Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Welcome to the October 2023 issue of my newsletter, “News from the Crypt,” and please visit Carter’s Crypt, devoted to my horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance work, especially focusing on vampires and shapeshifting beasties. If you have a particular fondness for vampires, check out the chronology of my series in the link labeled “Vanishing Breed Vampire Universe.”
Also, check out the multi-author Alien Romances Blog
You can subscribe to this monthly newsletter here:
For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
Happy Halloween!
In the spirit of the season, below is an excerpt from “The Unvanished Hitchhiker,” which first appeared in a 2007 Halloween anthology that’s out of print. In this scene, Leah spends Halloween night with an older woman, Alice, at her request. The story is now available in my collection LOVE AMONG THE MONSTERS, which you can find here:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Among-Monsters-Fantasy-Supernatural-ebook/dp/B09BXP9Q4B/
Other retailers:
<a href=”https://books2read.com/u/4joWpZ“>Love Among the Monsters at Draft2Digital</a>
To view all my e-books offered on Draft2Digital, please go here:
<a href=”https://books2read.com/ap/nBkAGA/Margaret-L-Carter“>My Books at Draft2Digital</a>
I’ve finally finished updating the “Complete Works” page on my website! Unless I missed something, aside from one paranormal romance novella—“Wizard’s Trap”—waiting for re-release, all the links on this page should point to the current versions of the listed books and stories:
Complete Works
Writers Exchange E-Publishing has adorned the four novels in the Wild Sorceress series with all-new covers:
Continuing the horror theme, this month’s interview features Barbara Custer, publisher of “Night to Dawn” magazine and books.
*****
Interview with Barbara Custer:
How did you come to edit NIGHT TO DAWN magazine?
In the late 90s and early 2000s, I sent work to different magazines, including Night to Dawn, to be published. I also belonged to several writing groups, hoping to market my first book, Twilight Healer. Night to Dawn’s owner ran into financial difficulties and informed all the writers that the magazine would fold unless someone would step up and take over. I was tempted to offer, but I thought I needed more experience. However, my writing buddies convinced me to give it a go. So, the next issue went out on time, but I did the printing. Thankfully, Ginger Johnson, who owned several magazines, walked me through the process.
Why did you switch the magazine’s topic from vampires to general horror? For would-be contributors, please summarize the submission guidelines.
People in my writer’s groups have advised me to go with general horror, including vampires, to appeal to readers with varied interests. Vampires and zombies have been somewhat overdone, so I look for a unique perspective on these stories. Some writers have also expressed an interest in different types of horror. Jonathan Maberry has often said that zombies were hot, especially if you can devise a new twist on the subject. Lee Clark Zumpe sent me a beauty of a tale featuring ghouls. Yes, ghouls. I plan to publish it in the next issue.
That said, I’m still publishing vampire tales that have a unique spin. I open for limited periods because I hate to see people wait years to see their work in print. The best thing an author can do is query me first before sending. You can find the submission guidelines here: Submissions | NIGHT TO DAWN MAGAZINE & BOOKS (bloodredshadow.com)
What inspired you to start the “Night to Dawn” small press for book publishing? Is it open to general submissions? What should aspiring authors know about submitting books to you?
Around 2003, I found small press publishers for Twilight Healer and another book, which I have since pulled from print. Both publishers folded. In the meantime, I got to know some peer authors. They liked my work with Night to Dawn and asked if I could publish their books. NTD is closed to general book submissions as I’m currently formatting a book for someone, and I have two others on the list to read. I’d like aspiring authors to know that much work goes into editing, formatting, and printing the books. About one or two books go to print a year. Regarding marketing, the onus falls on the author, although I have done some promoting with ads and blog tours. Thankfully, I’ve been blessed with great artists.
What would you like to tell readers about the latest issue of the magazine?
Night to Dawn 44 has a lot of great work from authors/poets like Lee Clark Zumpe, Marge Simon, and Sandy DeLuca. In particular, Zumpe’s “The Quarantine Station” will remind you of The Island of Dr. Moreau, in which a scientist experiments with raising the dead. Along with other regulars like Hal Kempka, Rod Marsden, Matthew Wilson, Todd Hanks, and Linda Barrett, not to mention the artists listed on the front cover, you’ll find that Night to Dawn 44 has a Halloween theme, complete with a pumpkin on the front cover.
What books has your publishing company recently published and/or will release soon?
I’m currently formatting Michael De Stefano’s The Bohemian, an erotica, humorous tale that challenges the post-Reagan bourgeoisie. It should go live this fall. You can review his work at Michael De Stefano | NIGHT TO DAWN MAGAZINE & BOOKS (bloodredshadow.com)
The most recent release, besides the magazine, is Kevin R. Doyle’s The Anchor, published in November 2022. A suspense tale, it features a newscaster with grand ambitions to make it to the top and a mysterious admirer who kills off her competition. Kevin R. Doyle | NIGHT TO DAWN MAGAZINE & BOOKS (bloodredshadow.com) https://bloodredshadow.com/night-to-dawn-magazine-and-books/kevin-r-doyle/
What’s the latest with your own writing?
In 2018, I released a SF collection, The Forgotten People. When Blood Reigns, the sequel to Steel Rose, was published in December 2016. I then worked on the sequel to those two stories, with Alexis going for another round with the renegade aliens and zombies, but a secondary character ended up taking over the plot. Meantime, life got in the way, so I’m still working on this book. I did make several changes at a developmental editor’s recommendation, and I’m back in the saddle working on this book. I can’t give out the title, though, lest I jinx the process. 😊
Can you offer any tips for writing horror fiction?
Different editors have different specs when it comes to submissions, but here are some general thoughts. If it’s a short story, the action must start on page one. I’d like to see the body by the end of the page. I’d like to see action straight away with a book, too.
The market is glutted with zombie and vampire tales. However, so long as you can give me a unique twist on tropes, I’m up for the game. For example, in Night to Dawn 44, one of the tales features a house as the vampire. One of the tales in my upcoming issue features zombies living in water (I think they might be part ghoul). 😊
This one applies to all fiction: Try to ditch unnecessary words and adverbs. Tightening your work will add to the tension in your fright tale.
Where can we find you on the internet?
You can find me on Facebook: Barbara Custer Facebook; also Night to Dawn Facebook
My website: Blood Red Shadow; you can also see the books available by my authors on the website.
Amazon page: Amazon
Email me for questions on Night to Dawn: ntdsubmissions@gmail.com
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
AFTER DEATH, by Dean Koontz. This near-future science-fiction thriller features a fascinating premise, although one of his wildest yet. As a result of an accident at a top-secret government research lab (what else? — it’s a Dean Koontz novel) experimenting on nanobots and an archaic strain of microbes, a bunch of people die. One man, however, security head Michael Mace, rises from the dead with unprecedented powers. With his mind alone, he can access and manipulate or override any branch of the internet and anything connected to it. In contemporary society, that means almost everything. He has become a human incarnation of the long-awaited Singularity. Fortunately, Michael possesses a deep ethical foundation and wishes only to use this unwanted power for good. First, though, he has to escape from the official forces bent on eliminating him. In the process, he becomes the protector of a single mother, Nina (with whom his one trusted friend at the facility, now dead, was in love), and her son. Most of the novel consists of desperate flight and hair-raising, near-death encounters. Michael avoids omnipotence only by virtue of having to interact with the bad guys in the material world, where he’s no more a superman than any other physically fit, combat-trained human being. Negatives of this novel: First, the assassin devoted to Michael’s destruction is yet another of Koontz’s typical sociopathic villains, all with basically the same personality, all flat caricatures of pure nihilistic evil. In addition, this one is a solipsist, firmly convinced “reality” is a game designed for him to prove his worthiness to ascend to a higher sphere. Second, again Koontz’s recent obsession with the claim that the world is going straight to perdition dominates the book, along with his increasingly author-intrusive, right-wing reasons why (in his opinion) this is so. Positives: Michael’s core goodness, which makes his superhuman gifts engaging even if not quite credible. A courageous heroine with a bright, likable son. The deep bond that develops between Michael and Nina. A golden retriever (are you surprised?) in the epilogue, which charmingly includes a bundle of names borrowed from the Narnia series (the dog is Lucy). Also in the epilogue, how Michael uses his power anonymously but irresistibly to change the world for the better. I wouldn’t recommend AFTER DEATH as an introduction to Koontz’s work, but his long-time fans will probably enjoy it.
HOLLY, by Stephen King. Like King himself, I embrace Holly Gibney as one of my favorite characters. Readers who share that attitude will probably enjoy this latest novel as much as I did. Those who dislike Holly (oddly, judging from online comments I’ve seen, some do) may give up on the book before the story shifts into high gear. In keeping with the title, the latest changes in her personal life occupy as much narrative space as the mystery she’s investigating, possibly more. As King explains in the afterword, in this novel he tackles COVID and the associated social and political developments surrounding it head-on. The previous Holly-centered work, “If It Bleeds” (in the collection of that name) was completed before the pandemic began but published during it. In HOLLY, her mother has just died, and Holly’s partner in the detective agency is hospitalized with COVID. Although in no position to take on a new case, she yields to a desperate mother’s plea to investigate the disappearance of her young adult daughter. Because the victim isn’t a minor, the police tend to think she left on her own. Holly’s investigation turns up other disappearances at intervals of several years between each. Could they be connected? The choice of possible victims (if they aren’t voluntary runaways) shows no pattern, and there’s no apparent link among them except location. Of course, as Holly begins to suspect, they are in fact all victims of the same pair of serial killers. I was mildly disappointed by the absence of any supernatural content, but nevertheless there’s an element of horror. Numerous scenes are narrated from the viewpoints of the kidnappers, a married couple of highly respected, retired, cannibalistic college professors. That’s not a spoiler, since it’s revealed early in the book. Chillingly, they believe so firmly in the alleged benefits of their dietary regimen that they almost convince the reader. This novel falls more into the suspense than the mystery genre, since we know almost from the beginning the identity of the villains and what they’re doing to their captives. The plot focuses on how soon Holly can solve the puzzle and whether the girl whose disappearance triggered the case will survive to be rescued. Aspiring young, Black writer Jerome, Holly’s occasional assistant, and his sister, working on a creative project of her own, play prominent roles in the investigation. It’s always a pleasure to see more of those two characters. King makes the killers almost sympathetic at some points, highlighting the deep mutual devotion within their lifelong marriage. As we get to know them more intimately, though, that trace of sympathy fades. They cherish carefully cloaked racist attitudes, for one thing. As well as the COVID pandemic with its restrictions and the controversies around them, King deals frankly with the overall political turmoil of that period. His own political position is obvious, though he allows space for opposing views in some characters’ dialogue. Since I hold similar opinions to his, from my viewpoint he’s simply writing realistically about current events instead of evading them. Readers with different views may think he’s getting too intrusively “political.” In the afterword, he acknowledges his own bias, which Holly shares, but says he hopes he would be able to present a protagonist with opposite beliefs fairly, should he choose to write about one. It’s heartwarming to watch Holly navigate the upheaval in her life, including the shock of uncovering the lies her mother and uncle—now confined to an institution because of advanced Alzheimer’s—told her about a vitally important family secret. She has evolved through every book since her first appearance in MR. MERCEDES, and I hope for more stories about her, although the final scene of HOLLY would make a fitting conclusion to the series.
MY BROTHER’S KEEPER, by Tim Powers. This book reminds me of THE STRESS OF HER REGARD, though on a smaller scale. This new historical horror novel also features real-life literary figures—in this case, the Bronte siblings before their works were published and won fame—threatened and tempted by supernatural beings from myth and legend. Early in the story, elderly, half-blind clergyman Patrick Bronte reveals to his daughters how in his youth he unwisely brought a strange, dark boy with him from Ireland to England. The curse of that child, actually a demonic, shapeshifting entity, hangs over their family. Around the same point in the book, we learn of a cult that worships a “biune” (two-personed) monstrous werewolf deity and pursues the mission of reuniting its separated head and body. In my opinion, it’s good that the author places these revelations soon after Emily rescues a wounded stranger on the moor, for otherwise we might find their subsequent adventures hopelessly confusing. Alcuin Curzon, member of a secret organization devoted to eradicating lycanthropy, yet a werewolf himself, insists he doesn’t need Emily’s help, and she has no reason to trust him anyway. Nevertheless, circumstances force them to work together against the cult of the werewolf god. Its headless body, as they later discover, lies under Partrick’s church. Meanwhile, his son, Branwell, comes across the dark boy. An alcoholic who repeatedly sabotages his own chances at any kind of success, Branwell, like his sisters, is working on a novel. Ironically, although he dismisses his sisters’ work as probable “scribbles” based on their childhood shared fantasy world, he’s the sibling whose efforts come to nothing. Moreover, he compensates for his outward failures by secretly identifying with the role he played in those childhood stories. Naturally, he’s ripe for possession by the demonic boy, who’s clearly destined to become an inspiration for Heathcliff in WUTHERING HEIGHTS. In addition to that “boy” and werewolves, Branwell and Emily encounter ghosts who suck the breath from living victims. In the climactic confrontation with the werewolf-god cult, Branwell gets a chance to redeem himself. Although this novel doesn’t weave together a grand synthesis of “all myths are true” like THE STRESS OF HER REGARD, the premise of MY BROTHER’S KEEPER still conveys an atmosphere of numinous horror deeply rooted in the folkloric past. On the literary-biographical level, it intriguingly suggests supernatural reasons why the Bronte sisters didn’t publish more fiction than they did and why Branwell and Emily died relatively young. Recommended for fans of Powers’s work in general and THE STRESS OF HER REGARD in particular.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
<Realm of the Vampires“>Realm of the Vampires</a>
*****
Excerpt from “The Unvanished Hitchhiker”:
Watching the other woman out of the corner of her eye, Leah got the impression she was listening for something. Now and then she tilted her head as if straining to pick up sounds over the movie’s dialogue. When a car roared past outside, Alice jumped. Several times Leah considered asking what preyed on her mind but decided against it.
The doorbell rang at about quarter to eleven. Alice drew in a hissing breath. Her left hand crumpled a page of the magazine. She darted another glance at the door but didn’t move.
When the bell rang again, Leah said, “Would you like me to get that?” Alice responded with a rapid, jerky nod.
With the chain still attached, Leah opened the door just far enough to peek out.
The wind had picked up, lending a slight chill to the night, although the half-moon still shone in a clear sky. Dry leaves skittered along the sidewalk. A man stood on the porch holding a length of crimson fabric. “Sorry to bother you,” he said, “but when I dropped off your daughter just now, she left this in the car.”
“Daughter?” Leah shook her head. “You must have the wrong address.”
“Then maybe that girl was visiting here?” He thrust the garment he carried through the crack between door and frame. His hand trembled. “Anyway, this was the house where she told me to stop, no doubt about that. I have to get going.”
Automatically closing her fingers on the piece of cloth, which she noticed was wet, Leah murmured a confused thanks. The man scurried down the driveway to the car he’d left running at the curb.
For a second the air felt icy cold. With a fleeting shiver, Leah closed the door. When she turned toward Alice, the other woman was clutching the edge of the couch cushion like a slippery ledge from which she was afraid of falling.
“It’s nothing,” Leah said, “just somebody who had the wrong address. He left this before I could make him take it back.” She held up the cloth. A silky cashmere shawl.
“He?” Alice whispered. “A man?”
“Yes, just some guy who was lost, I guess.” She sat down, watching Alice with concern.
“No, he wasn’t lost.” She took the shawl and pressed it to her cheek. “I thought with another person here it might turn out different. I thought she might come herself this time.”
“She? What’s going on? Do you know this man? Were you expecting him?”
“Not him, specifically. But I knew somebody would show up. And I knew he’d bring this.” She rubbed the loosely knitted material between her fingers. “If only I could at least keep it. But it always vanishes overnight, even if I fall asleep holding it.”
“Alice, what are you talking about?” Leah was starting to wonder if her friend was mentally unhinged.
With a weary sigh, Alice said, “I’ll tell you about it. You’ll think I’m crazy, though.”
Wincing at this inadvertent echo of her own thoughts, Leah shook her head. “Of course I won’t.”
“I haven’t talked to anybody about it since my husband left.” She wrung the shawl between her hands. A few drops of water trickled from it. “You probably heard I had a teenage daughter who died.”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“Joanne was seventeen. We had a fight, actually a marathon series of fights, about the boy she was going with. I knew all along he was bad news.” Her lips tightened. “Her dad and I ordered her to stop seeing him. I even took away the bracelet he gave her. She disobeyed us and sneaked out to meet him at a Halloween party. He drove her home drunk. It was raining hard. The car crashed on a curve about a mile from here. You know the one?”
Leah nodded. Every town had at least one “dead man’s curve,” and the main drag into this neighborhood had earned that nickname.
“The boy was killed instantly. Joanne fell into a coma she never woke up from. She died on the third night after.”
“I’m sorry,” Leah whispered again. She couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“She took my shawl for her gypsy costume, without permission. This one.” She held up the twisted length of fabric. “Out of spite, I think, because I confiscated that bracelet.”
Before Leah managed to stifle her reaction, she knew her friend must have noticed the look of horror and pity on her face.
“Don’t worry, you won’t offend me if you decide I’ve lost my mind. My husband had the same idea. That’s why he left. After the second year, he couldn’t handle what he called my obsession.” Alice’s eyes glazed over for a few seconds. “It started on the anniversary of Joanne’s death. A strange woman came to the door with this shawl and claimed a girl she’d picked up had left it in her car.”
-end of excerpt-
*****
The long-time distributor of THE VAMPIRE’S CRYPT has closed its website. If you would like to read any issue of this fanzine, which contains fiction, interviews, and a detailed book review column, e-mail me to request the desired issue, and I’ll send you a free PDF of it. My e-mail address is at the end of this newsletter. Find information about the contents of each issue on this page of my website:
A complete list of my available works, arranged roughly by genre, with purchase links (gradually being updated as the Amber Quill and Ellora’s Cave works are being republished):
For anyone who would like to read previous issues of this newsletter, they’re posted on my website here (starting from January 2018):
This is my Facebook author page. Please visit!
Facebook
Here’s my page in Barnes and Noble’s Nook store:
Barnes and Noble
Here’s the list of my Kindle books on Amazon. (The final page, however, includes some Ellora’s Cave anthologies in which I don’t have stories):
Carter Kindle Books
Here’s a shortcut URL to my author page on Amazon:
Amazon
The Fiction Database displays a comprehensive list of my books (although with a handful of fairy tales by a different Margaret Carter near the end):
My Goodreads page:
Goodreads
Please “Like” my author Facebook page (cited above) to see reminders when each monthly newsletter is uploaded. I’ve also noticed that I’m more likely to be shown posts from liked or friended sources in my Facebook feed when I’ve “Liked” some of their individual posts, so you might want to do that, too. Thanks!
My Publishers:
Writers Exchange E-Publishing: Writers Exchange
Harlequin: Harlequin
Wild Rose Press: Wild Rose Press
You can contact me at: MLCVamp@aol.com
“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter
Welcome to the September 2023 issue of my newsletter, “News from the Crypt,” and please visit Carter’s Crypt, devoted to my horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance work, especially focusing on vampires and shapeshifting beasties. If you have a particular fondness for vampires, check out the chronology of my series in the link labeled “Vanishing Breed Vampire Universe.”
Also, check out the multi-author Alien Romances Blog
You can subscribe to this monthly newsletter here:
For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
My Lovecraftian erotic dark paranormal romance novella “Song from the Abyss” (formerly from Ellora’s Cave and unavailable for several years) was published on July 26:
My lighthearted erotic ghost romance “Sweeter Than Wine” appeared earlier in the same month:
Both of these e-books have been slightly revised from their Ellora’s Cave versions but without substantive changes.
Barbara Custer, editor of NIGHT TO DAWN magazine, gave “Sweeter Than Wine” a lovely 5-star review on Amazon:
I have a story, “In Mountain Mist,” in the charity anthology DARK CORNERS OF THE OLD DOMINION, an anthology of horror stories written by Virginia-connected authors and set in Virginia. (I was born in that state and graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.) The protagonist of my tale gets stranded at night on the Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Information about the book, to be released on September 8, here:
You can read the beginning of my story below.
Here’s a follow-up interview with multi-genre author Babs Mountjoy, who also appeared in Newsletter 203.
*****
Interview with Babs Mountjoy:
Why do you choose to write under two different pen names? What genres does each of them specialize in?
At the time I started getting novel contracts, I was a full-time practicing attorney. Writing fantasies about elves in Montana was…well…you know. Not very lawyerish. So I used Lyndi Alexander for that. When I was later inspired to write romance and suspense, I wanted a different name so readers would know this was not with my sci-fi and fantasy novels.
Do you have some favorite research resources you’d recommend to other writers of fantasy and science fiction?
Fantasy Whenever I need a detail—a name, a place, and I’m stuck—this is a fun site. But much of the time I just take it that these are lands of the imagination, and just let ‘er rip. 😊
With so many works on the market, how do you handle promotion? Any particularly useful tips to pass on to other authors?
I think different promotion works for different people. I’m not huge on social media, and shy about being on camera, so Instagram and Tiktok aren’t on my radar. I seek out review sites and trade reviews with other authors. I’m sure I don’t serve each work what it deserves, with 25 books out there, but I try to pass the spotlight around equally.
Your website shows books in multiple series. Please tell us about some of those series.
My romance series features the Pittsburgh Lady Lawyers, a triad of suspenseful books with each heroine practicing law in Pittsburgh. For those who love the city, there are plenty of local settings and details that put the stories right in place.
I also have the aforementioned series about elves in modern-day Montana, an urban fantasy in four books, with an anthology of short stories and novellas joining next year.
The series that are the books of my heart is the Color of Fear YA post-apocalyptic series that follow a world where a plague has attacked the Caucasian race and the minorities become the majority. In addition to the hard conditions the young girl from Hong Kong and her friends find challenging, they are also up against a white supremacist cult leader and have a Chinese assassin on their trail. Very exciting!
How about a few examples of stand-alone works?
I have a YA fantasy novel with an autistic heroine called THE LOST CHORD.
The Lost Chord
Bee, the heroine, is based on my own daughter on the spectrum. The story also has a fair amount of gamer experience, as the boys in the story use their gaming skills in their hunt.
One of my favorites is ENCOUNTER: When a group of lawyers go on a retreat to a remote ranch in northern New Mexico, they have no idea their lives are about to intersect with those of a truckload of illegal immigrants stranded in a freak March snowstorm. The intersection of these people, the collision of their cultures, the revelation of their secrets — all these things lead to violence, death, and even redemption in their New Mexico ENCOUNTER.
Encounter
I also have an historical romance, PROPHECIES AND PROMISES, set in turn of the century Key West amid the Spanish-American War—with pirates!
Please tell us about your recently published novel.
REMNANTS OF FIRE is a supernatural thriller, set in the recent past, and a heroine based on my seven years as a small-town newspaper reporter.
In her mad rush to escape a failed marriage, Sara Woods takes the first job available and lands in the middle of a mystery. Her first assignment as a news reporter for the Ralston Courier is the investigation of a string of deaths, all young women, all her age.
She becomes a patient at the Goldstone Clinic, a local healing center, to deal with chronic pain from her past. But all is not as it seems at the Goldstone, its doctors and nurses all the picture of perfect beauty and health. Patients at the clinic first seem to get better and then deteriorate.
Sara enlists the help of Dr. Rick Paulsen, who teaches her how to access her internal power, skills she never knew she had, revealing secrets from her past. Police officer Brendon Zale also takes an interest in Sara, but he acts like a stalker, watching her every move, and he won’t leave her alone.
As she digs deeper into the story, she tries to choose allies wisely, but not until the last confrontation does she discover the identity of her true enemy.
By then, it’s too late.
What are you working on now?
A rewrite of a science fiction romance novel I got my rights back on, where our hero is a shapeshifting lizard, and our heroine a spunky young scientist-agent investigating the serial deaths of mutated women.
Where can we find the primary websites and Facebook pages of your two author identities?
Website Alana Lorens
Facebook Alana Lorens Facebook
Website and Blog Lyndi Alexander
Facebook Lyndi Alexander Facebook
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
PATHOGENESIS, by Jonathan Kennedy. Subtitled “A History of the World in Eight Plagues,” this historical survey of the impact of infectious diseases though the ages brings to mind Arno Karlen’s fascinating MAN AND MICROBES (1996). The two books differ significantly in their major emphases, however. Karlen’s history focuses on biological, medical, and epidemiological developments. PATHOGENESIS, as hinted by its subtitle, mainly explores anthropological and geopolitical results of epidemics and pandemics. Kennedy explains and analyzes how infectious disease has shaped major turning points in human evolution and history. Contrary to the phrase “eight plagues,” almost every chapter delves into the background and outcome of more than one disease, aside from “Medieval Plagues,” an in-depth explanation of the far-reaching consequences of history’s best-known pandemic, the Black Death. Other chapters, arranged in chronological order: Paleolithic Plagues (did diseases play a major role in the survival of modern Homo sapiens versus the extinction of Neanderthals?); Neolithic Plagues (the development of agriculture); Ancient Plagues (epidemics and pandemics in Greek and Roman antiquity); Colonial Plagues (European diseases devastating native populations and European colonizers struck down by unfamiliar microbes and parasites in the colonies); Revolutionary Plagues (the transatlantic slave trade and various uprisings); Industrial Plagues (the Industrial Revolution, of course, and urbanization, mainly the nineteenth century); Plagues of Poverty (contemporary inequities between rich and poor nations). I do have a few complaints: One teeth-grinding turnoff for me is the author’s habit of writing “literally decimated” when he means “almost obliterated,” two oft-abused words misused in a single phrase. The book contains exhaustive footnotes, yet inconveniently no bibliography. More importantly, in my opinion the chapter on Medieval Plagues over-generalizes to the extent of rehashing discredited stereotypes about the “dark” aspects of that period in contrast to the self-styled “Enlightenment.” But that kind of thing probably can’t be completely avoided in a work whose subject spans millennia and attempts a global scope. The contemporary chapter interested me the least; it strikes me as too polemical. However, most of the book abounds in meaty facts and unexpected connections. While I probably won’t reread it, unlike MAN AND MICROBES, which I’ve read several times, I found PATHOGENESIS absorbing and recommend it to anyone intrigued by its theme of “the humble microbe that wins wars and topples empires” (to quote the cover blurb).
GRYPHON IN LIGHT, by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon. This Valdemar novel begins a new sub-series, set after the chronologically latest books in the overarching series. Therefore, anyone who has read any of the previous installments set in this world can pick up this one with little or no difficulty in understanding the background (although, of course, more familiarity with the history of Valdemar, would enhance the reader’s appreciation). Following a battle against violent would-be secessionists, Valdemaran officer Hallock Stavern and gryphon warrior Kevren, both near-fatally wounded, share convalescent quarters and become friends. To heal Hallock, Kevren drains himself of the last of his magic. An experimental last-ditch attempt to restore it by means of a Heartstone renders Kevren not only healed and rejuvenated but supernaturally glowing. After a stunning battlefield display, he flies back to his home. To his shock and dismay, he doesn’t receive a hero’s welcome with the glory he expects, but instead faces suspicion. Rather than a heroic savior, he’s regarded by most observers as a Scary Monster. The caution turns out to be somewhat justified, for his overflowing magic and literally flammable emotional state pose a danger to those around him. Meanwhile, Valdemar faces a delicate political situation, with traditional enemy nations Hardorn and Karse no longer hostile but not exactly friends. Hallock has to readjust to his military unit, thrust into a leadership position he doesn’t feel comfortable with. The third principal character, Healer Firesong, who’s training Kevren to control his wild magic, copes with a midlife crisis, supported by his same-sex Hawkbrother partner, Silverfox. We also get introduced to several well-developed secondary characters, as well as a host of interesting minor ones of various species. Unlike most Valdemar novels, GRYPHON IN LIGHT doesn’t focus primarily on Heralds and their Companions, who stay mostly in the background of the story. An expedition is organized to investigate the mysteries of Lake Evendim, which seems to have some connection with the recently ended Mage Storms. The trek involves traveling through the preternaturally dangerous Pelagirs Forest. Partly to get Kevren out of Valdemar until he masters his involuntary flame power and partly because his abilities may actually be useful, he’s invited to go along, as are Firesong, Hallock, and their mates. This journey is no Dungeons & Dragons or Lord of the Rings quest undertaken by a small band of comrades. It requires complicated planning, elaborate transportation and supply logistics, and dozens of humans and other people. Kevren begins to transform from his earlier vainglorious, overconfident persona into a more modest and thoughtful gryphon. Hallock and Firesong are also sympathetic, multi-dimensional characters whose development will rivet most readers’ interest. And devotees of typical high fantasy as well as D&D will find much to enjoy in terms of adventurous encounters, including a message from the gods. Long-time fans of the Valdemar universe will delight in references to creatures and events from throughout the series. Caution: By starting this book, you’re making a multi-volume commitment. At the end of this one, the heroes are still far from their ultimate goal.
SHAKESPEARE UNLEASHED, edited by James Aquilone. An all-original anthology of horror stories, plus a few dark sonnets, based on the works of Shakespeare. The reader gets a lot for the price in this trade paperback, over forty separate works. A pair of brief introductions sets the stage (so to speak). Distinguished authors include Joe R. Lansdale, Steve Rasnic Tem, Gemma Files, Seanan McGuire, Jonathan Maberry, JG Faherty, and many others. Variations on the anthology’s theme include twisted retellings of the plays; sequels and spinoffs, often from the viewpoints of secondary or even minor characters; and modern stories updating or inspired by the originals. One of my favorites, “Nothing Like the Sun,” by Donna J. W. Munro, presents first-person narrator Rosaline (Romeo’s quickly forgotten first love) as a witch manipulating the entire plot behind the scenes. Ian Doescher’s “Thirteenth Night, or What You Kill,” a short verse drama in the style of the Bard, portrays Malvolio implementing the revenge he had promised in TWELFTH NIGHT; the final couplet has an unexpected sting in its tail. Jonathan Maberry’s “When I Waked I Cried to Dream Again,” a sequel to THE TEMPEST, undercuts the happy ending with dark terrors on the voyage home from Prospero’s island. Some of the stories don’t exactly fit into my idea of horror; for instance, “The Case of the Bitter Witch,” by Kasey Lansdale and Joe R. Lansdale, a paranormal mystery, doesn’t have a horror “feel” at all. I was mildly surprised to find only one vampire story (“The Hungry Wives of Windsor,” by Zachary Rosenberg, in which Falstaff meets a bloody end). One would think ROMEO AND JULIET, for instance, would lend itself to that treatment. Overall, this book is a don’t-miss read for crossover fans of Shakespeare and the dark fantastic. As a bonus, it has creepy black-and-white illustrations. The same editor has also compiled CLASSIC MONSTERS UNLEASHED, an anthology inspired by vintage horror movies, mainly the ones filmed by Universal. In that book, naturally, you’ll find quite a few vampires, as well as a variety of other creatures.
THORNHEDGE, by T. Kingfisher. A unique, emotionally stirring re-vision of “Sleeping Beauty” from the viewpoint of the fairy who casts the sleep spell. Suppose there’s a very good reason why the princess shouldn’t be allowed to wake up? The protagonist, Toadling, a were-toad (it makes sense in context), has spent countless years lurking outside the deserted keep within its nearly impenetrable barrier of thorns and brambles, guarding the magic that keeps the princess in suspended animation. Meanwhile, the outside world rolls on through catastrophic historical events, such as a devastating plague, of which Toadling knows nothing until a curious knight arrives on the scene. At first she only wants him to go away, but loneliness and the intriguing novelty of having someone to talk with overcome her reluctance to interact with the stranger. We gradually learn her background and the truth of the princess in the tower in a series of flashbacks as Toadling reveals her story to the knight. Born human, daughter of a minor king and queen, she was snatched from her cradle and replaced by a changeling. Since the fairies’ sole purpose for this action is to place the changeling with an unwitting family, they usually abandon the human child. The protagonist was found by greenteeth, marsh-dwelling faerie creatures; instead of eating her, as they often do with children, they lovingly raised her as one of their own. Growing up more fay than human, she learned water magic and shapeshifting into a toad. Later, she got instruction in spellcasting to prepare her for her destined mission—to save her real parents from impending danger. Time in faerie unfolds at a different speed from mortal time; in this case, many years pass in faerie during mere hours or days in the mundane world (the reverse of the more common lore). So Toadling arrives in the royal court on the day of her substitute’s christening. A slip of the tongue makes her prepared spell go disastrously wrong. She’s barred from faerie and stuck with watching over the little changeling princess. Halim, a Muslim knight who’s far from distinguished or wealthy, has little or no interest in tourneys or fighting in general. Instead, he has an insatiable drive to investigate mysteries and an open-minded, compassionate nature. When Toadling gives up trying to drive him away, they become friends of a sort as he attempts to break her “curse” by every method he can think of. Once he accepts her insistence that she herself is not cursed, he decides to enter the keep and convinces her to help him. Maybe they can find a way to free Toadling from her centuries-long vigil and exile from her home. In Toadling and Halim, Kingfisher has created two more of her typically thoughtful, quick-witted characters who don’t fit into the patterns of the roles they would play in most traditional fantasies or fairy tales. Their dialogues are delightful and the bond that grows between them deeply moving in a quiet way. Kingfisher’s afterword labels this book a “sweet” story, and I agree. Though there’s no hint of a potential sequel, I’d love to read the further adventures of these characters. In my opinion, THORNHEDGE is practically perfect, except that it’s too short.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from “In Mountain Mist”:
In the fog, or possibly a low-lying cloud, the headlights illuminated only a yard or two of pavement in front of the car. Otherwise, mere spectral silhouettes of roadside trees stood out from the backdrop of featureless gray-white.
“Slow down, for heaven’s sake.” Judith gritted her teeth to keep from yelling when Don cruised around another curve as if driving in clear daylight.
Grumbling under his breath, he eased off the accelerator. “At this rate it’ll be midnight when we get back to the campsite.”
“If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have to go through this in the first place.”
“How is it my fault? This afternoon the weather app didn’t say a thing about fog.”
“We wouldn’t be out here if you hadn’t insisted on camping instead of spending the night at the lodge.” After a meal in the lodge dining room and an interview with a desk clerk for an article Judith was working on, they’d hung around for two more hours to listen to an Appalachian folk singer in the bar. “It’ll be fun, you said. Just like a second honeymoon, you said.” She heard the sarcastic edge in her own voice but was too annoyed to soften it.
He relaxed and glanced at her with a fleeting smile. “Well, that is literally how we spent our honeymoon.”
“Yeah, twenty-six years ago. And, in case you’ve forgotten after all this time, we camped out because we couldn’t afford a week in a hotel. We’re not young, energetic, or broke anymore.” Her back already twinged in anticipation of a night in a sleeping bag on a thin air mattress—if they managed to reach the campsite safely in the first place. “Not to mention that you didn’t have a-fib and high blood pressure then.”
“You’ll notice I didn’t drop dead from assembling a tent.”
At least they couldn’t possibly get lost, even without a functioning GPS. Although wireless reception at this altitude in the Blue Ridge Mountains was erratic at best, all they had to do was drive directly along the Skyline Drive back to the campground where they’d set up their tent. The main hazard they had to worry about, as long as they didn’t slip off the shoulder or crash into a car heading the opposite direction, was overshooting the turnoff into the woods. She kept an eye on the mileage indicator, ready to alert Don if he seemed about to miss the narrow side road.
-end of excerpt-
*****
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“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter
Welcome to the August 2023 issue of my newsletter, “News from the Crypt,” and please visit Carter’s Crypt, devoted to my horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance work, especially focusing on vampires and shapeshifting beasties. If you have a particular fondness for vampires, check out the chronology of my series in the link labeled “Vanishing Breed Vampire Universe.”
Also, check out the multi-author Alien Romances Blog
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For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
My lighthearted erotic paranormal romance novella “Sweeter Than Wine,” featuring the lusty ghost of a Revolutionary War smuggler, was released on July 3:
Lovecraftian erotic romance novella “Song from the Abyss” came out on July 26:
An excerpt appears below.
This month’s interview spotlights thriller and romance author Michelle Godard-Richer.
*****
Interview with Michelle Godard-Richer:
What inspired you to begin writing?
From the moment I learned to read as a child I wanted to write my own stories.
What genres do you work in?
I write thrillers, romance, and horror. I often blend and bend genres together.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I’ve been working with loose outlines and mostly winging it. Lately, I’m trying to change my process and outline in more detail.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors, life experiences, or whatever)?
My interests fuel what I write. I’ve always been a true crime buff, and my educational background helps. When writing romance, I think I draw more on life experience and what I see in the world around me. I’m also an avid reader, and I admire many different authors.
Since you have a degree in Criminology, how do you draw upon that background in writing mystery/suspense?
The thing with crime that I find most fascinating is the impact it has on all of us as a society. We all alter our behavior in simple ways like locking doors, installing security systems, and being aware of our surroundings. For those directly impacted, and those closest to them, sadly the effects are much greater and longer lasting. And I think understanding human behavior is the key to creating realistic characters that readers can identify with.
Please tell us about your time-travel-with-jellybeans duology. How did you come up with that plot? What kinds of research did you need to do?
The jellybean duology was a lot of fun to write. The idea for the first book spawned from the announcement in the Wild Rose chat room of the new line. Our President Rhonda mentioned liking time travel romance and I connected that to magic jellybeans and was off to the races. I spent as much time researching as I did writing to try and capture the mood and setting of small-town Illinois in the 1920s and 1930s. I looked into simple details like what cars existed at that time. When was the doorbell invented? Did they have handheld hair dryers? What did they wear? How did men view women’s role in society?
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
My latest book is Forward in Time with Jelly Beans, and my next book will be a horror novella releasing in the Friday the 13th Collection on October 13, 2023
What are you working on now?
I have three books on the go. The final book in the Fatal Series, a standalone domestic thriller, and the upcoming horror novella.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Write what you love, embrace the writing community and all it has to offer, and have a thick skin for feedback that will help you improve your craft.
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
My website is Michelle Godard-Richer and my favorite social media platform is Instagram where I enjoy sharing books I’ve read with the bookish community. Instagram
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
THE ROAD TO ROSWELL, by Connie Willis. Romantic comedy, road trip, and zany first-contact SF all in one novel. Willis discusses the background and writing of this book in her recent LOCUS interview:
Protagonist Francie, a levelheaded skeptic, arrives in Roswell, New Mexico, as maid of honor for a friend’s wedding. She hopes she can influence the bride to break off her engagement to a flying-saucer true believer before it’s too late. The wild and crazy atmosphere of the annual UFO festival is a pleasure in itself. Wearing her bridesmaid dress (which, she later finds, inconveniently glows in the dark) and driving the bride’s SUV, Francie gets carjacked by a bona fide alien. “He” (although his actual gender remains unknown) resembles an animated tumbleweed with multiple elongated, flexible tentacles. He eventually gets named Indy, after Indiana Jones, because of his whiplike appendages. It soon becomes clear that he doesn’t intend to hurt her, only force her to drive him—somewhere. For most of the story, she has no clue where he wants to go, and he doesn’t seem certain, either. Along the way, they pick up a hitchhiking self-styled con man named Wade, a UFO conspiracy theorist even more fanatical than Francie’s friend’s fiancé, a sweet little old lady devoted to casino gambling, and—after Francie casually remarks that they need a bigger vehicle—an elderly man with a luxurious RV (or, as he insists, a Western trail wagon) and a collection that apparently includes every classic Western movie ever filmed. Pop culture references abound; Indy learns English, after a fashion, through exposure to endless hours of movies. None of Francie’s companions turns out to be exactly what he or she appears, aside from the UFO fanatic, who’s every bit as nutty as he seems, unquestionably believing every alien conspiracy theory in existence, including those that originate from movies. A stop in Las Vegas includes a side trip to a wedding chapel with an Elvis-themed mock ceremony. Francie and Wade begin to fall in love, insistently encouraged by Indy. Men in Black appear on the scene. The romantic plot arc includes the typical black moment followed by a comic (in both the classic and modern senses) reversal. A thoroughly delightful story with a satisfying conclusion in both the romance and the science-fiction dimensions. The SF plot brings to mind Willis’s novella “All Seated on the Ground,” whose heroine also has to learn to communicate with extraterrestrials and figure out what they want. Although THE ROAD TO ROSWELL doesn’t attain the heights of TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG or BLACKOUT / ALL CLEAR, a second-tier novel by Willis matches or surpasses the best work of most other authors.
HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE, by Grady Hendrix. Having heard so much about this horror novel, I finally decided to read it because of the author’s outstanding vampire novel, THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB’S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES. One noticeable difference between the two is that the reader of the latter book knows early in the story that the vampire really exists; in HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE, we’re invited to hesitate between a supernatural explanation and the idea that the house is haunted only by toxic memories. In fact, we don’t get a definitive answer until the halfway point. Louise, a single mother with a little girl, gets a phone call from her brother, Mark, telling her their parents have died in a car accident. Right away, the siblings’ interaction demonstrates the longstanding resentment between them. Louise, who has made an outward success of her life, considers Mark a slacker as well as a drunk, unable to keep a job and spoiled by their over-indulgent (to him, not to her) parents. We gradually learn Mark has his own reasons for hostility to Louise. In a series of confrontations painful to read, the text explores the way brother and sister cling to opposite impressions of their shared childhood. Planning the funeral incites only the first and least of the explosive clashes between them. As much as we sympathize with Louise, little by little we start to realize Mark has some justification for his attitude, too. They fight over what to do with the house and its hoard of artwork and puppets created by their mother, who also collected dolls, I was initially disappointed to discover the haunting consists of apparently demon-possessed or poltergeist-animated dolls and puppets, a trope I consider more dull and annoying than scary. But a puppet that possesses its handlers? And holds the key to decades of buried family trauma? Wow. Their mother’s first and always favorite puppet, Pupkin, gradually develops from unsettling to profoundly creepy, spouting childish dialogue that sounds almost obscene without ever including words formerly labeled “unprintable.” The creature’s physical threat culminates in two violent, gory combat scenes, the first of which goes on far too long for my taste, becoming more tedious than horrific until its shocking outcome. But that isn’t the end by any means. The siblings’ eccentric relatives unite to help defeat the supernatural menace, while Louise’s daughter also plays a vital role. All the characters, minor as well as major, are compellingly vivid. Discoveries and revelations lead to fresh mysteries, including the question of whether even their parents’ ostensibly straightforward death means more than it appears. Aside from containing more physical violence than I like (an element that, for me, distracts from rather than enhancing the horror), HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE impressed me as gripping and ultimately satisfying.
THE SALT GROWS HEAVY, by Cassandra Khaw. Narrated by a mermaid married to a king—in present tense, perhaps justified by the way the story places her survival in doubt—this short novel deconstructs the familiar plot of “The Little Mermaid.” At the beginning of the story, the mermaid’s many half-human daughters have devastated the kingdom and devoured most of its people, including their royal father. This mermaid didn’t marry the king out of love; he captured her and took her by force. She didn’t sacrifice her voice for a chance to win him; she can’t speak because he cut out her tongue. Still, the former queen remains powerful, inhuman, cold (by human standards), and virtually immortal. Nevertheless, Khaw makes her a sympathetic character. She travels with a “plague doctor,” clothed in a black robe and masked by the skull of a vulture. The doctor, a quiet, gently sardonic presence, is nameless and apparently genderless. The mermaid shares a bond with “him” that she’s reluctant to define, even to herself. They stumble upon a village of children who make a game of killing each other under the guardianship of three “saints,” who bring the dead back to life. The three surgeons, as the mermaid thinks of them, perform gruesome experiments of human vivisection and reconstruction. The surgeons turn out to be the makers of the plague doctor, revealed as a patchwork of organs and skin like Frankenstein’s creature. At first treated like honored guests or privileged prisoners, the mermaid and her companion attempt to help the children—most of whom unquestioningly worship the “saints”—and suffer ghastly punishment for their interference. The often lyrical prose softens the scenes of extreme body horror. The mermaid’s love for the plague doctor ultimately reveals itself in both violence and self-abandoning devotion. The book includes a bonus in the form of a 2016 short story, “And in Our Daughters, We Find a Voice,” to which the longer work is a sequel. I have only one complaint about the book (aside from paying full-length-novel price for a slim volume comprising a novella and a short story, hardly the author’s fault): I want to know a lot more about the biology and life cycle of merfolk, of which we get only passing hints.
NIGHT’S EDGE, by Liz Kerin. A grippingly unusual treatment of the “vampirism as disease” trope. It takes place in a slightly altered history of our current timeline; the disease, labeled Saratov’s syndrome, surfaced in 2010, when the protagonist, Mia, was ten years old. Her first-person narrative alternates between then and now. (With both threads in present tense—why? Why not use past tense for the flashbacks?) Devon, one of the earliest carriers, turned Mia’s mother into a “Sara” in 2010. The dysfunctional dynamic among the three of them resembles a family with an abusive stepparent. Mia and her mother eventually break away from Devon, who, however, finds them again in the present. Occasional reminiscences about their pre-Sara life allow the reader to understand and sympathize with Mia’s desperate love for her mother, combined with a resentful sense of being trapped. In the present, her mother holds a night job, while Mia works by day at a bookstore. She also serves as her mother’s blood donor. Fortunately, Sara victims need to drink only about a quarter of a cup of blood in each twenty-four hour period; however, it has to be human and fresh. These sufferers display some traits of popular-culture vampires, highly vulnerable to sunlight, dormant during the day, fast and strong, with preternatural healing capacities. There’s nothing romantic or glamorous about them, though. They struggle to survive while avoiding the notice of the general population. Exposure would mean consignment to a “Sara center,” allegedly a sanctuary where they can live in safety without hurting other people, or, according to Devon, a prison under another name. At age twenty-three, Mia yearns for freedom from her constricted, secretive existence but feels guilt at the very thought of deserting her mother. Her life changes when she meets a free-spirited female musician named Jade, a barista at a coffee shop near the bookstore. For the first time in her life, Mia becomes fully aware of her attraction to other women. How can she get involved in a relationship while hiding her mother’s condition? Although Mia admits to herself she’s falling in love, is the feeling requited, or is she only a fling to Jade? When the danger of her mother’s being exposed becomes acute, does Mia dare to elope and start a life of her own? The early stages of the Sara epidemic recall the initial discovery of AIDS, including the terror inspired by victims infected with the new, mysterious illness. The present-tense chapters resonate with echoes of the COVID-19 pandemic years. Instead of universal masking as a precaution, almost all public venues require mandatory scanning upon entry to keep out Sara carriers. I found this a depressing book, for which it’s hard to imagine any kind of happy ending. Mia is a sympathetic character whose narrative voice holds the reader’s attention even though her plight is almost too heart-rending to dwell upon. Yet the final scene does offer a glimmer of hope for her future.
CLAWS AND CONTRIVANCES, by Stephanie Burgis. This fantasy Regency romance, although technically a sequel to SCALES AND SENSIBILITY, can be read on its own. A family of sisters, after the sudden loss of their parents, has been split among households of different relatives. Unlike Elinor, heroine of SCALES AND SENSIBILITY, in this new novel her sister Rose has gained a pleasant home with an affectionate aunt, uncle, and three girl cousins. Her uncle, who studies the legends and natural history of dragons, awaits the arrival of a fellow scholar, the event that helps to trigger the whole plot tangle. In this alternate version of the early nineteenth century, the real existence of dragons has recently been discovered. About the size of cats, the rare, expensive creatures have become highly valued pets, fashion accessories, and status symbols for upper-class young ladies. Unlike their counterparts in myth and legend, they don’t fly, breathe fire, or, as far as anyone knows, have magical powers. Rather than devouring hapless victims and ravaging the countryside, they’re typically docile and timid. Although a passionate aficionado of dragon lore, Rose’s uncle can’t afford one of the creatures himself. Therefore, she’s baffled when a dragon shows up in the house. Conjecturing that it may belong to their nearest neighbor, the wealthy, reclusive Sir Gareth, who has recently bought a decaying medieval mansion, she sets out for his home on foot to investigate. In the process, she’s nearly run down by a carriage transporting Mr. Aubrey, her uncle’s anticipated dragon specialist visitor. The kinds of mishaps expected in a madcap love story force Rose and Mr. Aubrey to pretend they’re betrothed. They run across and clash with Sir Gareth, whom Rose distrusts on sight. Her romantic-minded cousin Serena, on the other hand, sees him as a character from a Gothic novel. He does turn out to be a villain, but not the brooding, Bryonic type in need of redemption through the love of a good woman. Shortly, a second dragon appears almost literally out of nowhere. It seems these dragons may actually possess magic—or, as Mr. Aubrey insists, hitherto unknown abilities that must have some scientific explanation. Zany complications abound as Rose struggles to keep the creatures’ presence secret. Meanwhile, of course she and Mr. Aubrey begin to fall in love,while trying to deny their feelings, and sapphic sparks ignite between Rose’s cousin Georgianna and Sir Gareth’s mistreated niece. Aside from Sir Gareth’s truly evil schemes, CLAWS AND CONTRIVANCES is a delightful romp of suspense, romantic tension, inconvenient secrets, and misfortunes serious to the characters but funny to the reader. A happy ending, of course, bestows just rewards on all participants even when their plight seems impossibly desperate. I’m looking forward to the next installment, which will doubtless introduce us to Rose’s remaining sister.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from “Song from the Abyss:
Under the sound of surf wafting in through the open window, a voice seemed to whisper. It hissed words in a language Alyce didn’t recognize, yet it sounded all too familiar. Almost as if she’d heard those sounds before, maybe at the age of twenty, on the night before she’d left her Aunt Cora’s house for the last time.
Until today. Furthermore, it was her house now. It wasn’t a monster that would swallow Alyce whole and trap her like Pinocchio inside the giant fish. The waves did not sound like the hoarse breathing of a creature from an alien world.
“Shut up,” she ordered the imaginary voice. The phantom whispers fell silent. What was wrong with her, getting spooked in such a mundane setting? Sure, she was alone in a run-down oceanfront house built in the 1880s, but nothing could look less haunted than her late aunt’s cluttered office. Books overflowed shelves and tottered in precarious towers on the floor. File drawers gaped half open. Papers heaped on the desk almost hid the polished wood surface. The humid air smelled like mundane dust, not the mold of ancient tomes. Yes, some of those volumes might almost qualify, but Aunt Cora wouldn’t think of letting her tomes molder.
If she had magically foreseen dropping dead and leaving Alyce to rummage through the house, she would probably have tidied up the place and hidden or destroyed her most esoteric materials. Although much older than Alyce’s mother, Aunt Cora had seemed in excellent health, so the fatal stroke must have surprised her as much as it had her family. Actually, it was a wonder she hadn’t changed her will long ago. Why had she bequeathed her estate to the niece who’d fled from this house four years previously and refused to answer so much as a Christmas card ever since?
Most likely because I’m her only relative except for Mom, and at least Aunt Cora and I used to be close. She and Mom hadn’t spoken face-to-face in a lot longer than four years. Emails, phone calls, and holiday cards between the sisters hardly counted.
So she’d had a choice between leaving the house to Alyce, as originally planned, or willing it to some flaky cult. I’m almost surprised she didn’t do that. Such a choice would have been typical of the woman Alyce’s mother always referred to as “my crazy sister.” For the hundredth time in the past few weeks, Alyce tried to dredge up a proper portion of sadness. She felt she’d long ago lost the aunt she’d loved, the one who’d treated her like a younger colleague instead of an airheaded kid, the one who’d taken her on excursions to historic sites off the well-traveled tourist track and taught her to delve into research many layers deeper than the top page of a search engine. Alyce had lost that relative four years earlier, when she’d dragged Alyce into some kind of arcane ritual.
Shaking her head and raking fingers through her hair, she forced herself to focus on the immediate chore. Beside the desk, empty cardboard boxes and a giant trash bin waited to be filled. Got to plunge into this mess sometime. Might as well get started.
Rustling the papers, she sneezed at the dust they raised. Her hand brushed the edge of a half-open desk drawer.
Alyce!
She jumped. Now I’m hearing voices inside my head. One voice, more accurately, and it sounded like Dean’s.
He’s gone. He’s been gone for seven years.
Seven years since he’d vanished, four years since she’d fled from this house like the monster she imagined it to be. Maybe returning had triggered some kind of flashback. All along, she’d suspected Aunt Cora of secretly dosing her with a mind-altering drug on that last night. Why else would she have forgotten almost everything about those hours?
-end of excerpt-
*****
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“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter