New Collection: Transfusion and Other Tales of Hope

I have a new collection of short fantasy fiction, just out from Book View Cafe. And am quietly, quiveringly proud of it. I hope you'll enjoy it, too. You can download a free sample from the BVC site.


Here's the skinny:

The vampire has known only evil since he was made, until an unlikely friendship reconnects him with life… Two women mourning two dead mothers tread the boundaries between grief and obsession… A ghoulish spirit haunts a refugee in Renaissance Venice… A healer discovers a dying man with the heart of a dragon on her doorstep… Two boys travel back in time to discover the true nature of Tyrannosaurus rex… A mother vampire, struggling to raise two vampire children in Hollywood, encounters her biggest challenge yet: the PTA.

From the ancient Indus Valley to post-apocalyptic California come fourteen tales of love, redemption, and hope…and occasional humor.

[links] The vampire squid and other cool things

Yes, there really is such a thing as a vampire squid, and it's even cooler than the name suggests.

A ‘living fossil,’ the vampire squid inhabits the deep waters of all the world’s ocean basins at depths from 500 to 3,000 m. The species is a soft-bodied, passive creature, about the size, shape, and color of a football. It has a dark red body, huge blue eyes, and a cloak-like web that stretches between its eight arms. When threatened, the squid turns inside out, exposing rows of wicked-looking ‘cirri.’

Bats are pollinators, too. And a lot more cuddly than bees.

The birds and the bees may rule the daytime, but as soon as the sun sets, it is the bats that get to work pollinating. Worldwide, over 500 species of flowers in at least 67 plant families rely on bats as their major or exclusive pollinators.

Marella Sands on "Stonefell Gift" in GIFTS OF DARKOVER

On a wondrous planet of telepaths and swordsmen, nonhumans and ancient mysteries, a technologically advanced, star-faring civilization comes into inevitable conflict with one that has pursued psychic gifts and turned away from weapons of mass destruction. Darkover offers many gifts, asked for and unexpected. Those who come here, ignorant of what they will find, discover gifts outside themselves and within themselves. The door to magic swings both ways, however, and many a visitor leaves the people he encounters equally transformed.

Gifts of Darkover will be released May 5, 2015, and is now available for pre-order.

Here is Marella Sands on her story, "Stonefell Gift."

What was your introduction to Darkover?

I believe it was the novel Hawkmistress.  I was fascinated with the world and with the magic and started reading all the Darkover novels I could find.  While I liked them, the later time periods didn’t quite capture my imagination as much as the earlier Hundred Kingdoms era. But what I really wanted to read about was even earlier, during the Ages of Chaos. What were the breeding programs? What disasters led them to be abandoned? What were clingfire and bonedust? Who founded the Towers? Stormqueen! assuaged my curiosity a bit, but I wanted more. So when the invitation came to write a story for Gifts of Darkover, I knew instantly what time period I wanted to write about, and what the subject would be.

“Stonefell Gift” takes place as the Comyn are starting to exert control and eliminate the breeding programs. Three of them come to Stonefell and discover how tragic the consequences of lethal genes can be.

If I have the opportunity to write again in the world of Darkover, I am sure I will revisit the Ages of Chaos. There must be untold numbers of stories of that time that would lay bare the reasons the Compact was deemed necessary for the survival of everyone on Darkover.

What have you written recently?

I have tried my hand at different things, such as a fiction novel called Snows of Kansas. It’s about a young man who returns home to take care of his dying mother after many years away, only to discover that the truths he always believed about his small town upbringing aren’t very true after all.

And I am shopping around a horror story called Night Shift, With Music, which is set in one of the Munich Leichenhauser (waiting mortuaries), where the citizens of the city left their dead for several days before burying them. They did this because people feared being buried alive and wanted to ensure no one would suffer that fate. Living people could tour a Leichenhaus for a small fee; Mark Twain was one of the more famous people to do so. My story tells of an attendant who falls in love with a visitor to the Leichenhaus, and the consequences to both of them when the object of his love catches the plague.

Thunderlord snippet - A Ball At Scathfell

Please remember that this is a work in progress and drafts have a habit of changing drastically from inception to finished book.

From Thunderlord Chapter 14

“Damisela Alayna?” Lord Scathfell rose to his feet and faced her, one hand extended. “Will you accord me the privilege of the first dance?”

Even if she had not been delighted with the opportunity to dance, she could not have refused. Such an honor – to be selected by the lord of the castle himself for the first dance! Ellimira would have been beside herself. And with such an introduction, it would not be improper for any of his guests to follow suit, would it?

Alayna placed her hand in his and followed him to the center of the dancing area. His fingers closed around hers, exerting pressure to conduct her to where she was to stand. She had heard of how a skillful male dancer could guide even the most inexperienced lady through complicated patterns, but never before had she had the sensation of moving effortlessly in time with the music. She’d attended dances enough at home, crude, rollick affairs compared to a ball like this. They could all dance, of course, simple reels for the young folk and promenadas for the elders. These movements were like the finest spidersilk to their homespun.

Oh no, now the musicians were playing the final cadence. The lines of dancers paused, men and women facing each other. Lord Scathfell bowed, but not so low that she could not see his smile or the brightness in his eyes, surely mirroring her own. She recovered enough to execute a curtsy that would have done Ellimira proud, and masked her disappointment as he escorted her back to her seat.

[poetry] Jim C. Hines rhapsodizes the Hugo Awards

From Jim C. Hines's excellent LJ comes this reflection on this year's Hugo Awards kerfuffle. Enjoy!

Three Hugos for Mil-SF and their space marines;
Seven for the grimdark-lords in their halls of blood;
Nine for mortal fans doomed to blog;
One for Neil Gaiman on his dark throne
In the Land of Worldcon where the Shadows lie.

Dinosaur Feathers Discovered in Canadian Amber

Dinosaur Feathers Discovered in Canadian Amber

Today a group of paleontologists announced the results of an extensive study of several well-preserved dinosaur feathers encased in amber. Their work, which included samples from many stages in the evolution of feathers, bolstered the findings of other scientists who've suggested that dinosaurs (winged and otherwise) had multicolored and transparent feathers of the sort you might see on birds today. The researchers also presented evidence, based on the feathers' pigmentation and structures, that today's bird feathers could have evolved from dinosaur feathers.

A Ring of Stars

The astronomical discoveries since the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope (and similar instruments) never cease to amaze me. I have a pretty good imagination, but I never expected a breathtakingly gorgeous ring-shaped galaxy.

 When galaxies collide, they pass through each other -- their individual stars rarely come into contact. The ring-like shape is the result of the gravitational disruption caused by an entire small intruder galaxy passing through a large one. When this happens, interstellar gas and dust become condensed, causing a wave of star formation to move out from the impact point like a ripple across the surface of a pond. 

Image Credit: Hubble Heritage Team (AURA / STScI), J. Higdon (Cornell) ESA, NASA 

Diana L. Paxson on "Blood-kin" in GIFTS OF DARKOVER

On a wondrous planet of telepaths and swordsmen, nonhumans and ancient mysteries, a technologically advanced, star-faring civilization comes into inevitable conflict with one that has pursued psychic gifts and turned away from weapons of mass destruction. Darkover offers many gifts, asked for and unexpected. Those who come here, ignorant of what they will find, discover gifts outside themselves and within themselves. The door to magic swings both ways, however, and many a visitor leaves the people he encounters equally transformed. 

Gifts of Darkover will be released May 5, 2015, and is now available for pre-order.

Diana L. Paxson talks with editor Deborah J. Ross about her story, "Blood-kin."

Tell us about your introduction to Darkover. What about the world drew
you in? What do you see as the future of Darkover? Is there another
story you would particularly like to write?

I first heard about the Darkover books when I discovered fandom as a grad student at Berkeley in 1965. That was also when I first met Marion. I invited her to the first tournament of what became the SCA [Society for Creative Anachronism],  but I didn't get to know her or the books well until I married Jon DeCles. As a major in Medieval literature, I really appreciated Darkover's society and I was intrigued by the way she dealt with psychic powers. As Darkover fandom developed in the 70s, and I talked to more fans,  I realized that Marion was using the fantastic setting to explore some important issues, starting with psychic abilities and continuing to explore gay issues and eventually, feminism.

For the future, I think the challenge will be to continue to break new ground while retaining the qualities that attracted us in the first place.

What inspired your story in Gifts of Darkover?

In "Evanda's Mirror" (in Stars of Darkover) I asked what might happen if a transwoman an tried to join the Free Amazons. It seemed like the kind of issue Marion might have tackled if she were writing today. In "Blood-kin" the characters from the first story face the consequences of their actions, as Thendara suffers an Ebola-like plague.

What have you written recently? What lies ahead?

My non-fiction book on possessory trance is coming out in March, and I will have a novelette, "Deor" in S.M. Stirling's Change anthology this June. Some other short stories are in the pipeline, and I am working on a proposal for a historical fantasy about the Seeress Veleda.

A Note of Warning

Google Alerts has informed me of a spate of pirate sites containing my work. Obviously, as an author I would much prefer my readers to obtain my books through legitimate sources. I like to be paid, like everyone else. But these sites pose hazards for the unsuspecting visitor. They can be laden with viruses and malware. Some require a credit card number in order to register, which means they are actually not pirated book sites but credit card number harvesters.

I do my best to price my self-published work in a way that is fair but affordable. (Alas, I have no control over what my publishers charge.) I participate in Book View Cafe sales that occur a couple of times a year. I want to make my stories available to everyone who wants to read them. Many are available at your library, either in paper editions or through one of the library ebook vendors that Book View Cafe contracts with. I donate autographed copies, usually of hardback editions, for various fundraisers. For the last two winters, I have offered free copies as holiday gifts. And finally, I do my best to arrange for review copies to be made available.

We are part of a community of readers and writers. Let's support one another and leave the pirates to sink under the weight of their own unscrupulous tactics!



The painting is by Howard Pyle, public domain.

Thunderlord snippet -Beauty

Please remember that this is a work in progress and drafts have a habit of changing drastically from inception to finished book.

From Thunderlord Chapter 13

 “Damisela.” Dom Ruyven took her by the arm with such firmness that she had no choice but to come away with him. “We must proceed with all haste to Castle Scathfell, there to await the bandits’ ransom demand.”

Alayna suppressed an involuntary shudder at his unctuous manner. At first, she’d attributed it to unfamiliarity with unmarried young women, and beautiful ones at that. Kyria might not be conventionally pretty, but had a striking vitality that transformed her regular features into a luminous beauty, or so Alayna thought, although Kyria might well accuse her of seeing through the heart instead of the eyes. As for Alayna herself, everyone said she was the beauty of the family. She had long known this to be true, from her first memories of being petted and indulged as a young child, the darling of the household. As she grew into womanhood, she saw the effect she had on men, the way even the strongest blushed and stammered.

But not so with Dom Ruyven. He had treated her with distant politeness, when he had bothered to address himself to her at all, thinking first of his own comfort and safety, then of Kyria’s. The bandit attack had changed that. All of a sudden, this lord – who had never spared more than a passing glance at her, and never a word as to how she fared – treated her in the most solicitous manner. What did he want?

[link] Charlaine Harris on blending genres

Over on the Gollancz site, Charlaine Harris offers a few characteristically charming observations on how to blend fantasy and mystery. Listen up, folks. She knows whereof she speaks. It's a short article, full of humor and wisdom.

My favorite bit:

I think it’s also a good idea to make sure the reader knows that being a supernatural creature of any sort does not mean you can live a life without problems. There are always bills to pay of one sort or another, groceries to shop for (even if you shop in a bar or cemetery), and taxes to pay. Yes, always taxes. You can’t swan around in a velvet cape looking mysterious and swoony. The electric bill must be covered, and the telephone bill, too.

I must have been channeling Harris when I wrote "Survival Skills" (Sisters of the Night) back in the mid '90s. Barbara Hambly had taken on the editing of an anthology of female vampire stories and, being much involved in my younger daughter's elementary school PTA, I wondered what it would take for a mother vampire to raise two kids in Los Angeles, where I lived at the time. My vampire's problems didn't involve paying taxes, but did center around managing all the ways our governmental structures look over your shoulder when you are a parent. It was easy enough to imagine a night school for families whose adults worked night shifts in the movie industry, but what about truant officers, PTA fund raisers, school lunches and sports ("don't play with your food"), and translating the skills learned from centuries of dealing with paper-based bureaucracies into computer-based hacking?

"Survival Skills" will appear in my upcoming collection, Transfusion and Other Tales of Hope, from Book View Cafe later this month. Stay tuned for the official announcement.

[link] Horses, Trust, and Patience

The blog Spellbound features a fascinating article on how horses that are worked "on the ground" are more relaxed when ridden under saddle than those which are not. It's actually a report and commentary on a study done in Germany on dressage horses. The scientists were actually studying something else and found this correlation fortuitously.

From this, the researchers concluded that, “Perhaps horses trained in ground work had more trust in their rider.”

Trust

We tend to think about riders trusting their horses and forget that this is a partnership. Skilled horse people understand that the horse must trust its rider as well. Once we stop thinking about horses as animate transportation machines or ego-appendages but sensitive, responsive creatures whose intelligence is different from ours but nonetheless exists, we open the door to a relationship of mutual respect. "Training" should not mean "instilling automatic responses through discipline." Perhaps we need a different term to get away from the old association. Training is establishing a relationship in which communication becomes clear and trust is established. It's learning to "talk horse" and "listen horse."

The blog concludes,

I’m glad to learn research revealed ground work is good for horses. Horses with a low heart rate are relaxed and relaxed horses perform better and live longer. In this day and age of people starting horses under saddle in under an hour and increasing monetary rewards for the “young horse dressage program“, everything seems to be done in a hurry. The entire horse culture seems to privilege “getting up there and riding your horse”. But as one of my favorite writers and accomplished horsewoman,Teresa Tsimmu Martino writes, “In today’s horse culture there are clinics that brag about starting a colt in a day, as if the quickness of it was the miracle. But old horse people know it takes years to create art. Horses as great masterpieces are not created in a day. An artist does not need to rush.” We need more scientific studies like this one to encourage us to slow down and take our time with our horses.

Deborah Millitello on "Green Is the Color of Her Eyes So Blue" in GIFTS OF DARKOVER

On a wondrous planet of telepaths and swordsmen, nonhumans and ancient mysteries, a

technologically advanced, star-faring civilization comes into inevitable conflict with one that has pursued psychic gifts and turned away from weapons of mass destruction. Darkover offers many gifts, asked for and unexpected. Those who come here, ignorant of what they will find, discover gifts outside themselves and within themselves. The door to magic swings both ways, however, and many a visitor leaves the people he encounters equally transformed.

Gifts of Darkover will be released May 5, 2015, and is now available for pre-order.

Deborah Millitello on her story, "Green Is the Color of Her Eyes So Blue"

I read all the Darkover books and was fascinated by the mixture of fantasy and science fiction.  I especially liked the newest book, The Children of Kings, which started me wondering why the Dry Towners didn’t have the psychic power called laran.  What if one of them did have laran?  What if a Dry Towner had laran because she was different from everyone else?

That’s when I thought about my granddaughter Danielle.  She, her brother and sister, mother, aunt, and cousin all have a genetic condition called ectodermal dysplasia.  They have no sweat glands so they can’t tolerate heat.  Their skin is extremely delicate, often cracking and raw on hands and feet.  Hair is brittle and breaks or falls out.  Fingernails and teeth are often deformed.

So what if a Dry Towner had a genetic condition like my granddaughter that let her use laran with the help of a special crystal, similar to the starstone?  What could she use it for?  Two things would be important in a desert land – water and food.  I chose quickly growing food as her ability, and she uses it to feed the poorest people in the Dry Town capital.

Thunderlord snippet - Storm-sense

Please remember that this is a work in progress and drafts have a habit of changing drastically from inception to finished book.

From Thunderlord Chapter 12

Now it was Kyria’s turn to look astonished. “You studied at a Tower? Neskaya itself? No wonder you knew how to heal the horses and that poor man of Francisco’s.”

“What I did was no great thing in itself,” Edric said. “Every novice studies monitoring and the principle of laran healing. But the lineage we share –” he gestured to himself and then to her, “— our Rockraven blood –” although we not so close that we might not marry if there were no other impediment, “--  that explains why Scathfell wanted you. You’re right, not for anything having to do with you, Kyria, as a person, but because of what you carry in your genes.”

Kyria frowned. “What? A predisposition for dropping kitchen spoons and assaulting banshees with cooking knives? A talent for trapping small fur-bearing animals?”

“Storm-sense. Which, in its fully realized form, means the ability to not only detect but control cloud and rain…and lightning.”

She fell silent for a time, considering this. “My family told stories about the Witch-Child of Aldaran. She was Aliciane’s daughter, I believe, and therefore your kinswoman as well. ‘Tis said she could do these things. But me? I have no such power.”

“Search inside yourself, inside your mind,” he urged. “You’ll see I’m telling the truth.”

What Was Your Favorite Experience Meeting An Author?

Nathan Bransford asked this question. It made me smile, because I have a bunch of answers and they

are all wonderful, inspiring moments. Here are a couple.

Very early in my writing career, Poul Anderson was Guest of Honor at a convention I attended. At the "meet the guests" reception, I spied him standing alone. I guess everyone else was too awed by him to say hello. I went up and said hello and how much I admired his work. We began chatting, and when he learned I was a writer -- I think I'd sold maybe 2 or 3 short stories then -- he looked at me and with absolute sincerity asked what I was working on now. I was a fellow writer, a colleague, or at least he thought I was. That moment of encouragement carried me through many rejections and discouraging times. I do my best to pass it on.

Meeting Octavia Butler for the second or third time and the two of us laughing that she remembered me but not my name. I came away with the understanding that I don't have to "be known by name" or to toot my own horn in order to have meaningful conversations. Just being present and listening carefully is a gift to the other person. I remind myself that my writing stands on its own

At World Fantasy a few years ago, standing out in the garden area for an evening reception and realizing, "I'm talking shop with Peter S. Beagle..." At that same convention, I had a lovely exchange with Charlaine Harris, in which I told her how I loved her Aurora Teagarden mysteries.A librarian detective plus layers of depth woven into a rocking good story. She replied, "That means a lot to me, coming from another writer."

I can go a long way on that.

What are your favorite memories?

Leslie Fish on "Compensation" in GIFTS OF DARKOVER

On a wondrous planet of telepaths and swordsmen, nonhumans and ancient mysteries, a

technologically advanced, star-faring civilization comes into inevitable conflict with one that has pursued psychic gifts and turned away from weapons of mass destruction. Darkover offers many gifts, asked for and unexpected. Those who come here, ignorant of what they will find, discover gifts outside themselves and within themselves. The door to magic swings both ways, however, and many a visitor leaves the people he encounters equally transformed.

Gifts of Darkover will be released May 5, 2015, and is now available for pre-order.

Here Leslie Fish chats with editor Deborah J. Ross about "Compensation."

Tell us about your introduction to Darkover.

I first ran into Darkover on the paperback book-racks of a general school-supply store.  It was the Ace double edition of The Sword of Aldones and The Planet Savers. I read them both in less than a week, and I was hooked for life.

What about the world drew you in?

The fascinating ecology, the number of intelligent species, the politics of a semi-telepathic society, and the characters.  I was already a SciFi fan, and this was excellent SciFi -- red meat!

What do you see as the future of Darkover?

More exploration of the interactions of the various intelligent species, more political entanglements internally and with the rest of the galaxy, and further elaborations of the environment.

Collaborators on the Tiptree "Long List"

Collaborators by Deborah Wheeler (that's me, writing under my former name) (Dragon Moon Press, 2013) has been honored by the James Tiptree Jr Award jury with inclusion on the "long list" of notable works. The awards are presented annually to works of science fiction or fantasy that explore and expand gender roles. Read more about them here.

The back cover copy reads:

When a crippled Terran spaceship makes landfall on an alien world...

The Terrans land, unaware that their advanced technology threatens the fragile balance of power for the native race. Aliens, for whom gender has a very different meaning and whose instincts can drive a crowd to madness.

Despite the Terrans best intentions, misunderstandings mount and violent retaliation escalates. Soon everyone — scientists and soldiers, rebels and lovers, patriots and opportunists — are swept up in a cycle of destruction.

Buy from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Thunderlord snippet - Banshee Attack

Please remember that this is a work in progress and drafts have a habit of changing drastically from inception to finished book.

From Thunderlord Chapter 11

When Kyria clasped her hands over her ears, Edric’s instincts urged him to do the same, to shut out the banshee’s cry. It was said to drive men mad, but he had never before understood why. The sound pulsed, throbbing, until it vibrated his eardrums and seemed to fill his skull, driving out all rational thought, and then subsided. But he had learned discipline at Neskaya, how to overcome physical discomforts and to master his fears. In a working matrix circle, a lapse on the part of any one worker might have disastrous consequences for them all. He drew Kyria to him, held her close against his body, and forced himself to listen.

The banshee wailed again, louder now. The cry rose and swelled, shrill and eerie, cresting and dying down only to begin again. The mare snorted and tossed her head; the whites of her eyes showed as gleaming crescents. Kyria shuddered, ducking her head into the curve of his shoulder. Yes, the banshee’s cry was definitely louder. The thing must be coming closer.

“The fire!” Kyria glanced toward the opening to the shelter, where the embers still glowed red. “It’ll draw the banshee. They hunt by warmth. We have to put it out!”

He grabbed her arm and stopped her before she could scatter the remains of the fire. “Listen to me! The banshee will come to the fire, yes, but it will seek out the hottest object first. That will give us a chance to get away…or, or find a way to kill it.”

“Kill a banshee?” Kyria stopped struggling. “Are you nuts?” 

The Tajji Diaries: Getting Out Of Dodge

Focus 

A little over a year ago, Tajji, a retired German Shepherd Dog guide dog, joined our family. She retired partly due to her age (she will be 11 years old in May) but primarily because of her reactivity to other dogs and sometimes pedestrians. We have been working with her, using positive training techniques such as desensitization and reinforcing alternative behaviors. She has learned to make eye contact with us (something she never needed to do with her former, blind owner), to walk on a loose leash, and how to reduce her own anxiety, although this last is subject to her being overwhelmed with arousal. Her distance threshold for reactivity to other dogs is still quite long. She has excellent vision, and when she came to us, she would bark and lunge at any dog she could see. In class and real-life situations, she has now had many experiences of seeing another dog without “going ballistic.” Once or twice, in a controlled class environment, she has been able to remain alert but relaxed at a distance of 20 or 30 feet (as opposed to 1/8 mile).

Despite these achievements, there are many occasions in which she is overwhelmed. When walking on the street, another dog may come upon us suddenly, for instance around a corner or rushing up to a fence. Then it is no longer possible to teach Tajji — we as her human partners must manage the situation. Our primary tool is to increase the distance between her and the other dog: “Getting Out Of Dodge” (GOOD)

GOOD usually takes the form of human dashing in the opposite direction (or for the nearest visual barrier), using a happy voice, “Let’s go!”