Come Selahway With Me…

For those who are interested, keeping track, or panting with your tongues hanging out demanding MORE MORE MORE (because why wouldn’t you?)…here’s the current list of what’s next for me in the world of publishing.

Bedtime Stories for Girls – Wicked East Press – How Rain Came to Earth

Yes, I do have a kinder, gentler side. My contribution to this anthology is an original story written in the form of a Native American folktale, because no matter how I tried to structure it, it was the only way the story worked. Plus, it’s an art form I dearly love. Sort of a cross between middle school and YA, it deals with the Sky Kingdom right as the world began. Rain, daughter of Sun and Moon, struggles to find her place in the universe.  Edits for this are turned in, so I’m just waiting to hear when it’s released. You’ll know when I know!

The Big Bad – Edited by John Hartness and Emily Leverett – Real Wild Childe

This is the book that has my vampire story in it, and its theme is stories all about the bad guys (obviously). My story deals with a pair of vampire siblings that are on the run and hiding out in a small town. Asha is a free spirit and a clothes horse. Her big brother Rave is a punk who doesn’t want to be told how to live his life by anyone. What follows is an unexpected adventure where they try to gain their freedom, meet an unexpected ally, and Rave tries to come to grips with what love means. Think of it as me totally taking a chance to subvert not only the vampire romance genre, but modernizing the Lost Boys vampire rebel type and turning the status quo for that character upside-down, as well, because if you’re gonna go, you might as well go all the way. Edits are in and I think they’re shooting for a June or summer release, though I’ll keep updating as I hear more.

Thunder on the Battlefield (vol. 2) – Edited by James R. Tuck, Seventh Star Press – The Ruins of St. Louis

I take my turn at Sword and Sorcery in this anthology, and though that story took a lot out of me, I’m really proud to be in this one. Not only is this anthology two volumes, but there are a LOT of talented and up-and-coming authors included. My story follows the quest of Hunter Mann in a post-apocalyptic America. It’s an action-packed story full of natural dangers, magic, mutants, pirates, and one determined protagonist to fulfill a prophecy. I’m still working on edits for this, and I believe this has a target release date of June, as well.

HOOKERPUNK – edited by Sean Taylor – ATM

I got talked into this during Fandom Fest last year, and this was definitely one of the more challenging stories I’ve had to write. This is set in a world where money is outdated and currency has turned to older methods of, ahem, bartering. Government bank worker (of sorts) Lucki Starr struggles against small town attitudes when she’s been reassigned from the big city to her home town. She also learns that the government, people she trusted, and maybe everyone else in her life has their own agenda.  I’m still waiting to hear details on the release/schedule for this one, so I’ll pass it on as I get info.

The Realm Beyond – Issue 5 – Marina

I was shown some gorgeous cover art last fall and asked if I could come up with a story to go with it. Of course I accepted, and the result is an odd little story set in the late 1800s about a girl with amnesia, the son of a lumber baron on the brink of financial ruin, his family, and the looming influence of an ancient cult. This story combines several loves for me, but I can’t give too much away without ruining the whole thing! So far, I think Issue 5 is set to come out around July.

Kingdom City Chronicles: Olde School – Seventh Star Press

I’m still working on the first draft, but I’m getting close, so hopefully we’ll be able to keep the fall release schedule. This series combines my love of every genre ever and the folks at Seventh Star are trusting enough to let me play with them all and subvert them at my whim. There are going to be trolls who own businesses and have laptops, princesses are not automatically beloved in this world, shepherds have secrets, and the woods is hiding something besides bears and wolves. Kingdom City is a typical fantasy city who grew up in the heyday of what we know as fairy tales. However, we’ve never heard the real story, and Kingdom City is in middle of looking to the future and modernizing. Plus, magic is an old wive’s tale and never really existed. How do all these things blend together? What does all this mean for the city’s residents? You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out!

……and to answer your questions, yes, yes I am that varied in my writing. I can’t even pretend that I’m not. I’m half-convinced Seventh Star gave me the title of cross genre series writer because it sounds better than ALL THE GENRES!!! That being said, I wouldn’t trade my spastic, bizarre variety for the world.