"Many Teeth" in Sword and Sorceress 34.

The last volume of Sword and Sorceress, edited by Elisabeth Waters, is now out (at all the usual venues), and it contains my novelette, "Many Teeth." Like many others, I am sad to see this series end, although 34 issues of an anthology demonstrates extraordinary staying power. My very first professional sale was to the debut issue, and I've been in almost every one since (except the overflow volume, the year I lived in France and the year my younger daughter was born -- a month after the deadline). I co-edited Sword and Sorceress 33, which was a delight and allowed me to work with a number of splendid authors who were new to me.

Much has been said about this series and its importance in the genre. That first volume, edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley, came out in 1984, a tidal surge of women's voices in science fiction and fantasy. Sword and Sorceress extended that inclusion to the romantic, action-adventure style of "sword and sorcery." Bradley wanted strong, resourceful women characters who were more than cardboard copies of the male heroes ("Conan in drag"). To this end, she sought out writers like C. J. Cherryh, Mercedes Lackey, Elizabeth Moon, Pat Murphy, Rachel Pollack, Laurell K. Hamilton, Charles de Lint, Diana L. Paxson, Emma Bull, and Jennifer Roberson.

As I contemplated what I might submit to this final volume, I returned to an image that had come to me after watching a well-known movie with animated dinosaurs: a swordswoman wielding a katana, facing down a velociraptor.* As with most inspirations, that scene didn't exactly feature in the story...but close.

*Yes, I know the critters in the movies are paleontologically inaccurate...

Here's a snippet from the story:

The inner door swung open and a young woman entered. Karan’s first impression was of a lioness suddenly finding herself in the midst of a fancy dress ball. The gown was of silk, the hair set with pearls and tiny winking gems. But the skin was sun-browned, the cheeks innocent of rouge powder, and the expression one of determination. 

“Leave us,” the young woman said to her attendant. Once they were alone, she approached Karan. “Please, let us sit together.”   

Karan lowered herself into a chair, choosing one that put her back to the nearest wall.    

“I’m Estelle Rockland, and my father is Sir Henry Rockland.” 

When Karan looked blank, Estelle explained that he was a founding member of the Royal Society of Naturalist Adventurers. 

“Never heard of it,” Karan said.  

“There’s no reason you should. I’m not sure anyone cares who they are or what they do, beyond their own membership and the Lord of the Keys, who supervises the royal charters. For the past twenty-five years, my father has been on a single-minded quest, and now he’s gone missing. I want you to find him.”

Story Sale!

I've sold a novelette, "Many Teeth," to Sword and Sorceress 34. Since this will be the final volume in that series, I considered what I've always wanted to put into a story involving swordswomen and/or sorceresses. So many elements and permutations have already been done many times, but I've always wanted to stick a dinosaur into a sword and sorcery story. (Maybe that's been done many times, but not by me.) I remembered an image that came to me while watching the first Jurassic Park movie, as the humans are menaced from several directions by velociraptors (never mind that the real velociraptors were turkey-sized). I thought, "I wonder what a skilled swordswoman wielding a katana could do in that situation."

I jokingly called this story, "Red Sonja in The Land That Time Forgot." Its real title during  writing was, "The Rescue of One-Eyed Wanda, or Many Teeth." That got shortened.

I should add that when my husband, who is often my first reader, finished, he wanted more-more-more. So perhaps, in my copious spare time, I will enlarge it into a novel...

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.