Goodness, is it February already? It is! How the time does fly. I hope everyone who is in the path of the latest polar vortex is slowly defrosting. We didn’t get too hard hit here in North Carolina, but we did have several days below freezing, which is pretty dang cold for us. Things have […]
Read more "Sometimes Dragons are Real. Plus Giveaways and Excerpts"The first real fantasy story I wrote was called “Winter of the Gods.” In what was either a harbinger of future glory, or a cruel joke, it promptly won an award and was published in an anthology. Now, more than 10 years later, Bardic Tales and Sage Advice is bringing out a kind of “Greatest […]
Read more "Happy Memories, New Beginnings: Bardic Tales and Sage Advice Volume X"Bring Out the Dog Will Mackin Different wars generate different types of literature. This seems obvious, but it’s interesting to note the differences between wars that are happening simultaneously, and even involve some of the same countries, but nonetheless produce stories of different flavors. Case in point: Western literature on the recent war in Iraq […]
Read more "“Bring Out the Dog” by Will Mackin"The Rusalka Ritual and Other Stories Freya Pickard “The Rusalka Ritual and Other Stories” is a selection of 5 short fantasy stories, all featuring the formidable Dracomagan, in some places a warrior woman in a fantasy world, in others an apparently normal(ish) woman in this world, but always an important and powerful figure. The stories […]
Read more "“The Rusalka Ritual and Other Stories” by Freya Pickard"Hi All! For the past few weeks I’ve been working away on putting together a collection of my old stories that are sort of prequels/alternative timelines to “The Zemnian Series,” with a general introduction and little intros for each of the stories. I’m thrilled to say that the book is now ready and can be […]
Read more "New FREE Book Release! “Winter of the Gods and Other Stories” is here!"The Cossacks Leo Tolstoy When he set off for the Caucasus in the early 1850s, the young Leo Tolstoy was in many ways much the same as most other young noblemen: caught up in gambling and chasing women, concerned with appearances and enjoying the moment. But even then Tolstoy was already thinking about other, more […]
Read more "“The Cossacks” by Leo Tolstoy"Prisoner of the Caucasus Leo Tolstoy I have, for my sins, agreed to write up an entry on Christian-Muslim relations in Tolstoy for the University of Birmingham’s project on Christian-Muslim relations in literature. I say “for my sins” because Tolstoy suffered from acute graphomania throughout his long life, and the disease must be contagious, because […]
Read more "“Prisoner of the Caucasus” by Leo Tolstoy"Need for Seed: Gertrude’s Tale CB Archer Tales of Gentalia After the last, unexpectedly sex-free, romp in the Tales of Gentalia, readers may be wondering anxiously: has CB Archer lost his touch? No fears, Gentalians, no fears: this latest outing contains plenty of touch, and many other things besides. Gertrude is setting off as an […]
Read more "“Need For Seed: Gertrude’s Tale” by CB Archer"China Girl: And Other Stories Ho Lin “She hates the David Bowie song…How could anyone think of that as a beautiful Chinese girl?” So thinks May Lee, the exotic dancer whose story is told in the eponymous opening story of the collection “China Girl,” whose characters move, often ambiguously, between East and West, belonging to […]
Read more "“China Girl: And Other Stories” by Ho Lin"Redeployment Phil Klay In “Redeployment,” Phil Klay gives us a collection of short stories, all about the recent war in Iraq, mainly but not entirely featuring Marines who are or have been deployed there. Despite being Marine-centered, this polyphonic collection–and Klay masterfully writes with different voices–shows the diversity of experience that Americans deployed in Iraq […]
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E. P. Clark: Author, Book Reviewer, and All-Around Literary Handiwoman 