Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Welcome to the June 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.
Author Celaine Charles (interviewed in last month’s newsletter) recently interviewed me on her blog:
She included a teaser from my dark paranormal romance SEALING THE DARK PORTAL. You’ll find the synopsis of the novel and an excerpt from the first chapter here:
In the excerpt below, heroine Rina’s shapeshifter-cat guardian, who up to now she thinks is an ordinary stray cat, protects her from an arcane attacker.
This month features an interview with mystery and romance author Wendy Kendall.
*****
Interview with Wendy Kendall:
What inspired you to become a writer?
At 8 years old I first knew I wanted to be a writer. I loved stories I could read, and some of my favorite times included the many times my dad read to me. As I grew up my love of reading continued, and my storytelling creativity increased. Adulthood brought on other dreams and challenges, yet I always retained the passion for writing. One day at a bookstore I bought yet another of Laura Childs’ mystery books. This one became different for me. As I picked it up and looked with longing at the fun cover, I was not only ready to read it. I suddenly thought, I can write a mystery. That’s when I started working on Kat Out of the Bag – my first book published in my In Purse-Suit Mysteries.
What genres do you work in?
I’m a Mystery writer, currently 4 published, and also a Romance writer, currently 2 published. My book 7 that I’m currently writing is another Mystery.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I’m a hybrid. Intense plotting and outlining before I start writing is very important to me. Especially with mysteries, it’s important to know details and of course suspects’ motives, means, and opportunities. Then I start writing the story, and often as I’m writing I find that things in the story change. Often the characters’ thoughts and personalities suggest different ways, so then the hybrid surfaces and I wing it. That’s when I take the story where it wants to go.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors or whatever)?
My beginning inspiration and favorite author Laura Childs is one major influence. I was thrilled to meet her when she agreed to be a guest on one of my podcasts. I never thought I could be happier until Laura Childs endorsed my first published book – Kat Out of the Bag. She wrote for the cover page —
“Captivating characters, and a tight, tricky plot, Kat Out of the Bag is a curl up under a blanket, grab a cup of tea cozy mystery that you’ll be reading and enjoying, into the wee hours of the morning.”
I also owe so much of my writing skills to an amazing woman, author, and teacher at Pacific Northwest Writers Association – Pam Binder. She’s taught me so much about writing and about enjoying all the fun of every mile of the writing journey.
What kinds of research do you do for your mysteries?
I’m so glad you asked! I had the great pleasure of the adventure with a local Seattle area K-9 patrol ride-along. What an exciting evening and overnight. I learned so much and actually participated in some aspects of the officers’ shift. At the time I’d plotted my mystery with Jason Holmes as the police officer. I’d never thought of having a K-9 as his partner, until my ride-along. That’s when my hybrid writing style took over and suddenly Jason’s partner became Hobbs, an incredible four-legged character.
My amateur sleuth, Katherine Watson is a purse designer. I love a fashionable mystery and Katherine’s eye for details is so helpful catching clues. As I researched purse designing, a hobby I enthusiastically enjoy, I discovered there are 2 Purse Museums in the world, and one is in Little Rock, Arkansas. I bought plane tickets right away, so excited to visit, research, and learn all about it. Esse Purse Museum is an incredible museum, showing the history of women through the decades through the purses they carried. The collection at the museum is extensive and amazing. Since then, I’ve donated some purses from my own collection. I interviewed the enthusiastic staff and also the talented and creative owner. Once again, my hybrid writing style took over and suddenly Katherine managed, along with her designer business, a similar purse museum showing women’s history.
Esse Purse Museum also endorsed my book on the cover page —
“Inside every handbag are artifacts – pieces of personality, glimpses of the past and often the deepest secrets. Vintage purses have a story to tell and for Wendy Kendall’s mystery, these stories unveil more than just purse-sonal history; they’re the clues to catch a killer.”
Those are just a couple of examples of the extensive research I do for each of my books.
Please tell us about your workshops and the available resources.
I enjoy sharing my experience with other writers, giving workshops and presentations spanning multiple years at conferences including Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Bouchercon, Killer Nashville, Greater Los Angeles Writers Society, Write in the Harbor, Write on the Sound, Chanticleer, AWP.
I also teach classes at a central organization dedicated for writers, Hugo House in Seattle.
I’m also a blogger, syndicated columnist, and podcaster.
Please visit my website at wendywritesbooks.com to learn more about me.
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
My most recent published mystery is Don’t Shoot the Messenger Bag just published this year. It’s the perfect accessory to murder. It’s been an exciting release. Where fashion sense meets criminal intent.
Katherine Watson’s romantic New Year’s Eve with Officer Jason Holmes ends with a police alert. Katherine’s son finds his College Professor dead. Put under police surveillance, Katherine must clear her son’s name. Then a woman’s body is discovered. Who’s next?
Department orders sideline Jason and his K-9 partner Hobbs. Tailed by her cat Purrada, Katherine hunts clues. Moonjava, Katherine’s hippie Mother, offers meditations, advice, humor, good vibes, and protest marches as needed.
An attempt is made on Katherine’s life. Can she solve this mystery? Will she be alive for the Valentine’s Gala at her Purse Museum, with the opening of the 1960’s exhibit she created with Moonjava? Or has she reached the end of the line?
What are you working on now?
I’m fully immersed in writing the exciting next mystery sequel to publish next year. It’s another killer! Keep an eye on my website for fun updates, as well as following me on social media.
Website – WendyWritesBooks.com
Facebook – WendyKendallMysteries
X – @wendywrites1
Instagram – wendyekendall
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Attend your first Writers’ Conference. Mine was for the Pacific Northwest Writers’ Association. This event opened my eyes to the fantastic world of writing and gave me the hope that I could do it too.
I learned so much and met people with great advice and enthusiasm that rubbed off. I found a way to move forward. I even got to pitch story ideas to agents and editors. It was a very motivating time and has led me to where I am now with my writing. I sincerely believe that I could not have created all I have without the decision to attend that very first Writing Conference. I have found members of the writing community incredibly generous in giving back to new and aspiring writers, and it all started there for me.
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
Author Website
Facebook
Twitter – @wendywrites1
Instagram – wendyekendall
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
STAY FOR A SPELL, by Amy Coombe. A cozy fantasy under the “high fantasy” umbrella, set in a secondary world inhabited by multiple humanoid species. The plot is based on a fairy-tale template, but with a twist. Seven princes in turn kiss a princess under a curse, trying to break it. Princess Tandy, however, sees the curse as a nice vacation from her tedious royal duties. Moreover, marrying whatever prince whose kiss neutralizes the spell is the last thing she’d want. Tandy’s parents and their heir, her older sister, run the country. Tandy performs ceremonial functions throughout the realm and dances with dignitaries at interminable balls. Not that she hates every aspect of the princess role, but in general she prefers reading, for which she never has enough time. On the way to a routine ribbon-cutting ceremony in a small town, she pauses to dash into Beulah Bonecrusher’s Emporium of Books. On a brief return visit the next day, the old lady who owns it hands the princess a key, which she unthinkingly takes, even though everybody in that society recognizes the magical risks of accepting mysterious objects from strange people. Immediately after hearing the wish, “May this key unlock your heart’s desire,” Tandy loses consciousness. When she wakes up, the old woman has peacefully died, and Tandy can’t leave the bookstore. At first, she doesn’t really mind her predicament. The building includes a small living space plus a walled garden, which counts as part of the store. Her highly efficient secretary runs errands such as carrying messages to the king and queen. Townspeople provide Tandy with provisions to supplement the turnips currently supplied by the garden. She plunges eagerly into the monumental chore of straightening out the bookstore’s inventory. She hires an emo teenage dracone girl as an assistant. Tiny, pixie-like, blue-light creatures flutter around the place and help with book searches. In this magic-abundant world, almost everybody can work minor spells, an ability that makes Tandy’s new job a bit easier. Annoyingly, an enigmatic, charismatic pirate drops by entirely too often – a pirate under a curse that entails a disabling phobia of bodies of water, the larger the more disturbing. He pilfers small items (leaving random things in exchange), tries to flirt with Tandy, and borrows books that might hold the secret to escaping his plight. The princes who show up one by one to try their luck with kisses, also annoying but less provocative than the pirate, turn out to be not so bad, even those Tandy originally considered insufferable. To observe the outcome of the curse, they temporarily move into the local inn, which changes its name with each successive royal resident. There’s lots of humor, yet at its core lies a serious problem for Tandy. To break the spell, she must discover her heart’s desire, but she has no clue what it is. She definitely doesn’t want to marry either of the eligible princes or even spend the rest of her life managing a bookshop. Naturally, the story ends as we’d expect. Tandy makes friends and reenergizes the shabby, disorganized store; both curses get broken; the princess and the pirate acknowledge their feelings for each other; Tandy gains self-knowledge, stands up to her parents’ scripted plans for her, and returns to the wider world as a stronger, more mature person. The fun consists of discovering how the author achieves this consummation. STAY FOR A SPELL is her first novel, and it displays at least one annoying tic an editor should have addressed: Almost every character “snorts” entirely too often, regardless of whether that behavior does or doesn’t suit the person and the situation. Otherwise, I found the book delightful in every way.
MILLS OF THE GODS, by Tim Powers. A “secret history” fantasy set in Paris in 1925. American magazine illustrator Harry Nolan meets an eccentric young woman named Vivi, who wants to read an article he illustrated about a goddess and a bull deity. His initial reaction is to suggest she wait for the issue to come out. But that’s not possible, because the magazine’s office has been destroyed. After an encounter with peculiar street urchins brandishing guns, Vivi tells Harry about a cult of people called “sauteurs” (“leapers”). They extend their lives through reincarnation, constantly reborn as certain selected children. Vivi, having spent her childhood in an orphanage of such children, escaped and has been fighting off her destined reincarnating entity ever since. How much of her is truly Vivi and how much merely a body inhabited by the man she was in a previous life? His personality sometimes overshadows hers, breaking forth at the most dangerous moments. We eventually learn, however, that no literal reincarnation occurs. Instead, the alleged previous-life people, rather than being reborn in infants such as Vivi, seize their bodies in an act of demon-like possession. At first, naturally, Harry thinks she’s delusional. Inexplicable events convince him of the reality of the supernatural, and they become allies against the sauteurs and their god, Moloch. Devotees of the goddess Cybele oppose Moloch but pursue Vivi for their own agenda. Along the way, Harry and Vivi meet Hemingway, Picasso, Gertrude Stein, and Alice Toklas, among other luminaries of postwar Paris. And magical cats come to their aid at critical junctures. This novel reminds me of Powers’s THE STRESS OF HER REGARD (in which the major Romantic poets’ lives are manipulated by silicon-based vampiric life forms) in its secret history aspects, the fantastic lurking behind and shaping the mundane history we know. Similarly, THE MILLS OF THE GODS, like the earlier (longer and more complex) novel, rises to mythic heights, especially when the human characters get swept up in the climactic confrontation between the two deities. The plot gracefully balances fascinating and terrifying revelations, life-threatening, fast-moving action, and development of a bond between Harry and Vivi. Incidentally, one minor element of the book’s style puzzles and slightly irritates me: Although Harry is the viewpoint character, the narrative voice calls him “Nolan,” as if he thinks of himself by his surname. Otherwise, THE MILLS OF THE GODS impresses me as a totally satisfying adventure of two believably human people caught up in a more-than-human conflict incited by forces beyond ordinary comprehension.
AFTER THE SPIRITS COME, by Beth Ford. A sequel to A CHRISTMAS CAROL, beginning at the home of Fred and his wife on New Year’s Eve following Uncle Ebenezer’s fateful Christmas Eve. Apprehensive of a cynical conclusion in which Scrooge backslides into his old self, ending up exactly where he started in Dickens’s classic, I confess I peeked at the ending for reassurance. So I can tell you not to worry too much, despite the dire things that happen along the way. Realistically, Scrooge’s alleged reformation doesn’t convince people right away. Nephew Fred remains optimistic throughout. Bob Cratchit is hopeful but cautiously so, with his trust growing after Scrooge makes him a partner in the business. Mrs. Cratchit and daughter Martha view the old miser’s changed behavior with suspicion until almost the end. As Scrooge grapples with the details of implementing his new way of life, he faces two major perils. A meddling doctor who becomes convinced he’s not only crazy (a common first reaction from most people, more often than not), but dangerously so, schemes to have Scrooge committed to an asylum. Meanwhile, two of his former victims conspire to avenge their wrongs by ruining him. Scrooge muddles through the early months of his transformation, making costly mistakes in too-naïve generosity, and learns to balance philanthropy with good business sense. In the course of these endeavors, he becomes acquainted with a strongminded, openhearted woman who runs a charitable institution. He also discovers how to enjoy life, even visiting the seaside at Fred’s invitation. There he accidentally encounters his former fiancée, Belle, and attains a bit of closure. Over the months following the magical Christmas, he navigates his new way of life, makes amends to many he has harmed, and wins friends, but always with realistic difficulties and bumps along the road. Thanks to his genuine reclamation, he doesn’t end up hopelessly abandoned when ensnared by his enemies’ plots. A few lapses from the canon established by Dickens annoyed me: Scrooge states he hasn’t been inside a church since boyhood, but the original book explicitly says he went to church on Christmas morning after his supernatural experience. Although his home (which, in the original, isn’t a house as such but a suite of rooms above a warehouse) is portrayed as completely neglected, in Dickens’s story he certainly has a cleaning woman as well as a laundress, both of whom rob him after death in the vision of Christmas Yet to Come. More vital, Martha Cratchit isn’t a housemaid, as Ford portrays her; she works in a shop. (I’ve always imagined either a millinery or a dress shop.). Nevertheless, I recommend this novel to fans of A CHRISTMAS CAROL as one of the best sequels or spinoffs I’ve read.
THE LEGEND OF CHARLIE FISH, by Josh Rountree. An unusual SF novel set against the backdrop of the Galveston hurricane of 1900, the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. It reminds me a bit of Karen Joy Fowler’s SARAH CANARY, in that both are historical novels in which ordinary people more or less accidentally become companions and protectors to not-quite-human people of mysterious origin. Rountree’s story is narrated in alternate chapters by Floyd Betts, a Galveston resident returning from his estranged father’s funeral to his home in a boarding house belonging to a woman about his age, Abigail Elder, and by orphaned twelve-year-old Nellie, wandering homeless with her nine-year-old brother, Hank. A prologue and epilogue told by Nellie in 1932 (year of another memorable hurricane, not quite so catastrophic) frame the main action. Nellie bears the label of “witch” because of psychic powers inherited from her late mother. Her brother carries their father’s pistol like a sort of weaponized security blanket. Together with Floyd, they’ve rescued the humanoid amphibian they call Charlie Fish from two men who’d held him captive. While Charlie can’t speak English, fortunately Nellie’s telepathic gift enables her to communicate with him. For fans of vintage horror movies, he’ll inevitably bring to mind the creature from the Black Lagoon, except that Charlie originates from the ocean, where he longs to return and reunite with his people. Nevertheless, he’s far more “human” in essence than the pair of human antagonists, bent on recapturing the “freak” for their selfish purpose. When the storm crashes over Galveston, Floyd, Abigail, Nellie, Hank, and Charlie unite in intergenerational and cross-species bonds to struggle against both the flood and the malice of the villains. The author maintains genuine suspense as regards who will survive the storm engulfing the city, while we root for the characters he portrays in vividness and depth. The setting, too, is captivating. The author’s afterword elaborates on its historical background, assuring us that while the people are fictional, all details of the hurricane and its aftermath are real.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from SEALING THE DARK PORTAL:
After lunch she drove across town for groceries. When she pulled into the supermarket parking lot, she happened to glance into the back seat. A pair of golden eyes met hers. She glared at the cat. “How the heck did you sneak in there?” He must have made a quick leap through the open door when her back was turned. “And why? I’ve never heard of a cat who liked car rides. Now what am I supposed to do with you?”
She didn’t want to waste time on a round trip home, yet she couldn’t very well throw him out here. If he lived in her neighborhood, he might not be able to retrace the route to where he belonged. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you are?” She sighed. Having read so much about the risks of leaving animals in cars, she hesitated to lock him in by himself. Even on a day as mild as this one, she’d heard the interior temperature could rise too quickly for a furry animal’s health. “Now I’ll have to put this off. What a pain.”
Instead of driving straight home, she detoured to a convenience store. “There are a few things I’ve got to buy. Try to stay out of trouble.” After parking in the shade and cracking a window, she rushed inside and grabbed some items for dinner and the next day’s breakfast. At the last second, she added two cans of cat food while silently flogging herself for being a pushover.
She zipped through checkout and returned to the car to find the cat curled up on the back seat with no sign of distress. When she got home, he jumped out as soon as she opened the door. He sat on the edge of the driveway watching her lift the bag out of the trunk. “Too bad you can’t help with this,” she said.
Just as she slammed the trunk shut, the ground shuddered. She braced herself on the car and let out a yelp. Her stomach quivered. For a second she imagined she was back in the nightmare.
No. She was still in her front yard on a sunny afternoon in Maryland. She stalked to the front stoop and sagged against the wall next to the door. The earth vibrated again. Halfway between the house and the street, a cloud of smoke appeared. The smell of acetone emanated from it.
Swallowing a lump of fear, she set down the grocery bag and fumbled in her purse for the key, which she jammed into the lock. The cloud, wispy and pale gray at first, thickened, compacted, and darkened. It swirled like a miniature tornado. The funnel shape sprouted pseudopods, four, then six, then seven or eight, absorbing and extruding them at random. A swelling at the top resembled a head only when tusks and crimson eyes materialized on it.
Why doesn’t anybody else notice this? She scrabbled at the doorknob. Her fingers kept slipping. The thing undulated toward her, limbs stretching and retracting, multiple eyes flashing and vanishing. In daylight the creature looked nothing like a dog. Either she was losing her mind, or a monster was attacking her.
The cat sprang on it with his claws extended. As he leaped, his body melted, stretched, and re-formed. It expanded to the size of a pony, while the fur turned sleek instead of fluffy and the claws and fangs enlarged along with the rest of the animal. The plume of his tail lengthened, smoothed out, and lashed like a whip.
Rina stood paralyzed, forgetting the need to escape. A cougar. The cat turned into a cougar. If she wasn’t going crazy, this must be a new nightmare.
Yowling, the tawny mountain lion raked the smoke monster with his claws. The beast’s leg shredded but instantly re-knitted itself. The creature’s talons and jaws ripped at the giant cat, who twisted and dodged fast enough to suffer only glancing scratches instead of lethal wounds. He bit and scratched, tearing holes in the thing’s protean body, but he couldn’t seem to inflict permanent damage. Spitting and hissing, he lunged and retreated over and over. Even in her confusion, Rina could tell he got weaker with every clash.
The smoke monster contracted into a cyclone again. One limb struck out and slammed into the cougar’s flank. The blow knocked him onto the lawn. He lay there stunned.
The cone of darkness whirled toward Rina. Pressure built in her ears. Her head throbbed. Without thinking, overwhelmed by panic, she raised both hands to ward off the thing. “Get away from me!”
Bolts of electricity shot from her fingers. Involuntary sounds welled up in her throat and spewed from her mouth: “Hevatanu, halako, anasoba!” The thing crackled and shriveled. She thrust her hands toward it again, and again sparks radiated from them. The creature emitted a shriek that made her ears ring and vanished.
Panting, Rina leaned on the wall. What just happened? And why aren’t the neighbors running out here? She stared at her shaking hands and flexed her fingers.
A keening meow diverted her attention. Instead of the cougar, the cat lay on the ground in his normal shape. She forced her legs to carry her over to him. His eyes met hers for a second, then closed. She picked up the limp form and staggered inside.
-end of excerpt-
*****
The long-time distributor of THE VAMPIRE’S CRYPT has closed its website. If you would like to read any issue of this fanzine, which contains fiction, interviews, and a detailed book review column, visit the Dropbox page below. Find information about the contents of each issue on this page of my website:
All issues are now posted on Dropbox, where you should be able to download them at this link:
All Vampire’s Crypt Issues on Dropbox
A complete list of my available works, arranged roughly by genre, with purchase links:
For anyone who would like to read previous issues of this newsletter, they’re posted on my website here (starting from January 2018):
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 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:
All issues are now posted on Dropbox, where you should be able to download them at this link:
All Vampire’s Crypt Issues on Dropbox
A complete list of my available works, arranged roughly by genre, with purchase links:
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Facebook
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Barnes and Noble
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Carter Kindle Books
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Amazon
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Goodreads
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My Publishers:
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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