretta find her exhibited almost naked in a nightclub. They pay the Captain an exorbitant amount to relinquish all claim to Adiel. Once she manages to accept the permanence of her new life and family, she plunges into it with joy. She explores the vast house and grounds with her three homeschooled adopted siblings, seeking mysteries to solve. And of course there’s a loyal, intelligent dog (although not a Golden Retriever). In many novels, this change would constitute a fairy-tale ending. For Adiel, though, it’s only the beginning. Koontz does an excellent job of spanning several decades with a combination of showing and telling, without losing the reader’s interest. We discover Adiel is more than she seems when she accidentally performs a miraculous healing. She conceals this phenomenon from everybody else for sound reasons, including the fact that she doesn’t know how it happened or whether it can be repeated. The Captain eventually tracks her down, having run out of money during the Depression. Yet the confrontation with him and his homicidal minion, a “freak” in more than a physical sense, forms only one segment of the narrative. The book’s true climax culminates in a revelation that surprised me but felt entirely appropriate.
TRACE ELEMENTS, by Jo Walton and Ada Palmer. A collection of essays by two distinguished science-fiction authors. Divided into three sections, “Genre; or, The Modern Proteus,” Section 2 focusing on more personal, autobiographical material, and Section 3: Craft, the book contains both individually authored and collaborative pieces. Almost every essay inspired me to react with either, “Well, THAT’S new information,” or, “My brain just exploded!” (quoting from characters in a pair of current PBS cartoon series). Some topics include the history of SF publishing, the history of romance, definition of genre, robots, anime and manga, what genre dystopian narratives fit into, and providentialist thinking (the reader’s expectation that, in general, characters will get what they deserve). The contrast between “external” science fiction” and “imprint SF,” which functions “in conversation with” the ongoing development of the genre, particularly intrigued me. Genre – “imprint” — science fiction and fantasy “has distinct pacing and reading protocols.” Reading SF requires a particular “skill set” as much as writing it does. Literary fiction that includes some SF or fantasy tropes isn’t the same thing. That’s why (to cite a notorious example) Margaret Atwood’s exasperating insistence that THE HANDMAID’S TALE isn’t SF makes a certain amount of sense, despite its apparently being based on her misapprehension that “science fiction” equals space opera. Her work isn’t in conversation with the genre community. Section 2 of the book features essays such as Walton’s and Palmer’s accounts of how they sold their first novels. The section on Craft, among other things, addresses censorship, the purpose of reading, and the “protagonist problem,” the fictional tendency to single out one character as THE person with the power to save the world or otherwise solve the story’s central problem. Real-life consequences, if this fictional convention is taken too seriously, can entail either thinking of oneself as a non-protagonist and therefore unimportant or laboring under the delusion of being the protagonist on whom a vital outcome depends. Section 3 also includes several poems, most notably the concluding piece, Ada Palmer’s heartbreakingly beautiful “Somebody Will” (which has been set to music and is available on one of Heather Dale’s albums, also accessible on YouTube). If you’re a fan of speculative fiction, you should get this collection for the articles on genre alone.
THE SHIP WHO DARED, by Mercedes Lackey and Veronica Giguere. The first new book for a long time in the “brainship” series created by the late Anne McCaffrey. This novel is a sequel to Lackey and McCaffrey’s THE SHIP WHO SEARCHED. You don’t absolutely need to have read that book, or any others in the series, before this new one, but it would help. Still, a novice reader could pick up from context the essential facts about brainships and the interstellar society in which they function. One thing I especially like about THE SHIP WHO DARED is that it reads like a Mercedes Lackey novel, not always the case with her collaborations. I’m fond of her immersive, conversational style. A purist might object that some of the colloquialisms in the dialogue sound almost too much like contemporary American English; however, I simply accept them as the authors’ “translation” of the way Earth people in this far future setting talk. In brief, a brainship is the ultimate cyborg. Babies with birth defects too severe to be corrected even in this advanced civilization can be placed in “shells” that bestow enhanced senses and other capabilities far beyond the ordinary human norm. As adults, they become the brains of starships or sometimes facilities such as space stations. In return, they must enter contracts to work off the enormous debt for the technology they benefit from. Each brainship has a mobile, non-disabled partner informally called a “brawn.” Tia is unique in that she was wired into her shell at the age of seven, stricken with an exotic disease that completely disabled her, instead of at birth. She and her brawn, Alex, romantically bonded even beyond the close friendship customary between brain and brawn, work under contract for an interstellar courier company. The company exploits its shellperson employees to the extent it can get away with, a theme running throughout the story. When the military authorities offer Tia and Alex the chance to test a cutting-edge, top-secret singularity drive, they accept despite some misgivings. The huge payment for that service will get them much closer to paying off their contract and becoming free agents. Unfortunately, a glitch in the system results in arriving at random points in space as often as the appointed destination. Coincidentally, at each unexpected place where they end up, they stumble on people in need of help. But how long can their luck in finding their way back hold up? At first the plot feels a bit episodic, with the ship bouncing around from one unrelated crisis to another. In the end, though, a connection among their seemingly random adventures comes to light. Alex and Tia are delightful characters with engaging individual quirks, and the warmth of their relationship pervades the story. In the end, with the problem of the rogue hyperdrive settled and their employment situation happily resolved, the novel comes to a satisfying conclusion. Yet it holds ample potential for sequels, which I hope may appear at some future date.
THE FARAWAY INN, by Sarah Beth Durst. Another cozy fantasy by the author of THE SPELLSHOP and THE ENCHANTED GREENHOUSE, but unrelated to those two. While they’re adult novels set in a secondary world, THE FARAWAY INN is a YA contemporary fantasy. Calisa, the sixteen-year-old protagonist, hadn’t planned to leave her urban home and spend most of the summer before her senior year in “a place with a truly excessive number of trees.” After she catches her boyfriend cheating on her, though, Calisa accepts her mother’s proposal to visit her great-aunt’s Faraway Inn in the wilds of Vermont. The bed-and-breakfast doesn’t match Calisa’s vague memories of childhood visits. The place turns out to be rundown and mostly empty. Furthermore, Auntie Zee doesn’t want help and only grudgingly agrees to a three-day trial period. Calisa throws herself into cleaning, cooking, and weed-clearing in hopes of being allowed to stay longer. The change of scenery and chance to make herself useful eventually grant her the perspective to realize she’s better off without her two-timing boyfriend. Getting to know Jack, the absent caretaker’s attractive, helpful, charmingly awkward teenage son, doesn’t hurt. The strangeness of the inn begins to reveal itself almost at once. Auntie Zee imposes two strict rules: Don’t ask questions, and don’t open doors without permission. Naturally, Calisa often finds herself breaking those prohibitions. Random doors sometimes open portals into other worlds. A statue seems to move when her back is turned. One guest keeps a gargoyle in his room. Another is a green-skinned woman with an affinity for plants. There’s also a miniature dragon hanging around the house. When additional regulars, each decidedly peculiar to some extent, show up expecting the usual level of service, they’re justifiably dubious of Calisa’s ability to measure up to Auntie Zee’s standards. Moreover, Jack confides in Calisa that his father disappeared several years earlier. No wonder the place is falling apart. Although with plenty of surprises and twists along the way, the story concludes as the genre-savvy reader would expect. Jack and Calisa track down his father; Auntie Zee admits she needs help and accepts Calisa as the logical provider of it; Calisa matures while reassessing her personal situation. She strikes me as a sympathetic character, a believable teenager with typical anxieties, yet not at all whiny or otherwise annoying. Jack is also appealing, It’s fun to meet the variety of not-quite-human guests and watch Calisa solve the challenges presented by a magical family business. Also, I can’t neglect to mention the physical allure of this trade paperback. It has the most elaborate, beautifully colored edge drawing (artwork on the edges of the pages, visible when the book is closed) I’ve ever seen.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from “Bunny Hunt”:
Bob stopped struggling to escape and stared in the direction indicated. “Bunny? Go pet the Easter Bunny?”
Sure enough, a large rabbit with cinnamon-colored fur, nibbling on clover blossoms, crouched in the grass under the trees near one of the walking trails that wound through the tame woodlot. Though its ears twitched at the ambient noise, it didn’t seem in any hurry to run from the human intruders on its territory.
Linda shook her head. “A wild bunny wouldn’t want to be petted. Anyway, it’s almost time to find eggs.”
Both Bob and his older brother switched their focus to the man in charge of the hunt. At that moment, Kiki lunged forward, jerking the leash from Scott’s loose grip.
“Kiki, no! Stop!” he yelled. The dog had already dashed out of his reach, though. Frantically barking, she raced toward the rabbit. “Kiki, come!”
Not surprisingly, the pup ignored him. A second later, the director of the event blew his whistle as a signal to start.
“You go ahead,” Melanie said to Scott. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch her.” Without waiting for a response from him, she hurried toward the woods after the dog and rabbit. They’d already vanished into the trees, but she had Kiki’s continuous yapping to guide her.
She raced along the narrow trail. Judging from the volume of the barking, the dog hadn’t gotten far yet. Melanie sprinted toward the noise, hoping to sight the runaway around the next curve in the path. What if she chased the rabbit into the underbrush?
No need to worry about that problem until she caught up with the animals. Rounding a bend, she forced herself to a burst of speed. She didn’t see her quarry, but the yapping grew still louder. After the second loop in the trail, she almost tripped over Kiki’s leash and skidded to a stop.
Not far off the path under the trees, the dog stood with her front paws pinning the rabbit to the ground. She kept barking but didn’t move otherwise, as if she had no idea what to do with her thrashing, kicking prey. The wild animal appeared to weigh at least ten pounds, barely smaller than the dog herself.
Panting and sweating from the run, Melanie lifted her ponytail off the damp nape of her neck while she seized a loop of the leash with her other hand. If one of those kicks connected, Scott’s pet could get seriously hurt. “Kiki, drop it!”
The pup didn’t even glance at her. That must have been a command she either hadn’t learned yet or chose to ignore. Melanie gave the leash a firm jerk. Startled, Kiki tumbled off the flailing rabbit and struggled to land on all fours.
The rabbit sprang upright. Melanie retreated a couple of steps, hauling the dog with her. To her surprise, the rabbit turned its head and gazed up as if assessing her. Kiki, already recovering her balance, strained at the leash.
“Well, what are you waiting for, bunny? Get out of here.”
I’m talking to a wild rabbit. Unless maybe it’s an escaped pet? That possibility would account for how little fear of humans it showed.
Staring straight at her, it reared up on its haunches. Its amber eyes gazed at her with an expression of unnerving attention.
What’s it thinking about me? Melanie shook her head. Whoa! Now I’m giving it credit for human intelligence.
A bright shimmer dazzled her vision. When it faded, the animal was standing on its hind legs—and growing. It expanded to person-height. Kiki emitted an alarmed yip and huddled against Melanie’s leg. Melanie simply froze, her mouth gaping open.
When the glow faded completely, a human-size bunny stood before her. It—no, she—displayed the same cinnamon-brown fur and long ears. Her face had the general shape of a woman’s, but with whiskers, amber eyes, a button nose, and rabbity incisors. Her leg joints bent at an angle suitable for hopping. Most striking, two vertical rows of nipples, four and four, adorned the front of her body, and her belly bulged with an obvious pregnancy.
-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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Goodreads
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You can contact me at: MLCVamp@aol.com
“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter
Welcome to the April 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 spring holidays!
“Bunny Hunt,” my Easter-themed contemporary fantasy novella, will be included this month in N. N. Light’s Book Heaven’s Spring Into Books Festival. There’s an excerpt from the opening scene below.
This month I’m interviewing multi-genre author SD Porter.
*****
Interview with SD Porter:
What inspired you to become a writer?
I guess I see stories all around me and find myself asking questions, wondering about everyday things that people go through. I’ll never know why people do the things they do or how they got themselves into situations, so It’s fun to imagine and fun to make up my own stories.
Also, I wonder what I’d do in certain situations, like an apocalypse or tragedy, and I imagine how I would get through it, so writing and creating characters who find themselves in those situations helps me work through my questions.
What genres do you work in?
YA, Dystopian, Apocalyptic, Romance, and some Middle Grade sports. I also dabble in poetry when the mood is right.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
Mostly a wing it….but I have learned the benefit of having a bit of an idea of the direction of a story. It’s a learning curve. The longer I write, the more I see the value of making sure my scenes are building to my climax.
In addition to fiction, you write poetry. Do you feel there’s a connection between the two in your work process?
Poetry helps me express emotion, which is the hardest part of writing for me. I tend to hold my feelings inside, so poetry helps me get in touch with those feelings so that I can bring them out. Poetry can also help me get unstuck when my words just don’t come…poetry doesn’t demand the same mechanics, which can free up the imagination.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors or whatever)?
Modern writers: I do love Kyla Stone and really connect with her characters and style. She has strong female characters who want to protect others. I can relate.
Old school, I’m a big Stephen King fan. He has amazingly complex characters that are both villain and hero. I love that duplicity.
My favorite apocalyptic read is The Road. So real and raw.
Concerning “The Haunting of Pinedale High,” what was it like to write in a shared world? How did you ensure the consistency of TWISTED FATES with other stories in the series?
It’s funny…I wrote that story in 3 weeks…I work best under pressure and I only had one chapter written when the publisher said they read the synopsis and wanted the story, if I could have it done in a few days. I fibbed and said, “Sure!” Ten days later I submitted the manuscript. It was a whirlwind but I really like how it turned out.
Having set parameters helped me narrow the scope so that I could focus my ideas.
Just for fun: Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes. I believe in the spiritual world…not exactly like what is in the story but I do believe the veil is thin between the earthly and heavenly realm and seems to be getting thinner!
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
I have my first full length, traditionally published novel, The Nova Chronicles, being released on April 15th. It’s a dystopian survival story. I’m trying to figure out how to market it! I think I’ll have my first Book Release Party but am trying to figure that out too.
What are you working on now?
I am editing my apocalyptic story, Chasing August, which is a story about a fifteen year old girl who survives a worldwide pandemic. I wrote it right before Covid hit and had to shelve it for obvious reasons. Now, I’m pulling it off the shelf and giving it a thorough edit.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Don’t give up. Find a few trusted author friends and form a critique group. That is the most valuable asset as you go through your journey. You will learn from others, get free editing, and have a cheer squad. I have 2 authors I meet with regularly, over Zoom, and I can’t imagine not having them there.
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
Author Website
instagram: @sdporterwrites
Facebook
Linktree
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
WHEN EVERYONE KNOWS THAT EVERYONE KNOWS…, by Steven Pinker. A psychologist specializing in cognition and language explains the concept and functions of “common knowledge.” I’m a big fan of his THE LANGUAGE INSTINCT and HOW THE MIND WORKS, and this is my favorite book of his in a long time. The meaning of “common knowledge” in the sense used here is encapsulated in the title. As an example to introduce the concept, he reminds us of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” When the little boy blurts out his observation of the Emperor’s nudity, he isn’t saying anything everybody else doesn’t already know. But until that fact is spoken aloud in public, they couldn’t be sure everybody shared the knowledge. Now they know others know, and the shocking truth can’t be denied. Shared knowledge can be recursive: She knows her husband is unfaithful, he knows she knows, and she knows he knows she knows, theoretically ad infinitum. Pinker uses “common knowledge” to analyze phenomena such as social media contagion, group psychology, how political discontent coalesces into open protest, runs on banks (depositors rush to close out their accounts because they expect everybody else to withdraw money, thus causing the bank failure they fear), consumer goods shortages (customers stock up on and hoard toilet paper because they expect others to do the same, thus causing the shortages they fear), and many others. Common knowledge fulfills necessary social requirements, e.g., the coordination that results in everyone’s agreeing to drive on the same side of the road or accept pieces of paper as valuable. Yet it also has negative effects such as baseless conspiracy theories, the formation of angry mobs, etc. Unspoken shared knowledge exists in the form of involuntary physiological reactions such as crying, laughing, or blushing. Also, people’s awareness of what “everybody knows” can be deliberately veiled, such as a sexual advance in a new relationship or an attempt to bribe a traffic cop to overlook speeding. The recipient of a euphemistically phrased proposal can reject it while both parties hang onto face-saving plausible deniability. As in many of Pinker’s books, the charts and graphs intended to make things clearer often leave me more confused than not, since they just don’t fit my learning style. On the other hand, by illustrating his points with pop culture references and many cartoons, he keeps the text both lucid and entertaining.
BEASTLY: AN ANTHOLOGY OF SHAPESHIFTING FAIRY TALES, edited by Jennifer Pullen. A scholarly compilation with a solid yet accessible introduction and informative, entertaining, and sometimes snarky footnotes. Beginning with the ancient myth of Cupid and Psyche, the stories are presented as translated into English (if not originally published in that language) in the nineteenth or early twentieth century. Each tale is preceded by a paragraph of information about its author and followed by suggestions for further reading. I especially like the roughly chronological arrangement, allowing the reader to contemplate the works mostly in publication order. Ranging from classics such as “Beauty and the Beast,” “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” and “The White Cat” to more obscure tales, they originate mainly in Europe and Great Britain with a few from Asia and the Middle East. Many were already familiar to me, but not all. Oscar Wilde’s “The Fisherman and His Soul,” the only selection not exactly a shapeshifting story, is included because it’s a sort of rebuttal to Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.” I was surprised that a footnote to “The Little Mermaid” tries to explain the premise of the mermaid’s gaining a soul by marrying the prince with a far-fetched, blame-the-patriarchy hypothesis. Doesn’t Pullen know the motif of elemental spirits – including undines (water spirits) – winning immortal souls through marriage to mortals goes back at least to the Renaissance and is the subject of a classic 1811 novella, “Undine,” by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque, well before the 1837 publication of Andersen’s story? That’s my only significant complaint about this book, though. Since “Beauty and the Beast” is my favorite fairy tale, I was delighted to add BEASTLY to my collection and recommend it to any reader interested in the history of the genre, especially the subset of animal bride and bridegroom stories.
THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER, by Stephen Graham Jones. I put off reading this unusual vampire novel because it looked daunting in both length and content. True enough, but once I started, it captivated me. It features my favorite narrative structure, the epistolary/documentary format, similar to DRACULA. To add intrigue, it’s a “nested” narrative, the modern frame introducing a long story that, in turn, little by little reveals another complicated tale from still further in the past. Moreover, the book stars a pair of unreliable narrators, each with a secret not uncovered until near the climax. In addition to the complexity of this multi-layered plot, the innermost and oldest speaker, a Blackfeet warrior called Good Stab, uses Native terms for animals and geographic features, leaving the reader to figure out their meanings from context. Etsy, a University of Wyoming instructor seeking promotion to a tenured position, comes into possession of a long-hidden manuscript written by an ancestor of hers a century earlier, in 1912. She hopes to use his memoir as a basis for a career-enhancing project. Her multiple-greats grandfather was a Lutheran minister in a small town at a period when the subjugation of Native tribes and the closing of the frontier still lingered fresh in living memory. Arthur Beaucarne has no real friends, a closeted drinking habit, and little belief that his ministry makes much impression on the members of his congregation. Nevertheless, he’s important enough in the community to accompany the sheriff to the site of a mysterious death, the latest of several. The corpses have been skinned in the same manner as slain bison. Moreover, patterns painted on their faces suggest Native involvement. Soon afterward, Good Stab approaches Arthur, asking the minister to listen to his “confession.” Yet he hints at offering absolution rather than requesting it. The chapters narrated by Arthur are headed “The Absolution of Three-Persons,” the name Good Stab imposes on the minister. The latter labels Good Stab’s orally delivered memoir “The Nachzehrer’s Dark Gospel,” as he has retitled it after hearing a large part of the story. Good Stab, after narrating his early life, including a catastrophic raid and mass slaughter by American soldiers, tells how a horrible man-creature caged by the soldiers turned him into a vampire. He doesn’t use that word, never having heard it or encountered such a monster before. Arthur refers to “vampires” only in passing, instead mentally assigning the German term to the deathless Indian. Gradually, he begins to believe in the supernatural horrors and gets drawn into this decades-old history, as he (and we) slowly come to realize Good Stab has a specific motive for unfolding his past to this particular white man. Both of them hide dark secrets, which come to light little by little with the revelations in each installment of Good Stab’s “confession.” This author assigns the undead a trait unique among the vampire fiction I’ve read. When vampires consume blood from any single kind of person or animal too frequently, they transform into that creature or at least grotesque human-beast hybrids in the case of animal victims. This curse plays a vital role in Good Stab’s climactic act of vengeance. In the culmination of the multi-generational trauma, the 2012 frame concludes with the narrator’s harrowing discovery that her ancestor’s history holds more than academic significance for her own life. One point for which I had to suspend disbelief, not quite hanged by the neck until dead, but still requiring me to ignore a crucial implausibility: The minister records Good Stab’s reminiscences word for word at great length, as if with photographic memory, even though he certainly isn’t taking notes while listening. Still, that’s a common fictional convention – at least as far back as the similarly layered FRANKENSTEIN — which a reader absorbed in the story can accept.
WOLF WORM, by T. Kingfisher. Gothic historical fiction with body horror. A “wolf worm” is the larva of a parasitic insect. Botflies, screwflies – squeamish readers, be warned. The protagonist, Sonia Wilson, resembles many of Kingfisher’s heroines in being cast adrift from familiar surroundings, but rather than going home like the others (for a certain value of “home”) she’s beginning a new job in a strange place. Since the death of her father, a distinguished botanist whose work she illustrated, she has taught at a girls’ school. Now she has been accepted as an illustrator for a reclusive entomologist, a chance to use her artistic gifts for more than teaching. In North Carolina in 1899, a young woman involved in science can’t expect any more prominent role. This novel embodies the classic Gothic tropes of an orphan heroine confronted with a large, half-deserted house, its forbidding master, mysterious deaths, and grim secrets. No JANE EYRE romance plot here, though. The housekeeper, one of only three servants who remain, immediately cautions Sonia that her employer won’t marry her. Not only does she have no interest in snagging a husband, she quickly finds out no sensible woman would choose Dr. Halder for that role. He’s a misanthrope with scorn for his professional peers and little or no tolerance for anything less than perfection in the work of an assistant. Arriving with more knowledge of plants than insects, Sonia nevertheless manages to produce satisfactory illustrations most of the time. The studio of the previous illustrator, whom Halder refuses to discuss, provides her with textbooks plus helpfully labeled illustrations that fill gaps in her professional background. Meanwhile, she has been warned about “the Devil” in the woods and has heard stories of “blood thieves” allegedly identified as a man and woman who’d been executed vigilante style followed by a stake through the heart. Surely, Sonia thinks, the mangled bodies had actually been victims of wild animals or, possibly, the resurgent Ku Klux Klan. Or had they? What really happened to Halder’s missing wife and her lover? What about the padlocked outbuilding she happens to see him visiting by night? Naturally, I was delighted when actual vampirism, although of an unusual type, turns out to be involved. And I figured out, long before Sonia did, who the previous artist was. Like Kingfisher’s other female horror protagonists, she forms bonds of friendship amid the strange surroundings, in this case with a local Native American woman and the mixed-race couple who keep up the house and grounds. Sonia eventually discovers who and what constitute the true evil and defeats it with the support of her new friends. The insect lore in WOLF WORM highlights Kingfisher’s perennial interest in the curiosities of the natural world, as displayed by characters’ in-depth knowledge of fungi, poisons, plants, vultures, roadrunners, etc. in previous books. Also, Sonia’s analysis of her environment in terms of the technical challenges of watercolor painting adds dimension to her character. As in the conclusion of THE TWISTED ONES, at the end of WOLF WORM Sonia hasn’t moved on from the horrors she’s seen but realistically has to struggle with memories and nightmares that will linger past the end of the story.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from “Bunny Hunt”:
Melanie scanned the playground, with a parking lot on
one side where the kids impatiently milled around,
corralled by community volunteers. Woods bordered
the other three sides. Her gaze lingered on the
bouncing, chattering children, their brightly colored
plastic or wicker baskets clutched in little fists. Would
she have a toddler of her own among them two years
from now?
She shook off the daydream to focus on the fun
here and now. Blue sky, fluffy clouds, and a light
breeze combined to make the morning perfect for the
hunt, cool but not chilly, the best they could expect
from the fickle weather of early April. The fragrance of
recently mown grass drifted on the wind. A silver SUV
pulled into a parking space, and Melanie’s sister, Linda,
got out with her two little boys in tow. Both were blond
with fair, freckle-sprinkled skin like their father, in
contrast to the chestnut hair and rosy complexions their
mother and aunt shared. Both kids carried baskets for
egg-collecting. In addition, seven-year-old Scott’s right
hand grasped a leash hooked to his new dog, a small,
white terrier mix with eyes hidden under a fringe of
hair.
Waving, Melanie strolled over to meet them. She
bent down to hug Scott and three-year-old Bob in turn,
relishing the aromas of soap and sugary cereal that
clung to both of them. “Kiki’s getting bigger fast, isn’t
she?”
Scott nodded, grinning proudly at the pup, then at
his aunt. “And she already knows lots of words.”
Melanie smiled back. “Ah, but does she obey
them?”
“Well…sometimes. Kiki, sit.”
The dog plopped onto her bottom, then sprang up a
second later.
Melanie laughed, ruffling Scott’s hair. “I guess that
answers my question.”
Linda shrugged. “She’s doing pretty well for her
age. He begged so much to bring her along, I figured it
couldn’t hurt. We’re supposed to be socializing her by
exposure to lots of people anyway. I can hang onto her
while the kids do their thing.”
Bob tugged on her arm. “I want to find eggs.”
She took a firmer clasp on his hand. “You have to
wait until they say to start.” Turning to Melanie, she
asked, “How’s it going?”
Melanie shrugged. “Same old, same old.” Although
aware of Melanie’s futile attempts to conceive, her
sister never hassled her about details.
“I brought you something.” Linda rummaged in her
shoulder purse. “I was sorting through my share of
Grandmom’s jewelry, and I remembered something she
told me about this a few months before she died.” She
pulled out a necklace with a circular pendant and
handed it to Melanie.
Holding it up, Melanie examined the copper disk
dangling from the chain. It was etched with the outline
of three running rabbits in a circle, head to tail.
“It’s an antique—Celtic,” Linda said. “A souvenir
of Grandmom’s wild hippie youth, I think. She claimed
it was supposed to be a good luck charm, especially for
fertility.” She giggled. “It seemed to work for her—five
kids.”
Melanie echoed the laugh. “Thanks. What could it
hurt?” She put on the necklace with only a few seconds
of fumbling at the clasp.
-end of excerpt-
*****
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“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter
Welcome to the March 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
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For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
My humorous vampire story “First Day at Human School” was published in issue 49 of the horror zine NIGHT TO DAWN, which you can find here:
NIGHT TO DAWN magazine:
Night to Dawn
A snippet of the story’s opening scene appears below. It’s part of the “Vanishing Breed” vampire universe and stars Dr. Roger Darvell from DARK CHANGELING, CHILD OF TWILIGHT, and various short stories. Check out the series here:
This month’s interview features YA author Curt Richards.
*****
Interview with Curt Richards:
What inspired you to become a writer?
I taught school at various levels for 40 years. During my teaching career, I wrote a weekly article about classroom experiences for our local newspaper. I also fell into directing our high school plays – and eventually writing 2 plays. When I retired, I wrote a book for new teachers. So, I guess you could say that I came about writing gradually.
What genres do you work in?
I am currently working in Young Adult fiction, but my first two publications were nonfiction.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I get a seed of an idea and then let it grow. I don’t know where it’s going but I try not to interfere with its growth.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors or whatever)?
I try to read across various categories of fiction. I read mysteries, romances, suspense, and coming-of-age stories. Really, I like to read anything that catches my attention. I also read nature books and scientific books.
How has your career as a science teacher affected your writing?
I always tend to weave nature into my writing. I love stories that take the character into the woods or any natural area.
Please tell us about your YA novels. What kind of research did you do for the rural 1960s setting?
So far, my novels have been set in areas similar to where I grew up. If I am writing about a particular area, I will go there and observe, take notes, talk to the locals, etc.
I grew up in the 1960’s, so much of what I write I have experienced in some form.
How do the skills needed for writing a play differ from those for a novel? What’s it like having a play of yours produced for the stage?
A play is 100% dialogue, so every word should draw the audience into the setting. Having my plays produced by someone other than me is the greatest high for a writer. To sit and see my work come alive on stage is wonderful.
What inspired you to write your guidebook for new teachers?
I trained 13 student teachers throughout my career. I felt that new teachers need guidance in real-world classrooms and suggestions for handling situations that may arise.
What will readers find in your book on the Lord’s Prayer?
This book is aimed at anyone who may be suffering from an unhealthy compulsion. The main message is that they are not alone and with the love of others and God, they can enrich their lives. The beautiful words of this prayer offer reassuring insights that can be applied to anyone suffering from misguided passions.
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
This year (2026) the next book in my young adult series will be released.
What are you working on now?
I am working on the third book in the series.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
I can only say what I have learned from this experience, but I understand that I am not doing this to pay the bills. If that is the case, write what makes you smile, keeping in mind that publishers are there to make money, so don’t be discouraged by rejection. Keep doing what you love. Don’t wait for motivation. Roll up your sleeves and get to work. Hard work will open the door to motivation.
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
Author Website
LinkedIn
Instagram: curtrichards202
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
SUMMER IN ORCUS, by T. Kingfisher. This is an older YA portal fantasy I’ve previously read in Kindle format. I was glad to find a trade paperback edition I wasn’t previously aware of. Having forgotten most of the details, I was delighted to be able to read it in tangible form. The young heroine follows the template of many of Kingfisher’s female protagonists, unsure of how to cope with the adventure thrust upon her. Beginning in fairy-tale style when she meets the witch Baba Yaga, the story develops into a quest reminiscent of THE WIZARD OF OZ: The heroine gains peculiar but fiercely loyal companions and traverses a varied, often magical landscape toward a goal where she has little idea what’s expected of her. Summer, eleven going on twelve, is the only child of a pathologically anxious, overprotective single mother. When Baba Yaga’s chicken-footed cottage appears in the alley behind their house, the padlock on the backyard gate opens at Summer’s touch. The cranky witch, promising Summer will find her heart’s desire, sends her to another world, accompanied by a talking weasel. (He doesn’t have a name other than “Weasel” and informs Summer he isn’t a magical familiar. All weasels can talk; it’s just that humans don’t listen.) Her portal between the mundane and enchanted realms consists of a hallway lined with stained-glass windows, one of which bears three sentences of advice: (1) Don’t worry about things you cannot fix. (2) Antelope women are not to be trusted. (3) You cannot change essential nature with magic. While the first admonition makes sense, she doesn’t fully understand the others until circumstances reveal their meanings. Summer’s adventure thus also echoes ALICE IN WONDERLAND in some ways, with riddles and, later, punning names. At a loss to identify her heart’s desire, she gets a direction for her journey from three shapechanging sisters, who tell her there’s “a cancer at the heart of the world.” When Summer encounters a victim of that blight, a tree whose leaves turn into frogs, she determines to heal the dying tree if possible. Unlike many portal-fantasy heroes, she isn’t a Chosen One and doesn’t aspire to save the world, just the tree. Being a well-read child, she frequently compares and contrasts her situation with the Narnia books. Unlike Dorothy, she doesn’t worry about getting home, because people in Narnia-type tales always do. She is concerned, though, about whether she’ll return home the moment after she left (and if not, how her mother will react) and hopes she won’t be magically forced to forget the enchanted realm. She soon wins staunch friends, including an aristocratic, foppish hoopoe, who travels with a flock of “valet birds” (they don’t talk, at least in human language), and a wolf named Glorious, who’s a were-house. Every night he changes into a cozy cottage. Amid various side adventures and dangers, they’re pursued by sinister agents of the Queen-in-Chains. After encounters both threatening and helpful, and at least one heartrending loss, Summer directly confronts the mysterious queen. Like the Wizard of Oz, she turns out to be astonishingly different from what the heroine expects. Summer discovers her own superpower — not warlike prowess, magical gifts, or preternatural cleverness, but the emotional intelligence she’s learned over a lifetime of comforting her mother. A satisfying story that restores the heroine to the mundane world with well-earned confidence and maturity.
ENCHANTING THE FAE QUEEN, by Stephanie Burgis. This fantasy-world, enemies-to-lovers romance is the second volume in the projected “Queens of Villainy” trilogy. While having read WOOING THE WITCH QUEEN isn’t absolutely necessary as a prerequisite to this book, it’s advisable, since this second installment provides new information about the invented world to build on what readers learned in the first one. The “enemies” in this novel are rivals on a personal level, not just antagonists because of their countries’ ongoing hostilities. The three self-styled Queens of Villainy, of course, aren’t actually evil. However, they’re devious and ruthless, prepared to do almost anything in their mutual pact to protect their realms from the empire determined to eliminate all obstacles to its domination goals. Lorelei, the faery queen of the mortal kingdom of Balravia, behind her frivolous mask of “notorious fae seductress” (as described in the cover blurb), combines her glamour – both mundane and magical – with fierce intelligence to that end. The reader immediately recognizes the sparks flying between her and her archenemy, the empire’s most celebrated general, as a blend of the overt hatred they claim and the sexual tension they suppress. In short, they’ve been obsessed with each other for years. Since his parents’ execution for treason when he was a child, to make up for the family’s dishonor General Gerard de Moireul has become a paragon of military prowess and unyielding virtue. On the surface, nothing appears more opposite to his rigid self-control than the infuriatingly flippant personality of Queen Lorelei, who literally sheds glitter everywhere she goes. After she kidnaps him into the faery realm, Oberon, her worst rival, forces the two of them to compete together in a series of magical contests. Not only do they discover each other’s strengths and realize they make a highly effective team, they reluctantly begin to like each other. Eventually they reveal their pasts and share their vulnerabilities. I enjoyed their verbal fencing and found their gradual progress from foes to lovers completely credible. Immediately after their ultimate mutual boundaries fall, so does a dire blow, which I won’t describe because of spoilers. Transported back to the corrupt emperor’s court, Gerard walks into a trap. As her only hope of saving him, Lorelei enlists the help of the other two Queens of Villainy. The climax and denouement smoothly intertwine Lorelei and Gerard’s personal plight with the growing international crisis. The emperor, having replaced his loyal, intelligent advisers with sycophants, has fallen completely under the influence of a party determined to “purify” the empire of all nonhuman races. (Does this sound familiar?) The novel has a satisfying conclusion that ties up the immediate plot threads while looking forward to the final volume of the trilogy, MELTING THE ICE QUEEN.
DEATH IN THE PALACE, by Barbara Hambly. Fourth book in her “silver screen historical mysteries,” set in Los Angeles in the early 1920s. These novels essentially constitute an alternate-world, non-supernatural re-visioning of the historical fantasy novel BRIDE OF THE RAT GOD, one of my favorites of Hambly’s works. The main characters in the series duplicate those in BRIDE OF THE RAT GOD under different names. The three Pekinese dogs even have the same names as in the earlier novel. Protagonist Emma Blackstone, an English war widow, has come to America as paid companion to her late husband’s sister, Kitty, aka silent film star Camille de la Rose. While frequently recruited to “doctor” film scenarios (scripts) that need fixing up, Emma mainly functions as dog sitter, errand runner, and general organizer for her flighty sister-in-law. They’re fond of each other despite their very different personalities. Kitty drinks too much – as Emma often wonders, “Hasn’t anybody in Hollywood heard of Prohibition?” – and has short-term affairs with every attractive man she meets, despite being the mistress of the studio’s co-owner. Although apparently a scatterbrained ditz, she occasionally displays unexpected perceptiveness and compassion. Emma, classically educated and orderly-minded, quietly observes the peculiarities of the American Babylon. Even after a year, she sometimes feels as if she’s been transported to the land of Oz. Although still subject to pangs of grief for her late family and husband, she has found new love with cameraman Zal. DEATH IN THE PALACE begins with a letter to Kitty from a young New York millionaire, offering her $50,000 to marry him for one week and then get a divorce. It turns out he’s made the same request of several other actresses. We don’t learn the motive for this odd behavior until late in the story, with its underlying sinister ramifications. The plot moves the regular cast of characters from Los Angeles to New York for the production of a big-budget picture, which Emma compares to being whisked from Oz to Barsoom. Along the way, they encounter various real-life people, including William Randolph Hearst (the mysterious death aboard his yacht early in the book actually happened) and the Marx Brothers in their vaudeville days. Bitter rivalry between Kitty and a female co-star ensues, along with numerous other suspicions, enmities, and complications. The murder in the Palace theater, referenced in the title, doesn’t occur until one-third through the book, with a victim who’s not the one implied by the cover blurb. Toward the end, I had a little trouble following the large cast of characters and their convoluted relationships, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story anyway. Interactions among the people interested me more than solving the puzzle itself, although the solution is also satisfying. I find this series’s portrayal of its historical milieu, with the exploration of southern California in the 1920s, the subculture of the early film industry, and the technicalities of early movie-making, endlessly fascinating. As with most amateur detective series (if you can suspend your belief in so many murders happening within a limited social circle), these novels can be read in isolation, though they work better in publication order.
AGNES AUBERT’S MYSTICAL CAT SHELTER, by Heather Fawcett. Although the title and cover of this novel suggest cozy fantasy, I don’t think that classification quite fits. Granted, Agnes’s refuge for feral felines qualifies as cozy until the outside world breaks in, but that world brings danger and sometimes chaos. As in the author’s Emily Wilde trilogy, a conscientious, hardworking, detail-oriented heroine progresses through an antagonism-to-reluctant-attraction relationship with a capricious, enigmatic, magically powerful man. Widowed Agnes and her married sister, Elise, run the shelter with the help of volunteers, subsisting on a meager budget as they rescue cats from the street, give them food, shelter, socialization, and medical treatment, and find homes for them. According to the cover blurb, the story takes place in Montreal in the 1920s. While the text confirms the location, it never specifies the year (as far as I noticed). All we can infer from the technology in use is a date sometime in the early twentieth century. In this alternate history, magicians openly exist, sensibly mistrusted by the general public. The catastrophic side effects of a magicians’ duel have left the shelter’s previous rented home uninhabitable. Agnes gets rejected by multiple landlords when they learn she intends to move in dozens of cats. Finally, she manages to rent a house from an amiable but rather odd young man named Yannick, who’s only the owner’s representative. To her horror, she soon discovers her actual landlord is the notorious “Witch King,” Havelock Renard, who reputedly almost caused the end of the world. He lives reclusively in the house’s multi-level basement. He’s not only something of a grouch, he’s allergic to cats. In addition to his stock of magical items, his quarters contain a large oven that seems to produce baked goods on its own. So far, so cozy, until Valerie, Havelock’s sister and implacable foe, shows up demanding a grimoire of legendary power. He insists he doesn’t have it among his disorganized hoard of “Artefacts.” Since he himself isn’t quite sure what he does or doesn’t possess, Agnes, offended to the core by the disorder of his shop, takes on the monumental task of sorting and cataloging its contents. Naturally, the two of them develop a reluctant mutual fondness despite their opposite personalities, As the reader would expect, Havelock’s reputation proves to be far from the whole truth. Destruction and calamities ensue. Agnes gets unwillingly drawn into the sorcerous subculture, including glimpses of an other-dimensional magical forest with an atmosphere of numinous terror. Although she cares for very few people as much as for the cats, Havelock eventually becomes a member of that small group. Happily, her feline charges play a vital role in saving the two of them and the city from disaster. A captivating book for fans of cats, urban fantasy, and enemies-to-lovers romance.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from “First Day at Human School”:
“Uncle Roger, look what I can do.” The pale, dark-haired six-year-old boy rose a foot off the carpet and floated across the living room to alight in front of his uncle.
“Very impressive,” Dr. Roger Darvell replied sincerely. He himself hadn’t been able to levitate at that age. Of course, to judge from the tiny available sample, including Roger’s own three-quarters vampire daughter, all vampire-human hybrids differed in their traits and abilities. Doubtless it hadn’t helped that Roger’s human adoptive parents, much less Roger himself, hadn’t had any clue about his half-breed heritage.
“Just remember, Timothy,” said Claude, the child’s father and Roger’s full-blooded vampire half-brother, “you mustn’t do anything like that in front of people outside the family.”
“Especially at school,” Claude’s human wife, Eloise, added.
“I know,” Timothy said with a long-suffering sigh. He wasn’t a “Tim,” much less “Timmy.” Even at this young age, he’d indignantly rejected any gestures toward forcing a nickname on him. Anyway, he didn’t possess a trace of cuteness to invite one. With adult vampires’ ability to sense emotions, their infants didn’t require visual appeal to enhance the mother-child attachment. Timothy’s thin face, arched eyebrows, and pointed chin gave him an elfin look that might impress most human observers as slightly weird.
“The sun’s going down,” Eloise said. “Why don’t you take Thor outside to play?” Although daylight wouldn’t disable a purebred vampire, much less a hybrid, direct exposure to it caused them discomfort.
The Great Dane dozing in front of the unlit fireplace glanced up and thumped his tail at the sound of his name. “Okay. Come on, Thor.” Timothy darted out of the room with the dog in his wake. Before his birth, Claude and Eloise had bought this spacious house with a privacy-fenced yard in an upscale suburb, although they’d also hung onto Claude’s other properties, including a penthouse in the heart of Los Angeles.
“We’ve been trying to shift his sleep schedule more toward the human norm,” Eloise said, “but it’s a slow process.”
Britt Loren, Roger’s human bond-mate as well as professional partner in their psychiatric practice, watched the boy leave, then turned to Claude and Eloise. “So you’ve really enrolled him in an ordinary first-grade class? Well, ordinary for an exclusive private school?”
“I want him to embrace his human side as well as his vampire half,” Eloise said. “He needs to get properly acquainted with ephemerals other than just you and me. After all, he’ll be living among them.”
Britt nodded. “True, as part of a very small minority group. But what about his extreme adaptability at this age? What if he picks up confusing ideas from the other kids or even the teacher?” That trait could lead to disastrous consequences such as young vampires absorbing human superstitions about their own species. For instance, Claude, like many of his peers born in the eighteenth century, suffered from a phobia of religious objects.
“We’ll debrief him every night,” Claude said, “to nip any confusion in the bud.”
“And we definitely don’t let him watch horror movies,” Eloise added.
-end of excerpt-
*****
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“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter