Once Upon a Curse
Page 27
“Stronger than Time” by Patricia C. Wrede: first published in “Black Thorn, White Rose”, editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, William Morrow & Co , 1994
“Words Like Pale Stones” by Nancy Kress: first published in “Black Thorn, White Rose”, editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, William Morrow & Co , 1994
“Every Word I Speak” by Cindy Lynn Speer: first published by Drollerie Press , 2007
“Remains” by Siobhan Carroll: first published in AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review, 2011
“Frayed Tapestry” by Imogen Howson: first published by Drollerie Press , 2008
“The Cold Blackness Between” by Lucy A. Snyder: first published in Aoife’s Kiss, 2008
“Solstice Maiden” by Anna Kashina: first published in Sorcerous Signals , 2009
“But Can You Let Him Go” by Cindy Lynn Speer: first published in “But Can You Let Him Go” story collection, Drollerie Press , 2010
About the Authors
For Cindy Lynn Speer , the pen and the sword are both equally mighty. She has written three novels, Blue Moon, Unbalanced and the book that you are holding right now. She has also written a number of short stories, to be released from Dragonwell Publishing in 2012 and 2013. When she is not writing, she studies historical combat and is an adept rapier fighter. Both things, in their own way, are about telling stories. You can find out more about her at her website, www.apenandfire.com.
Peter S. Beagle was born in 1939 and raised in the Bronx, where he grew up surrounded by the arts and education: both his parents were teachers, three of his uncles were world-renowned gallery painters, and his immigrant grandfather was a respected writer, in Hebrew, of Jewish fiction and folktales. As a child Peter used to sit by himself in the stairwell of apartment building he lived in, staring at the mailboxes across the way and making up stories to entertain himself. Today, thanks to classics like The Last Unicorn, A Fine and Private Place, and Two Hearts, he is a living icon of fantasy fiction. In addition to eight novels and over one hundred pieces of short fiction, Peter has written many teleplays and screenplays (including the animated versions of The Lord of the Rings and The Last Unicorn); six nonfiction books (among them the classic travel memoir I See By My Outfit); the libretto for one opera; and more than seventy published poems and songs. He currently makes his home in Oakland, California.
Nancy Kress is the author of thirty books, including fantasy and SF novels, four collections of short stories, and three books on writing. For sixteen years she was also the “Fiction” columnist for Writers Digest magazine. She is perhaps best known for the “Sleepless” trilogy that began with Beggars in Spain. Her work has won four Nebulas, two Hugos, a Sturgeon, and the John W. Campbell Award. Most recent books are a collection, Fountain of Age and Other Stories (Small Beer Press, 2012), a YA SF novel, Flash Point (Viking, fall, 2012); and a short novel of eco-terror, Before the Fall, During the Fall, After the Fall (Tachyon, 2012). Kress lives in Seattle with her husband, SF writer Jack Skillingstead, and Cosette, the world’s most spoiled toy poodle.
Patricia Collins Wrede was born in Chicago, Illinois and is the eldest of five children. She started writing in seventh grade and began work on her first novel, Shadow Magic, just after graduating from college in 1974. In January, 1980, she co-founded the writer’s group that later became known as “The Scribblies.” In April of 1980 Shadow Magic, sold to Ace Books. In 1985, shortly before the publication of her fifth book, she became a full-time writer. She lives in Minnesota with her two cats. In addition to writing books, Patricia enjoys sewing, embroidery, desultory attempts at gardening, chocolate, not mowing the lawn, High Tea, and, of course, reading.
Siobhan Carroll grew up in Canada and (briefly) Saudi Arabia, where she developed a taste for international travel that will no doubt serve her well in her villainous quest for world domination. She is a Clarion workshop graduate and an English professor at the University of Delaware. Her fiction has been published in magazines like Realms of Fantasy, On Spec, and Son & Foe and has earned multiple honorable mentions from the Year’s Best anthologies of fantasy, science fiction, and horror.
Imogen Howson’s favorite stories are those that ignore biology, reality and the known laws of nature. She writes romantic fantasy and science fiction, and makes liberal use of the substance known as handwavium. She lives near Sherwood Forest in England, with her partner and their two teenage daughters. Imogen has published several novels and short stories. In the virtual world, she can be found at her website www.imogenhowson.com, blog imogenhowson.com/blog, Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/imogenhowsonauthor, and Twitter twitter.com/imogenhowson. She loves to hear from readers and can be contacted at imogenhowson@gmail.com.
Lucy A. Snyder writes poetry, horror, and science fiction. She is a Clarion workshop graduate and a winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Poetry for her collection Chimeric Machines. Her collection Sparks and Shadows won the 2008 Editors’ Choice Black Quill Award for Best Dark Genre Collection. She is also the author of a humor collection Installing Linux on a Dead Badger. She writes a column for Horror World on science and technology for writers, and regularly contributes to Storytellers Unplugged. To date, she has made over 80 short fiction sales, over 50 poetry sales, and a bunch of nonfiction sales on topics ranging from faeries to medicinal botany to ethernet switches. She lives in Worthington, Ohio with her husband and co-author Gary A. Braunbeck. You can learn more about Lucy by visiting her web site www.lucysnyder.com.
Anna Kashina is the author of The Princess of Dhagabad and The Goddess of Dance, two stand-alone installments in Arabian-style romantic fantasy series The Spirits of The Ancient Sands. Her novel Mistress of the Solstice is upcoming from Dragonwell Publishing in early 2013. A Russian-born author, she published several novels and short stories in Russia, Germany, USA, and Australia, and is combining writing with a successful career in biomedical research. You can learn more about Anna and her books at her web site and blog www.annakashina.com.
Did you enjoy “Solstice Maiden” by Anna Kashina? Read more in her upcoming novel:
MISTRESS OF THE SOLSTICE
by
Anna Kashina
a dark romantic fantasy based on Russian myth
upcoming from Dragonwell Publishing in early 2013
I stood beside my father and watched the girl drown. She was a strong one. Her hands continued to reach out long after her face had disappeared from view. The splashing she made could have soaked a flock of wild geese to the bone. She wanted to live, but there was no escape from the waters of the Sacrifice Pool.
I looked at my father’s handsome profile. His pale face, awash with moonlight, looked magnificent. The power of the Solstice enfolded him. It made me proud to be at his side, his daughter, his head priestess. He was the one who mattered. The only one.
The girl’s struggle ceased. The rippling water of the lake stilled, glittering in the silvery light of the near-full moon. We watched the flicker of the glowing candles set in the flower wreaths as they floated downstream. A few of the wreaths had already sunk—bad luck for their owners, who would most likely die before the next Solstice. Maybe one of them belonged to the next Sacrifice Maiden?
I felt my father stir next to me, as he too peered into the amber depths of the lake.
“A fine sacrifice, Marya,” he said to me. “You did well.”
“Yes.” I closed my eyes to feel the familiar calmness wash over me. I was detached. I didn’t care. I didn’t even know her name.
My eyes still closed, I sensed my father throw off his cloak and stand naked, his arms open to the cool night breeze.
“Bring her to me, Marya,” he whispered.
I stretched my thoughts, seeking out her body tangled in the weeds on the bottom of the lake, seeking the spark of life that still remained there, trapped, beating in terror against its dead shell like a caged bird. I reached for it, brought it out, and gave it to my father. I sensed the moment the two of them became o
ne, her virginal powers filling him with such force that the air around us crackled with the freshness of a thunderstorm.
He sighed, slowly returning to his senses. I kept my eyes shut until he found his cloak on the damp grass and wrapped it around his shoulders, once again becoming himself. The Tzar. The immortal. The invincible.
The undead.
We could hear people singing in the main glade. The celebration was at its full. Soon they would be jumping over the bonfire. As the night reached its darkest, quietest hour, they would break into couples and wander off into the forest. “Searching for a fern flower” they called it. Fern has no flowers, of course. But searching for it made a good excuse for seeking the solitude of the woods. Besides, blood of virginity spilled on the Solstice night glowed like a rare, exotic blossom of true passion. Those who found their fern flowers tonight were blessed by Kupalo.
I could hear the whisper of every leaf, every tree, and every flower in the forest. This was the night when the powers of Kupalo roamed freely in the world; this was the night when everyone’s mind was clouded by Love.
Except mine. Love had no power over me. My mind was free.
Dragonwell Publishing
www.dragonwellpublishing.com
Once Upon A Curse
Stories and fairy tales for adult readers
Anna Kashina
Dragonwell Publishing (2012)
* * *
STEP INTO THE WORLD OF MYTH AND MAGIC.
Fair maidens, handsome princes, witches, and fairy godmothers all show their dark and dangerous side in this anthology inspired by myths and fairy tales, retold by some of the best authors in this generation and by some upcoming new talents. Each beautifully crafted story brings an unusual twist to the traditional tale, from Cinderella's story told from the not-so-kind fairy godmother's point of view, to the Bluebeard tale showing the lure of this dark and dangerous man that drives young girls to rush willingly to their fate.
Beautifully presented with cover art by Howard David Johnson, this collection brings together a unique set of authors that will take the readers on a wild ride through magical realms of Ancient Greece, old Russia, medieval Europe, and modern day America.
Also by Peter Beagle
Myth and Magic
Once Upon a Curse
Also by Cindy Lynn Speer
Myth and Magic
Once Upon a Curse
Wishes and Sorrows
Standalone
A Necklace of Rubies
The Chocolatier's Wife
But Can You Let Him Go
The Chocolatier's Ghost
Also by Nancy Kress
Myth and Magic
Once Upon a Curse
Also by Patricia Wrede
Myth and Magic
Once Upon a Curse
Also by Siobhan Carroll
Myth and Magic
Once Upon a Curse
Also by Imogen Howson
Myth and Magic
Once Upon a Curse
Standalone
Fire and Shadow
Also by Anna Kashina
Myth and Magic
Once Upon a Curse
Mistress of the Solstice
The Majat Code
Warlord's Assassin
The Spirits of the Ancient Sands
The Princess of Dhagabad
The Goddess of Dance
Standalone
Solstice Maiden
Also by Lucy Snyder
Myth and Magic
Once Upon a Curse